Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

[SPINNERS]

MiG-9 'Fargo' - No.6 Squadron, Indian Air Force, 1951

INDIAMiG-901 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

INDIAMiG-902 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

INDIAMiG-903 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

INDIAMiG-904 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

'What If' India had moved towards the Soviet Union for its military equipment much earlier than in reality.

[SPINNERS]

MiG-9 'Fargo' - No.24 Squadron, Indian Air Force, 1954

INDIAMiG-905 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

INDIAMiG-906 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

INDIAMiG-907 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

<insert manufacturer's name here> <insert F number here> - 171st, FIS, Michigan Air National Guard, 1968

USAFFIDDLER01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFFIDDLER02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFFIDDLER03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFFIDDLER04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFFIDDLER05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFFIDDLER06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The Fiddler is such a handsome machine and it looks good in any markings... even Soviet! To do the distinctive double cheveron markings on such a tall and slender fin meant that the usual checkerboard rudder had to go but I quite like the 'less busy' look when compared to the 171st's F-4C's where even the intake ramps had checkboards as well as the rudder.

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas Phantom F-4E - 198th FIS, Puerto Rico Air National Guard, 1973

During early 1970 a USAF ADC review of America's air defence assets highlighted the obsolescence of several aircraft including the F-101, F-102 and F-104 and whilst early F-4C Phantoms were trickling down to the ANG units McDonnell Douglas could see an opportunity to sell an optimised 'Air Defense' version of the F-4E to the USAF to swiftly and cost-effectively modernise a large proportion of ADC. During this time McDonnell Douglas had studied various single-seat or stripped down versions of the F-4 for the West German Luftwaffe but for the USAF they proposed a version of the slatted F-4E with all air-to-ground capability removed, slightly more powerful 'clean burn' J79 engines, simplified air-to-air only radar and the new solid-state AIM-7F Sparrow missile offering longer range with its two-stage rocket motor.

By this time the massive production run of the F-4 had meant that the fly-away unit cost for this simplified version of the F-4E made it one of the cheapest Phantoms ever and such was the confidence that the USAF had in McDonnell Douglas that in March 1971 they simply asked for a fixed-price quotation for 300 F-4E 'ADC' aircraft and ordered them in April 1971! First flown in June 1972 the F-4E 'ADC' were delivered in a smart and glossy 'air defense' grey scheme and entered service with the 198th Fighter Interceptor Squadron of the Puerto Rico ANG in February 1973 replacing the F-104C's and F-104D's of that unit. Sadly, eight of the 198th's Phantoms were destroyed in a terrorist attack at Muniz ANGB in January 1981 and the unit operated several 'standard' F-4E's until 'ADC' versions could be allocated to them.

USAFF-4E_ADC02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-4E_ADC03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-4E_ADC04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-4E_ADC06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-4E_ADC07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The stock F-4C comes with this grey 'ADC' scheme which I've modified to fit the F-4E.

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas F-4E 'ADC' Phantom - 119th FIS, New Jersey ANG

USAFF-4E_ADC08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-4E_ADC09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-4E_ADC10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The RAF 'PR' guys could learn a lot from their USAF counterparts. The quality of the artwork freely available as downloads is very impressive! For example, the 119th 'patch' is 1850 x 1800 pixels - you'll be lucky to get 230 x 230 pixels from the RAF website.

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas Phantom F-4E 'ADC' - 111th FIS, Texas Air National Guard, 1976

USAFF-4E_ADC11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-4E_ADC12 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas Phantom F-4E 'ADC' - 186th FIS, Montana Air National Guard, 1979

USAFF-4E_ADC15 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-4E_ADC16 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

'Blue Sky Country' FTW!!

[SPINNERS]

Gloster Meteor F.8J - 501st Hikotai, Japan Air Self Defense Forces, 1954

No sooner had the work of the US and British Commonwealth Occupation Forces come to an end in 1951 it was decided to re-construct the armed forces of Japan to act as a defensive fortress against perceived Communist expansion and whilst mainly led by Washington the UK government were keen to export military equipment to the new Japan Self-Defense Forces and an export order for Meteor and Vampire aircraft was signed in February 1952. Gloster Meteor F.8's from a cancelled Australian order were the first to arrive in August 1952 and by November 1952 the newly formed 501st Hikotai had been equipped with the Meteor operating the type until 1957 when F-100C's began to arrive.

JASDFMETEORF801 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

JASDFMETEORF802 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

JASDFMETEORF803 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

JASDFMETEORF804 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I know it was quite pedestrian and hardly a sparkling performer but I do love the Meteor and the stock Third Wire (only available in the recently released Expansion Pack One) is a gem. I find it hard to believe that the development of the F.8 started so late and that it was still picking up export orders in 1954!

