Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

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

Post by RichardIC »

marktigger wrote:Gabriele wrote:
Oh, for fuck's sake, tell me it isn't.
Isn't ZZ336 one of the precious few 3-point tankers...? Messing with a KC-2 was too smart a choice?


what does it matter how the cabin is configured if the refueling kit is still aboard they can still be used as tankers
It can't be supporting QRA if it's being used for a three week Royal Tour of the South Pacific is the point I think was being made.

Actually, probably not the best example because two-pointers can support QRA, but you get the drift.

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Gabriele »

A KC-3 can do everything the KC-2 does, and more.

The KC-2 cannot do what the KC-3 does. Anything that reduces the availability for military tasks should be done first with the KC-2, more easily replaced, than with the KC-3.
Going around carrying ministers and royals reduces availability. Ergo, i would have preferred it done with a KC-2. It is only logical.

If the KC-2 really gains the boom, i'll shut up. Otherwise, it makes little sense.
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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by marktigger »

ok are all 3 points on a tanker ever used at the same time, I've never seen footage of triple tanking?

and there are tasking that are more important than Inflight refueling

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Gabriele »

The importance of the center station is not so much in refueling fighter jets, but in being the only station that can be used to refuel big customers like Sentry, C-130 and A400. There are just 7 KC-3 and just 5 kits. Being smart about how they are committed, distributed and used wouldn't hurt.
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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by abc123 »

And why is the UK so afraid/embarrased to give their Chief Executive the comfort/prestige it deserves? Russia, USA has it, Germany has it, France has it- and nowhere it is named Cam Force or Blair Force One- just in Britain. A bit more respect for INSTITUTION of Chief Executive of the UK ( not for the this or that person ) wouldn't be so terrible idea.
:(
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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by marktigger »

it's because we don't see our elected representitives in the same way they are public servants.

It didn't help matters that blair stopped the head of state using RAF aircraft because he and his ministers consiered themselves as more important. The plan for Blair force one was the aircraft would be for the exclusive use of him and his ministers. Having witnessed an airport near belfast at lunchtime on a friday and the bulk of 32Sqn sitting on the tarmac to lift out ministers and senior civil servants for the weekend as a tax payer made me very angry

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by SKB »

PM arrives in Warsaw on Ministerial A330


Image
Image
^ David Cameron's A330 at Heathrow earlier today. Note the "336" on the front gear door (ZZ336)

Image
^ Arrival at Warsaw

Image

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by RichardIC »

Y'know they really are imposing beasts. I've only seen one up-close-and-personal once - late last year at Malta International/Luqa. It looked absolutely colossal next to the gaudy toursist A320s and 737s.

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by marktigger »

the CC4 should be converted from one of the spares but all 12 should be airforce aircraft not a PFI

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Ron5 »

abc123 wrote:And why is the UK so afraid/embarrased to give their Chief Executive the comfort/prestige it deserves? Russia, USA has it, Germany has it, France has it- and nowhere it is named Cam Force or Blair Force One- just in Britain. A bit more respect for INSTITUTION of Chief Executive of the UK ( not for the this or that person ) wouldn't be so terrible idea.
:(
Because Britain. I don't understand it either.

Apparently it's OK for the Queen/Prime Minister to live in multiple, billion dollar residences but having secure, protected, transport. Oh no.

Dog in the manager to the nth degree.

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by SKB »

Because the PM isn't our head of state, our Queen is. The PM is just a public servant that takes orders from us and shouldn't be allowed to forget it, as Brexit has recently demonstrated. ;)

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Ron5 »

SKB wrote:Because the PM isn't our head of state, our Queen is. The PM is just a public servant that takes his orders from us and shouldn't be allowed to forget it, as Brexit has recently demonstrated. ;)
HowooooooooOOO (howl of dog in the manger) :-)

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by SKB »

RAF reveals VIP-configured Voyager
The Royal Air Force’s VIP-roled Airbus Defence & Space A330 Voyager has been revealed ahead of its first deployment – transporting the UK defence secretary Michael Fallon to a NATO summit in Warsaw on 8 July.

The specially adapted Voyager (ZZ336) has been configured with 58 business-class seats, rather than the usual 291 economy seats.

Announced as part of the UK government's Strategic Defence and Security Review in November 2015, the modification is claimed to be “significantly cheaper” than chartering flights for government officials or the royal family.

It will still be able to function as a tanker, and will reside at RAF Brize Norton alongside the rest of the Voyager fleet. The VIP configuration will be able to be fitted to any of the other A330s in the RAF inventory, should ZZ336 be out of service.

“The refitting of this RAF Voyager – to transform it from a standard air-to-air refuelling and air transport to an aircraft suitable for the additional role of VIP transport – was completed quickly and efficiently with our AirTanker partners,” says Air Marshal Sean Reynolds, deputy commander of capability for the air force. “The reconfigured Voyager flying on its maiden VIP flight on Friday will proudly represent the UK and the RAF across the globe for many years to come.”

The service has so far received 13 of an eventual 14 aircraft under the Future Strategic Tanker Aircraft (FSTA) contract, with the final delivery expected later this month. Nine Voyagers are part of the core fleet, while the remainder are “surge” aircraft that can be leased for other roles such as civilian passenger transport.

Aircraft number 13 (ZZ336) was converted into a civilian configuration after its February delivery, and the final aircraft from the contract will receive the same modification.
https://www.flightglobal.com/news/artic ... er-427048/

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by marktigger »

its not gone down well with the daily mail journalists who described it as "more Easy Jet than Learjet"

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by JayDee »

I think it's good our PM/Royals will have their own aircraft it's slightly sad when they use to turn up in a charted BA flight...

In 2012 Prime minister forced to use Angolan oil company Sonangol's plane after British carriers were unable to release an aircraft..

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by SKB »

Just for comparison, here are some other nations official planes.

Image
^ French Airbus A330-200

Image
^ German Airbus A340-313

Image
^ Italian Airbus A340-500

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by whitelancer »

How about a new Royal Yacht to go with it. 8-)

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Caribbean »

whitelancer wrote:How about a new Royal Yacht to go with it. 8-)
Only if it has a "mission bay" and 2087 :lol:
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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by whitelancer »

Don't forget the hangar and Merlin!

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Ron5 »

and 5" gun

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by R686 »

Really I don't understand this resentment that the PM should not have their own plane, at the end of the day if it's dual use who gives a rats as long as the flight is justifiable.

Just don't do the Bishop two step who was speaker of the house at the time,

http://mobile.abc.net.au/news/2015-07-1 ... ht/6622134

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by abc123 »

whitelancer wrote:Don't forget the hangar and Merlin!

Nope, Chinhook-sized flight deck. :lol:
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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Caribbean »

That's settled then - one T26 with VVIP container in the mission bay ;)
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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by Ron5 »

You mean a standard container with a built in loo and a couple of deckchairs? Sounds good.

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Re: Airbus A330 Voyager (MRTT) (RAF)

Post by The Armchair Soldier »

The Voyager family is complete at RAF Brize Norton
On 13th July 2016, the Royal Air Force took delivery of its fourteenth and final Airbus A330-200 Voyager aircraft.

The final aircraft touched down at RAF Brize Norton following its final sunny departure from the Airbus Defence and Space facility in Getafe, Spain. This aircraft completes the fleet of nine core and five surge fleet aircraft delivered through the programme and will continue on the military register as ZZ343 to carry out its Air-to-Air Refuelling and Air Transport roles.
Read More: http://www.raf.mod.uk/rafbrizenorton/ne ... D574A229AF

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