1/48 FV-1 Kraken

[wacek85]

February 17, 1968
Operation "Fir-Tree"

Colonel Wallace Grant was sitting in his Washington, D.C., office with his face in his hands. He felt as if he had aged twenty years in the past two weeks. At forty, he had been one of the youngest officers in the Marine Corps, but recent events had left him feeling worn out and aged. On January 23, North Korean patrol boats operating under fighter cover intercepted the scout ship USS Pueblo in international waters northeast of Wonsan, killing one of its crew. The 314th Airborne Division, almost there, had no aircraft to assist the crew. By the time an attack aircraft could be sent to the area, USS Pueblo and its remaining 82 crew were already in captivity. South Korea had only 12 helicopters, which was severely limiting its patrol capabilities. As soon as the "sh&t had hit the fas", the commander called him in and in a few decisive, soldierly, unquotable words ordered him to solve the problem and find equipment that would be capable of patrolling the coastline and border of South Korea and would have the ability to provide air cover for ground forces. Of course, he immediately added that additional helicopters were out of the question. So Grant had been sitting for over a week and looking through lexicon after lexicon, even taking food to his office. Today, however, the fuses blew, he decided that he couldn't do it, there was no chance, he wouldn't find a suitable plane or helicopter that would be available immediately. Harriers were just starting service, Hueys were not available, even Sioux Scouts had been rejected. He needed something for yesterday, something that would require at most minor modifications, and preferably something that didn't require a runway strip. He was torn from his stupor by a shrill voice from behind the door. "Dad! I want to see Dad!"
-"Oh yes, thought Grant, I promised him I'd play with him... a week ago. He cursed the commander in his mind.

-With these impossible tasks I'm neglecting my family, damn it -he growled under his breath.

-Jimmie, Dad's working - the tired voice of Annie, Grant's wife, could be heard from behind the door.

-Dad worked yesterday, today too, he worked tomorrow too, Dad's working all the time! - little Jimmie couldn't handle the days and time yet
-Dad promised, let go, promised!

There was a clatter, the door to Wallace's office opened and the colonel's five-year-old son jumped into his father's lap without any delay.

-Dad, you promised! Dad, let's play!- Jimmie grabbed Grant's hand and started to pull him out the door.

Grant smiled weakly at his wife who was watching him helplessly.

-Take it easy, Annie, I'll handle it,- he said only with his mouth.
Annie just nodded. She knew her husband all too well.

-Daddy, daddy, come on! I've got a new pogo stick, you're look at me jumpin'!

Grant frozed. He grabbed his son by the shoulders and turned him around violently.

-Jimmie, what did you say!?

-You'd be looking at me jumping!

-Not that! What do you have?!

-Mommy bought me a pogo stick!

-What?

-A pogo stick, one for jumping!

-My boy! I love you! - Grant almost crushed little Jimmy in his embrace. The son looked at his father not knowing what to do. He was supposed to be going to play, but now what?

-Come on, sonny, you'll help me for a while.

Jimmie brightened with joy - he'll be helping his daddy. Grant sat him down in his armchair and then reached for one of the thick books on the shelf. He quickly looked through it, tapped one of the pages with his finger and showed it to his son.

- Jimmie, look - he pointed to a large black and white photo.

Jimmie didn't know what he was looking at. It looked like a Christmas tree, the same as in the garden, but it had a propeller on top.

- Dad, what's that? - he finally asked.

 -This is your idea, son - Grant explained happily -It's a plane that will solve my problem.

-And me? And me what?

-And you Jimmie, you'll get these two books and find me all the pictures of this plane, when you find them, show me.

-And you?

-And I'll do the same with these two books, I'll just call you.

Delighted Jimmie began to carefully leaf through the lexicon. Grant watched him for a moment, deeply moved. He didn't expect that solving a government problem would take a five-year-old a dozen or so seconds. After a moment, he grabbed the phone and dialed his assistant's number.
-Hi Richard, call the Convair factory management for Monday and set up a meeting with the "Mad" Canterra for me on Tuesday.

-Have they brought him back yet?

-If not, I'll bring him back.

-Is it that bad?

-No, quite the opposite.

-You mean what?

-You mean Pogo! - he slammed down the phone impatiently. Richard was great but a pain in the @ss when he shouldn't have been. He felt Jimmie tugging on his trouser leg.

-Daddy, I've got him in my picture!

Grant took over massive lexicon from his son. Problem solution had its own set of problems, but they could be overcome.

After the end of World War II, the intensifying Cold War spurred the US Army to develop vertical take-off technology. In May 1951, Convair signed a contract to design and build a take-off and landing fighter, designated the XFY-1, commonly known as "Pogo"
It was a vertical take-off fighter. It took off from a vertical position standing on its tail. It had delta wings and two counter-rotating propellers powered by a 5,500 hp turboprop engine.

