The P8-A wasn't delivered until November 2013 and suspect a P-8 may possibly have been dispatched. The P8-A is still not in full production so it may still be in the testing stage.

I was joking about the lack of (any) meaningful progress to date in finding MH370 and that you reported that training for the refueling capability would not begin until 2015.

Possibly one crew has already performed in flight refueling. They'd have to train a crew during the testing stage to make sure it all works and changes don't need to be made before they can start training other crews in 2015.

With it already very heavy, I suspect there is a lot of detection and fire control equipment as well as ordinance using up most of the available space. Doubling the size of the crew and adding beds and a bigger galley may not be possible due to space restrictions. With a crew, it probably has a weight that is heavier than a fully loaded 737-800 since it has a higher maximum takeoff weight than the 737-800 but that is probably classified since different configurations are available. The P-8I for India is different than the P-8A for the US.

I was assuming that with ordinance, machinery, and fuel, that weight (not space) is the limiting factor, as it is invariably on almost all large aircraft. Given refueling capability, you might therefore give up 2000lbs of fuel at take-off (not fuel capacity), and add five more crew (half the weight) and some bunks and a small galley and fridge (the other 1,000lbs) with no loss of functionality. Then you'd have to refuel say 30 minutes sooner? .... Maybe my thinking is too simplistic.

Two U.S. spy planes are now hunting for the jet, including an advanced P-8A Poseidon designed to spot submarines.

http://news.msn.com/world/us-search-...r25-mln-so-far

A P-8A with in flight refueling capabilities was dispatched so maybe with the right crew, the plane can be refueled in flight. However the P3-C also has in flight refueling capabilities but they are searching only 2 hours and then returning so maybe there isn't a refueling tanker in the area. I believe the P8-A can stay aloft longer than the original designed P-8 or up to about 10 hours total (about a 2-3 hour search window if flying from Perth).

I can only imagine what may be in the P8-A but it may be laid out like rooms with each having a large flat panel screen with individual controllable cameras for visual searches, sonar displays, and radar displays with controls for all as well as fire control. Each of the crew members may be individually visually searching as well as monitoring other displays. There may possibly also be some mechanism that can automatically reload ordinances as ordinances are launched.

A 737-800 costs about $70 million and production P8-As cost $169 million without the ordinance ($111 million for the airframe, $20 million for the engines, and $32 million for the avionics) after initial development costs of $3.89 billion.

http://www.ausn.org/Portals/0/pdfs/f...ct%20Sheet.pdf

The following are some pictures of the interior of a P-8.

I want to see what happens to those guys in the 3rd photo on take off/ landing presumably they have some more...appropriate seating?

That would take some explaining..

That's what the handles by the side of the monitors are for. Hold on during take off and landing.

I did wonder.....
Same for a hard bank to starboard?
How about to port...do the monitors have airbags?

That picture was taken from an article about the P-8I. Maybe that version is only available for people that that had practice going to school in India.

I noticed that the artist rendition of the 2nd picture of the P8 has a major flaw. Can you spot it?

Raked wingtips rather than sharklets?

Nope. In fact it is so ridiculous that it appears the artist was pulling a fast one to see what he could get away with.