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U.S. Air Force Academy -- Basic Cadets go through various training exercises 25 Jul. here. (U.S.Air Force photo/Bill Evans)
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
From an illustrated aircombat history of the Chinese AirforceRepository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
From the Air Combat Illustrated History of the Chinese Air Force, printed in 1947.
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
Air Force One over Mount Rushmore Principal differences between the VC-25A and the standard Boeing 747, other than the number of passengers carried, are the electronic and communications equipment aboard Air Force One, its interior configuration and furnishings, self-contained baggage loader, front and aft air-stairs, and the capability for in-flight refueling. These aircraft are flown by the presidential aircrew, maintained by the presidential maintenance branch, and are assigned to Air Mobility Command's 89th Airlift Wing, Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the model, the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
After the division of Czechoslovakia by Germany in 1939, Slovakia was left with a small air force composed primarily of Czechoslovak combat aircraft. This force defended Slovakia against Hungary in March 1939, in the Slovak–Hungarian War in March 1939 in which Hungary reoccupied Carpathian Ruthenia and parts of southern Slovakia. In this the SVZ suffered some losses against Royal Hungarian Air Force. Later, the SVZ also took part in the German Invasion of Poland. The SVZ took part in Axis offensives in the Ukraine and Russian Central front sectors of the Eastern Front under the lead of Luftwaffe in the Stalingrad and Caucasus operations. This engagement resulted in great losses of aircraft and personnel, though.
During the World War II, the Slovak Air force was charged with the defense of Slovak airspace, and, after the invasion of Russia, provided air cover for Slovak forces fighting against the Soviet Union on the Eastern Front. For the rest of the war the SVZ fought US Army Air Forces and Royal Air Force raids against Slovakia.
Among the many more or less outdated German aircraft types inherited from the Luftwaffe during the early stages of WWII was a small number of Hs 123 A-1 dive bombers. The Henschel Hs 123 was a small single-seat biplane dive bomber and close-support attack aircraft. The aircraft was designed to meet the 1933 dive bomber requirements for the reborn Luftwaffe. Both Henschel and rival Fieseler (with the Fi 98) competed for the production contract requirement, which specified a single-seat biplane dive bomber. The first prototype, the Hs 123 V1, was cleared for its maiden flight on 1 April 1935; General Ernst Udet, a World War I ace, flew it on its first public demonstration flight on 8 May 1935. The first three Henschel prototypes, with the first and third powered by 485 kW (650 hp) BMW 132A-3 engines and the second by a 574 kW (770 hp) Wright Cyclone, were tested at Rechlin in August 1936. Only the first prototype had "smooth" cowlings; from that point on, all aircraft had a tightly fitting, characteristic cowling that included 18 fairings covering the engine valves. The Henschel prototypes did away with bracing wires and although they looked slightly outdated with their single faired interplane struts and cantilever main landing gear legs attached to smaller (stub) lower wings, the Hs 123 featured an all-metal construction, clean lines and superior maneuverability. Its biplane wings were of a "sesquiplane" configuration, whereby the lower wings were significantly smaller than the top wings.
The overall performance of the Hs 123 V1 prototype prematurely eliminated any chance for the more conventional Fi 98, which was cancelled after a sole prototype had been constructed. During testing, the Hs 123 proved capable of pulling out of "near-vertical" dives; however, two prototypes subsequently crashed due to structural failures in the wings that occurred when the aircraft were tested in high-speed dives. The fourth prototype incorporated improvements to cure these problems; principally, stronger center-section struts were fitted. After it had been successfully tested, the Hs 123 was ordered into production with a 656 kW (880 hp) BMW 132Dc engine.
The Hs 123 was intended to replace the Heinkel He 50 biplane reconnaissance and dive bomber as well as acting as a "stop-gap" measure until the more modern and capable Junkers Ju 87 became available. As such, production was limited and no upgrades were considered, although an improved version, the Hs 123B, was developed by Henschel in 1938. A proposal to fit the aircraft with a more powerful 716 kW (960 hp) "K"-variant of its BMW 132 engine did not proceed beyond the prototype stage, the Hs 123 V5. The V6 prototype fitted with a similar powerplant and featuring a sliding cockpit hood was intended to serve as the Hs 123C prototype.
About 265 aircraft were produced and production of the Hs 123A ended in Autumn 1938. It was flown by the German Luftwaffe during the Spanish Civil War and the early to midpoint of World War II. At the outbreak of hostilities, Hs 123s were committed to action in the Polish Campaign. Screaming over the heads of enemy troops, the Hs 123s delivered their bombs with devastating accuracy. A frightening aspect of an Hs 123 attack was the staccato noise of its engine that a pilot could manipulate by changing rpm to create "gunfire-like" bursts. The Hs 123 proved rugged and able to take a lot of damage and still keep on flying. Operating from primitive bases close to the front lines, the type was considered by ground crews to be easy to maintain, quick to re-equip and reliable even under dire field conditions.
The Polish campaign was a success for an aircraft considered obsolete by the Luftwaffe high command. Within a year, the Hs 123 was again in action in the Blitzkrieg attacks through the Netherlands, Belgium and France. Often positioned as the Luftwaffe's most-forward based combat unit, the Hs 123s flew more missions per day than other units, and again proved their worth in the close-support role. With Ju 87s still being used as tactical bombers rather than true ground support aircraft and with no other aircraft capable of this mission in the Luftwaffe arsenal the Hs 123 was destined to continue in service for some time, although numbers were constantly being reduced by attrition.
The Hs 123 was not employed in the subsequent Battle of Britain as the English Channel proved an insuperable obstacle for the short-ranged aircraft, and the sole leftover operator, II.(Schl)/LG 2, went back to Germany to re-equip with the Messerschmitt Bf 109E fighter bomber (Jabo) variant. The Bf 109E fighter bomber was not capable of carrying any more bombs than the Hs 123. It did, however, have a greater range and was far more capable of defending itself. On the downside were the notoriously tricky taxiing, ground handling, and takeoff/landing characteristics of the Bf 109, which were exacerbated with a bomb load.
At the beginning of the Balkans Campaign, the 32 examples of the Hs 123 that had been retired after the fall of France were taken back into service and handed over to the Slovak Air Force to replace the heavy losses on the Eastern Front after combat fatigue and desertion had reduced the pilots' effectiveness. Most of Slovakia's obsolete biplanes were replaced with modern German combat aircraft, including the Messerschmitt Bf 109, so that the Hs 123s were initially regarded with distrust – but the machines proved their worth in the ensuing battles. The Slovak Hs 123s took part in the Battle of Kursk and supported ground troops, some were outfitted with locally designed ski landing gears which proved to be a very effective alternative to the Hs 123’s spatted standard landing gear which was prone to collect snow and mud and even block. After this deployment at the Russian front, the Slovak Air Force was sent back to defend Slovak home air space, primarily executed with Messerschmitt Bf 109 E and G types, Avia B-534, and some other interceptor types, also helped by Luftwaffe units active in the area.
Being confined to national borders, the Slovak Hs 123s were put in reserve and relegated to training purposes, even though they were occasionally activated to support German ground troops. From late August 1944 the remaining Hs 123s also actively took part in the suppression of the Slovak National Uprising against Germany.
