Aircraft (was Re: Nimbi <g>)

[pengolodh_sc at yahoo.no]

--- In HPFGU-OTChatter at y..., Amanda Lewanski <editor at t...> wrote:
> Benjamin wrote:
> 
> > Isn't it a type of plane too? (presumably they got the name from
> > iconography) I think it is used as an airborne early warning 
> > system (useful for spotting enemy missiles/planes/ducks)
> 
> And we all know how devastating those enemy ducks can be....
> 
> --Amanda, ducking

There has not been an aircraft by the name of Nimbus, AFAIK.  There 
is however an aircraft-type called Nimrod, in service with the RAF.  
It was originally produced as a British alternative for AWACS-
aircraft (AWACS = Airborne Warning And Control System - NATO's name 
for its AEW-system) for NATO and RAF, but NATO selected E3-Sentry 
(based on the Boeing 707) instead, and operating a British fleet of a 
separate type of AWACS-aircraft was too expensive.  A number of 
airframes were in existence, however, and they have been converted to 
use as maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) instead.  The present version 
in service is, IIRC, Nimrod Mk4.  

As an MPA, the aircraft has a radar to search for periscopes, a MAD-
pod (MAD = Magnetic Anomaly Detector - it searches for variances in 
the earth's magnetic fields caused by large masses of metal) and 
dispensable sonar-buoys.  It is armed with Marconi Stingray anti-
submarine torpedoes, and can carry a pair of Sidewinder Air-to-Air 
missiles for self-defence.  It can also carry Air-to-surface missiles 
to combat enemy shipping.

The Nimrod is based on the Comet airliner (the world's first jet-
powered airliner), and it is the world's only jet-powered MPA - all 
others (P3 Orion or Brequet Atlantique, for example) are powered by 
turboprops.  It is possible that Embraer of Brazil is going to 
develop its EJ 135 and EJ 145 regional airliners in MPA-versions, 
however.  New Nimrods are produced by rebuilding existing Comet 
airframes, which are stored for the purpose.

Visual points of interest with the Nimrod (apart from the fact that 
it is a particularly ugly aircraft) are the engine-mountings.  Most 
civilian jet-powered aircraft (and the Nimrod is a conversion of a 
civilian aircraft) have the engines mounted in one of the following 
ways:

*   below the wings (Boeing 747, Boeing 737, Airbus A310, DC8, DC10, 
MD11 - the Antonov An72 has its engines above the wings, with use on 
gravel-runways in mind) 

*   on the side of the aft fuselage (BAC 1-11, VC10, DC9, Fokker 28, 
Fokker 100, Boeing 727) 

*   in a tail-mounting (DC10, MD11, Lockheed Tristar, Boeing 727 - 
some single-engined business-jets also use this type of mounting).  

On the Nimrod, however, the engines are mounted in a fairing *inside* 
the wing-root.  This is aerodynamically cleaner than the other 
solutions mentioned, but it is a real bother when it comes to engine-
maintenance.

Best regards
Christian Stubø