Hi All, I’m now up to date with the thread, the BOI and the XV235 report, though I still have the QQ report to read. There are a few questions I'd like to ask and comments to make form an outsiders point of view seeing I have never been inside a Nimrod (though I hope to address this soon as I have requested a visit to Kinloss)
Having just flown back from my hols, and read both the above reports while there (I know I was bored just sitting on the beach) one thing that no one seems to have mentioned in great detail is the strains put on the airframe during operations including AAR.
A civil aircraft such as the Boeing 737-800 I flew in just flies straight and level with no excessive turns etc. However the Nimrod does totally the opposite, its flight parameters are totally different i.e. height, rate of ascent/descent tight turns etc, but also during AAR it is tucked in behind and slightly below another large aircraft usually the Tri-star. The turbulence must be very large and also doing in bad weather if and when required must but increased stresses on the airframe and more important the Couplings, Seals and Joints which and the main crux of this thread has/was this taken in to account when designing the aircraft and it maintenance schedule.
Has any analysis been done on the affects of the AAR on the Nimrod, before the crash and also now that it is mostly done from behind a Tri-Star rather than a VC10? It seems that no analysis was done on the different flow rates from the VC10 to the Tri-Star, did this put extra pressure on the Joints/cupping/seals?
From the XV235 report there seems to be a distinct lack of training for new and existing Ground crew am I right or wrong??? Any comments Hugh S!!!!!
Has there ever existed a Nimrod ground crew training school? Or at least instructors to teach/coach and advice new and existing ground crews?
From the BOI it seems that the No 7 Dry bay is an essential part of the aircraft with both the Blue and Green Hydraulic systems going through it,
amongst other important equipment essential to the running of the aircraft, if this is such an important part of the aircraft then why no fire detection and suppression systems and does all that equipment need to be together in one bay? This was also commented on by AOC No 2 Group.
In the BOI the AOC No 2 Group commented that the SO1 engineer post at Kinloss has been re-instated. Was this post removed across the RAF?? And if so has the post been Re-instated across the force or just Kinloss?
That’s all the questions for the moment, I’m still listening and learning and getting my head round it all, is there non classified drawings/photo’s available of the Nimrod?
Regards
Duncan