Absolutely and totally agree with the last two sentances Chox, well put.

I knew someone who worked on the radar development team for the Nimrod AEW, he was of the opinion that the radar system was actually quite good in the end, but it just wasn’t going to all fit inside a Nimrod airframe without big problems, no matter how hard people tried.

I’m completely against the public sector strikes, well I say that I think if they go ahead they might see how strong the normal public opinion is against it.
My problem is not so much teachers etc fighting for their rights, but the teflon suits and smarmy smiles of union leaders that wait for and just absolutely love any kind of action against the government, and really don’t care who they drag along with them.
My understanding of this situation is that the governments offer was quite fair, especially in the light of the hardships that some of us are going through.
I do government work and I don’t even get a pension.

Shame, I’m staggered that they couldn’t have kept one going until the airshow so that enthusiasts can get a last photo opportunity.
Some will make the East Midlands delivery hopefully.

Just to clarify that the MRA4 has absolutely nothing to do with the R1.
The R.1 is being replaced by the RC-135 (any news on in service date?)
There was something in the news within the last month suggesting that the MRA4 might have a replacement (or substitution I suppose) after all, but unsure if it was anything more than defence chiefs wishful thinking.

As would any piston bomber designed in 1941-42.
IMHO, The B-29 doesn’t get the recognition it deserved because of its connotation with the nuclear attacks and perhaps a bit of jealousy because it was so far ahead of the other allied heavy bombers icons.

I can’t say that I have ever heard anyone with the remotest interest in military aviation history consider the B-29 in that way.

It is widely recognised and acknowledged as being hugely technically advanced and really being the way forward in bomber design.
personally speaking I think of it more for operating off those remote Pacific islands in poor conditions while involved in the massive bombing campaign against Japan, and as a post-war trail blazer in NACA X-plane tests, flight refuelling, and ELINT work as much as the two atomic bomb drops.
However in history you can’t ignore the struggles of a particular design and it did have servicability problems in theatre, not through fault of design, but through having to rush a very advanced bomber into use in very poor ground and servicing conditions with labour used to working on ‘non-electric’ aeroplanes.
Korea obviously was a turning point as the jet fighters became dominant, and this did catch up with the B-29 on day light raids.

I would say that it is possibly the single most advanced design of any military aircraft (first flight only 18 months after Lancasters’), when the RAF introduced the Washington into service in 1950 as a ‘stop gap’ it made the Lincoln appear stone aged!

Lovely, they look so pure early jet without the drop tanks etc, are these two fliers?

Agreed, would be nice to just to keep ’em going until the airshow is over at least, especially as it is such a major event and the last time that we will see any kind of Nimrod fly.

Maybe. Maybe not. Karl’s award winning Canberra was up for £4,000 the other day and yet got no bids. On the other hand, WK122 is doing very well indeed from a £2K start. In fact it’s gone past the original ‘Buy It Now’ price and is currently £2,852…

Ah yes but then that is another foible with EBay (maybe auctions in general?) and not just with cockpits, it nearly always seems to be better to start off with a low auction bid price than to advertise at a Buy It Now, it’s not unusual to see the bidding price go past a Buy It Now amount, crazy as it seems.

Richard also makes a good case from an outsider’s point of view about the listing presentation, and personally I wouldn’t have known (until you said) that the gloss black Canberra B.2 was much better than the TT.18.
Another variable is obviously the history of an airframe to a particular individual, for instance if I had the money/facilities right now I would go all out to get WK122 as it a rare example of an ex 7 sqn St Mawgan Canberra cockpit therefore it means something to me.

Having said all that though I’m sure condition is the biggest influence on cockpit prices in general.
Nice pics of GOKONEs Hunter:)