Boeing 737 action

Boeing makes the 737s in Wichita and then ships them to Everett. I think just 737-800s and 900s are shipped whole like that.

I think those well cars with the caps are for the tails and elevators, but I could be wrong, and there's also a well car like that for carrying 777 parts, and there's also a 60ish foot flat car with the "sky box" lid that's been around since they started building 747s and shipping parts in the 60's. Its a very neat train for sure... and something that would be awesome if someone made in O (skyboxes have been made in N and HO, and the 60' length makes them fairly reasonable to do except for the excess width). 

I believe that K-line made a special - limited  run - of those cars before Lionel swallowed them up in the lawsuit crazy period.

Those are very interesting pictures, thanks. Note the lack of windows in the tail section shown in second/fourth/fifth pictures; this is a military variant of the 737 fuselage, specifically the US Navy P8. 

 

The cars that K-Line did for the Pacific NW TCA are representative of the Boeing cars, but certainly not to scale.  Berkshire Valley did do an O scale "skybox" car on a BN flatcar with original "Another Boeing 747 Jetliner Assembly" markings.  This was in 1999, and they disappeared very quickly.  (So quickly that I wonder if they got into trademark infringement issues with Boeing...?)

Nick, Thanks for posting these also.

I've seen pictures of the Boeing cars on O-scale layouts, but I don't know who made them.  Could have been K-Line...

There are no 737 models being used for refueling by the USAF, as Tim says, they're still all KC-135's based on the 707.  Many have received new engines in the course of their lifetime, but they're still old.

TimDude  You are rite,  I rembered the 135s but a lot has changed in the last 20 years.  Also to many windows for a military plane. 

Maybe a softer way to say it is that they are quite mature

the USAF uses the KC135, and KC10.... think the KC-46 is boeings new tanker to start replaceing the 135's by 2017... its a 767-200...

 

Boeing makes alot of tankers and planes for other countrys, japan and italy already use a 767, and Iran has some 747's.

 

could be a tanker for another country, but most tankers dont have that many windows... think its just a regular 737

Thanks Andrew,  looking at your title you should know.  All I was was a grunt in the beloved corp looking up at the bellies of you fly boys as you zipped by. 

If you examine the labels on the 4th picture, it identifies the variant as being a P-8A. I believe that this is the Poseidon long range maritime patrol aircraft.

Good eye Nicole. Didn't know we had a P-8. Are they operational yet?

I'm not sure if any are flying yet as the scheduled operational date is 2013.  There's lots of useful info in this link. http://www.naval-technology.com/projects/mma/

The P-8A is the American version. It's replacing the P3 Orion turboprop. The first couple of aircraft are flying now, as far as I know. The Company I work for builds the engines plus a lot more of the avionics/stores management suite. I believe that the total production is 48 to start. There is also a variant that is being built for the Indian Navy-- I think that they ordered 6-12 aircraft.

P8A.

 

I had quite forgotten about these for the Ocean, to hunt.

 

The 737 is a good plane, somewhat limited in range.

 

Now if you want a blast from the past, try the old Lockheed Lead Sled... the L1011. I think three are still in service with the UK Military.

 

I remember the old 727, 707's etc and the scream of the jets as they rotated at crazy angles off the runway. Old Friendship Airport (KBWI) in those days actually had second floor observation decks above the loading gates. Close enough to touch, smell the jet fuel and get a eyeful.

 

TSA today would have had a cow over that. There was NO TSA anywhere back in the day... man the memories...

 

There are USAF Fuelers that come on display at the show once a year. I once visited the refueler's station. It is essentially nothing more than a gigantic cot filled with doodads and gauges all around.

Hope they build more than 48. Maybe more would be later models "B" &"C", The P3 has been a work horse, based off the old Locheed Electrica commercial Airliner that had the vibration issies from the then new Turboprops.

Odd that they'd choose a short range jet as a replacement for the Orion.

well i cant argue with that... clearly says P8A on the hatch... haha.

 

i was an E-3 man myself, (707 varient) have 78 flying hours as an flight engineer. The Air Force and I just didnt get along with that, so i'm down now at Kessler AFB for their Air Traffic Control school. we'll make this one work. haha.

The engines that the P8 will use are very fuel efficient, and the P8 has inflight refueling capability. If my memory is working tonight, the "standard" maritime flight profile is 8- 12 hours, or longer if needed. The P8 is also single engine capable---

Near me at NAS JAX they have been flying and training P-3 crews for a long time. They are all geared up to start receiving the new P-8 with all new hangars and training facilities. So far, the P-8 is not well received. There are considerable doubts about its range and "all weather" capabilities. I guess we will see how well it all works out. The P-3 is a pretty amazing aircraft with all it's various capabilities and configurations. Kinda like the C-130. There is a reason these old turboprops have flown for so many years.

If the flight profile is only 8 to 12 hours I can understand the concern, The p-3 is more 18 to 20 hours, I wonder also about the P8 performance at low and slow like the P-3 does so well.

Way OT here, but as the P3's go away, I wonder what NOAA will use to replace their trusty hurricane hunters?  The NOAA birds have few hours on the air frames, but I'm guessing the maintenance costs will skyrocket with the rest of the fleet gone.  Thinking about it, I bet UVA's will be the replacement.

 

Bob

Boeing's been working for years to replace the P-3. Back in the late '80s I helped conduct a study on the issue for Lockheed Corp HQ that they forced Lockheed California (maker of the P-3) to pay for.  Lot's of issues: straight wing turbo prop vs. swept wing jet; low, heavy, slow maneuvering ops on the deck; etc., etc...politics is wonderful.

