It is now over ten years ago that RAAF P-3C Orion A9-300 went up in flames on the Edinburgh flightline. As captured in this dramatic photograph, A9-300's forward fuselage and cockpit were damaged beyond repair from a liquid oxygen system fire that broke out when the aircraft was undergoing maintenance work in January 1984. Despite the considerable damage the aircraft lives on, its wings now flying on a US Navy P-3C that made a belly landing after a previous aborted landing on a runway under construction sheared off its undercarriage in 1988. That aircraft was deemed repairable, but would need new wings, so A9-300 became the donor aircraft. A9-300's fuselage meanwhile was adapted by DSTO as an advanced avionics systems mock-up simulator, or ORACL — Orion Avionics Concept Laboratory. DSTO refurbished the aircraft fuselage in 1992 to serve as a testbed for new workstation ergonomics, various cabin layouts and new display concepts. As such the ORACL Orion played an important role in defining the RAAF's requirements for its upcoming AP-3C Orion upgrade programme. Full details of the AP-3C programme, which will give Australia the most capable long range maritime patrol aircraft in the world, appears from p27 of this issue.