Extend the service life of these aircraft
- Thread starter Monk78
- Start date
Build some new as bombers/missile carriers and refurb/engine the older ones, some as tankers and ELINT?
Problem is, you may as well use commercial aircraft for tankers/ELINT like everyone else does - probably better suited for the job with greater cargo/fuel capacity and more space for people/workstations. Personally, I thought the RAF should have used VC-10s more - standard length for the ASW (instead of Nimrod) and extended for tanker transport, ELINT, AEW etc.
A stand off Jammer Victor may be interesting though.
I though the Shorts Sperrin was the low-risk option (straight wing, conservative construction methods).
How about the Supermarine Scimitar? A bit of an accident prone nail. Can’t see how you’d squeeze it out to ‘79 in the face of Phantoms and Buccaneers. Even at it’s peak it was eminently forgettable.
Now, the Buccaneer has a fair few options. How about a few more exports, or perhaps he Buccaneer 2* gets built with all the TSR2 and P.1154 computers and sensors, maybe even the supersonic variants?
How about the Supermarine Scimitar? A bit of an accident prone nail. Can’t see how you’d squeeze it out to ‘79 in the face of Phantoms and Buccaneers. Even at it’s peak it was eminently forgettable.
Now, the Buccaneer has a fair few options. How about a few more exports, or perhaps he Buccaneer 2* gets built with all the TSR2 and P.1154 computers and sensors, maybe even the supersonic variants?
Scimitar can it be used exclusively as a ground attack machine ?
Maybe sold to pariah states that have few other options to obtain aircraft
The Victor looked more elegant though. The crescent wing was a very clever solution to transonic speeds. It also looks like it's breaking the sound barrier even when its in the hanger.The Vulcan just looked so damn cool, though...
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Perhaps if they were practically given away. There were plenty of other 50s/60s aircraft built in greater numbers (only 76 built, and half of these crashed) that would be easier to keep in the air for a further decade. With only 30 odd left, even scavenging airframes would be a challenge to reach ‘79.
Can't agree from an aesthetic viewpoint. The Victor looked advanced, sure . But the Vulcan looked like "The Martian Airforce."
Given away maybe to a private airforce? although maintenance would be a nightmare
I don’t think there were any PMCs with the money to run an Air Force in the late 60s/early 70s (a fun ASB idea…) and the demand would be quite niche.
Fuzzy Dunlop
Banned
Even now it looks the 'dogs bollocks' 👍 😍
Introducing the Convair B-58.
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The B-58 looks amazing, and I love not only its looks but the performance it offered. Extending its life would depend on finding something for it to do that makes use of that performance, and doesn't need any internal space (its weapon load - and a lot of fuel - was all in the under-body pod, IIRC). That limits your options. Escort jammer for strike fighters? Terminal guidance for volleys of high-speed cruise missiles? Conversion to long-range interceptor with a pod full of AIM-2s and a powerful radar?
The least unlikely option would seem something like a long range SEAD/ EW platform to " Open the door" for the strategic bombers to come through. Though F111 variants kinda ended up doing that much cheaper. Problem with the B58 is a combo of its really high operating costs and evolving tech making " High and Fast" sort of obsolete versus the " Low" altitude approach and stand off missiles making it cheaper to say use cheaper B52s to deliver nukes at much longer ranges then dropping gravity bombs.
I just mentioned this on another board
I don't recall the story exactly, but I understand there were rumors the B-58 was evaluated by the RAAF. I don't know if the plane ever left US soil or was ever painted with the kangaroo roundels even.
But the above is a flight from fancy from here:
FSX RAAF Convair B-58 Hustler
This is a fictional repaint of the Alphasim/Virtavia B58 as it might have appeared had it been bought by the RAAF and deployed to South-East Asia in the late 1960's. Two versions are possible: the 'texture.RAAF' folder represents the aircraft as operated by No. 6 Sqdn in the 1970's/80's and...
flyawaysimulation.com
I speculated perhaps the B-58 enters RAAF service as a high-altitude bomber, and later in life gets a terrain following radar like the F-111 to act as a low-level penetrator....
Regards,
What about strategic recon as the money would be very good?
An alternative "Lockheed D-21" Drone is built to fit in place of the bomb fuel pod and a trapeze for recapture, maybe in flight by the B58 at the end of the drone's circular preprogramed/remote controlled penetration run?
Riain
Banned
There was something, IIUC an iron bomb carrying conventional B58 was proposed for Australia back when Australia was looking at getting a V bomber and the US made an offer for the RAAF to lease 30 B47s which wasn't taken up. This whole era was pretty much done and dusted by about 1959, after the British jumped back in the nuclear bed with the US.