Since Hs 123 production had already stopped in 1940 and all tools had been destroyed, the permanent attritions could not be replaced - due to a lack of serviceable airframes and spare parts the type’s numbers dwindled. When Romania and the Soviet Union entered Slovakia, they organized with some captured aircraft and defectors a local Insurgent Air Force to continue the fight against Axis forces in country, including the last operational Slovak Hs 123s. No aircraft survived the war.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 8.33 m (27 ft 4 in)
Wingspan: 10.5 m (34 ft 5 in)
Height: 3.2 m (10 ft 6 in)
Wing area: 24.85 m² (267.5 sq ft)
Empty weight: 1,500 kg (3,307 lb)
Gross weight: 2,215 kg (4,883 lb)
Powerplant:
1× BMW 132Dc 9-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine with 660 kW (880 hp),
driving a 2-bladed metal variable-pitch propeller
Performance:
Maximum speed: 341 km/h (212 mph, 184 kn) at 1,200 m (3,937 ft)
Range: 860 km (530 mi, 460 nmi) with a 100 l drop tank
Combat range: 480 km (300 mi, 260 nmi) with 200 kg (440.9 lb) of bombs
Service ceiling: 9,000 m (30,000 ft)
Rate of climb: 15 m/s (3,000 ft/min)
Armament:
2× 7.92 mm MG 17 machine guns, 400 rpg
Up to 450 kg (992.1 lb) of bombs under fuselage and wings
The kit and its assembly:
A relatively simple what-if project, and it took a while to figure out something to do with a surplus Airfix Hs 123 A kit in The Stash™ without a proper plan yet. The Hs 123 is an overlooked aircraft, and the fact that all airframes were used during WWII until none was left makes a story in Continental Europe a bit difficult. I also did not want to create a German aircraft – Finland was an early favorite, because I wanted to add a ski landing gear (see below), but since I won’t build anything with a swastika on it this option was a dead end. Then I considered an operator from the Balkans, e. g. Romania, Bulgaria, Croatia or Slovakia – and eventually settled for the latter because of the national markings.
The kit was built almost OOB, and the Airfix Hs 123 is a nice offering. Yes, it’s a simple kit, but its is IMHO a very good representation, despite the many rivets on the hull, a rather bleak interior and some sinkholes (e. g. on the massive outer wings struts). It goes together well, just a little PSR here and there. I just added a dashboard (scratched from styrene sheet) and modified the OOB 50 kg bombs with extended impact fuzes with a flat, round plate at the tip, so that the bomb itself explodes above soft ground or snow for a bigger blast radius.
The only major modification is a transplanted ski landing gear from a PM Model (Finnish) Fokker D.XXI, which had to be reduced in length to fit under the compact Hs 123. A small tail ski/skid was scratched from styrene sheet material.
Thankfully, the Hs 123 only calls for little rigging – just between the central upper wing supports and there is a characteristic “triangle” wiring in the cowling. All these, together with the wire antenna, were created with heated sprue material.
Painting and markings:
Finland had been a favorite because I would have been able to apply a more interesting paint scheme than the standard Luftwaffe RLM 70/71/65 splinter scheme with a low waterline that was typical for the Hs 123 during WWII. However, as a former Luftwaffe aircraft I retained this livery but decided to add a winter camouflage as a suitable thematic supplement to the skis.
The basic colors became Humbrol 65 underneath and 30 and 75 from above – the latter for a stronger contrast to the Dunkelgrün than Humbrol 91 (Schwarzgrün). Thanks to the additional whitewash mottles, which were inspired by a similar livery seen on a contemporary Bulgarian Avia B.534, I did not have to be too exact with the splinter camouflage.
The cockpit and cowling interior were painted with RLM 02 (Humbrol 240), the propeller blades became Schwarzgrün (Humbrol 91, further darkened with some black) and the bombs were painted in a dark grey (Revell 77) while the small 100 l drop tank became bare aluminum (Revell 99).
However, before the white mottles could be added, the kit received its decals so that they could be painted around the markings, just as in real life. The Slovak national markings had to be scratched, and I used standard white simplified German Balkenkreuze over a cross made from blue decal stripes. Later a separate red decal circle was placed on top of that. The only other markings are the red “7” codes, edged in white for better contrast (from a Heller Bf 109 K) and the fuel information triangles on the fuselage from the Hs 123’s OOB sheet. As an ID marking for an Eastern Front Axis aircraft, I retained the wide yellow fuselage stripe from the OOB, sheet, too, and added yellow tips on the upper wings’ undersides.
The whitewash camouflage was then created with white acrylic paint (Revell 05), applied with a soft brush with a rounded tip. Once this had dried, I treated the surfaces with fine wet sandpaper for a weathered/worn look.
Finally, after some soot stains behind the exhausts and around the machine gun nozzles, the kit was sealed with matt acrylic varnish and the rigging (see above) was done.
The Hs 123 might not be the sexiest aircraft of WWII, but I like this rugged pug which could not be replaced by its successor, the Ju 87, and served in its close support role until literally no aircraft was left. Putting one on skis worked quite well, and the exotic Slovak markings add a special touch – even though the national markings almost disappear among the disruptive whitewash camouflage! The result looks quite plausible, though, and the old Airfix kit is IMHO really underestimated.
http:/www.usaraf.army.mil
Masaika Clinic in Tanzania Reopened
Combined Joint Task Force - Horn of Africa
Story by Master Sgt. Carlotta Holley
Date: 10.11.2009
Posted: 10.11.2009 09:02
At a ceremony here Wednesday, the Masaika clinic, the central point of health care for nearly 1,800 people, reopened after renovation by the Hamcon Company.
Combined Joint Task Force Horn of Africa awarded a $33,435 contract on Sept. 24, 2008. Construction started in January 2009. The district commissioner of Pangani, Zipora Pangani, requested the Civil Affairs Team of the 486th Civil Affairs Battalion and the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania to consider the Masaika clinic for renovation in August 2007.
"The clinic was in bad condition," said Abdillah Ndamungu, the doctor of the Masaika Clinic. "There was no electricity, no water and no toilets."
The clinic, built in 1980, needed repairs. The roof leaked and the structure of the building was in poor condition. There was also a problem with animals, mosquitoes and other insects entering the clinic through the windows.
"Medical waste was burned in an open pit outside the clinic, and the clinic's water source is almost five miles away," said U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. James Williams, of the U.S. Embassy in Tanzania. "The condition of the clinic justified renovation because of the number of patients it serves."
"The government of Tanzania and the local people worked together to renovate the clinic to improve the medical care for the citizens here," said Larry André, U.S. Embassy chargé de Affaires.
The Hamcon Company, a contractor from Tanga, repaired the roof, walls and floors. The company replaced ceilings, doors, lights and electrical outlets. They also installed a rain water collection cistern, four solar panels, toilets, a medical waste incinerator and a septic tank.
"The condition of the clinic before the renovation was very bad," said Beatrice Masoud, a clinic patient and resident of Tosaika village. "I'm happy. It looks like new with more space."
The Masaika village is in the Pangani District, Tanga Region, of Tanzania, near Kenya's boarder. The clinic provides for the people of the Masaika Village, Mivumont Village and villages in the Muheza District to the north.
"The renovation and a new mircoscope will do good work to serve the people of Masaika," said Ndamungu.
"A small thing like the clinic renovation has made such an impact," said Williams. "It makes us want to do more projects that help the community."
To learn more, visit www.usaraf.army.mil
PHOTO CAPTION: 091007-N-2420K-155 MASAIKA, Tanzania (Oct. 7, 2009) -- U.S. Army Col. Lorrie Oldham gives a speech during a dedication ceremony for the newly renovated Masaika Health Clinic in the Pangani District of Tanzania, Oct. 7, 2009. The renovation project was sponsored by Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa and U.S. Africa Command at a cost of $33,400. The clinic serves more than 1,800 people and provides outpatient services. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Jonathan Kulp/Released)
Kosovo Force conducted a change of command ceremony between Italian Army Maj. Gen. Salvatore Farina and Italian Army Maj. Gen. Francesco Paolo Figliuolo at Camp Film City Pristina, Kosovo Sept. 3, 2014.
The ceremony was attended by U.S. Navy Adm. Mark E. Ferguson III, Commander, Allied Joint Force Command Naples and the President of Kosovo Atifete Jahjaga.
Claimed to be England's highest unbroken waterfall with a drop of 100 feet. You have to walk through the bar of the Green Dragon Inn in Hardraw to reach the falls - a hardship that is made more bearable by the excellent Timothy Taylor beer available on draft. Although it was a fine sunny day, there was still ice at the foot of the falls.
Hardraw Force was used as a location for the film Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves, in the scene where Maid Marian catches Robin bathing under a waterfall.
