Tailless P-3?

[Jeph]

i know this is (or was) a P-3, but missing its MAD. this was taken at about 11:45 am EST today at NAS/JRB Willow Grove, PA. I'm sure the US Navy doesn't use Electras, as I've never seen it, or heard of a squadron of them.

edit: There used to be two P-3 squadrons (VP-64 and VP-66) based at the grove, but they were disestablished, and replaced with C-130 squadron VR-66. everyone changed over to the C-130 because there's less of a demand for the Orion hese days.

anyone know anything about this?

thanks

[Jeph]

edit: better pic

[DaveSims]

They are several versions of the P-3 that don't have the MAD tail characteristic of most P-3s.  I can't really tell from the photos which one it is.

There is the VP-3, which is a VIP transport (seen one first hand)

Then there ist he WP-3 which is a hurricane hunter.  It still has a tail, but it is shorter and fatter than the MAD.

And last is the EP-3 which is an electronic intelligence gathering aircraft.  It usually has a multitude of smaller antennas, but no MAD.

If I had to guess, since it still has a grey camo paint, it is the EP-3, but I may be mistaken.

[Jeph]

I didn't take these pics myself, a friend passed them on to me for help identifying the bird.

I've seen and have taken a couple of pics of an EP-3, (not scanned). aside from the many antennae it has, it's also got a giant, unmistakable tumor on the chin. this is a pic of an EP-3 i borrowed from FAS.org. perhaps you're right...the pics i posted could possibly be of an EP-3.  :-?





VP-3's the last time i saw them, were the two-toned scheme, of a gloss tannish and white, or possibly gloss solid white.

I've only seen one WP-3 in my life, but after a quick search on google, i remember the tail. definitely not the aircraft i posted. thank you for the reply though. i had tunnel vision on the just the P-3, and not it's variants.

[Jeph]

sorry, not trying to spam the thread, but the best pic shows not an EP-3 tail boom or chin tumor. hmmm

[Jeph]

Anyone have a clue? that stumpy, pointy tail is just something I've never seen before...and it looks like a flat spot where the chin dome should be.

[The Ruptured Duck]

Lockheed Electra?

[pepper_airborne]

Could be a orion,  i used to saw them flying daily over my house, until they closed the nearby airbase and sold them to germany/hungary.