Nimrod R1 – XV249 – Winter & Summer – RAF Waddington 2011

Great photos. I left 51 Sqn back in 1991 and have to say that the number of aerials has increased significantly. They must have crammed even more in there, as if there wasn’t already enough work for the Fairies.

A shape that is missed down here at RAF St Mawgan………..

And the North east of Scotland ! 🙁

Its a rather large issue though when the doors don’t open when you want the gear down, the leg comes down and sits on the closed nose door leaving not much left than a nose wheel retracted landing.

XV234 (which became MRA4 PA02) and XV239 (which was tragically lost in Canada) both had nose wheel up landings, the give away being the rivets drilled out on the sides of the fuselage for the fwd crash recovery lifting beam to be attached – Mike

The nose gear is the same as the Comet (apart from beefing up) and is mounted in the same position, so quite high up in the Nimrod structure and retaining the long nose gear leg.
Outward opening doors would have been two close to the ground, and there is room inside for the inward opening type, the upshot of that is they have to wait for the gear to be completly retracted before they can close.

The Nose U/C does have a set of doors but they open inwards so you don’t see them too easily, look closer at the third picture from last and you can see a nose door inside the bay – Mike

Thanks for that Mike.

The sequencing on them must be quite slow as there are a couple of shots with the main gear up and locked and the NLG doors don’t appear to have started closing.

Rick

…Taken from inside the perimeter I take it?.
Jim.

Lincoln .7

Hi Jim,

All taken from outside the perimeter. See viewing guides above.

TJ

hi great piccies dude,can you just pop down too waddington too take piccies or do you need permission?

No need for photography comments, please. I simply don’t have time to comment on other photographers work. Too many forums and not enough time. Thanks.

Please feel free to comment about the aircraft, etc.

No permission is required to view or take images from the outside. RAF Waddington is very enthusiast friendly and has its own viewing area off station with car park and cafe.

See viewing guides.

http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/spotting/waddington.php

From

http://www.thunder-and-lightnings.co.uk/

http://www.pb-photos.com/Images/Aviation/New%20Waddington%2008/Waddington.pdf

From

http://www.pb-photos.com/

RAF Waddington has an official viewing area called the WAVE (RAF Waddington Aircraft Viewing Area)

See details

http://www.heartoflincs.com/site/things-to-do/attractions/raf-waddington-viewing-area-p348331#ProductList-/site/things-to-do/attractions/raf-waddington-viewing-area-p348331

http://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/VenueDetails.aspx?venuecode=2018

TJ

A shape that is missed down here at RAF St Mawgan………..

The Nose U/C does have a set of doors but they open inwards so you don’t see them too easily, look closer at the third picture from last and you can see a nose door inside the bay – Mike

I take it is that normal that the nose gear bay has no doors?

Terrific, aren’t they?:) Don’t you ever go to bed, Linc?;)

Some of the best photos I have seen, well done, Taken from inside the perimeter I take it?.
Jim.

Lincoln .7

Cracking shots. I’ve always liked the looks of the Nimrod…meh

hi great piccies dude,can you just pop down too waddington too take piccies or do you need permission?

Great plane and better shots!

1Saludo

Lovely Shots.

Wide variety of great shots, all of the same aicraft!

Great shots of probably the worst looking RAF aircraft of all time!
To think that started out as one of the nicest-looking airliners ever built.

Nice to see the details, though – an aerial counter’s dream 😀

Outstanding! and man have they sprouted some aerials since I last saw one!

Some great shots of the “Tripple Six” replacement jet – Mike