Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

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Defiance
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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Defiance »

dmereifield wrote:Interesting timing for a trip to Turkey. Is she trying to put the squeeze on the EU or wind them up? Or both?
BBC have quietly reported (as part of an overall article) that they've announced a £100 million deal for collaboration work on TF-X which was the sort of news I was looking for.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-38779669

But we have wandered truly off topic here!

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hovematlot
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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by hovematlot »

Looks like the PM used a charter jet for her trip to Jordan today. Where's her A330?

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by SKB »

hovematlot wrote:Looks like the PM used a charter jet for her trip to Jordan today. Where's her A330?
Image

ZZ336 was being used by Prince Charles and the Duchess of Cornwall for 9 days for visits to Italy, Romania and Austria.

https://www.theguardian.com/politics/20 ... dule-clash

Aethulwulf
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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Aethulwulf »

Apparently the Queen has first dibs on ZZ336, then Prince Charles, and then the Prime Minister. The rest of the cabinet are next on the list.

Always nice to remind the politicians that they are not the most important people.

I hope that if the RAF ever need it for AAR, they would get a higher priority than the Queen and all others.

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Timmymagic »

Aethulwulf wrote:Apparently the Queen has first dibs on ZZ336, then Prince Charles, and then the Prime Minister. The rest of the cabinet are next on the list.

Always nice to remind the politicians that they are not the most important people.

I hope that if the RAF ever need it for AAR, they would get a higher priority than the Queen and all others.
I'm not a fan of the Royal Family. I'd gladly get shot of the lot of them to be honest. But this is ridiculous. AAR should obviously come first, and by the sounds of it we're rather amply equipped on that front at present, but any use of the A330 for VVIP transport should be based purely on risk. Prince Charles swanning about central europe is clearly at less risk than the PM flying into Jordan or Saudi. Do we really need to use an A330 for Southern and Central Europe? For the heir to the throne? Where's the 146's?

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SKB
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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by SKB »

Errr, you do know its called the ROYAL Air Force for a reason, don't you?! ;)

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Timmymagic »

SKB wrote:Errr, you do know its called the ROYAL Air Force for a reason, don't you?!
I know, I know....I just get the urge to order a portable guillotine whenever I see Prince Charles' mug. Anyone who believes in homeopathy should be executed with immediate effect to prevent them infecting everyone else...

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Caribbean »

Timmymagic wrote:Anyone who believes in homeopathy should be executed with immediate effect
You do know that the NHS runs homeopathic hospitals, don't you?
The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
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LordJim
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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by LordJim »

Not for much longer under current thinking.

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Timmymagic »

Caribbean wrote:You do know that the NHS runs homeopathic hospitals, don't you?
They don't run homeopathic hospitals. They, under government pressure due to Prince Charles, allowed some homeopathic treatments. They're (thankfully) being withdrawn as they're not cost effective (as in they don't work, they have a lower effect than placebo).

All absolutely mental...

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Caribbean »

Yes - the last NHS funding will probably be withdrawn soon (I think there's still two units running, in Glasgow and London), but a lot of NHS staff have practiced homeopathy over the years, and a lot of people find it useful. Like you, I don't believe in its efficacy, but I know that many do, so I'm not going to judge.
The pessimist sees difficulty in every opportunity. The optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty.
Winston Churchill

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SKB
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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by SKB »

Please take NHS topics to the NHS thread:
http://www.nhs.uk/pages/home.aspx

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by marktigger »

SKB wrote:Please take NHS topics to the NHS thread:
http://www.nhs.uk/pages/home.aspx

Strictly we should have an NHS thread it being Defence Medical Services 4th line support

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

marktigger wrote: Defence Medical Services 4th line support
Let's have one for the third line (it is a bit narrow to focus on Argus alone?).
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by marktigger »

3rd line includes all the field hospitals and some would argue Aeromed as well as argus which kinda sits at role 2.5-3

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

Yep, that is what I meant: ]3rd line includes all the field hospitals and some would argue Aeromed as well as argus which kinda sits at role 2.5-3[/quote]

I think that level of aeromed (the specially fitted out Chinooks included) have been pretty much disbanded, post- A-stan.

About a year ago, the airdroppable one held an exercise.

