Second Hand Aircraft

[clan]

So the Aircorp cannot afford to upgrade, how about buying second hand and keeping what we have, with upgrades and changing around some aircraft roles a little
A111 X 8 Painted green X Training and Army Support
Gazelle x 2 Trainer 1 Purchased second hand
Dauphin x 4 upgraded or down graded to analogue
2 Moved to a new Naval Wing based in Cork X For the Rangers
AB412 X 6 LUH Army Support
EH101 X 2 , One on overseas missons one In Ireland
C130 X 2 Transport
Casa x 2 Navel wing
Marchetti x 10 Kept as basic trainers
Cessna x 6 Border Patrol (smugglers)
Pilatus x 10 Second tier Trainer
Viggen x 10 Interceptor aircraft.
MITS X 3

All is possible bought second hand, or leased.
53 aircraft, not too bad.

[pilatus]

good idea but the viggen?not so good a choice the sole operator sweeden has all but retired their fleet which will mean sabb will stop producing spare parts!i would opt for the MiG-29smt fulcrum which is cheaper than any western aircraft and in my opinion a much more capable design!

[clan]

If it is cheap and capable then it should be considered, maybe Taiwan will swop some aircraft for some of Larry Goodmans quality Meat products.
Lokking at Franks pictures of the A111's and seeing one this morning doing some fantastic manoeuvres over Galway it would be a shame to retire them.

[Fouga]

Yeah saw the alouette and dauphin also over galway i might add!

The MiG would not be the best as far as i know pilots seem to eject out of them quite alot he he!

How about the Gripen?

[pilatus]

there are alot of rumours about the MiG but most are not true!the reason they are looked on as being inferior to western types is because the countries got this gem of an aircraft as a gift when they were in the soviet union and now they cannot afford to maintain,upgrade or even train pilots properly.but if u look at richer clients like germany and malasiya u will c that it is not inferior.in excercises like red flag,frissan flag the germans MiG's really put everyone through their paces from the americans to the british and even french!in malasiya the MiG's were pitted against austrailian hornets and the MiG's weapon and radar systems completley crushed the austrailians(another excercise of course)being able to launch their adders in simulation 11km before the aussi's could realise their supposedly superior amramms!gripen?good but u cant beat a proven weapon system!that is y i would pick the fulcrum which in its smt/m2 variant(which is still testing classified weapons) would be a fered opponent! [:sus:  :cool:  :laugh:  

[Imshi-Yallah]

Er a bit ambitious there...
I'd kiss the person who got us half a dozen sea king sized aircraft fighters are useless without a military for them to support.

[pilatus]

you are a man of great wisdom ishmi! '>

[FMolloy]

What's the point in having A111's & AB412's doing the same job? The same can be said of the Marchetti & Pilatus, there's no point in maintaining two types of aircraft that do the exact same job.

[RAPTOR]

We can all at least dream on about the IAC getting Fighters,but the question remains in my mind,why did the IAC get the PC-9M?This aircraft is really a leadon to fast jets.Lets face it they wouldn't last very long against any new or second hand Fighter.This aircraft is wasted being used as a trainer,for what,the casa's and Gulfstream,a Piper or Cessna would have done that job.No my friends,I think the days of combat aircraft in the IAC are over,second hand or not.

[Silver]

From what I understand, the reason in getting the PC-9's was to have a single type of aircraft that can be used for training and light strike missions.

It will be highly unlikely that the PC-9's will ever be called upon to perform a 'real life' attack, but it a valuable asset to have nonetheless.

At least we have (and will continue to have) a strike capability.
Look at the New Zealand AIR FORCE situation - they have no similar combat aircraft whatsoever !

The GOC also stated that he wanted pilots to be familiar with the latest equipment (e.g HUD, Ejection seats, etc). Presumably this would allow AC pilots to train to operate jets in a shorter period, should our security situation require the purchase of fighter jets.

I'm not saying I agree with having no jets. But there is some logic in the GOC's statement.

Silver.

[alpha foxtrot 07]

at least someone is thinking of the future

[clan]

fmolloy the reasons for having the A111 and the AB412 doing the same job is simple, the army is going on more overseas missions, it would be good if they had back up from there own helicopters. A111 for general Army/Air Corp training. Moving onto the AB412 and then if need be the using them overseas. Many hands make light work.

[FMolloy]

That still doesn't explain why you have two different aircraft doing the same job. Why not get rid of the A111's, which are coming to the end of the road anyway, and have 10-12 AB412's instead? It would give the same lift capability & would simplify the AC's logistics.

[FMolloy]

I'd also get rid of the Dauphins. If the NS want them, transfer them across & take them off the AC's books. Let the NS get their own crews & techies, I'm sure they'd be happier with that.

That's assuming, of course, that the NS want the Dauphins. If they don't, then there's no point in keeping them.

[clan]

I would of course get 10 AB412's but the idea was to get as much as possible for as little money as possible. If Money was no object then of course 10 or 20 would do.
But it is not like that unfortuantly, anyway why not have two aircraft doing the same job, everyone else does.
Yes the NS should have at the very least 2 Dauphins, with NS crew and NS techies. And the other two down graded to Analogue for the Rangers to use. Or improvsied armed airacaft like the Saudi's.