Table top aircraft productions;

[pigflyer]

So, lets try this out, if Gregs efforts have come to fruition, and my luck has changed, you can hopefully see a pic of; The Scottish aviation Snark, MPA mk1. 

[pigflyer]

Seems to work, so here is the story.
After the Falklands conflict, The Royal Navy lost a lot of ships to save money. An engineering Warrant officer and his Lt/Cdr boss, came up with an off the shelf design for an aircraft to cover the routes used by the nuke subs, to make sure no one was lying in wait to monitor their movements.
The aircraft, once the mission was known to the watchers, could also deploy to mislead watchers into thinking the subs were elsewhere.
Unusually, the brass and politicians went for it, and eighteen aircraft including two flight deck trainers/support airframes, were acquired.
With systems bought off the shelf, the Snark was never the best mpa, but was not the worst either.

[Brian da Basher]

That's really nice, pigflyer! I especially like the red prop spinners and how they highlight that lovely white on gray scheme!

I couldn't see your second pic unfortunately, but the first one is proof of your undeniable modeling talent!

Brian da Basher

[Kerick]

It sure looks the part of an MPA.
Love it

[pigflyer]

Thanks B d B, thats very nice of you.   I hope I have now fixed the 2nd pic, and all that follow (hard to type with crossed fingers.
I am a fan of your work too.

So, with added fuel in the underside pannier, there is a mad boom, wing tip and fusalage systems and of course, a small area for tea an' sarnie doins.  The crew would be two pilots, observer/nav, three systems operators and if mission range allows/requires, an observer/brew bitch to work the mark one eyeball plus binoculars.

[pigflyer]

With the Nimrod fleet scuppered, the remaining nine airframes, plus the two trainers, had to pick up the slack where possible. MLUD and SLEP will keep them in the air until 2022 at the most, their Lordships had to fight for the money to do so, and four of the 'released' airframes were broken up for spares.

Twenty nine Snarks were sold overseas to Thailand, Turkey and New Zealand.

[pigflyer]

Funny, I am ex RAF, but on a navy bent at present.
1983 and two countries, rumored to be Malasia and South Korea, cancelled orders for a Nimitz class carrier each. Money trouble.
The U.K. was just finding the benefits of oil near the Falklands and the chance was taken to quickly acquire the two vessels. Although part of the Roosevelt sub class, there were alterations for the original customers, which were then changed to suit the Brits.

In 1987, the Indefatigable was held up by a fire in the P.O.'s mess, so Indomitable entered service first. Aircraft had to be sought of course, and the opportunity to develop something of their own was jumped on.
As a short cut, the Tornado was used as a base plan, and a fixed wing version was found to be the best option. As a true MRCA, the aircraft was given a new name, (if the wings look like those of the Etendard 1VP, its probably a coincidence. Maybe.)
Enter, The Cyclone.

[GTX_Admin]

Nice work!

[pigflyer]

Thanks Greg, you too.
picresize.com was also great, try it if your pics are too big for BTS.
Meanwhile, back at the Cyclone;

Needing a proper MRCA, elements of the strike tornado were added to the F3, with a weight saving by removing the wing sweep allowing more black boxes and fuel. Most of the ordnance in the RAF stocks were carried plus a few more. The fuselage pylons could be fitted, as on the 111 sqn F3 used in the gulf for Alarm.
It took a Captain RN to make a decision to begin painting airframes with the orders they had, as the upper levels were all trying to influence whatever they could, so the original colour scheme was a bit of a mish mash, phantom type colours with low viz roundels etc. The Capt was commended for avoiding a production bottle neck.

[pigflyer]

Good though the cyclone was, some AEW other than the sea king which had height and range limits was needed. So, a new Brittain Norman Defender was navalised, giving up to 6.5 hours endurence and 12,500 ft operaring height.

[KiwiZac]

I love the Cyclone, that new wing looks perfect! Bravo!

I'd like to see more of the Defender too, that series - aside from the Trislander  - makes a very attractive airframe.

[pigflyer]

Many thanks Kiwizac, glad you like them. All paint work is mk1 hairy stick btw.

The Defender AEW used the same radar as the sea king, with a few tweaks, and the dome was lowered in similar fashion which made the whole thing fly a bit better, so this was done right after take off. Sixteen were procured, and four to six would deploy on board each carrier.

[pigflyer]

With a fair wind on deck, the defender could lift off in two thirds of the deck. Pilot, three operaters and if required, an observer/nav in the co pilot seat, made up the crew.
As you can tell by the tale letter, this one was from the InDomitable, IndeFatigable kites carried an F.

[pigflyer]

A big carrier would of course need anti sub, asw, aar and mpa to look after itself.
How fortunate then that Lockheed were working on the S3B Viking, which of course also had a strike ability.
With radio and a few other changes to suit the Royal navy, it was a simple enough deal. But the government in the U.K. Wanted
to put speys and lots of other stuff in and build in the U.K.
After some very heavy lobbying by senior navy types, logic prevailed and, 15 S3BRN's were acquired. 11 years later, two attrition replacements were bought.
 

[pigflyer]

Upgrades along the way have kept the Viking useful to the navy, and helped of course to cover the gap left by Nimrod. Notice that this aircraft has been 'Zapped' by Indefatigable during cross deck training, as evidenced by the red F over the Indi D.

[Brian da Basher]

Great stuff! I especially like your Defender AEW - most believable! You could tell me they actually tried this and I'd be hard pressed to doubt it. You certainly made it look every bit the business!

Brian da Basher

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Lovely S-3B-RN you have there. 

[GTX_Admin]

Lovely S-3B-RN you have there.

Ditto

[pigflyer]

Thanks folks, very encouraging words there.  (Cheques in the post, honest.) :)

[taiidantomcat]

Really great stuff!! Great to have you here and welcome aboard!

Viking looks top notch  I love the Zap! don't see enough of that

[pigflyer]

Thanks T, glad you like the Zap, I really like little quirks like that, it adds a kind of realism I think.  :)