Nimrod Rplacement

[Chris Trott]

Good luck. The P-3Cs the USN is retiring right now are being retired because they have no airframe life left in them and they're having to severely limit the flying time of the ones still in the fleet to keep them flyable long enough to get replaced by the P-8A. If you bought 2nd hand P-3Cs, you'd be spending as much (and possibly more) to rebuild the airframe as you would to simply buy a brand new P-8A, especially when you consider the amount of equipment replacement and update to airplane systems required as I'm sure you'd want to have new AE2100 in place of the old T56s, you'd want an updated cockpit with at least some more modern navigation capability, and you'd want to replace the 1980's era computer consoles in most of the P-3 fleet with something modern.

[Garry Russell]

CT.
Thanks for the reply re empty shells

I guessed as much as Boeing is geared up to produce airliners and as is often the case with Biz jet fits, the basic aeroplane clears the factory the goes elsewhere for specialist work


As for the P-3, it's one of those things in life that has been there for so long you think it always will be. Fantastic life span, but as with anything the limit is reached and as you say you'd spend a fortune rebuilding what is now ancient systems to do a modern job.

Can I modify a Commodore 64 to run FS.X?....sort of question.

[Chris Sykes]

I dont think we would want prop'd P-3's anyway, wasnt the MR1/2 the best sub seaker in excersises/compertitions as it had jets and could loiter for hours?

[NigelC]

Boeing is using a first-in-industry production process and its existing Next-Generation 737 production system to efficiently design and build P-8 aircraft.
The P-8’s 737-800 fuselage is built in Wichita, Kan., and then sent to Boeing’s final assembly facility in Renton, Wash., where all aircraft structural features unique to the P-8A are incorporated in sequence during fabrication and assembly. Aircraft quality and performance acceptance flight testing takes place at
Renton Field and final installation and checkout of the mission system and special flight test instrumentation is conducted at Boeing Field.

[SkippyBing]

I dont think we would want prop'd P-3's anyway, wasnt the MR1/2 the best sub seaker in excersises/compertitions as it had jets and could loiter for hours?

The Nimrod had jets so it could transit to the search area quicker, to loiter it shut down two engines*. Jets are actually less efficient at loitering speeds than props due to the higher velocity of the exhaust. For the UK's area of operations during the cold war the high transit speed was vital to allow us to cover the GIUK gap without needing more aircraft.
Of course the crucial advantage the P-3 has over the Nimrod is that you can actually buy one...

*This incidentally is why hot air was ducted through Number 7 Dry Tank bay so the shut down engines could be restarted quickly.