On April 29, 1954, Convair test pilot Second Lieutenant James F. Coleman made the first flight of this aircraft. At first, it was flown with a special tether, which was to prevent loss of control of the aircraft. The first free flight took place on November 2, 1954. During subsequent flights, design flaws were discovered. Due to the lack of air brakes, the Pogo had serious problems with effective deceleration. Another problem was landing. The pilot's inconvenient position did not allow him to fully control the aircraft during the approach to landing. Due to these difficulties, further work on the project was suspended. Convair returned to the project and another test took place on May 19, 1955. Its results were far from expected, and as a result, on August 1 of that year, the project was officially closed. Pogo made its last flight in November 1956, after which it was rolled into the Convair factory warehouse and forgotten. In 1968, Colonel Wallace Grant remembered it. At a meeting with the Convair factory management, the necessary changes were discussed. Pogo had to be modified so as not to pose a threat to the pilots. It was determined that the propeller automation had to be changed, as well as the ejection seat. A new cockpit layout was also discussed. The aircraft was to be able to perform assault operations. Four underwing pylons,  radar, and two 12.7 mm cannons were added. The wheels get brakes and a camera was added to the stabilizer so that the pilot would not break his neck during landing and air combat. One of the best (and least disciplined) Marine pilots, William "Mad" Canterra, first flew a Pogo modified in this way. When he first saw his new plane, all he could say was, "What the f—!" The modified Pogo behaved correctly, although landing was still not intuitive. The Pogo, now officially designated FV-1 "Kraken," was ordered into production, with the first run of 20. In the meantime, Canterra was ordered to gather the most crazy, uncouth, trigger-happy pilots to fly the Krakens, protecting allies in South Korea. Canterra managed to gather eighteen of them, and after training they formed the 1st VTOL Air Squadron, known as VMF(V)-07, with Canterra as commander. In 1969, the squadron, ready for action during Operation "Fir" (after the Kraken's shape, which was looking like a christmas tree in Grant's son eyes), was transported by merchant ship to South Korea. The base of operations was a forest area near the border with the northern, aggressive neighbor in the central part of the country. The almost triangular aircraft blended perfectly with the coniferous trees, making it difficult to see the Kraken standing on its tail.

Patrol duty was difficult. The pilots had difficulties with long transition from takeoff to level flight. This was when the Krakens were most vulnerable to attack. In level flight, however, they towered over anything North Korea could send into the air. The training and nature of the VMF(V)-07 pilots specially selected by Canterra made life even more difficult for the hostile North Korean pilots. The 12.7 cannons and Sidewinder missiles, combined with the unusual appearance of the Krakens, destabilized any North Korean air formation. When a FV-1 squadron flew into a group of enemy aircraft at full speed, the enemy pilots usually fled. The Krakens were unstoppable in level flight. Unfortunately, in 1971, after almost two years of Krakens flying unpunished, the base was attacked for the first and last time. The North Koreans had been hunting Krakens unsuccessfully since 1969. It was not until 1971 that one of the pilots of a pair of MiG-17s patrolling the border spotted a landing Kraken. The MiGs did not have a large supply of rounds in their cannons, but the swiftly conducted attack surprised american pilots, and only three Krakens managed to take off. The attackers did not return to the base, but a forest fire where the FV-1s were stationed caused all of them to burn. The pilots survived, but the squadron no longer had a reason to exist. The three surviving Krakens were brought back to the States. Two were dismantled, the third was restored to the prototype stage and in 1973 was taken to a museum in Silverhill, Maryland.

Now - Captain "Mad" Canterra sometimes visited his old stead, sometimes meet Already-General Grant there, who was also frequent guest to the Maryland museum. Canterra would usually greet Grant by repeating what he said when he first saw the modified Pogo, "What the f..k!" A bench for them was placed neart Pogo , so they could reminisce about one of the most insane and secret operations in the history of the Korean War, a war that has not ended to this day.
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 The model shows William "Mad" Canterra aircraft participating in Operation "Fir Tree". It is based on the Lindberg kit in 1/48 scale with scratchbuild and kitbashed add-ons. The seat comes from the F-4 Phantom, as the instrument panel, fuel tanks and Sidewinder missiles. The cockpit tub is from the F-15. I dug out cannon barrels in scrap box. Everything else is from scratch. The decals are a loose set of letters and markings from Techmod. The octopus is a remnant of the decals from Revell's PV-1 Ventura in 1/48. Painting as usual - AK Interactive and Mr.Hobby. Details Vallejo. Minimal weathering is mainly AMMO fluids and Tamiya pigments.
And sorry for my translation of backstory...my english is little rusted

[chrisonord]

Very nice 

[Spino]

Never thought you could dress up a Pogo to look any good, but you seem to have nailed it!

[Rick Lowe]

 

[Old Wombat]

A weird, ugly little aircraft, but your back-story & build made me smile.   

[su27rules]

Fantastic!!        

[zenrat]

Noice.

[RAFF-35]

This has to be one of the best pogos out there!

[NARSES2]

That has come out well   

[PR19_Kit]

That Lindberg Pogo's a gem, if only because of the gear train inside the prop-hub that makes the lower prop rotate opposite to the upper one. Really good styrene engineering. 

[kerick]

This is so cool!
Now I want a pogo stick!
Actually that would make everyone else giggle their a&$ off and probably put me in an ER!

[Rick Lowe]

Yeah, some toys are just a No-Go for folk beyond a certain age... or size...  it's just not fair

[Wardukw]

Man that looks fan-bloody-tastic...wicked build   

[Robomog]

Excellent build and backstory

Love it   

Mog
>^-.-^<

[comrade harps]

Sincerely, that is the wildest Pogo l've ever seen. Beautiful