Nimrod MRA.4
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JT
Someone somewhere still thinks that the MRA4 is on track for this summer
BBC News - New Nimrods at RAF Kinloss 'within weeks not months'
Someone somewhere still thinks that the MRA4 is on track for this summer
BBC News - New Nimrods at RAF Kinloss 'within weeks not months'
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JimmyTAP
I second those questions. It has been extremely quiet on the MRA4 front - no bragging by BAE about how good their Nimrod 2000 is, or what has been achieved. There also doesn't seem to have been any sightings on the Aircraft Photography front either. TEEJ can you confirm if any of your colleagues have seen one flying around?
Frustrated....
If the late summer target is to be achieved, a better question to ask might be, how often has PA4 flown at Warton since it was "delivered" in March and how often has PA5 flown since it was painted at Manchester, again in March? Someone involved in the MRA4 project may be able to answer.
Frustrated....
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This is typical Robertson drivel. If he has specific evidence that the MRA4 isn't going to arrive at ISK by later summer then he should release it. Although you cannot always believe what the MoD says, in my experience the SNP very rarely gets things right.
Frustrated is not the word, I have given up now.
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Is it not possible that Mr Robertson could be confusing the aircraft arrival date with the much talked about Convex start dates?
Frustrated, I agree with you, if he does know something then he should give us the facts - then again as a politician why would he want to let the facts get in the way of his 5 minutes in the spotlight?
Frustrated, I agree with you, if he does know something then he should give us the facts - then again as a politician why would he want to let the facts get in the way of his 5 minutes in the spotlight?
There are so many "events" in the timeline, first delivery, first arrival at Kinloss, first formal course of students (as opposed to training the instructors), IOC, FOC, etc...... that anyone who wanted to could probably hide some time delays by just playing with those phrases.
Personally I expect that when the first one arrives at Kinloss there will be a blaze of publicity, RAF News, local papers etc, but as to what it will actually be doing, what clearances it has etc, only a select few will know, and they probably won't be talking.
Still, I think "Frustrated" has made some very valid comments!
Personally I expect that when the first one arrives at Kinloss there will be a blaze of publicity, RAF News, local papers etc, but as to what it will actually be doing, what clearances it has etc, only a select few will know, and they probably won't be talking.
Still, I think "Frustrated" has made some very valid comments!
Frustrated,
The chaps on the following normally log all the movements.
FighterControl • Home to the Military Aviation Enthusiast • View forum - Northwest England
TJ
The chaps on the following normally log all the movements.
FighterControl • Home to the Military Aviation Enthusiast • View forum - Northwest England
TJ
They were working on one in a big shed at Warton yesterday. It was parked behind a big display board which had a number of sheets on Mantis, one of which referred to maritime and ISTAR, as though UAVs will soon be a more than adequate replacement.
The noises off from the Mighty Hunter quite drowned out all of the chat about Mantis.
The noises off from the Mighty Hunter quite drowned out all of the chat about Mantis.
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So how many flights has PA4 carried out from Warton in the 3 months since it was "delivered"? I would imagine it should have been flying 3-4 times a week so around 30-40 flights maybe?
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Only in as much as I would thought that more flights were necessary to train crews to reach some sort of operational standard. If it has only flown 3 -4 times in 3 months - why?
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How much flight time V's Sim time did the RAF Ask/pay for ? Those crews will get what they asked for.....not a minute more and not a minute less. Did the crews ask / pay to be trained to an "operational" standard or are they on a train the trainers course?
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VecVec
Of course it matters how many times it has flown since the RAF accepted the first MRA4 in March.
If it has not flown much, why? What is wrong?
You would think that the RAF would be busy flying it, developing tactics and procedures and trying to get some sort of capability to reduce the size of the capability gap left by Gordon Brown forcing the early retirement of the MR2.
Frustrated....
Of course it matters how many times it has flown since the RAF accepted the first MRA4 in March.
If it has not flown much, why? What is wrong?
You would think that the RAF would be busy flying it, developing tactics and procedures and trying to get some sort of capability to reduce the size of the capability gap left by Gordon Brown forcing the early retirement of the MR2.
Frustrated....
Frustrated.....
Perhaps PA4 hasn't been very "well".....? That would explain why it hasn't been seen flying very much - but maybe there are less sinister explainations?
As I said before, no doubt those that know aren't talking, but the mere fact that no-one is talking is probably an indicator in itself....?
That reminds me, must remember to re-new my subscription to the "grassy knoll society".....
Perhaps PA4 hasn't been very "well".....? That would explain why it hasn't been seen flying very much - but maybe there are less sinister explainations?
As I said before, no doubt those that know aren't talking, but the mere fact that no-one is talking is probably an indicator in itself....?
That reminds me, must remember to re-new my subscription to the "grassy knoll society".....
Last edited by Biggus; 27th Jun 2010 at 19:07.
Perhaps PA4 hasn't been very "well".....? That would explain why it hasn't been seen flying very much - but maybe there are less sinister explainations?
Anyone confirm?
LJ
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I don't think there are any conspiracy theories - cock-ups are quite sufficient - there have been plenty of them. If the aircraft is still being flown to AvP 67 by test pilots - why? What "issues" does it still have?
Last edited by JimmyTAP; 27th Jun 2010 at 20:50. Reason: Useless spelling