RAF Concordes ?
 

Gents,

I was with a good friend last night having dinner, when he told me a story that during the late 60's or early 70's there was a rumour going round that the RAF were going to get a sqn of Concordes to be fitted with Blue Steel (or the modern equivelant) Apparently Corcorde would have been able to carry three weapons each.

Has anyone else heard of such a thing?? Beagle, Winco etc??

Kind regards
TSM

ISTR reading a similar idea in 'Project Cancelled' many years ago, also schemed at one time was a plan, similar to the American TipTow (sp?) to carry Gnat fighters as a form of self defence, though that was under Vulcans I think. All these paper ideas were just that though.

And the VC10 derivetive was considered using a stand off Folland Midge pilotless aircraft under each wing. Each aircraft carrying a warhead.

Are you sure it wasn't the TSR2, arguably the forerunner to concorde?

AFAIK, ['cos someone has "borrowed" the book] the Vukcan was [able] to carry three piloted Gnats as a "Stand off fighter"....I could be wrong tho'
watp,iktch

Chiglet, that would have been the Mk 3.

For Concord (no French e :)) it would have been rather faster than the missiles which were too easy to shoot down being rather slow ballistic missiles.

Can't help thinking any external ordnance would have had been more than slightly detrimental to Concorde's supersonic performance....anyone seen any numbers?

Also I sadly never had the chance to see a Concorde using an AWG-12 or similar (F-4) but did get the chance to point a p*** poor weather radar at a Concorde over the Atlantic a few years ago and I couldn't believe what a big radar target it was ( ? the intake geometry)....

So perhaps it would have ended up as a subsonic target with a radar cross section bigger than a B-52? Maybe not such a good idea unless you were going to throw ALCMs off the thing from over the North Sea.

Didn't the 1968 RAF Yearbook have an artist impression?

An interesting one if correct?

http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/sho...t=52969&page=2
'I believe that certain provisions were made on Concorde 002 ( the one now at Yeovilton) to facilitate a demo conversion should the necessity have arisen.'

This one from a Bond movie

http://www.concordesst.com/duxford/a...ictures/52.jpg
'The aircraft was used as a B1 bomber substitute in the "Never say never again" James Bond spin off, with dummy Cruise missles being loaded'

From

http://www.concordesst.com/

Lurk mode off...
 

As quoted to me by a very old guide at Duxford during a tour:

"If you open the panels, you'll see that the lower fuselage ribs of our Concorde curve upwards in the middle. This was done to allow her to carry the Blue Steel (I think he said Blue Steel, it was a couple of years back) Nuclear Missile".

No reason to doubt him and his knowledge of the aircraft in the collection was bordering on Jedi Master.

I went on to jokingly ask him for a sit in the Lancaster - and he said sure thing!:eek:
Spent half an hour clambering around inside her! :ok:

I'd love to have seen any stores separation trials if 'it' had got that far !

One of the ( unintentionally ) funniest films I ever saw was ' Airport - The Concorde ' - strangely enough the last of the series, funny that.

At one stage the Concorde is fired on by a baddie in an F4, and the heroic co-pilot, as I remember, winds down a cockpit side window at high altitude Mach 2 then puts his arm out & fires a decoy Verey flare !

I suppose when seeing a 'platform' like that one can't help wondering 'what if ?' but...then one's prodded awake by one's nurse.

BlackadderIA,
When I was a VRT doing the Aerodynamics Course at RAF Scampton, I was fortunate to be allowed to scamble [no pun intended] all over the Lanc.
As you say :ok::ok::ok:
But as I returned to "real life" I just wondered how [if a relatively fit 40yo, in "shirt sleeve order" found it "not too easy", just how the Heck did those chaps manage in all the kit they had to wear....bouncing all over the sky, in the dark...:D I freely admit that my hat was truly raised to them then, and quietly in the Bar that evening.
Thank you Gentlemen
watp,iktch

im surprised that the RAF didn’t buy the remaining concords, they have a nack for buying ex unsafe passenger jets (nimrod), plus i would love to hear the loud engines upon take off, one last time :(

just a random thought :)

To be fair the Tristar and the VC10 must be among the safest airliners ever built.

The Comet 4C wasn't unsafe... it was in passenger service for over 20 years and frames were only ever lost due to pilot error!

Considering the HMG/British Taxpayer bought them in the first place (not BOAC/BA) then by rights they could just have been handed over instead.....

I'm surprised TB at the time didn't insist on this for the cudos of Blair One.....

And 'our' Concordes weren't unsafe........;)

Soldier magazine, in April 1983, printed a terrific story about the MoD intending to do HALO trials with one and volunteers being required..

Sometimes one's April Fool spoofs can go slightly wrong...

In 1984 I was the editor of Gateway and we printed an article on mods to the BAe 146 of the 146 Development Flight for 'special duties'. This included an AAR probe, and our cover showed it fitted to the aircraft and being checked by a technician. It was actually a convincingly painted broomstick with 2 support struts on top of the fuselage complete with a fairing made from layers of Dr White's sanitary products for ladies, which when sufficiently wetted made the whol thing looked very realistic indeed.

The article went on to describe 'a RFIL loop' fitted to the aircraft, which was supposed to deflect RF illuminating energy and also to apply polarising optics to 'reduce the optical signature' to make the aircraft invisible - it even concluded 'This is a specific property of optical fibres'.

No-one noticed either the anagram of 'April fool' or 'This is a s.. p.. o.. o.. f..' in the last sentence! Worse was to come, for 'Air Clues' swallowed it hook, line and sinker and also used the photo, referring to a 'technician adjusting the AAR equipment of the BAe 146P'. Eventually I had to phone the editor to tell him he'd been had - not a Happy Bunny!

But HALO from Concorde - did anyone really fall for that?

Hah! I saw a 146 in the static park at Farnborough which had been tarted up by BAe as a "military transport". Nobody fell for that one though.:)

Never heard the rumour about a Squadron of Concordes but I did hear that a Concorde was sometimes used to act as a high flying, supersonic target for Lighning and Phantom crews to practice intercepts on.

Surely that should read 'did anyone really fall FROM that?'
Sorry.