Flightline: 38/TBD

"user314" (user314) 09/01/2020 at 11:00 • Filed to: flightline, Planelopnik, planelopnik history, UK, File under: Sure-Why not?

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Fit check for an Exint Pod on a Harrier GR.5

!!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , Boscom Down, UK, Circa 1995

As a result of experiences in both the ‘91 Gulf War and the ‘92-’95 Bosnian conflict, AVPRO U.K. Ltd began work on an !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!!
capable of carrying a single passenger, as well as some light equipment, beneath the wings of a Harrier (though other aircraft were also envisaged).

EXINT pod concept art

Harriers carrying evacuees in EXINT pods land on an Invincible-class carrier

Cut-away art of EXINT pods showing passengers and cargo

AVPRO even anticipated EXINT pods being carried by the JSF...

Fucking NOPE! I’ll *walk* into battle first...

The pods would be equipped with oxygen and an A/C system to allow higher altitude flight, as well as a communications link to the pilot. EXINT pods would also be fitted with a GPS beacon and parachute, so that if the pilot had to jettison a (hopefully empty) pod, it would land safely and be recovered.

The idea was not a new one, with RAF Spitfires having canvas “Man bags” which would strap to the gun barrels and were capable of carrying a person above the wing.

RAF pilot demonstrating the “man bag”. I think I’d rather stay.....

A number of de Havilland Mosquitos, operated by BOAC, were modified to carry passengers in the bomb bay with a com hookup and oxygen mask. Physicist Neils Bohr was !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! out of Sweden and over Nazi-occupied Norway in such a plane. On the other side of the pond, the US developed an aluminum and perspex pod to allow passengers to be carried by P-38 Lightning fighters.

The Passenger pod was carried between the fuselage and engine nacelle.

It’s unknown how far beyond fit checks of a prototype pod AVPRO actually got. There are no records of passenger actually being carried, but issues were raised over noise and heat from the Harrier’s Pegasus engine, as well as problems with firing the aircraft’s weapons, and issues with g-loading on the passenger due to how far the pod hangs from the aircraft’s axis of rotation, so it’s likely airborne tests were carried out at some point.

An AVPRO EXINT pod on an Apache’s weapons sponson

EXINT pods were also fit-checked on Apache helicopters, and it’s rumored that the Israeli Defense Force bought some or all of the production run for their !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! s

Soldiers being medivac’ed in EXINT pods on an AH-64D Longbow Apache

McDonnell Douglas supposedly produced their own passenger pods, known as G.R.I.E.R. (Ground Rescue Insertion Extraction Resupply) for US AV-8Bs, but info on these is limited/not yet declassified, and there’s NO pictures that I’ve found.

Addenda: Kicking myself for forgetting about this, but for anyone who watched M*A*S*H, there’s also the Bell 47/H-13 Sioux, which could be fitted with two medevac panniers with acrylic windscreens.

You hear the theme song, don’t you?

ttyymmnn > user314 09/01/2020 at 11:23

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I was going to post that F-5 photo, but you beat me to it. 

ttyymmnn > user314 09/01/2020 at 11:24

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And if you don’t have an evacuation pod:

Future next gen S2000 owner > ttyymmnn 09/01/2020 at 11:30

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When you really need to leave an area....

user314 > ttyymmnn 09/01/2020 at 11:31

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US/UK soldiers did the same thing on Apaches:

Which, NOPE. Like I said, I’d rather walk home....

facw > user314 09/01/2020 at 11:31

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There are worse ways to carry an extra person on an Apache:

ClassicDatsunDebate > user314 09/01/2020 at 11:31

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Hello...

user314 > facw 09/01/2020 at 11:32

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GMTA. Just posted that pic replying to ttyymmnn.

facw > ttyymmnn 09/01/2020 at 11:33

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Not sure if that’s better or worse than the Apache I posted. It looks a bit more precarious, and I see a greater chance of having your feet crushed on landing, but on the other hand, your head isn’t inches away from a jet intake.

user314 > ClassicDatsunDebate 09/01/2020 at 11:35

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Yeah, the wiki article (which I forgot to link, now added) mentioned that the Luftwaffe also experimented with the idea, but I left it off. 

ClassicDatsunDebate > user314 09/01/2020 at 11:38

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If I recall, they were thinking of a tactical air ambulance 

ttyymmnn > facw 09/01/2020 at 12:21

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I didn’t have time to look for a better pic. That’s the first one I found. 

ttyymmnn > user314 09/01/2020 at 13:21

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And then there’s this:

It was portable, too.

user314 > ttyymmnn 09/01/2020 at 15:31

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Yup. Can’t find any real pics, but the OV-10 could carry two litters in the back:

ttyymmnn > user314 09/01/2020 at 15:39

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Looking for something else, I found this:

And I thought I remembered reading somewhere that the A-1 could carry stretchers inside, or at least one. It did have a door on the side and a couple of seats inside the fuselage, or at least some variants did.

user314 > ttyymmnn 09/01/2020 at 15:41

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ttyymmnn > user314 09/01/2020 at 15:43

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I see Shirley Bassey and all I can think of is, “Gooolllddd---fingaaaah!”

ttyymmnn > user314 09/01/2020 at 15:49

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That was fantastic! Never heard that before. Brilliant. 

gmporschenut also a fan of hondas > ClassicDatsunDebate 09/01/2020 at 19:59

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I think I’d take my chances in that than the ju52 which were the prime target in Tunisia and Stalingrad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Flax