French Navy F/A-18P

[anthonyp]

Here's a Lindberg 1/72 F/A-18 from that terribly mindless movie Independance Day, done up for the French Navy.

This particular F/A-18P is equipped with French electronics and weapons, with two Magics on the wigntips, two Exocets on the outer hard points, and two Mica missiles on the specialized launchers where Sparrow or Amraam missiles would be found on any other variant of the Hornet.  The French call the F/A-18P "Le Bogue," as the French for "Hornet" is "Frelon," and is already assigned to the venerable ASW helicopter.  This particular example flies off of the Verdun and Clemenceau class ships, and equipped the Charles De Gaulle class carriers until sufficient Rafale M's were available.  After the Rafale became available, the F/A-18P's of the fleet rotated in and out of the at-sea airwings.

[anthonyp]

Another view

[anthonyp]

Underside, where you can see the Mica's.  I used the LANTIRN mounts as launchers.

[anthonyp]

final view

[Tophe]

The French call the F/A-18P "Le Bogue,"
equipped the Charles De Gaulle class carriers until sufficient Rafale M's were available.  After the Rafale became available, the F/A-18P's of the fleet rotated in and out of the at-sea airwings.

Dear Anthonyp, thanks from France for this US-France symbol of friendship and cooperation (while our presidents and leading-staffs seem to hate each others). Featuring French devices and missiles for sure make your plane possible, so much that such a nice model  would have been forbidden in France 10 years ago, leading directly to jail : the powerful Dassault leaders and trade unions hardly wanted the tax-payers money for 10 Rafale M and buying 50 F-18 for the same amount would have been more pleasant for the Aeronavale, buying 10F-18 for a quarter of the Rafale bill would have been more pleasant for the taxpayers, and worse: better for 80% of the electors. Your model, or even yourself, would have been in great danger   ...

Worse: several times, the rising costs of the Rafale program made the government consider its cancellation, while it was kept on, arguing: carriers badly need a new fighter, and the EFA/Eurofighter/TyphoonII has not such naval ability. With your nice F/A-18P, a whole dishonnest speech would have fallen down. Politicians have the power to make such disturbing possibilities shut down.

Well, right now, it is allowed, smiling... sadly, from the taxpayer's point of view.    

About the "bogue" word, I have been surprised, as my generation knows this word only as the French-equivalent of (computer-)bug or software-jam... while a dictionary gave me the explanation: this word was mainly for a vegetal edgehog, around chestnut. Thanks for this French lesson to a (non-proud) French author!

[anthonyp]

Thanks for the compliments, Tophe!  I always knew those two years of high school and one year of college French would help me sometime in the far, far future  

Seriously, this model was a fun one to build once I decided on what it was going to be (you ever have one of those kits where you open the box to use it for parts, but decide to actually build it, and have no idea what it's going to be until halfway through assembly?).  France is the only other nation besides the US to consistantly operate a conventional carrier since WWII, and I figured they'd need something to replace the old F-8's (and F-4's in my universe) in the fleet.  Glad you like it!

[PolluxDeltaSeven]

Great job!!!

I had the same idea with a 2 colored camo (up in blue, down in grey) but the Heller kit is just god enough to use its parts for other scratchbuild) French F-18P

France is the only other nation besides the US to consistantly operate a conventional carrier since WWII, and I figured they'd need something to replace the old F-8's (and F-4's in my universe) in the fleet. Glad you like it!

About the little story of French F-18, you people have to know that France want to end the F-8P service since 1975!! (and it wasn't the case until 1999).
So, French Navy thought in the early 1980' about a French F-18. But on the Fosh and Clemenceau carriers, such an aircraft could only be used as a short range fighter, without external tanks or bombs (the catapults are to short). But even with 4 air-air missiles, it could have a better radar and attack range than the F-8.
But it was thought in some ministries that a little modification on the F-8 will be cheaper and easier to do. And it was done...

But just after the Gulf War, French Navy knew that the F-8 was VERY old!!!!  In 1992 and 1993, when 12 F-8P are inboard a carrier, there were often only 2 or 3 of them abble to fly at every moment. And the Rafale and Charles de Gaulle won't be ready until 1999 or 2000!!
That's why the rent (I say RENT, at this moment, French Navy never want to cancel the Rafale...) of 12 or 16 F/A-18A seemed to be a good idea!!

