Thank you to all for the kind words and support, but I can assure you that I was just as excited and keen to get XH558 in the air as you were. This has been FAR more than 'just a job' to myself and the rest of the team.
forget,
Don't quote me on this, as the aerials are not really my domain!
However, I believe that the large white blade aerial that now lives where the Rad Alt di-electric panels used to be, is the new UHF/VHF aerial. The fork shaped aerial that now adorns the Bomb Blister, is the new VOR aerial. There are several new aerials dotted across the airframe as part of her new avionics suite.
Interestingly, this new VOR aerial has forced a reduction of the Vne from its service limits, down to 330KIAS, with a normal operating speed of 300KIAS
As goes the future display format, well, I believe that it will be broadly similar to the previous display, but flown with a little more mechanical sympathy for the old girl's age!
Theoretically, there is no physical reason why it could not be identical to the previous displays, however, a desire to preserve the engine cyclic usage and airframe fatigue life, will probably lead to a slightly gentler display.
However, this is of course just the way that I understand it, and ultimately, it will be entirely down to the Display Crew as to how 558 is displayed
Flipflopman