I came across this Storm Trooper in Japantown during the annual Jpop Festival in San Francisco. The street was filled with Anime Cosplay characters and Lolita girls. #3997
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Hawker Hunter was a transonic British jet-powered fighter aircraft that was developed by Hawker Aircraft for the Royal Air Force (RAF) during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It was designed to take advantage of the newly developed Rolls-Royce Avon turbojet engine and the swept wing and was the first jet-powered aircraft produced by Hawker to be procured by the RAF. On 7 September 1953, the modified first prototype broke the world air speed record for aircraft, achieving a speed of 727.63 mph (1,171.01 km/h; 632.29 kn).
The single-seat Hunter was introduced to service in 1954 as a maneuverable day interceptor aircraft, quickly succeeding first-generation jet fighters in RAF service such as the Gloster Meteor and the de Havilland Venom. The all-weather/night fighter role was filled by the Gloster Javelin. Successively improved variants of the type were produced, adopting increasingly more capable engine models, and expanding its fuel capacity amongst other modifications being implemented.
The Hunter was exported to many countries all over the world, and one of the first foreign customers was Sweden. In the early 1950s, the Swedish Air Force saw the need for an interceptor that could reach enemy bombers at a higher altitude than the J 29 Tunnan that formed the backbone of the fighter force. A contract for 120 Hawker Hunter Mk 50s (an export version, equivalent to the RAF’s contemporary Mk. 4) was therefore signed on 29 June 1954 and the first aircraft was delivered on 26 August 1955. The model was locally designated J 34 and was assigned to two fighter wings F 8 (Barkaby) and F 18 (Tullinge) near Stockholm to defend the country’s capital as an interim solution before a more modern interceptor in the form of the indigenous Saab J 35 Draken was ready for service.
The J 34 was not fitted with a search radar, it only had a simple ranging radar for the guns and was consequently a pure day fighter aircraft. Its flying characteristics were excellent, though. It was a fast aircraft, with a maximum speed of 1.150 km/h, in spite of the fact that the Rolls-Royce Avon 23 (locally designated RM 5B) engine with a thrust of 4.080 kp lacked an afterburner. The Swedish Hunters’ mission was primarily to intercept enemy bombers, which were expected to attack from high altitudes, and they complemented the Swedish Air Force’s fleet of Saab J 32B, a radar-equipped all-weather/night fighter version of the Saab 32 Lansen fighter-bomber..
The J 34 was initially only armed with four 30 mm (1.18 in) cannon but soon retrofitted with launch rails for two AIM-9 Sidewinders (Swedish designation Rb 24) under the outer wings that markedly improved the interceptor’s effectiveness. A project to improve the performance of the J 34 further resulted in one Hunter being fitted with a Swedish-designed afterburner in 1958. While this significantly increased the engine's thrust, there was little improvement in overall performance, so that the project was shelved.
The Hunters’ career as an interceptor in Swedish service did not last long, though: During the 1960s, the J 34s were gradually replaced by supersonic J 35 Draken and reassigned to less prominent air wings, F 9 in Gothenburg and F 10 in Ängelholm.
At that time the Swedish Air Force was in a critical transitory phase concerning tactical photo reconnaissance. The current standard type for this mission was the Saab S 29C from the late Forties, complemented by the bigger Saab S 32C, which was a photo reconnaissance version developed from the A 32A attack aircraft. 45 of the latter aircraft had been built between 1958 and 1959 and the machines were equipped with a PS-432/A radar with extended range and with six cameras. Additionally, a photo reconnaissance version of the state-of-the-art supersonic Saab 35 Draken was under development, but when its first prototype flew in 1963, it was uncertain when it would become fully operational - the Draken’s interceptor variants had priority, and technology was advancing so fast at that time that upgrades were already in the making while the first production J 35s were delivered. In the meantime, the S 29C had become outdated and the more modern S 32C was rather optimized for maritime patrol. The relatively young surplus of J 34s fighters offered the opportunity to convert several airframes into tactical photo reconnaissance aircraft for low-level use over land, primarily as a replacement for the S 29Cs and as a stopgap until the S 35E would arrive at frontline reconnaissance units.
This led to the S 34B (the J 34s were consequently re-designated J 34A for better differentiation) conversion program. Sixteen airframes with relatively few flying hours were set aside and modified by Saab at Linköping in 1963. The airframe remained at the Hunter Mk. 50/Mk.4s’ standard and retained the type’s original non-afterburner engine and unmodified wings (in the meantime, a dog-toothed wing had been introduced with the Mk.6 that improved handling). The nose section was thoroughly modified to carry a broad array of cameras, and lengthened by about 4'. To compensate for the center of gravity shift through the extra equipment in the nose and create enough space for it, the Hunter’s fuselage-mounted 30 mm guns were completely deleted. The area under the cockpit was widened into a shallow tub with a flat floor, together with an extended, pointed tip which improved low-level flight stability with the now nose but still lacked any radar.
The re-contoured nose/cockpit section contained climatized compartments and windows for a total of six cameras, optimized for low-level reconnaissance and mountable in different angles:
- a long focal-length forward-looking SKA 16b (Vinten F.95) camera in the nose tip
- a sideways-looking wide angle SKA 42-44 camera (facing either to portside or starboard)
- a left oblique/forward infrared camera (various types were used, e.g. an SKA 16a/150 or an SKA 10/92
- a right oblique/forward SKA 16/10
- a vertical SKA 15/15 (F.49 Eagle IX Mk. 2)
- a vertical SKA 16a/150 infrared camera
The Hunter’s four underwing hardpoints were retained, though. All were plumbed to accept drop tanks for long-range missions and the capability to carry a pair of Sidewinders on the outer stations for self-defense was retained, too – even though this option was later in service almost never used. Later during their career, the S 34Bs could alternatively carry defensive equipment like chaff dispensers (e.g. the Motmedelskapsel KB a.k.a. BOZ-100) and early ECM devices like the Petrus/Adrian jamming pods from the Saab 32. However, most of the time the S 34Bs were operated in clean configuration to maximize low-level speed and handling, or just with a pair of drop tanks for long-range patrols along the Swedish borders.
An initial S 34B prototype was built in 1964 and flown late during the same year. Thorough operational tests with the camera installations lasted until mid-1965 at the Swedish Air Force’s Försökscentralen in Linköping. The full conversion program started in June 1964 and the first S 34B conversions were delivered to the Södermanland Wing (F11) in August 1965, where they were exclusively operated and replaced all S 29Cs of the unit’s first squadron, while the second squadron stuck to the S 29C but received four Sk 35C Draken trainers, a measure to prepare the unit for the eventual complete conversion to the S 35D. A total of seventeen Hawker Hunter Mk.50s were modified until 1966, including the prototype, which was brought to the operational S 34B status, too, and integrated into the active fleet. Unlike the J 34A fighters, the recce Hunters received a disruptive and unique three-tone camouflage in dark blue and two shades of dark green on the upper surfaces, reflecting their low-altitude mission profile. Another odd feature of F11’s J 34Bs were their individual tactical codes in the form of colored (red) numeric characters instead of letters, sharing this practice with F11’s contemporary S 32C Lansens.
Overall, the Hunter’s service with the Swedish Air Force was not long, though. The J 34A day fighters were already retired from service in 1969 and partly sold, while the S 34Bs were kept active until 1974, when operations at F11’s home base were expanded: the Swedish Air Force Intelligence School (FV UndS) was relocated to Nyköping and Saab 35 Draken fully replaced the last S 29Cs and the recce Hunters (which both lacked trainer versions). But already a year later, when the Palme government presented its bill 1975:75, a dismantling of two flotilla administrations, Södermanland's air fleet (F 11) and Kalmar air fleet (F 12), was proposed. The background was that the Swedish Defense Forces' peace organization investigation (FFU) in January 1971, tasked with investigating how the air force's peace organization from the mid-1980s could be adapted to the development of the war organization. That the flotilla would be dismantled was a matter of course, as the FFU considered that the reconnaissance divisions should be redistributed to other flotillas, primarily for operational and readiness reasons. Furthermore, the aircraft that the flotilla was armed with, the S 32C Lansen and the S 35D Draken, were to be replaced in the 1980s with the new SH/SF 37 Viggen. This also meant that aerial reconnaissance could then be solved in three aviation divisions, instead of the five reconnaissance aviation divisions that then existed within the Air Force.
