Reddog

No. Reddog :D

Blue wheel bays. Reddog

Wheel bays changed over to white when the Gull Grey/White scheme started in late 56/early 57. Reddog <_<

IMHO The CP-140's grey is a little too dark for a 36440 grey used on the A-7 during it's hi-vis days. The grey on the DC-8(?) is more closely appropraite and close match 36440. HTH Reddog

I apologize then, to me it sounded like you where laying blame at the sqaudron/wing level and not the morons in the puzzle palace. I see first hand how the puzzle palace is under funding the Harrier community everyday, it's fustrating. Reddog

One word......AWESOME!!!!!! The seat is spot one, trust me, I have enough time climbing/sitting/digging through them then I care to remember. The Cockpit is exactly like the real thing, right down to the yellow circuit breakers, truly amazing. Reddog

Fuji, Yes, we have gone around on this issue before so I recommend we agree to disagree. I feel that it isn't the Marines fault but the pencil pushers in the puzzle palace inside the beltway. Reddog

Actually it would be; 1) At the time the AV-8B came out, air defense was not a mission it was intended to do, that's why they have F-18's. 2) Drag and Weight, less drag and weight means more fuel, which means more time on target. The Harrier was intended to be strickly a strike aircraft, air defense was to be provided either the CBG or other tactical components. Also, the only thing the outboard station can carry, besides AIM-9's/ACMI Pods, is Mk 82's and Cluster Bombs. Reddog :D

Thanks for the correction, been a while since I had to do deal with this stuff. In Tomcats we only had Pro A (encompassed everything) Pro B (engines and fuel systems) and Proc C (flight controls/hydraulic systems). And I forgot about the VFR and other rules. Pro C's where that bad, Pro A's where a PITA. Also, it always seems like Maintenance just had to do a Pro at like 1600 on a Friday afternoon (during the winter) or at like 1900 (during the summer), a half hour before the end of the shift. Reddog

We had to do the same thing in the Navy also, 12 on/12 off 7 days a week so the wing would think we where busting our butts trying to get our birds up. In reality, we where sitting around playing cards and doing "busy work", and just waiting for parts. Reddog

Glad to know we (F-14 squadrons) weren't the only one's to "rob" from the "petting zoo". I don't know how many trips we made out to that old F-14A that use to be at NAS Oceana. By the time I left Oceana I think all of it's spoilers and flaps had been swapped out, along with alot of the panels and other little parts. Now you know why they got rid of the old F-14A, it was nothing but a pile of junk parts held together by the paint job and bird droppings. We use to hold our breat everytime someone went to move it for a dog and pony show event. Reddog :)

There was an F-14C, it was a prototype and never put into production. from Wikipedia "Projected variant of the initial F-14B (F401-powered) with advanced multimission avionics" If you google "F-14C Tomcat", you will be able to find more info. HTH Reddog :)

This would apply to the WW II and Korea era, not modern aircraft maintenance procedures. Reddog :)

Are there hangar queens on board carriers and at USN/USMC air fields, yes, but not to the extent you describe. One of the rules the Navy has it that an aircraft has to be flown at least once every 30 days or it must be reported to NAVAIR why (in detail) the aircraft has been “down†for more then 30 days. Usually what would happen is a plane would go “down†for a part and that part would be projected to be received weeks away, so the aircraft would be placed in the hangar, awaiting the part. In the mean time, if other aircraft went “down†for other parts, the maintenance department

You could do "slant four" loads, just leave the stations next to the HARM/SHRIKE empty on the MER or TER. If you are going to do MER's I would recommend you put them on the mid board (station 2 and 7) and put the HARM/SHRIKE on the outboards (station 1 and 8). You can also put Rockeye on the inboard on parent racks (station 3 and 6). HTH Reddog

That's a good sam suppression load. Always glad to help out. Reddog :D

The position lights should be red (a little bit lighter then insignia red) and Beret Green, they did not have any blue tint to them. HTH Reddog :)

The nose looks too short and does not look to be the right shape, it looks odd. Reddog :)

You do not have to have a FLIR Pod in order to hang GBU's, we did it all the time, the A-6's would "lase" for us. As for the Shrikes, outboard and midboards stations where the Shrike stations (stations 1, 2, 7 and 8). Rockeyes, GBU's and Dumb Bombs (called General Purpose (GP) Bombs can go on all wings stations. The FLIR Pod was just that, a Forward Looking Infrared Pod, no navagation or laser designator functions that I know of, then again though, I could be wrong, my squadron was the HARM squadron. Let me know what you want to hang and I'll give you what stations and how many you can put. K

One note, pylons are removable, they are not permanently fixed to the aircraft. For the A-4 the pylons could be easily removed if they where not needed, would save a couple of hundred pounds in weight, and drag. As for the pylons on the C and E as Spejic stated, the C had three, the E had five. Reddog

It was a young Tomcat, it had a zit. Reddog

So the back seater can brace himself with them and for comfort. The where adjustable, hence the track. The track had notches on the inside and the pedals would lock into the notches The little knobs on them where switches (IIRC) for the radio, one was for talking to just the pilot, the other was for talking to other aircraft but can't remember which one was which. BTW, they would be silver. Reddog

The camera may have been positioned to view the top of the wing for tests like the DFCS, to see how the spoilers acted with the new system. It is a camera housing. DFCS - Digitial Flight Control System Reddog

I would agree sir. Reddog

Couldn't look any better, even if it was the real thing. One word, PERFECT! Reddog