P-3C Orion Flyby

I looked up a short time before sunset tonight and there it was-----a beautiful U.S. Navy P-3C Orion submarine hunter. I think it was circling to land from the South at Eugene's Mahlon Sweet Field. Just two nights ago, I had been studying online photos and specifications for this plane and it was quite a surprise to see one for the first time over my neighborhood. I don't think there's been many reports of enemy submarines in our valley lately, so there must have been other business at hand.

This plane has been in continuous service with the Navy for 55 years and is slowly being phased-out by the jet-powered P-8A Poseidon. It was developed from Lockheed's passenger liner, the 4-turboprop Electra. Both versions are also still used as water tankers for fire-fighting and the P-3C for other kinds of surveillance work. Each engine produces 4,600 H.P. and it can haul 29 tons of cargo. The extended tail section is made of fiberglass and houses some of the submarine detection systems.

Here's the HD Video on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22121562@N00/7370855440/in/photostream

The Wikipedia article on the P-3C: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/P-3_Orion

Sony HX200V-----vid-cap photo from 60p HD video

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Steve McDonald
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22121562@N00/
http://www.vimeo.com/user458315/videos