General characteristics:
Crew: 1
Length: 49 ft 0.5 in (14.98 m)
Wingspan: 33 ft 8 in (10.26 m)
Height: 13 ft 2 in (4.01 m)
Wing area: 349 sq ft (32.4 m²)
Airfoil: Hawker 8.5% symmetrical
Empty weight: 14,122 lb (6,406 kg)
Gross weight: 17,750 lb (8,051 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 24,600 lb (11,158 kg)
Powerplant:
1× Rolls-Royce RM5B1 (Avon 23) turbojet engine, 9,000 lbf (40.8 kN) thrust
Performance:
Maximum speed: 623 mph (1,003 km/h, 541 kn, Mach 0.94) at 36,000 ft (11,000 m)
715 mph (621 kn; 1,151 km/h) at sea level
Range: 385 mi (620 km, 335 nmi) with internal fuel only,
1,900 mi (3,100 km, 1,700 nmi) ferry range with maximum external fuel
Service ceiling: 50,000 ft (15,000 m)
Rate of climb: 17,200 ft/min (87 m/s)
Wing loading: 51.6 lb/sq ft (252 kg/m²)
Thrust/weight: 0.56
Armament:
No internal guns;
4× underwing hardpoints with a total capacity of 7,400 lb (3,400 kg)
The kit and its assembly:
This fictional converted Hawker Hunter is a submission to the 2022 “Lightning, Canberra & Hunter” group build at whatifmodellers.com. The idea for a recce Hunter came when I wondered why there had not been a more dedicated variant than the FR.10, and when the GB came up I decided to build one from a Revell 1:72 kit. Sweden appeared as a good potential and attractive operator, as the Hunter would fit well between the Tunnan and Draken era – and I also had some donor parts from Swedish aircraft that would find their way into the rhinoplasty.
The kit is Revell’s 1:72 Hawker Hunter F.6 – initially I wanted to use an FGA.9 variant of this kit, but upon close inspection I found out that the Swedish Hunters were of a much earlier standard that made the FGA.9 an unsuitable starting point. While the Mk.4/50’s dog-teeth-less wings would be realized with a conversion set from Wolfpack, the early variants’ non-afterburner jet exhaust would have had to be scratched. It was eventually easier to procure a suitable variant of the Revell kit that offered this nozzle OOB, #04350, the first boxing from 2007 which was subsequently re-issued several times with slightly modified parts/sprues that depict later Hunter variants.
When I started building the kit, however, I found out that the kit was missing two parts – very untypical for Revell?! Apparently, the missing parts had broken off of the sprues during the packaging process, since both box and bag inside were still sealed when I received the kit. One missing piece was one of the separate dog-tooth slat sections for the wings, which could be easily replaced with the parts from the very crisp Wolfpack Hunter F.1/2/4/5 resin conversion set (which also includes a longer metal pitot) that was actually designed for the Revell kit, the other was a main landing gear cover. The latter was replaced by Revell of Germany for free within a couple of days after I had placed a request for a spare part at their service touchpoint. Great service!
The Revell Hunter is nice and probably the best contemporary kit of this aircraft in 1:72, even though it needs some PSR, esp. around the wing attachment seams on the fuselage. Beyond the wing modifications to create a Swedish F.4/Mk. 50 export variant I decided to thoroughly change the nose section, more than the FR.10’s small camera nose tip (which is available as a clear resin piece from Quickboost). I used the Saab 29 as a design benchmark and decided to replace the Hunter’s gun bays with camera compartments, using a leftover optional tray from a Heller S 29C to re-shape the area under the cockpit sides. I wanted to retain the original front landing gear well, though, so that only the “edges” from the Tunnan’s camera ports were transplanted under the Hunter’s front fuselage, creating pronounced “cheeks” and a more or less flat bottom.
To take the photo recce conversion even further I replaced the Hunter’s stub nose with a pointed alternative, a spare SF 37 nose with a forward-facing camera window from a Heller kit that I had received from a good friend a while ago. The Viggen nose was trimmed down to the same diameter as the Hunter’s, and its pitot was removed since the Hunter would retain the original wing-mounted sensor.
This recontoured nose section was blended into the Hunter’s fuselage with several layers/turns of PSR. My initial hope to retain the clear parts’ transparency for the finished S 34B soon evaporated, though, because the body work became so thorough that everything disappeared under layers of putty. At least the parts’ shape was retained, and they thoroughly changed the Hunter’s profile! At times I thought that the modified aircraft had a Soviet touch, and when I installed the landing gear it struck me that the pointed nose gave the Hunter a very F-105-ish look, like a missing link between the Thunderchief and the earlier RF-84G Thunderflash? Well, an idea for a potential future what-if project…
Anything else was taken OOB from the Revell kit, including the cockpit and the short drop tanks on the inner wing pylons.
Painting and markings:
This was a challenge. I did not want to give the fictional recce Hunter the J 34’s simple camouflage with dark green upper surfaces (Olive Green 328M) and grey undersides. The contemporary dark blue/olive green paint scheme was an alternative, but I found it to be quite boring and I also already had some Swedish whiffs with this scheme in my collection.
A suitable alternative eventually came from literature, where I found pictures of privately operated J 32E Lansen target tugs (SE-DCM and -DCN) which carried in the early Nineties a three-tone camouflage on their upper sides, consisting of mörk olivgrön (328M), mörkgrön (326M) and mörkblå (438M). I was not able to find pictures that provided detail information about the aircrafts’ concrete camouflage pattern, though, esp. from above, so that I adapted a pattern from an USN aggressor A-4E Skyhawk with adjusted colors to the Hunter airframe. The blue/green pattern on the contemporary J 32 and J 35 could not simply be expanded to a third shade, since the dark blue forms a kind of net pattern over the green background. The lighter green would always have looked like an enforced foreign matter, so that I rather went for an SEA-ish application in which all three colors appear pari passu. The aggressor pattern yet ensured that the dark blue would still form a kind of “river delta” within a murky green landscape.
The paints I used were Humbrol 77, 163 and 224 – lighter than the original tones, but for better contrast, scale effect and some weathering it turned out O.K. The undersides were painted in standard Swedish grey (058M), and I used Humbrol 165 (RAF Medium Sea Grey) as a proxy. The drop tanks were painted in standard J 34 colors, as a small contrast, in Humbrol 116 (FS 34079) and 165.
The cockpit interior was painted in anthracite, the ejection seat received bright green cushions (seen on a Swedish Hunter on museum display); the landing gear and the respective wells’ interior became aluminum bronze (Humbrol 56), while the interior of the air intakes became shiny aluminum (Revell 99) except for the splitter plates, which received the external camouflage colors. Copying the real J 34s’ look, the area around the jet efflux was painted in Aluminum (Revell 99) and separated from the rest of the hull with a thin 0.5 mm black line (generic decal material). The camera windows were created with black decal material, which had some light reflexes manually added and received a coat with glossy varnish.
The kit received the usual light black ink washing and some post-panel-shading for dramatic effect, and with markedly lightened tones from above to simulate bleached paint.
The decals/marking came mostly from RBD Studio (today Moose Republic, very good stuff!) sheets for Saab 32 Lansen in Swedish service. The unusual tactical code in the form of a number in the squadron’s color (instead of a colored letter or a white or yellow two-digit numeral that came next) was taken over from a real-world F11 S 32C from around 1963 – an exotic option, but it falls into the S 34B’s time frame and was a suitable option for this whiffy model, too. To reflect the 1st squadron’s code color even more and add a small color highlight, I painted the front wheel well cover in red and placed a white “2” on it.