Argus is slated for retirement (by 2024, the latest).
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by marktigger »

MERT ie the casevac chinooks is more role 1-2

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by ArmChairCivvy »

marktigger wrote:MERT ie the casevac chinooks is more role 1-2
Of course, the question is: what are they flying into... ie. the next facillity.
Ever-lasting truths: Multi-year budgets/ planning by necessity have to address the painful questions; more often than not the Either-Or prevails over Both-And.
If everyone is thinking the same, then someone is not thinking (attributed to Patton)

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by marktigger »

yeap voyager is more 3-4 transfares

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by SKB »

Image
ZZ336 delivers Prime Minister Theresa May, Defence Secretary Michael Fallon and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson to today's NATO summit meeting.

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Timmymagic »

Not an A330. But developments like this might increase the chance of a couple of Voyager getting a boom at some point in the far distant future. Looks like Airbus is having success with it's boom following previous issues, just as Boeing has problems with its new one.


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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by zanahoria »

RAF tanker and US fighter jets nearly crashed as flight controller was distracted by phone call, report reveals - The Telegraph

https://apple.news/AhlT5ir1YSuyJwNJ2azdzQA

An RAF tanker aircraft and two F-15 fighters came within a split second of colliding over the North Sea after a flight controller was distracted by a phone call, an official report has revealed.
The pilots of the RAF Voyager claimed that one of the United States Air Force jets was as near as 160ft (50 metres) when it flew directly across their path as they were flying at 322mph.
The F-15 flying at 402mph was so close that the tanker crew could feel the turbulence as it switched on its afterburner and roared away in a desperate bid to avoid a crash.
One of the pilots of the tanker immediately reported the near-miss to flight controllers, saying he and his crew "were very close to not being there anymore".
A report by the UK Airprox Board, which investigates near misses, concluded that the F-15s had been flown "into conflict" with the Voyager.
But it also blamed air traffic controllers for failing to provide adequate "traffic information" and misunderstandings between them and the American pilots.
One controller based at Stanwick, Hampshire, was said to have been confused when the F-15s stated that they would be flying in the Wash area and assumed they meant the geographic Wash.
But the F15 crews meant they were flying into the so-called Wash Aerial Tactics Area which extended further north into the refuelling zone where the RAF tanker was flying.
The controller had assumed the F-15s would be flying safely further south. As a result, he answered a landline phone which was not his responsibility and became "embroiled in a distracting and complicated" call.
The report said that the call "served to further increase his workload and resulted in him focusing on an that task rather than on the F15s".
A trainee air traffic controller who was also monitoring the airspace said the F-15s had suddenly turned towards the Voyager and the incident "escalated rapidly", leaving her no time to order the tanker to take avoiding action.
The near miss happened on January 5 this year at a height of 16,000ft around ten miles off the coast of north Norfolk after the Voyage from RAF Brize Norton had refuelled two RAF Typhoons in mid-air.
The Voyager which is the size of airline jet and normally has a crew of eight and two pilots was flying west with its wing hoses still trailing when it received an alert about two approaching aircraft.
Investigators said they were "disappointed" that the American pilots had not been told in a pre-flight briefing that refuelling was taking place in the area where they were to be flying.
As a result, the F-15s entered the refuelling area off the Norfolk coast - one of 14 such areas in the UK - without realising that it was "active".
An RAF investigation found the air traffic controllers "did not effectively prevent the F15 from entering the airspace around the Voyager".
The report made 15 recommendations to prevent similar near misses, including a review of airspace names.

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by james k »

Role 2, rather like the old Field Ambulances. Role 1 (my old job) was in direct support of a field unit that the medic is attached to, sometimes the Field Ambulances would bolster an RAP with one of it's sections to become Role 1/2 but MERT don't do that.
marktigger wrote:MERT ie the casevac chinooks is more role 1-2

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by james k »

Sorry if I've missed this but does the Voyager have any capability for landing on short and/or rough runways? Not grass strips obviously but if an overseas airfield, which would not necessarily meet the standards of commercial airfields, were to be seized could the Voyager land follow up men, stores and equipment to support 16 Air Assault Brigade?

Or being a militarised commercial type does it require a fully fledged developed airfield?

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