[SPINNERS]

De Havilland Vampire FB.5 - 302nd Hikotai, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, 1954

JASDFVAMPIREFB501 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

JASDFVAMPIREFB502 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

JASDFVAMPIREFB503 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Post-War JASDF markings are so cool!

[SPINNERS]

Grumman/Panavia Tornado F-19C - VF-1 'Wolfpack' US Navy, 1981

USNTORNADOF301 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USNTORNADOF302 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USNTORNADOF303 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USNTORNADOF304 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A little break in the FIFA World Cup has given me a chance to do this "it just wouldn't happen" 'what if'! As a project, I really do like the Panavia Tornado (an amazingly successful collaborative programme) but I'm not so keen on the F.3, despite it being better-looking. I also love the Tomcat and the Airfix VF-1 boxtop certainly gave me a tingle as an aviation mad teenager in the mid-1970's and I hope this VF-1 Tornado does it for you!

[SPINNERS]

Lockheed/Boeing A/F-X - 899NAS, Royal Navy, 2010

ROYALNAVYAFX01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

ROYALNAVYAFX02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

ROYALNAVYAFX03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

ROYALNAVYAFX04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

ROYALNAVYAFX05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

ROYALNAVYAFX07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Lockheed/Boeing/Panavia Panther GR.2 - No.6 Squadron, RAF Middle East Command (detached to Helmand Province) 2011

During late 1992 the joint Lockheed/Boeing/General Dynamics A/F-X proposal was emerging as the clear favourite although no one was actually expecting the project to proceed beyond the dem/val stage as budgets were becoming increasingly tight and the US Navy's F-18E brigade seemed to be in the ascendancy. In early 1993 with General Dynamics proposing to sell it's Fort Worth military aircraft division to Lockheed the Defense Acquisition Board called the 'new' Lockheed/Boeing team in to the DoD to discuss the programme. Fearing that the axe was about to fall the Lockheed/Boeing team anxiously attended the meeting only to be met with smiles, handshakes and warm introductions to senior representatives of Panavia Aircraft GmbH (manufacturers of the Tornado aircraft - Western Europe's most successful collaborative aircraft programme).

With some considerable steering from Presidential level, the Defense Acquisition Board had previously invited Panavia to discuss becoming the third partner in the A/F-X programme and thus open up a wider market for the A/F-X especially as it had, by now, become much more of a multi-role aircraft. Panavia could see an end to the Tornado programme and had worked out that the timing of the A/F-X would suit them and that they had the expertise of collaboration and variable-geometry to bring to the table. With a substantially bigger programme and a lower cost base the Defense Acquisition Board considered that the A/F-X programme was now viable and recommended the Lockheed/Boeing/Panavia bid to the Congressional Budget Office and a contract for development and production was awarded to the US/European consortium of LBP on September 1st, 1993 with initial orders for 630 aircraft for the seven launch customers (Aeronautica Militare, Luftwaffe, Royal Air Force, Royal Navy, USAF, USN and USMC).

Development, prototype production and flight-testing was centred around Bethesda and Fort Worth in the United States but with three final production centres - Fort Worth, Warton (UK) and Manching (Germany). The aircraft entered service in 2006 and export orders have been gained from Australia, Israel and Saudi Arabia.

RAFAFX01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFAFX02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFAFX03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFAFX04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Whenever I use 'Desert Pink' No.6 squadron is never far from my mind. I did consider a toned-down 'Flying Can-opener' but like the little flash of colour the hi-viz marking brings.

[SPINNERS]

Saab-Blackburn Dragon F.2A - No.4 Squadron, Kingdom of Yorkshire Air Force, Northallerton, 1973

YORKSHIREDRAKEN01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

YORKSHIREDRAKEN03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

YORKSHIREDRAKEN04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

YORKSHIREDRAKEN02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The serial numbers do, of course, make reference to "Eeh Bah Gum".

[SPINNERS]

Lockheed Starfighter F.3 - No.19 (Aggressor) Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1982

RAFSTARFIGHTERF301 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSTARFIGHTERF302 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSTARFIGHTERF303 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A nice F-104J pack was released recently mainly filled with 'silver' JASDF schemes but also included is this stunning 207th Hikotai scheme to which I've added a full set of RAF No.19 squadron markings.

[SPINNERS]

Lockheed Starfighter F.3 - No.111 'Treble-One' Squadron, RAF Middle East Command, 1985

RAFSTARFIGHTERF304 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSTARFIGHTERF305 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSTARFIGHTERF306 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSTARFIGHTERF307 by Spinners1961, on Flickr