Finally, the model was sealed overall with matt acrylic varnish. The Swedish Hunters’ rather glossy finish was only carried during the aircrafts’ early career years, when the machines still carried the factory finish with British colors under a clear protective coat. When the machines were later re-painted with Swedish paints during overhauls, they received a matt finish.
This modified photo reconnaissance Hunter looks simple, but the nose modifications were more severe and demanding than expected. The result looks pretty strange, esp. the pointed nose takes away the Hunter’s Fifties look. The Swedish markings and the three-tone camouflage suit the Hunter well, though, the S 34B looks quite convincing.
From a galaxy far, far away to the curb in front of The Grand Coney, R2-D2 is waiting to take your mail.
www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-35/117672...
My first time figuring out how to use lighting underwater took me a while but i figured it out after a while. I used a sigma 10mm fish eye and an underwater housing unit
RAF Fairford 12.7.07
The action video for RIAT 2007 can be found here...
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z0fC0UF2wPU&t=108s
copyright © 2007 Chris Chennell
A Royal Air Force Typhoon taxiis out of a Hardened Aircraft Shelter (HAS) at Gioia Del Colle Air Base, Italy prior to a mission over Libya in the early hours of the morning.
9 Squadron Tornado 3(F)Squadron Typhoon is currently based at Gioia del Colle as part of Operation Ellamy, the UK contribution to NATO's Operation Unified Protector which enforces UN Security Council Resolution 1973, which aims to protect Libyan civilians from the Qadhafi regime.
Photographer: SAC Sally Raimondo
Image 45153152.jpg from www.defenceimages.mod.uk
Catalog #: 10_0015976
Title: Operation Allied Force Yugoslavia
Date: 1999
Additional Information: Operation Allied Force Yugoslavia
Tags: Operation Allied Force Yugoslavia, Operation Allied Force Yugoslavia, 1999
Repository: San Diego Air and Space Museum Archive
The Royal Air Force Comforts Committee (RAF Comforts Committee) was formed by the Air Council in October 1939 to determine the type and quantities of ‘knitted comforts’ required for the RAF as well as arrange for their collection, storage and distribution through their depots. Local knitting parties or groups were organised mainly by the Women’s Institute (WI) and the Women’s Voluntary Service (WVS) according to guidance issued by the Committee. Anyone who could knit was roped into these knitting parties and that included many men too (it was commonplace back then for men to be competent knitters). Groups needed to be registered with the Comforts Committee to ensure they got supplies of free wool and badges/certificates. As the war drew to a close in 1945, knitted comforts were also made for needy children in the liberated countries and distributed by the Red Cross.
The main forms of knitted RAF Comforts were mittens, pullovers (preferably with polo necks), woollen helmets (balaclavas) and gum-boot stockings (of oiled wool). Other items such as ordinary socks and gloves were knitted in smaller quantities as required by the RAF and only to supplement regulation uniform issues. The official colour was a grey/blue but by 1941 there was a shortage of wool as it was required in ever increasing quantities and so wool of many shades of blue and sometimes other colours were supplied for the knitted comforts. The RAF had issued a standard book containing instructions for knitting parties with approved patterns.
This badge issued by the RAF Comforts Committee was given free to each registered local knitting party but only the first badge (usually the party leader), additional badges required were supplied according to the amount of work done by an individual and at the cost of 1/- (one shilling) each, accompanied by the certificate. All this would have been monitored by the Comforts Committee.
Knitted garments and ‘Comforts’ were an important wartime contribution for the men and women of the Defence Forces, whether it was the Royal Navy, RAF, Army or Auxiliary forces. Invariably, these garments were hand-knitted in wool by countless volunteer throughout Britain who helped ensure those at war would be wearing their extra ‘comforts’ and make the endurance that bit more bearable. Regulation clothing issue was generally considered basic and not the most comfortable. Besides, standard issue may not have included sufficient protection against harsh weather conditions and ‘comforts’ were seen as filling that gap.
Knitting wool was sourced and purchased by The Board of Trade according to a set specification and colour (blue/grey for the RAF & Royal Navy blue) to be stored at their depots. Since the beginning of the war, the number of knitted items grew to the extent it had become more difficult to source wool in the quantities required and its cost went up. Funds to purchase the wool came mainly from the Penny-a-Week savings schemes and Comforts Fund collections – all voluntary donations in aid of the War Effort. Some figures quoted in the Hansard Parliamentary report (link below) give an indication of the huge quantities of wool required and its increased rate of usage.
Figures stated are the total number of finished garments distributed regardless of type:
Feb 1 1940 – 31 Jan 1941 – 152,737
Feb 1 1941 – 31 Jan 1942 – 392,191
Feb 1 1942 – Jan 31 1943 – 599,246
.
When the Comforts knitting scheme started up at the beginning of the War, it was very much on an ad-hoc basis with individual women and groups knitting garments to supply their own men away at war. The schemes were quickly integrated into the general Home Front organisation and their potential harnesses by the various Comforts Committees to ensure more efficient supply, quality and upkeep of morale. The official line was generally that the ‘individual’s reward was the satisfaction in knowing the men’s appreciation’ to encourage the volunteers to greater effort. Anyone who could knit were encouraged to join a knitting group, officially known as ‘parties, a word used to engender a greater feeling of solidarity. By April 1943, there were between 6,000 and 7,000 knitting ‘parties’ across Britain (see Hansard link below).
References:
ticketybootupney.blogspot.ie/2012/10/knitting-for-raf.html (Knitting for the RAF, official booklet issued 1940 by the Royal Air Force Comforts Committee costing one shilling each).
www.sentimentaljourney.co.uk/tl/comfort.htm (About knitted comforts for the defence forces).
hansard.millbanksystems.com/lords/1943/aug/03/merchant-na... (Parliamentry proposal to extent clothing coupon scheme to cover knitted comforts for the Merchant Navy. Aim is to ensure fairer and more efficient distribution of Comforts packs and eliminate possible abuses but the order was withdrawn. Give an insight into how the scheme works.)
barbaraknitsagain.blogspot.com/2012/02/knitting-for-army.... (Short article about WW2 knitted comforts and the 1940 booklet Knitting for the Army, Official Guide issued by authority of the Director of Voluntary Organizations during 1940. Notice the image of the ‘Volunteer Worker for the Forces’ badge on the cover.)
Enamels: 1 (blue).
Finish: Chrome plated.
Material: Brass.
Fixer: Pin.
Size: 15/16” x 15/16” (24mm x 24mm).
Process: Die-stamped.
Imprint: THOMAS FATTORINI LTD. REGENT ST. BIRMINGHAM.
Paratroopers Prove Themselves On the Ground
The paratroopers of the 101st Battalion had a full week of training to make sure they know exactly what to do once they land on the ground.
Images: Copyright Israel Defence Force
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based on historical facts. BEWARE!
Some Background:
The Royal Libyan Air Force (سلاح الجو الملكي الليبي , Al Quwwat al Jawwiya al Malakiya al Libiyya) was established in September 1962 by a decision of the minister of defense Abd al-Nabi Yunis. Lt. Col. al-Hadi Salem al-Husomi was assigned to lead the new force. It was originally equipped with a small number of transports and trainers. In May 1967, the Kingdom of Libya reached an agreement with the United States to supply Northrop F-5A and Bs to the Royal Libyan Air Force and more advanced trainers, in the form of six Cessna T-37C trainers.
The Cessna T-37 Tweet (designated Model 318 by Cessna) was a small, economical twin-engined jet trainer type which flew for decades as a primary trainer for the United States Air Force (USAF) and in the air forces of several other nations. It was a response to the USAF’s request for proposals for a "Trainer Experimental (TX)" program in 1952, specifying a lightweight, two-seat basic trainer for introducing USAF cadets to jet aircraft. Cessna responded to the TX request with a twin-jet design with side-by-side seating. The USAF liked the Cessna design and the side-by-side seating since it let the student and instructor interact more closely than with tandem seating. In the spring of 1954, the USAF awarded Cessna a contract for three prototypes of the Model 318, and a contract for a single static test aircraft. The Air Force designated the type as XT-37.
