42210 - DC POWER DISTRIBUTION. ?

Where do people get the idea that the RAF RC-135s are being pulled out the boneyard in the desert (other than the tabloid press)?

They are the youngest KCs in the USAF inventory, and have been in service as tankers until they went into the conversion scheme - one was used in ops in Lybya, and the last is still in service, and visited the UK in company with the B2s in June:

Photos: Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker (717-148) Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

and in February

Photos: Boeing KC-135R Stratotanker (717-148) Aircraft Pictures | Airliners.net

UK KC135
 

Thank you Vasco, that makes sense. Unambiguous prose like wot I was taught can make all the difference. Boring to read sometimes, but essential always.

To: Lordflasheart
 

Quote:

---

42210 - DC POWER DISTRIBUTION. ?

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Lordflasheart – I have erred. The WUC should have read 41000. The CAMS record on a particular controversial WCE is wrong and got past my scrutiny. I guess that’s mud on myface. Thanks for the fact check. Perhaps CAMS is not at all reliable and the MAA is correct in demanding some aspects of the aircraft’s flight envelope to be validated.

Thank you cpants.

WUC 41000 - PRESSURIZATION AND SURFACE ICE CONTROL, A/C

LFH

whatever
 

OK Walter Kitty!
Why can't you fantasisers get your own forum.
This one is for pilots thanks very much

"This one is for pilots thanks very much"


Implying pilots only. But is that actually the case?

"A forum for the professionals who fly military hardware. Also for the backroom boys and girls who support the flying and maintain the equipment, and without whom nothing would ever leave the ground. All armies, navies and air forces of the world equally welcome here."

"This one is for pilots thanks very much"

Oh dear
From your majestic, inward looking position as an all powerful God, just be aware that like a pyramid, the glittering capstone is built upon a solid support structure, the likes of which, if not there, would leave the capstone fully suspended on solid ground....

This thread is a perfect distillation of Pprune:

Conspiracy theorists
Holier-than-thou know-alls
Pedants who can't read between the lines and have to take every written word as gospel.

What fun!

Oh, and they all add up to the dictionary definition of 'the vocal minority'.

Wow
 

Never expected all of that:\ And sorry to rake through it if the embers were dying away :O

There seems to be quite a few differing thoughts and quite a lot of repetition and just my thoughts but why do the MAA have to prove airworthiness? EASA or the FAA or the CAA do not have to prove airworthiness. The type certificate holder has to prove this by presentation of verification artefacts that demonstrate that a standard, (set of standards) has been achieved, compliance.

The CS and FAR are the framework to be verified against or by presentation of equivalent safety findings to argue what has been done is as good as those standards. EASA and FAA may mutually recognise each others work by validation but this considers that CS and FAR are very close in content and intent.

In the absence of those artefacts or mutual recognition based upon accepted standards the air vehicle has unknown provenance so who decides it is safe and where and when to fly it? EASA would say not happy go away, no TC, no fly.

Applied military or engineering judgment is great but if being true to good old Donald we don't even have any idea about the unknown unknowns then what are those people applying judgment to? Gut instinct, seat of the pants?

Worse still what if the assessment of the known knowns is false?

not totally unknown unknowns tho - a number of these aircraft have been flying around for years

This does not mean to say they tick all the boxes for a modern safety case - on thee other hand it doesn't mean they are instant death to fly in..........

moderation in all things..................

In other words they might not be safe but they probably are. Just the reassurance the crews need! Onwards and upwards men! :)

indeed - but then no aeroplane is completely safe all the time -

balance of probabilities really

since the Rivet Joint doesn't litter the highways & byways in the same way as the F-104G or Indian MiG21's we can reasonably conclude it is not a total death trap

I agree in perfect world we'd have a proper safety case and all risks fully mitigated but....................

any updates???

a/c no 1 has been on ops in hot places*, no 2 is in the conversion program

* pics have been posted elsewhere

so the sky hasn't fallen on our heads... yet???

There was one of ours at Mildenhall on 31st March. Did not meet any of the formation eating team in the BX food hall.

drag - they'd have been too busy stocking up on DIY supplies in the other part of the BX :ok: It was always the case that once you got too slow to keep up with the MR2 eating team, you moved to the R1 and focused on more elderly pursuits (DIY, homebrew etc etc) ;)

SP, Did the road sign from the C Flt crew room remain on the sqn inventory when they moved from Wyton?

Serious note: I hear a rumour that an Ex OC 51 is on the RAeS lecture programme list to talk RJ or Air Sneaker this side of Christmas some where in East Anglia known for top scholars. I will post details on here once confirmed.

L-3 to deliver Rivet Joint aircraft to UK

LONDON — Britain is set to take delivery of its second Rivet Joint signals intelligence aircraft from US contractor L-3 Communications in the next few weeks according to sources familiar with the program. The new aircraft will join the first RC-135W Rivet Joint aircraft delivered to the Royal Air Force in late 2013 to replace BAE Nimrod R1 spy planes.......

Both Rivet Joint aircraft have been delivered ahead of schedule. The spokesman said the official delivery date for the second aircraft had been April 2016.

The aircraft, modified from a KC-135R tanker, has been converted by contractor L-3 at its facility in Greenville, Texas. The British signed a contract to take delivery of three Rivet Joints, known as the Airseeker in the UK, in a $1 billion foreign military sales deal in 2010.

The second aircraft is "conducting mission calibration tests prior to formal acceptance testing," the spokesman said. The third aircraft in the fleet is scheduled for delivery in the second half of 2017 said the spokesman.