Miniature Wargames

Miniature Wargames

Thursday, July 7, 2011

What kind of plane is this and what is so special about it?

 Hey all, I have been trying to get pictures of this plane for months and finally got them today.  Here's the weird part, it is a Radial Engined plane from probably the 50's, it has an extended radome on the front and a pod underneath the right wing root.  It is painted U.S. Navy Haze grey both top and bottom.  My questions are why refit a Koren war era plane with the kit it has on it?  What could it's purpose be?  What kind of plane is it?  I flew in an armed services for my countries military and would like to think I have some knowledge of plane recognition and purpose but this one baffles me, it is NOT a DC-3, DC-6 etc...so pipe up you aviation experts and have a go.  And the last question is why in the hell would you fly this plane daily over the area in which I live?  It almost looks like a Vickers Valetta but the Valetta is too stubby looking to be that plane.

Without further a due here are the pictures. Click on the pictures to get the full size...


Also here is a P2 someone mentioned for comparison the P2 has a midline wing root whereas the plane above has a low mounted wing. Also the tail is not that of a P2, it is completely different.  While they did modify the nose to house the radar or surveillance package it is rather unheard of to modify a structural component such as the tail assembly.  To replace the radome is no big deal as it is just fiberglass.

After further digging I found That the plane in question is a Convair Cv-600 It is a photo recon bird and its owner is restricted, it's purpose is LiDAR imaging among other things. 
Okay so after figuring all this out, here is a bit of trivia, the first "Vomit Comet" NASA used to train the astronauts was the same type of aircraft as this one.  A Convair CV-600... Pretty cool.

4 comments:

  1. Looks like a variant of a Lockheed P-2 Neptune such as a P2V-2S etc.

    Regards,
    Matt

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  2. Sorry I looked it is not a P2. I was a P3 crewmen and new right away it was not a P2... Also what could be the purpose of the enlarged radome and the surveillance pod underneath the right/starboard wing root...?

    I will add a P2 Neptune to this post for comparison. Also the P2 has been retired for 30 yrs or more with the P3 coming online...

    Cheers.

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  3. Planes are not really my thing??? Have there been any sightings of Mulder or Scully in the local area.........

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  4. I think I finally figured the plane type out but still cant explain all the modern improvements. It is a Convair CV-600 I believe. But why use a 1950's era aircraft for reconnaissance? Also it is obviously still being used by the military...

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