The XT-37 had a low, straight wing, with the engines buried in the wing roots, a clamshell-type canopy hinged to open vertically to the rear, a control layout similar to that used on board of contemporary operational USAF aircraft, ejection seats, and tricycle landing gear with a wide track of 14 ft (4.3 m). It first flew on 12 October 1954. The wide track and a steerable nosewheel made the aircraft easy to handle on the ground, and the short landing gear avoided the need for access ladders and service stands. The aircraft was designed to be simple to maintain, with more than 100 access panels and doors. An experienced ground crew could change an engine in about half an hour.
The XT-37 was aerodynamically clean, so much so that a speed brake was fitted behind the nosewheel doors to help increase drag for landing and for use in other phases of flight. Since the short landing gear placed the engine air intakes close to the ground, screens pivoted over the intakes from underneath when the landing gear was extended, to prevent foreign object damage.
The XT-37 was fitted with two Continental-Teledyne J69-T-9 turbojet engines, French Turbomeca Marboré engines built under license, with 920 lbf (4.1 kN) thrust each. The engines had thrust attenuators to allow them to remain spooled-up (i.e. rotating at speeds above idle) during landing approach, permitting shorter landings while still allowing the aircraft to easily make another go-around in case something went wrong. Empty weight of the XT-37 was 5,000 lb (2,300 kg).
Tests showed the XT-37 had a maximum speed of 390 mph (630 km/h) at altitude, with a range of 935 mi (1,505 km). The aircraft had a service ceiling of 35,000 feet (10,700 m) but was unpressurized and was therefore limited to an operational ceiling of 25,000 feet (7,600 m) by USAF regulations.
The production T-37A was similar to the XT-37 prototypes, except for minor changes to fix problems revealed by the flight-test program. The first T-37A was completed in September 1955 and flew later that year. The T-37A was very noisy, even by the standards of jet aircraft. The intake of air into its small turbojets emitted a high-pitched shriek that led some to describe the trainer as the "Screaming Mimi", the "6,000 pound dog whistle" or "Converter" (= converts fuel and air into noise and smoke). The piercing whistle quickly gave the T-37 its name, the "Tweety Bird", or just "Tweet". The Air Force spent a lot of time and money soundproofing buildings at bases where the T-37 was stationed, and ear protection remains mandatory for all personnel when near an operating aircraft.
The USAF ordered 444 T-37As, with the last produced in 1959. In 1957, the US Army evaluated three T-37As for battlefield observation and other combat support roles, but eventually procured the Grumman OV-1 Mohawk instead. However, the Air Force liked the T-37A, but considered it to be underpowered; consequently, they ordered an improved version, the T-37B, with uprated J-69-T-25 engines. The new engines provided about 10% more thrust and were more reliable. Improved avionics were also specified for the new variant. A total of 552 newly built T-37Bs was constructed through 1973, and all surviving T-37As were eventually upgraded to the T-37B standard as well.
The T-37A and T-37B had no built-in armament and no stores pylons for external armament. In 1961, Cessna began developing a modest enhancement of the T-37 for use as a weapons trainer. This new variant, the T-37C, was primarily intended for export and could be used for light attack duties if required. The respective changes included stronger wings, with a pylon under each wing outboard of the main landing gear well, and the T-37C could also be fitted with wingtip fuel tanks, each with a capacity of 65 US gal (245 l), that could be dropped in an emergency. A computing gunsight and gun camera were added, too, and the T-37C could also be fitted with a reconnaissance camera mounted inside the fuselage.
The primary armament of the T-37C was the General Electric "multipurpose pod" with a .50 caliber (12.7 mm) machine gun with 200 rounds, two 70 mm (2.75 in) folding-fin rocket pods, and four practice bombs. Other stores, such as folding-fin rocket pods or even IR-guided Sidewinder air-to-air missiles, could be carried, too. However, the changes increased the weight of the T-37C by 1,430 lb (650 kg). As the engines were not upgraded, this reduced top speed to 595 km/h (370 mph), though the optional wingtip tanks increased maximum range to 1,770 km (1,100 mi). A total of 273 T-37Cs were exported until T-37 production stopped in 1975.
The F-5s and the T-37s were the first dedicated combat aircraft for the young Libyan Air Force, which only operated six Douglas C-47 transports and three Lockheed T-33A trainers at the time. Fifty-six personnel underwent training at bases in the US, pilots at Williams Air Force Base; a US Survey Team on Expansion came to Libya in August 1968 to supervise the introduction of the new jet aircraft and service them. The first aircraft arrived at Wheelus Air Base, a former US facility about 11 kilometers (6.8 mi) from Tripoli and local training started immediately.
Despite this enthusiastic start, the Royal Libyan Air Force and its small stock of aircraft did not last long because the government was overthrown in a coup d’état in 1969. The USA left Libya in 1970 and the air force changed its name to the Libyan Arab Republic Air Force (LARAF), and Wheelus Air Base was subsequently renamed Okba Ben Nafi Air Base, becoming the LARAF’s headquarter.
During the following months, Libya distanced itself from the United Kingdom and the United States and the serviceability of the older American aircraft quickly declined, especially the F-5s were affected. Eight F-5 single-seaters and two two-seaters had been delivered until then, as well as four T-37Cs - the rest of the order was cancelled. Educated service personnel for these aircraft was initially loaned from Greece as an emergency measure, but this did not help much, and most were eventually sold to Turkey (the F-5s) and Greece (the T-37Cs). Instead, close ties were developed with France, and, accordingly, an order for 110 Dassault Mirage 5s fighter bombers, twelve Fouga Magisters, ten Aérospatiale Alouette IIIs and nine Aérospatiale SA 321 Super Frelons was signed in December 1969, and in 1971 the LARAF still received eight C-130Hs from the United States. Negotiations for the purchase of Soviet military aircraft only started in 1973, in the light of the experiences of the Yom Kippur War, but relations with France were maintained.
General characteristics:
Crew: 2
Length: 29 ft 3 in (8.92 m)
Wingspan: 33 ft 99.3 in (12.581 m)
Height: 9 ft 2 in (2.79 m)
Wing area: 201 sq ft (18.7 m²)
Aspect ratio: 6.2:1
Airfoil: NACA 2418 at root, NACA 2412 at tip
Empty weight: 5,484 lb (2.490 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 8,000 lb (3.632 kg)
Powerplant:
2× Continental-Teledyne J69-T-25 turbojets, 1,025 lbf (4.56 kN) thrust each
Performance:
Maximum speed: 595 km/h (370 mph)
Cruise speed: 360 mph (580 km/h, 310 kn) at 35,000 ft (11,000 m)
Stall speed: 85 mph (137 km/h, 74 kn)
Range: 932 mi (1,500 km, 810 nmi) with internal fuel
Service ceiling: 38,700 ft (11,800 m)
Rate of climb: 3,370 ft/min (17.1 m/s)
Armament:
2 underwing pylons for stores up to 500 lb (227 kg) each
The kit and its assembly:
This small but exotic what-if model was inspired by decals for an RLAF F-5A from a Colorado Decals sheet – and I had stumbled upon these rather hapless aircraft that only served for a few months under this flag in a F-5 book. I found the historic time slot interesting and wondered about other aircraft that could have been introduced in 1968 and found that Libya might have needed some more and more modern jet trainers than the three T-33 it had. My first choice was the British Jet Provost, but since Libya procured the equipment from US sources, a Hasegawa A-37 kit from a lot (and without any plan for it yet) came to the rescue.
At first I wanted to build the Tweet OOB, but found that the A-37 was a little “too much” for Libya’s needs, so I decided to retrograde it to a T-37C – a light trainer, but still armed. Biggest changes were the omission of the refueling probe, the gun port was faired over, and I left away the optional tip tanks and replaced them with scratched wing tips, made from styrene. A small dorsal antenna fairing “hump” was added, a smaller one that the A-37s feature. Even though they were not necessary to represent the real aircraft I added styrene tube dummies to the exhaust ports - the gaping OOB holes did not convince me.
