B-one Keeper

The Hydraulic lines travel down the scissors to the Brake Anti-skid Manifolds. Which are located between the Strut and the rear axle, just forward of the rear tires. From there, another set of Hydraulic lines travel to the individual brakes. Shaun

Looks great Joey! Good to see more of it. Shaun

I agree. I don't remember that either. Shaun

Congrats! A couple more years and it'll be my turn. Take care, Shaun

I do agree with you. But my point was that for normal everyday maintenance in deployed locations, the weapons will not be removed. So if someone wants to display an aircraft with a few panels open and the live weapons still loaded, it would still be accurate. I also completely agree with what mrvark posted earlier. Take care, Shaun

We maintain aircraft everyday in deployed locations with live weapons on board. They are only removed when necessary, like when the jet will be down for heavy indepth maintenance. If we had to remove the bombs everytime we had to fix the jet, a lot of time would be wasted. Shaun

Hi, I believe Super Bug Models has a resin cockpit for the F/A-18F however, I can't access their website to see if it's available for purchase (I don't think it is). Steel Beach has an ACS upgrade available at Sprue Brothers: http://store.spruebrothers.com/product_p/sba32012.htm I have Trumpter's F model, and I'm going to use this update as well as some new seats. I'm not going to try and replace the entire cockpit. Shaun P.S. If you want to get new seats for the kit, don't use the ones from Wolfpack Design. They look great, but they are too wide to fit in Trumpter's cockpit.

I agree with Devilleader. Once your model is built, you won't see the bombs at the top of the launcher. Shaun

Hi, Sorry, I'm a little confused by your questions, but I think I can help. The "Cooling Loop" cools the electronics that control the CRL. The "Ground Safety Locks" prevent the weapons from being released while the aircraft is in a "safe" condition. I hope that helps. Let me know if it doesn't, take care. Shaun

Hi Chris, I've been stationed at Ellsworth for almost 17 years as a Crew Chief, but I grew up in SC. My wife and I love it here because of the small town atmosphere, the freedom, and the activites for our 3 kids. The distance can be a problem though. My parents still live in SC, so visiting them with our kids can be expensive. The weather can be very crazy, we'll have 65 degrees and sunny one day, then 25 degrees and windy the next. We don't get snow dumped on us like some other places, mainly just high winds. Small amounts of snow can turn into blizzards here. However, coming from the south

I love this kit. You're doing a great job! Shaun

GBU-31s in the Mid and Aft Bays, Fuel Tank in Fwd Bay, no Sniper Pod at that time. Shaun

Hello, During OEF in 2001 and OIF in 2003, B-1's carried 3 versions of the GBU-31 (Mk-84/DSU-33/BLU-109). The GBU-38 didn't come to us until 2006, but we do carry mixed bomb types as you discribed. We weren't able to carry mixed bomb types until the Block E mod in 2004. I don't think 86-0121 was deployed in 2001, but she was deployed for OIF in 2003. She flew 21 missions and dropped 798,000 lbs worth of GBU-31s. She performed well. Shaun

Thanks for the offer Doug. I checked out a GR4 in 2008. The flap/slat subsystem of the two aircraft is suprisingly similar. Big fan of the Tornado, I respect the ability to go low and fast! Shaun

Doug, I can answer question #1. We will configure the aircraft flight control surfaces based on the type and intensity of the maintenance needed. Both configurations you mentioned would be acceptable. We'll have everything opened up for aircraft washes, major/minor inspections, CANN status and others. When I have maintenance to do on the flap/slat subsystem, I will only raise the spoilers when needed. The less open the better. On a fairly recent deployment, a B-1 unit from another base left the spoilers UP and flaps/slats DOWN on one of their jets for a long period of time in the desert. All