Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR. 1, RAF Kinloss Wing, Moray, Scotland, 1977

AA35602-C

Consignment

This is a Consignment sale piece we are offering. It comes in its original box and is in like new condition.

The Aviation Archive by Corgi
AA35602 Hawker Siddeley Nimrod MR. 1, RAF Kinloss Wing, Moray, Scotland, 1977

1:72 Scale, Limited Edition #1867 of 2230

Length 10.5" x Wingspan 9.5"

The BAE Systems (formerly Hawker- Siddeley) Nimrod maritime patrol aircraft is derived from the De Havilland Comet, the world's first jet airliner. It is unique in being the only dedicated land-based, jet powered maritime patrol aircraft in service today. (Other jet-powered maritime patrol aircraft such as the S-3 Viking are primarily deployed from aircraft carriers, or simply civil types with added electronics.) Nimrod development began in 1964 as a project to replace the elderly Avro Shackleton. Like many other successful maritime patrol aircraft, it was based on a civil airliner which had reached the end of its market life- in this case, the Comet 4. The first two RAF aircraft were unfinished Comet 4 airliners. The Comet's turbojet engines were replaced with Rolls-Royce Spey turbofans (for better fuel efficiency, particularly at the low altitudes required for maritime patrol), and major changes made to the fuselage, including an internal weapons bay, an extended nose for radar, a new tail with ESM sensors mounted in a bulky fairing, and a MAD boom. After a first flight in May 1967 the RAF ordered 46 Nimrod MR1s, and the first example entered service in October 1969. Five squadrons were eventually equipped with the MR1, based at St.Mawgan, Cornwall and at Kinloss in Scotland. XV254 was one of the original production batch built at Woodford, Manchester, and was delivered to the RAF late in 1969 initially being pooled with the squadrons at RAF Kinloss in Scotland, where it currently serves after upgrade to MR.2 standard around 1983. XV254 was the aircraft chosen to be statically displayed to HM The Queen in July 1977 at RAF Finningley Review of the RAF. The model is depicted in its original delivery scheme of light grey and white, which it wore between 1969-81. 

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