The underwing hardpoints were reduced to just a pair of pylons, and the light armament now consist only of a pair of LAU-7 unguided missile launchers (from the Italeri NATO weapons set). The single-piece canopy was cut into two parts for open display, in the cockpit two gunsights, seat belts and a hydraulic piston for the open canopy were added.
Painting and markings:
The RLAF F-5s were the benchmark, and they carried a rather simple/dry livery: the were painted overall in a dull silver lacquer (not NMF), similar to the USAF prototypes, with a black anti-glare panel. Finding a good paint for this look/finish was not easy, though, and I eventually settled for Humbrol 11 (Silver) with a light black ink washing and post-panel-shading with Humbrol’s Matt Aluminum metallizer (27002).
The cockpit interior became medium grey while landing gear and air intakes became white. The LAU-7 pods became very light grey.
To emphasize the Tweet’s trainer role I pimped the uniform silver livery with dayglo orange markings, procured from an Airfix Jet Provost sheet. National markings were taken from the aforementioned Colorado Decals F-5 sheet, even though its national markings are wrong: they lack green, they were just printed in 2C. To mend this flaw, I just added a thin green decal stripe to the flag on the fin, and the roundels, which are pretty small on the F-5, were completely replaced with bigger alternatives: Albanian air force markings from an Antonov An-2 (Balkan Models sheet), with a small green decal circle added to their center. Simple, but effective, and in combination with the orange stripes the whole aircraft looks quite attractive. The tactical codes were taken from a Myanmar MiG-29 (Caracal Models sheet). Most stencils were taken from the OOB sheet, with some more added from the 1/72 A-37 aftermarket sheet from PrintScale.
After a light treatment with graphite around the jet nozzles the model was sealed overall with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri), and this IMHO comes pretty close to the real world RLAF F-5 finish.
A small project, even though the tank-less wing tips were quite challenging. However, the Libyan Tweet looks very convincing, and with the high-viz trainer markings the whole package even has a stylish touch. The early Libyan roundels are also quite exotic, since they were only used for a couple of months
+++ DISCLAIMER +++
Nothing you see here is real, even though the conversion or the presented background story might be based historical facts. BEWARE!
Some background:
The Supermarine Spitfire became the backbone of RAF Fighter Command, and saw action in the European, Mediterranean, Pacific and the South-East Asian theatres during World War II. Much loved by its pilots, the Spitfire served in several roles, including interceptor, photo-reconnaissance, fighter-bomber, carrier-based fighter, and trainer. It was built in many variants, using several wing configurations. Although the original airframe was designed to be powered by a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine producing 1,030 hp (768 kW), it was adaptable enough to use increasingly powerful Merlin and later Rolls-Royce Griffon engines producing up to 2,035 hp (1,520 kW). It was exported and used by many countries, even after WWII, including Chile.
The first step towards the current Chliean Air Force was taken by Teniente Coronel Pedro Pablo Dartnell, when he founded the Servicio de Aviación Militar de Chile (Military Aviation Service of Chile) on December 20, 1910, being trained as a pilot in France. In those early years many aviation milestones were achieved; conquering the height of the Andes was one of the main targets as well as long distance flights. On 21 March 1930, the existing aviation elements of the army and navy were amalgamated into a dedicated department: the Subsecretaria de Aviación (Department of the Air Force) effectively creating the current independent Air Force. Its baptism of fire was in the 1931 sailors' rebellion in Coquimbo, where Air Force attack aircraft and bombers and 2 transport planes converted into bombers contributed to its failure.
The first outlines of the organization of the current air force were visible in 1945 with the inception of Grupo de Transporte No.1 (First Transport Group), later renumbered Grupo 10, with two C-45s and a single T-6 Texan at Los Cerrillos. Beyond that, Chile also sought the modernization of its fighter fleet, and turned towards the USA and overseas for supplies and assistance, primarily in the form of surplus aircraft from WWII.
One of Chile’s initial procurements were 32 Supermarine Spitfire Mk 22 directly from Great Britain, a post-war, Griffon-powered variant of the British fighter.
By early 1942, it was evident that Spitfires powered by the new two-stage supercharged Griffon 61 engine would need a much stronger airframe and wings. The proposed new design was called the Mk 21, which at first displayed poor flight qualities that damaged the excellent Spitfire reputation. The wings were redesigned with a new structure and thicker-gauge light alloy skinning. The new wing was torsionally 47 per cent stiffer, allowing an increased theoretical aileron reversal speed of 825 mph (1,328 km/h). The ailerons were 5 per cent larger and the Frise balanced type were dispensed with, the ailerons being attached by continuous piano-hinges. They were extended by eight inches, meaning that with a straighter trailing edge, the wings were not the same elliptical shape as previous Spitfires. The Mk 21 armament was standardized as four long-barreled 20mm Hispano II cannon with 150 rpg and no machine guns.
The Griffon engine drove an 11 ft (3.4 m)-diameter five-bladed propeller, some 7 in (18 cm) larger than that fitted to the Mk XIV. To ensure sufficient ground clearance for the new propeller, the undercarriage legs were lengthened by 4.5 in (11 cm). The undercarriage legs also had a 7.75 in (19.7 cm) wider track to help improve ground handling. The designers used a system of levers to shorten the undercarriage legs by about 8 in (20 cm) as they retracted, because the longer legs did not have enough space in which to retract; the levers extended the legs as they came down. The larger diameter four-spoke main wheels were strengthened to cope with the greater weights; post-war these were replaced by wider, reinforced three spoke wheels to allow Spitfires to operate from hard concrete or asphalt runways. When retracted the wheels were fully enclosed by triangular doors which were hinged to the outer edge of the wheel wells.
After intensive test flying, the most serious problems were solved by changing the gearing to the trim tabs and other subtle control modifications, such that the Mk 21 was cleared for instrument flying and low level flight during trials in March 1945. Spitfire 21s became operational on 91 Squadron in January 1945, but the squadron had little opportunity to engage the Luftwaffe before the war ended.
The Mk 22 was identical to the Mk 21 in all respects except for the cut-back rear fuselage, with a tear-drop canopy, and a more powerful 24 volt electrical system in place of the 12 volt system of all earlier Spitfires. Most of the Mk 22s were built with enlarged tail surfaces, similar to those of the Supermarine Spiteful, and a few were outfitted with six blade contraprops, too. A total of 287 Mk 22s were built after WWII: 260 at Castle Bromwich and 27 by Supermarine at South Marston.
The Mk 22 was used by only one regular RAF unit, 73 Squadron based on Malta, but twelve squadrons of the Royal Auxiliary Air Force used the variant and continued to do so until March 1951, when they were gradually retired. Many of these Mk 22s were sold back to Vickers-Armstrongs for refurbishment and then sold to foreign air forces including Southern Rhodesia, Egypt and Syria from 1955 onward.
In contrast to this, Chile was an early buyer of the Mk 22, sealing the contract with Vickers Supermarine already in 1946 when production was still running. The first original Mk 22s for Chile arrived, disassembled and transported via ship, in April 1947, and deliveries lasted until late 1948.
In service, the machines received tactical codes in the range from 200 to 230, but there were exceptions. Upon delivery and during their relatively short career, the FACh Spitfires carried the standard RAF livery of Dark Green and Ocean Grey, with Medium Sea Grey undersides. The only exception were two pairs of machines which were painted with different, experimental schemes back at the British factory: two Spitfires (in service carrying the tactical codes “152” and “212”) carried the RAF Tropical scheme (Dark Earth/Mid Stone with Azure Blue undersides) and another pair (“213” and “217”) was delivered in a unique, modified variant in which Dark Earth was replaced with Ocean Grey, inofficially dubbed "Cordillera" or "Desert Mountain" scheme. Neither of these proposals was adopted for service, but, strangely, these four machines retained their unique liveries throughout their service life, even after overhauls and re-paintings.
