GOODBYE PATROL SQUADRON 65!

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

That would be somethign to see though.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

could you imagine the look on a helicopter pilot's face, they thought they were the only ones

 

[plan_D]

No they didn't think they were the only one. I think most people these days know about the Harrier.

And since this seems mildly appropriate for a thread about maritime patrol aircraft...

Joe, what were the P-2s like? Were the Japanese P-2Js much better than the P-2H!? I have read about them but there's no comparison. I know the Japanese replaced the Kawasaki P-2J with the P-3 when the P-2J was only developed because the P-3 was deemed too expensive.

 

[the lancaster kicks ass]

ok how many times do you see a harrier hover on operations? apart from just before a landing..........

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

Ive seen them quite a bit do hovering in Iraq.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Joe, what were the P-2s like? Were the Japanese P-2Js much better than the P-2H!? I have read about them but there's no comparison. I know the Japanese replaced the Kawasaki P-2J with the P-3 when the P-2J was only developed because the P-3 was deemed too expensive.

The P-2 was designed from the beginning as an ASW platform - I never worked on them in the USNR but did work with a couple as a civilian. It was a truck with a lot of power, not very comfortable - to go to the rear of the aircraft you climbed over the wing spar which was right in the middle of the fuselage. It had a smooth top so you "slid" over it.

The Japansese did a bunch of upgrades to their P-2s, replacing the 3350s with turbo props. I would believe their's performed better. They were probably built a little better as well but I think the avionics were the same incorporating the ole "Julie Jezabel" active/ passive acoustic system along with the typical MAD equipment. The Japanese had a habit of correcting things that Manufacturing Engineers and QA at Lockheed would deem acceptable. I worked on the first Japanese P-3, they drove us crazy attempting to reject things that were in engineering tolerance but had a minor cosmetic flaws.

I woorked for a company that ferried two surplus P-2s out of Moffet NAS in 1978. I got to fly in the nose, it was pretty cool. To me it exemplified post WW2 technology, but like designs in that period, gave little or no consideration to crew comforts - the Flight Engineer either squated behind the pilots or sat on a board!

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

To me it exemplified post WW2 technology, but like designs in that period, gave little or no consideration to crew comforts - the Flight Engineer either squated behind the pilots or sat on a board!

Believe it or not, it has not changed much today.

 

[plan_D]

The British weren't too big on creature comforts post-war either. But then, you're in the military ...who said you were there to be comfortable!?

I don't know why. I just found the Japanese P-2J interesting because they only designed it to avoid buying the expensive P-3. Yet they replaced the P-2J with the P-3. To say they're a smart nation, that wasn't very smart.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Yep - sometimes they lack a bit of common sense. For example, they would try to reject parts (That Lockheed Built) for having scratches in them .00015 deep! We could not believe they were trying to measure something like that, the drawings gave tolerances that were no way that tight, all they had to do is read the entire drawing. The shipping costs of sending there parts back turned out to be a small fortune - we made them pay for it.

If I remember right Lockheed built 3 P-3s in Burbank for the JMSDF, they built the rest (I think 42) in Japan, Lockheed supplied a majority of the parts. Like I sad earlier, they fixed a lot of minor flaws but it probably wasn't worth the effort!

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I would have told them fuck off!

 

[FLYBOYJ]

I would have told them fu*k off!

just about did that - used to love to see the look on their faces during program review meetings when we gave them a bill for all their crap...

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I bet! I allways love going to meetings like that though. You get to hear some funny shit from people that just sit behind desks and really have no clue about what is really going on. Man it is great. Sometimes I just want to slap them.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

YEP!

When I was with Lockheed working at Canadair (Today Bombardiar) we had a meeting with some of the folks there over alleged bad material being sent from California. The guy I worked with was a Brit so the folks at Canadair on our program hated him from the start. This Canadair production control guy (who was missing his front teeth) gave a 10 minute dissertation on stuff that had nothing to do with what we were talking about, but underlyingly badmouthing Lockheed and my co-worker. All of a sudden my Brit co-worker got up and mimicked this guy (who had a heavy French accent) looked at him and said, as he removed his false front teeth "Bla, Bla, Bla, Bla, why don't you just shut up now you ignorant toothless twit!"

I just about fell off my chair and even the other French Canadian guys in the room couldn't help from laughing.....

 

[Gnomey]

 

[FLYBOYJ]

YEP!

When I was with Lockheed working at Canadair (Today Bombardiar) we had a meeting with some of the folks there over alleged bad material being sent from California. The guy I worked with was a Brit so the folks at Canadair on our program hated him from the start. This Canadair production control guy (who was missing his front teeth) gave a 10 minute dissertation on stuff that had nothing to do with what we were talking about, but underlyingly badmouthing Lockheed and my co-worker. All of a sudden my Brit co-worker got up and mimicked this guy (who had a heavy French accent) looked at him and said, (as he removed his false front teeth) and said "Bla, Bla, Bla, Bla, why don't you just shut up now you ignorant toothless twit!"

I just about fell off my chair and even the other French Canadian guys in the room couldn't help from laughing.....

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

We have this Production Control Officer who really has no clue what is going on but wants to be in control of everything. Everytime he holds meetings he throws out his P4T3 (dont ask me to explain it) stuff and how that is how we need to run our maintenance. He can talk for like 45 minutes during a meeting on just this and all I want to do is ask him if he would like to take my wrench and go out and do the work for me because he obviously knows what is going on! Yeah Right!

 

[FLYBOYJ]

He'll probably drop in wrench inside the transmission....

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

With as close to impossible as it is to do something like that, he would find a way.

 

[FLYBOYJ]

Gotta love those guys!

 

[DerAdlerIstGelandet]

I actually know someone that dropped a wrench in a Intermediate Gearbox and mind you it has a screen cover and only about an inch wide. Pretty amazing if you ask me.