Are Nimrods safe?
 

Daily Record today:

http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/tm...name_page.html

SCANDAL OF RAF NIMROD KEPT IN AIR BY A TEAPOT
Air crew claim every flight is hit by major problem

THE crew of an RAF Nimrod had to use a TEAPOT to repair their ageing plane in mid-air.
The airmen jammed the pot into an eight-inch hole left in the fuselage when a hatch door failed to close properly.
Without the emergency repair, the crew would have had no air pressure inside the jet.
A whistleblower last night said the problem summed up the pitiful state of our Nimrods. He claimed: "The fleet is a shambles. Every flight has major problems."
The source, a senior RAF officer, said the teapot incident took place after the Nimrod took off from Cornwall. He added: "The aircraft had to limp home at 8000ft with the teapot over an eight-inch hole in the fuselage because the pressure doors couldn't close - again."
The officer also told how some Nimrods are flying with instruments held on with sticky tape.
And he revealed that Nimrod crews have reported four major fuel leaks since the crash that killed 14 servicemen in Afghanistan in September.
A broken pipe during refuelling is suspected of causing the crash, but crews have just been told to resume refuelling in mid-air.
Moray MSP Angus Robertson, whose constituency includes the Nimrod base at RAF Kinloss, vowed to raise the officer's concerns in the Commons.
The commanding officer at Kinloss, Group Captain Jerry Kessell, confirmed the teapot incident but said the crew were never in any danger. He said cabin pressure was only needed to "make things more comfortable and heat up the plane".

Eye opening. I have a strong connection to the Nimrod community through Family/Freinds. I have been aware of allot of the current problems and accidents/crashes in the last 10-11 years.

I heard.....and please don't quote me on this, so I will stand corrected if I am wrong, that a couple of weeks ago the Kinloss Squadrons were breifly grounded due to Air to Air Refuelling problems.

All I can say is the crews etc are of very high calibre but they are operating old equipment which has to take its toll by now. Perhaps it is time for the MOD to start purchasing new kit. I am not RAF so maybe the old stuff works best, I don't know.

It is an obvious flight safety question, not that a teapot was used but how were the crew supposed to get a brew ???:}

bye .

Just as well they had the teapot otherwise the crew would have all been sucked out.....:hmm:

The USN no doubt have a $50k Beverage Calorific Enhancement Device for the same purpose......

ORAC, they wouldn't need one, they don't drink tea.

Tea, maybe not, but I was greatly impressed by the size of the coffee pots on the E3A....

Teapot !! whats wrong with the old saucepan and a bit of wet blue roll !!:}

Doh.

Just noticed that the original poster is the article author! I am getting slow in my old age :( .

At least its honest fishing!

talking about teapots reminds me of a story telling of a famous Australian Aviator who lost an engine (3 eng. a/c) on a oceanic crossing ...... sometime later no. 2 started loosing oil at an alarming rate ..... his engineer filled a flask with oil - climbed out numerous times to the engine and topped up the oil resevoir ...... some eleven hours later the aircraft landed safely .....

I suppose the motto of the story being .... if you don't take a teapot then a flask is a must ..... :)

ps. a true story I assure you ..... the guy was knighted for his Aviation exploits as I recall ......

Trust me, no danger of any nimrod crew disappearing through an 8-inch gap...pass the doughnuts and stick my pie in the oven:ok:

smaller holes .. try soaking your copy of The Sun and stuffing than in the hole ... :bored:

It's supposed to have holes!
 

If the holes weren't in the fuselage, the bl**dy sonobuoys would have an interesting time getting into the sea!
Just like the lack of air pressure you get when you depressurise at low level anyway.
The boys at The Record must be really desperate for a story:D . Enginesuck hit the nail on the head - the real problem will have been making a round of drinks without the teapot. Doesn't have the same headline though - Nimrod crew fly without a teapot!

...I remember when it only used to take a chicken curry and dairy cream sponge! :}

Is this "emergency repair" in the FRCs:

Immediate actions
Tea pot ..... Placed over hole in fuselage

Subsequent actions
Make brew....... :ugh:

Anyone fancy a doughnut!!

Why are they stuffing around, go directly to the only real solution, they have to buy a couple of squadrons of P3Cs and carry on with a proven product!

Cheers, FD:ok:

Oh Please
 

FD
I think you'll find (:8 ) the P3C or AP3C does not have a teapot but a coffee percolator that never percolates, so not a real solution. Don't get me started on the smallest room on board either:* .

Personally I would have used a navigator and kept the brews going, did someone say DCS?:O

Charlie sends

We didn't make the news for "Shackleton crew diverts to get tea cup".

True story.

Duty galley rat failed to check if there were any cups on board. Emergency fix was to wash a baked bean can after breakfast to revive the pilot, J*hn *l**s IIRC, followed by a PD to Leuchars. The real fun had been conveying the message through ATC but they came up trumps and delivered our salvation in the Rover.

Mind you, best cuppa "in-flight", same pilot J E, lying on the grass outside the hangar at Bitteswell listening to th ebirds twittering. I wasn't deaf in those days. Ever the hours hog, the skipper claimed all the time on the ground as flight time even though the aircraft was shut down and no one on board.