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Navy Boeing P-8 Poseidon Makes First Flight
The first production version of Boeing's first P-8A Poseidon took off and completed its first successful flight. The plane flew June 21 from Renton Field, where it is assembled, to Boeing Field in Seattle, where mission systems will be installed. It is the first of six low-rate initial production aircraft for the Navy, part of a $1.6 billion contract awarded in January. (defense.aol.com) Más...Sort type: [Top] [Newest]
And every P-3 pilot I've talked to at NAS Jacksonville absolutely thinks that the P-8 is the biggest waste of money they've ever seen. The P-3 is an excellent aircraft that just needed a few upgrades to continue being so, and the turboprop's make their loiter time much longer than the P-8's turbofans will. They might be able to get to the target area faster, but they won't be able to stay and prosecute the target.
True enough, but every airframe has a lifespan.
Not saying the P-3 is a bad aircraft (its not) But of course the pilots who fly them would think that. They want to keep their jobs and not see such a plane like the P-3 exit service. I think the P-8 is a great project. It is giving Boeing business because they are struggling right now. 125 aircraft is a good source of revenue for them. Like the Orion, such a fantastic bird to see; these combat oriented commercial aircraft will be a fantastic sight and a great addition to the safety and advancement in the US Armed Forces' arsenal.
I have to agree with you Chris. While having younger airframe is nice, jets are not the right choice to everything. I don't know what other airframe there is that could handle the mission unless you're going to go for a P-130 anti-sub Herc.
I think this article is missing some details - this photo shows the P-8 in Jacksonville NAS back in April; http://www.navy.mil/view_single.asp?id=99928
Does the author mean the first US Navy operational flight of the P-8 took place?
Does the author mean the first US Navy operational flight of the P-8 took place?
I think that a good parameter to judge efficiency would be the number of gallons per sq. mile is burnt by either aircraft. And everybody with a scant knoledge of this sort of thing will tell you that the P-3 wins by a large margin. Ditto for man-hours per sq.mil per hour of operation are required for maintanance. In this case I think that the newer P-8 wins. So this whole thing is wide open for analysis.