US E-3
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Bury St. Edmunds
Age: 64
Posts: 539
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Given that the USAF recognise the value of not throwing all their retired ac to the scrapman but instead send them off to Davis-Monthan in sunny Arizona, it is highly likely they will be able to find an entire nose for an E3 without having to spend $$$$ on repairs. Okay, the surgery of transplanting a new nose will still be expensive it will at least still be feasible and it will avoid the waste of what would otherwise have been an irreplacable asset.....
On the other hand, we seem never to appreciate the value of storing anything - in spite of many base closures with hangar space to spare - of keeping some of our prematurely retired "goodies".....ok, we don't have the same climate but in suitable "bags" with the humidity controlled they could still be stored successfully.
We could certainly have done with keeping a few more Hercs to spread the hours around a bigger fleet, and even perhaps keeping a few Andovers so that the paras could at least get their mandatory jumps in given the lack of C130's. And Nimrods, and VC10's, and Jags and .......
MB
On the other hand, we seem never to appreciate the value of storing anything - in spite of many base closures with hangar space to spare - of keeping some of our prematurely retired "goodies".....ok, we don't have the same climate but in suitable "bags" with the humidity controlled they could still be stored successfully.
We could certainly have done with keeping a few more Hercs to spread the hours around a bigger fleet, and even perhaps keeping a few Andovers so that the paras could at least get their mandatory jumps in given the lack of C130's. And Nimrods, and VC10's, and Jags and .......
MB
Nellis E-3C
nellis-e3
Looking at this gallery of pics, at what cost does the repair become uneconomic..?
The cause of the accident is being attributed (so far) to a hard landing..
If it is scrapped, by my reckoning they'll have 31 left (+ TS-3).. 2 down out of the original 34. Wonder how that attrition rate compares with the forecast..?
sv
Looking at this gallery of pics, at what cost does the repair become uneconomic..?
The cause of the accident is being attributed (so far) to a hard landing..
If it is scrapped, by my reckoning they'll have 31 left (+ TS-3).. 2 down out of the original 34. Wonder how that attrition rate compares with the forecast..?
sv
Join Date: Aug 2007
Location: London, New York, Paris, Moscow.
Posts: 3,632
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
Did the nose leg snap/tear off? The resulting fluid fire engulfing bilge area to aft and feeding upwards to lower nose and fuselage being held at the cockpit pressure floor but damage allowing fire/ hot gasses to migrate aft and upwards?????? Supposition supported by the holes bashed by fire service (?) to dump foam/ fire suppressant into cavities.
Nasty type of fire to suppress.
Nasty type of fire to suppress.
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Republic of the Philippines ex L1011 GE
Posts: 110
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
I think we would all be surprised just how little damage the frame has suffered, working on the premis that from experience it generally looks worse than it is. If you scrub off the soot, the skin is probably intact, with surprisingly little damage underneath. No doubt it was jacked up fairly sharpish, the nose gear lowered and towed into a shed in not too many hours.
Maybe Loadie? Supplier? Mover?
Glad Rag:
There is no cockpit pressure floor, there are hatches in the main cabin down to the lower lobes and slightly forward of the Navs desk there's a grid that can be hinged up to access the lower nose area (If you haven't eaten too many pies).
The equipment bays are pressurised together with the cabin.
There is no cockpit pressure floor, there are hatches in the main cabin down to the lower lobes and slightly forward of the Navs desk there's a grid that can be hinged up to access the lower nose area (If you haven't eaten too many pies).
The equipment bays are pressurised together with the cabin.
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: USA
Age: 60
Posts: 664
Likes: 0
Received 0 Likes
on
0 Posts
We set up the Kadena squadron (961st AWACS, now AACS) E-3 bar and christened it "The Lower Lobe."
It's gonna take a lot of unit bake sales to get this jet back in the air.
Besides the airframe damage and difficulties of finding 707 bits and pieces, replacement mission equipment isn't exactly just laying around.
It's gonna take a lot of unit bake sales to get this jet back in the air.
Besides the airframe damage and difficulties of finding 707 bits and pieces, replacement mission equipment isn't exactly just laying around.