The fifties meant entry into the jet age for the FACh, and Grupo 7 was the first unit to receive them in 1954. As a consequence, the Chilean Spitfires were soon replaced by Lockheed F-80 fighters, procured from the United States of America, and the last Chilean Spitfire Mk 22s were retired in 1963.
[b][u]General characteristics:[/u][/b]
Crew: 1
Length: 32 ft 11 in (10.04 m)
Wingspan: 36ft 11 in (11.26 m)
Height: 10 ft 0 in (3.05 m)
Wing area: 243.6 sq ft (22.63 m2)
Empty weight: 6,900 lb (3.132 kg)
Gross weight: 8.500 lb (3,860 kg)
Max takeoff weight: 9.200 lb (4,176 kg)
[u]Powerplant:[/u]
1× Rolls-Royce Griffon 61 supercharged V12 with 2,050 hp (1,530 kW) at 8,000 ft (2,438 m)
driving a 5-bladed Jablo-Rotol propeller
[u]Performance:[/u]
Maximum speed: 454 mph (730 km/h; 395 kn.) at 26.000 ft.
420 mph (676 km/h; 365 kn.) at 12.000 ft.
Combat range: 490 mi (788 km; 426 nmi) with internal fuel only
Ferry range: 880 mi (1.417; 766 nmi) with three drop tanks
Service ceiling: 43,500 ft. (13,300 m)
Initial climb: 4,850 ft./min (24.79 m/sec.)
Time to 20.000 ft.: 8 min (at max. weight)
Wing loading: 32.72 lb/ft² (159.8 kg/m²)
Power/mass: 0.24
[u]Armament:[/u]
4× 20 mm (0.787-in) Hispano Mk II cannon, 175 RPG inboard, 150 RPG outboard
1× underfuselage and 2× underwing hardpoints for 1.000 lb (454 kg) and 500 lb (227 kg), respectively;
alternatively 6× underwing launch rails for unguided 60 lbs missiles
The kit and its assembly:
This build was inspired by a series of South American what-if profiles created by fellow member PantherG at whatifmodelers.com, posted there in February 2019. These included, among others, several Chilean Supermarine Spitfire Mk 22s, including exotic livery variants. I found one of them very attractive (yet ugly...), and when I found an appropriate Special Hobby kit in my stash I decided spontaneously to turn the profile into (model) hardware.
The Special Hobby kits for Griffon-powered Spitfires are excellent, and they all actually contain a vast collection of optional parts that allow LOTS of land- and sea-based late Spitfires to be built, including subtle fictional combinations. The parts are crisply molded, the styrene is easy to work with, fit is very good and surface details are just great – the kit almost falls together. The thing is pricy, but you get good value and lots of spares for future projects. In my case it is a proper Mk 22 kit, and this one even came with resin wheels and exhaust stubs as extras, plus a masking set for the canopy.
The kit was built almost 100% OOB as a Mk 22, I just modified the propeller with an axis so that it can spin freely (for the pictures). The drop tank comes from the kit, but otherwise I left the aircraft in clean condition, leaving away optional rocket attachment points under the wings or slipper tanks.
Painting and markings:
As mentioned above, this build was inspired by a profile drawing, and I stuck as close as possible to this benchmark, even though I changed some details or filled some gaps.
The most striking feature of the specific profile (aircraft “213”) I chose was/is the experimental choice of colors: RAF Mid Stone and Ocean Grey on the upper surfaces, and Azure Blue underneath. I just slightly tweaked the pattern on the model, staying closer to the original RAF scheme and resulting in a slightly different pattern on the fuselage. Consequently, I gave the aircraft a different tactical code and “217” was born.
The basic tones I used are Humbrol 106, Modelmaster 2052 and Humbrol 157. The cockpit interior was painted in a post-WWII black (Revell 9) instead of the former pale green-grey. The interior of the landing gear wells became Medium Sea Grey (Humbrol 165); the idea behind this choice is that the late Spitfire types had their landing gear wells painted in the same color as the wings' undersides. In the case of this specific aircraft I thought that it originally carried the standard RAF scheme, but received a superficial overspray in the experimental Chilean colors at the UK workshop. For the same reason, some Dark Green shines through under the Mid Stone on the leading edges and around the cockpit, created through dry-brushing and thinned paint (acrylic Revell 65, Bronze Green). The propeller spinner became black - very simple, and in line with the benchmark profile.
The decals were puzzled together. The Chilean roundels on the wings actually belong to an EE/BAC Canberra, the tactical code was created with black RAF code numbers from an Xtradecal Lightning sheet and another post-war Spitfire (a Special Hobby Mk. 24, IIRC).
The flash on the rudder was created with paint (the blue tone was mixed to match the wing roundels) and a single, white star decal. The squadron emblem, which was not featured on the inspiring profile, was taken from an Xtradecal sheet for D.H. Vampire T.55s, which features two FACh options, one of them operated by Grupo 7. Most stencils come from the Mk 22’s OOB sheet.
Some soot stains were added around the exhaust stubs and very little dry-brushing with aluminum and light grey was done to the wings' leading edges, the propeller (spinner tip and blades) and around the cockpit hatch. And, finally, everything was sealed with matt acrylic varnish (Italeri).
A simple project, and just an "operator travesty" whif. The kit went together easily, and the result is pretty exotic - but not unbelievalbe, despite the weird choice of colors.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Air_Force_Museum_London
The Royal Air Force Museum London (also commonly known as the RAF Museum) is located on the former Hendon Aerodrome, in North London's Borough of Barnet. It includes five buildings and hangars showing the history of aviation and the Royal Air Force. It is part of the Royal Air Force Museum
There is another site at Royal Air Force Museum Cosford at RAF Cosford in Shropshire.
Rangers from A Company, 2nd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment, conducts live fire training during 2nd Battalion’s Task Force Training at Yakima Training Center, Washington, 27 March 2013. (U.S. Army photo by SGT Mikki Sprenkle)
Swedish Air Force Rangers and U.S. Air Force pararescuemen assist mock casualties at Playas Research and Training Center, N.M., Oct. 17, 2011, during exercise Angel Thunder 2011. Angel Thunder is an Air Combat Command-sponsored personnel recovery/combat search and rescue exercise.
170508-N-N0901-003 GULF OF TADJOURA, Djibouti (May 08, 2017) Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician 1st Class David Hanaumi, assigned to Task Force SPARTA, communicates with his dive supervisor through line-pull signals during emergency drills as part of supervisor qualification training in the Gulf of Tadjoura, Djibouti, May 8, 2017. U.S. 6th Fleet, headquartered in Naples, Italy, conducts the full spectrum of joint and naval operations, often in concert with allied, joint, and interagency partners, in order to advance U.S. national interests and security and stability in Europe and Africa. (U.S. Navy photo by Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician 2nd Class John Morfogen/Released)
Tokyo International Airport,
Airbus A340-313X, c/n:355,
German Air Force
President Christian Wulff's official visit to Japan
www.pimaair.org/visit/aircraft-by-name/item/douglas-vc-11...
Extract: This aircraft served as the official Air Force One for President Kennedy. It was the last propeller driven aircraft to be designated as the primary Presidential transport. The VC-118A was overshadowed during its service by the introduction of the first Boeing VC-137s. President Kennedy preferred to travel in the larger, faster jet aircraft and the VC-118 was used primarily for short trips to airports that were too small for the big Boeings. Once the VC-137 became the primary Presidential aircraft the VC-118 was used as a back up plane and to transport lower ranking VIPs.
Students on the Standard NCO Course on exercise in Fort Davis County Cork
Students from the 3rd All Arms Standard NCO course conducting a FIBUA (Fighting in Built up Areas) exercise in Fort Davis, April 2013. During the exercise the students were tested using an Engineer Assault Bridge to gain entry and a Artillery 105mm Gun to break strong points. There are thirty nine students on the course representing the Infantry, Cavalry, Artillery, Engineer, Ordnance, CIS and Air Corp.