Heavily armed 737

[Marin]

I was directing some videotaping with the 737 Ecco Demonstrator plane on our Boeing Field flightline this afternoon when one of the P-8As taxied in after a test flight. It was the first one I'd seen in person with its full complement of missiles under the wing. We were told it had been up doing flutter testing, hence the missiles mounted on the hard points. But it was definitely a bit of a bizarre sight to see this heavily armed 737 taxiing past the row of brightly painted commercial 737s on the line. A bit like seeing a Hell's Angel in full regalia at a junior prom.

 

[HopCar]

Very Cool! I had never heard of a P-8A so I had to look it up.
Where are your pictures of it?

 

[Marin]

We were not shooting with the P8 but with the 737 Ecco Demonstrator. The P8 just happened to taxi by.

But while I have a Boeing camera permit I cannot put any photos I take (or video we shoot) on company property or for company business on any public media venue unless it's been cleared by the communications and program folks.

 

[HopCar]

Marin, you're just a big tease!

 

[BaltimoreLurker]

I don't recall if they were armed, but I'm pretty sure I've seen pics of them on billboards outside of NAS Pax a few years ago.

 

[HopCar]

Aviation Week has probably already got the pictures that Marin can't post.

 

[Marin]

I've never taken any pictures of a P8A. Anything AvWeek has they either got from Boeing, the Navy, they took themselves at other locations or during a Boeing or Navy press event, or they bought from a plane spotter (like the photo below).

Here's a shot of the plane that taxied by us today on the flightline. I just now pulled it off the web. It was taken by a plane spotter--- hence the watermark--- at Boeing Field (not on Boeing property). It's one of the P8's that India bought. The Harpoon missiles are real (the plane spotter thought they were dummies) because the weight has to be accurate but they are inert.

 

[HopCar]

Sorry Marin. I didn't mean to imply that you would have supplied the photos to Aviation Leak. I understand you're job is on the line.