Even if the Hornets aren't abble to take off from the Clem Class carrier with external tanks ore air to ground weapons, a Hornet with minimum abilities is better than a F-8 with NO ability !!!!!


But Dassault had another idea. And you have to know that Dassault is VERY powerful in France (Serge Dassault is the man who send the young Jacques Chirac into politic 50 years ago...).
Dassault propose to refit all the old F-8 (well, more than 60% of them were already destroyed in crash landings) with new Martin Baker, a modified radar, a refit engine etc... The planes aren't more capable, just more safe for the pilot...

Of course, it could be said that the rent of 12 old second-hand Hornet for 8 years won't be the end of a 300 fighters' programme, the Rafale.
But Dassault's ideas was that the money spend in a rent or a very cheap purchase of 12 Hornet couldn't be used to deal with... the Rafale M budget that could going beyond of budget !!!
And above all, the modification and the refit of the Hornet was planned to be done by... MATRA, a French company, and Dassault's riva !!!

That's all !!!





Oh, I forgot! :

In French, the word "le" is not said when you speak about a plane class. That is like if you say F-16 The Falcon or F-15 The Eagle.

So, it's better with F/A-18P Bogue

[Tophe]

Interesting story, I did not know the details...
For "Le", it is more complicated then that, I fear, as when Renault car manufacturer tried to sold its R5 in the USA, the label was "Le car" as a smile to be understood as French trying hardly to speak English, as we are doing you & me dear PolluxD7... And Dassault commercials would welcome US admirals ordering the Rafale M with cheers saying "Vive Le Rafale"... American hardly trying to Speak French are very welcome (and here in plastic model hobby, there is no need of enclosed $ millions to be welcome, smiles are good enough )...    

[noxioux]

That's a very nice job on that bird.  So what if Msr. Dassault would be doing cartwheels in his grave.

So what's the French word for Hornet?

[Tophe]

as the French for "Hornet" is "Frelon," and is already assigned to the venerable ASW helicopter.

Yes, Hornet is Frelon, but we could use Hornet as a nice-name without a meaning. Maybe we would have written it Horné and pronounced it Ornay... or H'ornette to be pronounced closer to Hornet...

[John Howling Mouse]

as the French for "Hornet" is "Frelon," and is already assigned to the venerable ASW helicopter.

Yes, Hornet is Frelon,

Really?  Didn't know that!  This could open up a whole new line (new to me, anyhow) of What-Iffery: French subjects!

After all, virtually anything said in French seems exotic and mysterious (to an Albertan, at least).

Going to go looking for an online French-English dictionary now...

[Ollie]

Let's start with you Barry.

Albertan = Albertain.

 

[Tophe]

Going to go looking for an online French-English dictionary now...

Ollie is our living French-English dictionary  and a great what-if modeler all at once!

PS. The way English-speaking people pronounce Frelon at first is far from our own, there is not even letters to write in English our prononciation of E or ON. What you pronounce Frelon would be written Frilonne in French I guess ...

[anthonyp]

Going to go looking for an online French-English dictionary now...

For an easy to use, if somewhat bizarre at times translator, go to altavista.com and click the "Translate" link.  All sorts of languages are offered, but the translation for anything longer than a word or two ends up leaving something to be desired (or the thing translates the sentence you want translated into either gibberish, or something that will make you fall out of your chair laughing when translated back).  Translating a sentence and going from, say, english to french to spanish to english again will sometimes yeild some very funny results.

I know "le" and "la" mean "the" in English, but I used the "le" in the title as I imagined the McDonnel Douglas sales reps from Missouri wouldn't be all that well versed in foreign languages, only that the direct translation for Hornet was already used.

[PolluxDeltaSeven]

Really? Didn't know that! This could open up a whole new line (new to me, anyhow) of What-Iffery: French subjects!

After all, virtually anything said in French seems exotic and mysterious (to an Albertan, at least).

There are sometimes funny translations... For example, the US planes often have birds' names. But sometimes, in French, those birds doesn't have a common name, 'cause they didn't live in Europe.

For example, the V-22 "Osprey" could be translate as...  V-22 "Balbuzard Pêcheur"  :dum:
An other example: in French, the F-16 Falcon could be named "Faucon"... But the BAe Hawk is also a "Faucon"!! (we have only one word for the 2 birds)


But some other looks great in French, as the F-15 "Aigle" or the F-117 "Faucon de Nuit"...