RAAF F-32D Corsair III

[Mike Wren]

superb!    

[gooberliberation]

That's freakin awesome!   It looks like it just got yanked out of a swamp and is covered in mud and weeds... along with that mouth ya put on it, looks like some viscious swamp creature B). Perhaps rename it the Crocodile?

[gooberliberation]

hey wait? wheres the pilot?

[AeroplaneDriver]

hey wait? wheres the pilot?

Details, details, details...

As for the name...I like "Crocodile"...I can see the Aussies calling their F-32s "Crocs"

[gooberliberation]

hmm... mabye he's making a 1/72 Crocodile Dundee figure  

[The Rat]

Wello, if I'm forced to look at one of those fugly buggers I'm glad yours is available. Good show!

[markm70]

BadAss! B)  

[retro_seventies]

looks just the job now that she's carrying something to go boom with!  

[comrade harps]

Nice job. Love the camo.

I't a bit more spectacular than my own RAAF X-35 variant.

But my version isn't an F-35 at all (sorry - no piccies - no digicam or scanner).

Here's the story.

In the early-eighties, as the Oz Govt was selling off the Government Aircraft Factory (GAF), they were also letting a top secret contract for a stealth combat and recce requirement. McDonnell Douglas and LTV, both left out of the US stealth game for the time being, were thus able to get around US Govt restrictions on the export of stealth knowledge, something that Boeing, Lockheed, Northrop couldn't do. As GAF was currently doing a lot of work building the F-100 powered A-7F Corsair II for the RAAF and the RAN,  and as Maccers were on the verge of selling the F/A-18 to the same customers (although only the RAN got the Hornet - the RAAF going for the F-16), they teamed up with a joint bid for both GAF and the the stealth requirement. The stealth aircraft proposed was called the Black Snake; the RAAF requirement was code named Constant Dew.

Three aircaft designs were built as a result of the Constant Dew project. The first was the Yowie (an Australian mythical man-ape), which was a half-scale, twin J-85 powered proof of concept air vehicle tested at Woomera. The second was a production recce aircaft, the Bunyip (a mythical Australian swamp monster) and the the third was a production attack aircraft, the Wandjina (named after mythical Australian spirt beings that could kill with lighning).  The Bunyip and and the Wandjina were both powered by the F-100.

All were built by the renamed AeroSpace Technologies Australia (ASTA), which came under Boeing's wing in the late 1980s when it purchased both LTV and McDonnell Douglas. Seizing on the the splendid work already done with the Black Snake designs, Boeing modified the basic design for it's unsuccesful X-35 JSF competitor.

The Yowie, Bunyip and the Wandjina were kept secret, operating from the remote Curtin Air Base, until the Korean war in 2005 brought them into the public spotlight as a major part of the RAAF's combat contribution.

They were painted black all over, with dark grey upper surface counter shading and small black 'roo national national markings. The wheel wells and undercarraige were painted red, for low-viz when taking off and landing. A grey, individual two number code was applied to the main undercarriage cover of each aircaft. During the Korean War of 2005, artwork was applied to the inner nose gear doors, such as the "Buster Gonad's unfeasably lage testicals" art seen on Bunyip a/c 46.

Comrade Harps  

[BlackOps]

Yes, yes and more yes!  It is puuuurrrrfect!  I thought it looked good before but now it is Supercollosallyfabulous and I'm not just saying that because it's true  

I also like the "Croc" nametag.



Jeff G.

[Patrick H]

Wonderfull job.  love the paintwork.

[Jeffry Fontaine]

Can't help thinking of a bumble bee when I look at her though - are you sure it will fly ?

The impression I get from the appearance of this aircraft is related to the Bass or Grouper, a fish with a really large mouth... But calling it the "Boeing BASS" is just not catchy enough now is it...