Wader,
Thank you for coming to the assisstance of Safeware, but you have also failed to see my point Sir.
We all know how the MR4 project will be seen - the RAF will get a new replacement for Nimrod MR2, updated Avionics, better Sonics, better Radar, more powerful engines and a whole miriad of other goodies. and the public will think that all is great in Maritime once more.
What the public will not be told however, is that the aircraft will NOT have foam in the wings, it will not have state of the art fire suppressant. Infact, it won't even have a single fire extinguisher located in the bomb bay. Now forget all about tolerable, intolerable and acceptable levels of risk; this is basic, simple fire precaution/fire fighting stuff. There is nothing more simple than a fire extinguisher is there?
So all this Red Herring stuff about aircraft certification, and that is all it is, has no bearing whatsoever on the fact the the MR4 will still have a 1940s/1950s fire fighting capability, and that cannot be right.
As for the AAR. As I have said, 25 yerars ago it was acceptable, but I'm not convinced that the very same system cannot be improved upon for the inclusion into MR4. Even the Tristar has double thickness pipes throughout, Nimrod MR4 DOES NOT? Why not? Why are you appearing to defend such appalling penny-pinching and cost-saving measures that affect aircraft and therefore aircrew safety?
My point about Mr Boeing is but a simple one. He will make the aircarft of taoday as safe as it is possible to make an aircraft today. In 5 years time it may be out of date, but today it is spot on. Nimrod MR4 will be 10, 20 30 years out of date as soon as it roles out. Not the engines, and not the avionics, but on the fire safety/suppressant side and the AAR side also.
Please try to understand that I am in no way having a go at anyone on this forum, but we have to look at what MR4 is; a (very) old design, with a few gucci bits of kit bolted on but an aircraft that still retains an out of date and (potentially) dangerous lack of fire fighting capability and AAR ability.
The Winco