 

I flew mostly RA-5Cs and F-4J/Ss during my Navy career - got a few hours in the P-3 and acquired a lot of respect for the P-3 Orion and the crews that fly her.

 

Inflight refueling capability to extend on station time is great... if there is a dedicated tanker (read need to buy more aircraft) available nearby in that part of the ocean...also, USAF fast movers always have priority for the tankers.

737 Action?    Check this out!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=zKnsyYbfC60&feature=popular

 

Ed Mullan

Gary, we are using the STARS simulators.  the seem pretty new.

Ed, that is a nice video, thanks for sharing.  Do like the paint job on the jet.  Nick

Bob, The USAF hurricane hunters are C-130s based out of Patrick AFB. I'm not sure if NOAA has its own aircraft. DHS uses a few P-3s for patrolling the gulf in search of drug runners. DOE uses a P-3 for conducting aerial radiation surveys. Speaking of flying low and slow... One of the many tasks of the P-3 during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan was clearing convoy routes of IEDs. The P-3 would blast a powerful multi frequency radio signal that would detonate any IEDs along the convoy route. BTW, back on the topic of trains... I plan on building a few 60ft Boeing parts cars for my soon to be BNSF High and Wide Special

Bob, You are correct. After some quick research, NOAA does in fact have two P-3s based out of Mac Dill AFB. I didn't know that.

Got it.  The RAPCON sim in Cody Hall?  I was referring to the tower sims (TSS).  This one:

 

http://www.adacel.com/press/innews/5_26_2003.pdf

 

http://www.nationaldefensemaga...rn_Trainers3995.aspx

 

 

 

I saw a couple of these last summer in Montana.  They were just part of an ordinary freight train.

 

Never flew a 400 or above, but I flew 100s, 200s, and the 300 EFIS.  The Boeing was a really nice aircraft.  It has stood the test of time, probably making it the DC-3 of the jet age.

According to the details on the link that I mentioned earlier, there are extra fuel tanks fitted in the rear baggage hold that put the fuel capacity up to about 75,000lbs. 

NOAA has two P-3's (Miss Piggy and Kermit) and a Gulf Stream IV.  The USAF WC-130's do yeoman's duty since NOAA has very limited flight hours due to budget; but the USAF birds, I believe are limited to no lower than 5000 feet in the storms.  The NOAA P-3's go as low as 1500 feet.  This allows them to sample the conditions closer to the surface where there is the most interest and also the most mixing of winds.  All the birds deploy "dropsondes" that radio conditions back to the plane as the fall by parachute to the surface.  The Gulf Stream goes high and fast over the top of the storm and deploys dropsondes in a pattern around the edge of the storm to capture the "steering" currents impacting the path of the storm.  The planes then transmit the data back to NWS where the data is ingested into models running on a supercomputer.  The P-3's also have forward facing radar and a radar in the tail boom that collect data.

 

Because of the flight hour limitations, the P-3's tend to only go out for storms that are approaching the US coast when they need the most and best data.

 

In recent years, the P-3's have also been deployed to the west coast during the winter and sample winter storm systems off the US west coast.  This data improves accuracy for winter systems over the midwest and east coasts.

 

I somehow don't see 737's driving through hurricanes!  But perhaps the retirement of the Navy birds will leave behind a huge cache of spare parts for NOAA, DOE and DHS to use.

 

I live in Maryland, but visit relatives near Pasco, Washington (out in the desert) and love to fan BNSF when I'm out there.  I was shocked one day to find a train of 737's rolling by!

 

Bob

yeah gary, the rapcon sims at cody hall. exactly where i'm at. just started arrivals today. took me a bit to get approach control down. haha.

 

 

and Flash, the USAF hurricane hunters are down at Kessler AFB. theres a tv show about them on the weather channel.

Here are some photos of P3s in storage at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base outside Tucson, AZ.  There seemed to be hundreds of older model P3s in storage.  I don't think the country will run out of P3s or parts for them.  

 

Davis-Monthan is a major storage / rework facility with over 4,400 aircraft in storage.  The base makes money by selling aircraft and parts to both overseas air forces and civilian markets.  I strongly recommend a tour if you are in the Tucson, AZ area.

 

As an old Neptune P2V AND S2F guy I look at those beautiful P3's and wonder about the NEW REPLACEMENT AIRCRAFT ...On station time?....LOW and SLOW performance?...for Antisubmarine Warefare?  Maybe the mission is changing?

Boeing has two assembly plants in the greater Seattle area.

 

All Boeing 747s, 767s, 777s as well as the majority of the 787s are assembled at Paine Field in Everett, Washington.  The Great Northern served this plant prior to the BN merger.  The BNSF continues to serve it today.  At 6% the Boeing spur is the steepest grade on the railroad.

 

You can watch a video that includes a Big Sky blue Geep working the hill one minute in.

 

 

The GN was proud of their service to the 747 project and featured Boeing cars with their newest power at Sunset Falls in this promotional photo.

 

 

The Boeing Renton plant has assembled all the Boeing single aisle jet transports including the 707, 727, 737 and 757.  Prior to the merger it was served by the NP.  The tight clearances of Stampede tunnel required Boeing high and wide loads to be routed along the Columbia River from Pasco to Vancouver, Wa via the SP&S and then back to the NP for the trip north on the NP to Renton.

 

After the merger many Renton bound cars came over Stevens Pass and through the Cascade Tunnel.  The Boeing loads for Renton were often routed down the former NP Lake Washington Belt Line over Maltby Hill, through Woodinville and Bellevue and across the spectacular Wilburton trestle.  With the sale of the Lake Washington Belt Line that routing is no longer possible.

 

Here is a video of the "Renton Rocket" at work.

 

Ted, Thank you for ALL THE GREAT INFO. The viedo's are wonderful.