RIMPAC aircraft

[Oh-58Ddriver]

Anyone know what kind of aircraft come to Hawaii for RIMPAC? I havent seen/heard anything out of the norm, but when I flew into Hickam AFB today there was some special air routes set up for it.

 

[PigzFly]

RIMPAC was a huge event back in the late 90's when my father was station there (VP-4 Skinny Dragons). I dont know if it has changed at all, but I know the P3 squadrons had quite a bit to do. It was always an exciting time as a kid; there were always cool ships and planes at all of the bases from around the world.

 

[raptor10]

Here's a list of the naval vessels that will be participating - everything from the Kitty Hawk to the Republic of Korea Yang Manchun (DDH 973), so you can get a rough estimate of the aeriel order of battle from the ships complements.

http://informationdissemination.blogspot.com/2008/06/3rd-fleet-focus-rimpac-2008-order-of.html

 

[webmaster]

OH58, just a bunch of P3s over here at Kbay, and 2 NIMRODs.

Gone are the days of an overflowing airfield though. I remember during my first tour, the entire line would be filled with P3s, with overflow to the opposite side of the runway. Some P3s must have been mothballed or redstriped or something....

 

[Gatordev]

but I know the P3 squadrons had quite a bit to do. It was always an exciting time as a kid; there were always cool ships and planes at all of the bases from around the world.

By "quite a bit to do..." do you mean show up on station, lose an engine, and then depart? Yeah, they do that still, or at least did in '02.

 

[Renegade One]

Anyone know what kind of aircraft come to Hawaii for RIMPAC? I havent seen/heard anything out of the norm, but when I flew into Hickam AFB today there was some special air routes set up for it.

Believe the most interesting aircraft to participate in RIMPAC this year was the "Black Dahlia" recce testbed aircraft. "Black Dahlia" is a highly modified version of the standard twin-engine Valkyrie gunship.
Reportedly the “most aerodynamically perfect” airframe ever built, “Black Dahlia” appears to have retained the characteristic double-ogive forward fuselage hull form and the “area rule” (e.g., Coke bottle shape) configuration of the standard Valkyrie long-range interceptors from which they were derived, but also possesses all-flush riveting with composite carbon-glass matrix overlay for heat dissipation. The standard Airco-Vickers & Blohm twin-row radial 16-cylinder Mega-Merlin powerplants (which power the stock gun ship variants) were also been replaced with the new, highly derivative R-21 Jordan-Jumo-Daimler liquid nitrogen-cooled Gandalf engines. Also absent from "Black Dahlia" is the standard array of Browning-Vickers 75 caliber “Cloud Sweeper” gatling guns and Webley-Oerlikon 60 mm “Hell Hammer” cannon systems. The recce testbed aircraft has internally-mounted extra long-range tanks for the H2V2 (High Volatility/High Viscosity) 150/210 LL ultra high octane aviation fuel required by the Gandalf powerplants. By special certification issued in Paris by the Organisation de l'Aviation Civile Internationale (ICAO), “Black Dahlia”, as configured above, is the first propeller-driven aircraft ever required to have dual (e.g., redundant) Mach meters installed instead of conventional airspeed indicators.

 

[raptor10]

Do you have a linkt to info on the Black Dahlia or the Valkyrie? The only thing I can dig up is the XB-70.

 

[UMichfly]

Do you have a linkt to info on the Black Dahlia or the Valkyrie? The only thing I can dig up is the XB-70.

I get the sneaking suspicion that he's messing with you dude.

 

[raptor10]

Rofl, you do not know I upset I was at myself at not being able to turn up information on this plane... You got me good!

 

[FormerRecruitingGuru]

Someone actually outsourced Raptor???


YES!