Britain suspends mid-air refuelling of Nimrod planes (AFP)

[Robert Hilton]

The Nimrod in-flight refuelling system was installed around the time of the Falklands war and done in a great hurry. Since then not very much has been done to modify or improve the system. It is no wonder that they are having problems with it.

Andy

It took about three weeks from requirement to the first crews being qualified to refuel. There was an urgent requirement for their use in the south atlantic at the time.
The original mod used bowser hose to connect the probe to the fuel gallery.
I saw a report on it at the time in the RAF. Not having worked on the Nimrods I don't know if they were modified after the conflict. I would certainly hope so.

[z740]

Not everything that has a meaning in the US has the same meaning for the rest of the world. Here is the definition from the American Herritage Dictonary.

I see. Hope they can fix the problem soon.

-Chris

[exmanx]

The Nimrod in-flight refuelling system was installed around the time of the Falklands war and done in a great hurry. Since then not very much has been done to modify or improve the system. It is no wonder that they are having problems with it.

Andy

[MaxPower]

LONDON (Reuters) - The Ministry of Defence confirmed on Friday it had suspended mid-air refuelling of its Nimrod spy planes after a fuel leak forced an emergency landing in Afghanistan earlier this week.

No-one was injured in the incident and the Nimrod fleet remains flying, a ministry spokeswoman said.

"During air-to-air refuelling on an operational mission, the crew observed a quantity of fuel spraying into the aircraft's bomb bay," she said.

"Following initial investigation, and isolation of the air-to-air refuelling system, the aircraft was flown back to its original operating base for further engineering investigation.
"As a precautionary measure air-to-air refuelling has been suspended for all Nimrod aircraft, until the results of a full investigation have been considered," she said.

Source: http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/latest/...name_page.html

That's horrible. Imagine the amount of spray of fuel into the bombbay..

[Jet-fighters.Net]

Whose genius idea was it to name them Nimrods in the first place?!?

-Chris

Not everything that has a meaning in the US has the same meaning for the rest of the world. Here is the definition from the American Herritage Dictonary.

Nimrod was in fact a Biblical figure -- the great-grandson of Noah. He was a haughty king who declared himself a "mighty one in the earth," founded the great city of Babylon, and presided over the construction of the mythical Tower of Babel. Nimrod was also a renowned hunter, though at least one source we found claimed his game of choice was not animals but men, whom he would enslave upon capture. Whatever his prey, his name became synonymous with a skilled hunter

[z740]

Whose genius idea was it to name them Nimrods in the first place?!?

-Chris

[MaxPower]

UK's defence ministry has suspended all air-to-air refuelling of its Nimrod spy planes after a fuel leak over Afghanistan forced an emergency landing, it said Friday.

Fresh fears have arisen about the safety of RAF Nimrod aircraft, following an incident in Afghanistan.


Former RAF navigator John Nichol says the Nimrod explosion was just one in a million flights. Speaking to Sky News' Anna Botting, he claims the board of enquiry will reveal the truth behind the incident and whether the RAF knew of the fuel leaks.



A father of a man killed in the Afghanistan explosion 13 months ago says the RAF were negligent. Speaking exclusively to Sky News' Geoff Meade, he claims that ignoring problems with the ageing Nimrod fleet led to the incident.




Source - Story : http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20071109...nistanaviation