Venezuela claims P-3 busted their airspace

[Brett327]

I heard he was going to book the pilot for exceeding the NATOPS AOB (as clearly shown from that picture).

Looks like 60 degrees AOB to me (which is what the limit was during my time). Either way, they're VX guys - NATOPS is more like a general guideline for them.

Brett

 

[scoolbubba]

I was thinking more along the lines of this incident: http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/americas/05/19/venezuela.us/index.html

Kind of funny how two days after Chavez decides to devalue his own currency while enforcing frozen prices with the national guard, he points the finger at the Yanqui Imperialists! Idiot. I'm betting Chavez ends up with a very Mussolini-esque ending...piano wire at a gas station.

 

[CAMike]

What a douche...that's the Wikipedia pic of the P-3!
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:P3corion.jpg

YUP. 4 Harpoons, 2 training sidewinders and a pair of training bombs for that part of the world is a pretty unusual load out isn't it? The sad part is that some Chavez adviser handed this photo to him and told him it was all true. Anyone know what Central American face palm looks like dictator style?

 

[Shpion1]

The cool part of this is if some guy goes, CRAP, they have sidewinders on their P-3s. Uhhh, lets hold off a bit on that intercept....

 

[HeyJoe]

The cool part of this is if some guy goes, CRAP, they have sidewinders on their P-3s. Uhhh, lets hold off a bit on that intercept....

Done many intercepts???? You have to get your nose pointed at the interceptor to worry anyone with any skill or have one of these puppies...

 

[Mumbles]

I think Clint Eastwood "thought in Russian" and fired the first rear firing AAM in Firefox, HJ.

 

[PropAddict]

Knowing the VP community....I wont be suprised if the PPC and MC get their papers pulled over this......sad.

Well, you know the community better than I do, but my first thought was, "Knowing the VP community, there is no friggen' way this can be true."

I mean c'mon: even our standoffs have standoffs and the PPC and MC get their nuts hammered for even overlapping the moving circle on the TMS over any one of them.

 

[NUFO06]

This could have been the EP-3 community since they flew out of that dutch Island just north of Chavezland.

 

[OnTopTime]

YUP. 4 Harpoons, 2 training sidewinders and a pair of training bombs for that part of the world is a pretty unusual load out isn't it? The sad part is that some Chavez adviser handed this photo to him and told him it was all true. Anyone know what Central American face palm looks like dictator style?

I guess I'm being nit-picky, but: only one BDU.

The story I heard about this photo was that the plane was from Pax River, but it was loaded up in Brunswick by the VP-8 AO shop. If true, the background is likely the beautiful Pine Tree State.

 

[HeyJoe]

I think Clint Eastwood "thought in Russian" and fired the first rear firing AAM in Firefox, HJ.

Guess life imitates art then. Brits were first though to start arming their MPA operationally when they faced the Arggies off the Falklands in the early 80s...

RAF Nimrod with dual mounted Sidewinders. Integration was rapidly improvised in less than two days after an encounter with an Argentine 707. Some thought was given to mounting them forwards and aft to defend themselves against Argentine Mirage interceptors, but rearward firing missiles have aero issues (negative Velocity to 0 to positive is problematic...note: Russian tear sheet addresses that issue in the text).

 

[Brett327]

Guess life imitates art then. Brits were first though to start arming their MPA operationally when they faced the Arggies off the Falklands in the early 80s...

RAF Nimrod with dual mounted Sidewinders. Integration was rapidly improvised in less than two days after an encounter with an Argentine 707. Some thought was given to mounting them forwards and aft to defend themselves against Argentine Mirage interceptors, but rearward firing missiles have aero issues (negative Velocity to 0 to positive is problematic...note: Russian tear sheet addresses that issue in the text).

Seems like the rear aspect state of the art in those days would have made aft facing Winders problematic as well, and with the advent of today's "over the shoulder" type shots, the whole concept must be OBE.

Brett

 

[Mumbles]

Well, you know the community better than I do, but my first thought was, "Knowing the VP community, there is no friggen' way this can be true."

I mean c'mon: even our standoffs have standoffs and the PPC and MC get their nuts hammered for even overlapping the moving circle on the TMS over any one of them.

Well, OK. Maybe not the whole community. Just my old squadron. Propstop will attest to this.

 

[HeyJoe]

Seems like the rear aspect state of the art in those days would have made aft facing Winders problematic as well, and with the advent of today's "over the shoulder" type shots, the whole concept must be OBE.

Brett

It would have been really hard to acquire a target from cockpit of the Nimrod even with the All-aspect AIM-9L variants that the US rushed to the Brits unless they fished for a tone, but AFAIK, the precious "Limas" were given to the Sea Harriers, which made good use of them.

 

[HeyJoe]

I guess I'm being nit-picky, but: only one BDU.

The story I heard about this photo was that the plane was from Pax River, but it was loaded up in Brunswick by the VP-8 AO shop. If true, the background is likely the beautiful Pine Tree State.

I hosted the photographer for an Oceana visit and he said it was a Pax River aircraft shot from a B-25 tail gunner position that was working out of TPS (they lease nonoperational aircraft for students to evaluate). The photographer owned a share of the aircraft after making a princely sum out of his epic Classics paved the way for Heater's Cutting Edge (same publisher).

 

[zippy]

Well, you know the community better than I do, but my first thought was, "Knowing the VP community, there is no friggen' way this can be true." ...

I wouldn't be so sure- It has happened before and it can happen again...