Deadone | 15 Sep 2014 3:52 p.m. PST |
RCAF had to go to a museum to find some components for one of their SAR Herky birds: ottawacitizen.com/news/national/royal-canadian-air-force-raided-museum-for-search-and-rescue-airplane-parts RCAF is in a degree of poo due ot government incompetence: - Bungled fighter procurement process - Massive problems with new CH-148 naval helicopters - Above is related to problems in procurement of CH-149 SAR choppers (EH101 Merlin derivative) - Issues getting replacements for SAR fixed wing. Not the only problem they've had either in defence – for example procurement of Victoria class submarines was badly handled too. |
carne68 | 15 Sep 2014 4:12 p.m. PST |
Back in 1993 one of my friends had to raid the USS Yorktown (CV-10), a museum ship at Patriot's Point, for an electric motor to keep the engineering plant of the USS Sierra (AD-18) up and running. |
20thmaine | 15 Sep 2014 4:23 p.m. PST |
Didn't they raid museums for Vulcan spares in the Falklands Conflict? Or is that an urban myth ? |
Mardaddy | 15 Sep 2014 4:29 p.m. PST |
Well, I'd say it is fortunate they have them around to raid in the first place… This should be a call to action to support all near-past military museums!! |
Timbo W | 15 Sep 2014 5:03 p.m. PST |
I wonder when museum planes will outnumber warplanes in service, guess we might already be there in the uk |
troopwo | 15 Sep 2014 5:16 p.m. PST |
I once heard the pilot of a CF-104 Starfighter explain that, "Using the Starfighter in the ground attack role, he could carry the same payload his dad did in a Hawker Typhoon thirty years before." If you think that the hercules are bad, try explaining that to the pilot flying the same sea King helicopter that his grandfather flew. The Sea King, a collection of ten thousand bolts in close formation. |
Lion in the Stars | 16 Sep 2014 1:10 p.m. PST |
The Sea King, a collection of ten thousand bolts in close formation. Not just the Sea King, any helicopter. Ten thousand parts flying in tight formation around an oil leak, held together with lockwire. |
Wyatt the Odd | 17 Sep 2014 1:29 p.m. PST |
A few years ago, the US Navy had to "borrow" some parts from an F-14 at the Yank's Air Museum to ensure that a carrier air wing departed with full readiness. Wyatt |
Mako11 | 17 Sep 2014 4:16 p.m. PST |
What a brilliant military logistics strategy, no doubt heavily influenced by the bean-counters….. [heavy, dripping sarcasm intended] |
Deadone | 17 Sep 2014 4:35 p.m. PST |
What a brilliant military logistics strategy, no doubt heavily influenced by the bean-counters….. Often it's got more to do with the age of the aircraft and many parts being out of production. This applies in this case – the older C-130s and DHC-5 Buffalos were meant to have been replaced by something newer by now. But political indecision and poor procurement processes mean the old crates are still flying. Average age of most NATO aircraft is 20-30 years old. Trainers, transports and tankers are often far older, especially those in US service (dating back to 1960s). You can imagine a lot of parts producers have changed their product lines, closed down or restructured since 1960s! |
Mako11 | 18 Sep 2014 4:18 p.m. PST |
Yea, if you have parts for the old ones, it impacts the sale of new aircraft at 10x – 20x prices. Those marketing people are on their game…….. |