AIM - Ground Equipment GE48048

RAF Type B National Insignia/Roundels Fighters and medium size aircraft (RAF roundels) 1938 to 1945

More

Northrop F-5E/F Tiger Peace Alps Part Two) 40 years ago the F-5E/F Tiger was introduced into the inventory of the Swiss Air Force. The Tiger was the last a�é-sinexpensive' mass fighter aircraft for the Swiss Airforce, 98 single-seaters and 12 two-seaters were purchased. It was also the last Jet Fighter that was to be crewed by the militia pilot system; men who followed normal professions but also were professional Fighter Pilots. The end of the a�é-sFlying Baker' has been proclaimed for many years. The fleet reduction started already in 2002 when the U.S. Navy became interested in the F-5 to beef up their a�é-sAggressor Squadrons'. In the media, the Tiger got called old, night-blind and lame winged. A replacement was required, found and tested, the Saab 39 Gripen came out superior to the Dassault Rafale and Eurofighter. Not everybody liked this and in 2014, three million aviation experts voted not to purchase any new aircraft at all. Peace Alps Part Two is the story of an aircraft that has reached 40 years of service in Switzerland against all odds and continues flying. This set offers decals for the very first aircraft up to some retirement schemes of today, but is not covering the end, as the final pages still need to be written. Tigers delivered in the original first batch (J-3001 J-3066 and J-3201 J-3206) did not have the extended Leading Edge Wing Extensions (LERX) or the aerodynamically more streamlined shark shaped radar nose cones. However the second batch (J-3067 J-3098 & J-3207 3212) delivered from 1982 onwards, were built from new with the LERX and the improved nose cone. The prominent VHF antenna was installed behind the cockpit. These modifications were also retrospectively introduced to the earlier Tiger fleet. As has become an established tradition, the last aircraft off the production line received special nose art and J-3066 became Peace Alps I and featured a flying dove while J-3098 had Peace Alps II titles above a flying witch (both aircraft are featured on the 'Peace Alps Part Two' decal sheet). There is hardly any F-5 in Swiss service that did not receive a squadron badge at some time during its service life. Since the aircraft are not assigned to any specific squadron, some aircraft have more than one squadron badge applied or may have had a mix of various badges at different times. Tiger airplanes also participated in training missions and competitions abroad. Sardinia (SAKA) or Waddington (NORKA) in the United Kingdom created new badges. It is imperative to check photo references to get a picture of the exact look of a particular aircraft at any given time. The paint scheme applied was similar to the USAF F-15's of the time. The original colors are F9453 Medium Grey and F9452 Light Grey, produced by the company Walter Mader AG in Switzerland. The closest equivalent is a mix of FS 35237 Grey Blue and FS 36622 Grey in parts 33/67 and 50/50 respectively. With the introduction of the F/A-18 Hornet in 1998, things became easier and the colors were harmonized with FS 36320 Dark Ghost Grey and FS 36375 Light Ghost Grey. This is a matter of evolution, some aircraft were completely repainted, some merely received only a partial replacement while others simply received a touch up, thus leaving a 4 color mottled effect. While similar, the new Ghost Grays are a shade darker than the original colors; a very pleasing challenge to the modeler. In 2002, the U.S. Navy purchased 32 surplus F-5Es from the Swiss Air Force to strengthen their 'Aggressor Squadrons'. Later, a similar deal for an additional 12 F-5E was finalized. Renamed as 'F-5N' , these Tigers now serve with VFC-13, VMFT-401 and also VFC-111 'Sundowners' in Florida, a suitable retirement home for ageing airplanes! Research for this project was extremely interesting and creating the artwork for the decals placed a challenge. I'm aware, that I got carried away. This presents my biggest decal project and while preparing these instructions, I have not seen the finished product myself. I do know, that some registration numbers are missing but they are easy made up with spare numbers. This said with this sheet you will be able to create almost any Swiss F-5 Tiger at some point in time. Extra squadron badges are provided. There is simply not enough space on the instruction sheet for the whole fleet.

More

Consolidated Vultee XB-46 64-pages, By Steve Ginter 115 b&w photos and 4 color photos. 25 illustrations. The Consolidated Vultee (Convair) XB-46 was a four-jet medium bomber built to a 1944 USAAF requirement. It was the largest of the four different bombers built to this requirement. The other three were the North-American XB-45, the Boeing XB-47 and the Martin XB-48. The winner of the competition was the XB-45, but Boeing was allowed to continue development of their offering with swept wings. Because of this only one XB-46 was built. It was to be the first all-pneumatic aircraft built with pneumatics operating the landing gear, brakes, and bomb bay doors. This system was highly successful as it saved a lot of weight and allow the quickest activation of landing gear and bomb bay doors seen to that date. First flight was on 2 April 1947 and the aircraft was utilized until November 1950. The aircraft biggest legacy was its beauty!

More

RAF Medium Sea Gray strips

More

Bell/Boeing MV-22B Osprey Part 2 WAS £17.99. TEMPORARILY SAVE 1/3RD!!! 1. MV-22 Osprey 168238/ EG 00 aircraft with Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 263 (Reinforced), 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit.

More

Warpaint Aviation #1 - Fall of Iron Edited by Gary Hatcher & Chris Meddings. Fall of Iron is the first in a series of compendium volumes covering military aircraft with a focus on some of the less well-covered subjects. The series is designed to offer a brief one-stop historical reference combined with colour artwork and is aimed primarily scale modellers but offers plenty for the general aviation enthusiast too. This first volume looks at some of the twin-engined medium bombers of World War Two and includes a selection of profiles written by Richard Mason, as well as a ground-breaking piece of research on the early B-25 Mitchell by Brian Derbyshire that offers an incisive look into the business of wartime mass-production and the vast number of changes to the ensuing airframes brought about as a result of ongoing combat experience. Other aircraft covered include the rarely discussed Tupolev SB-2, the Mitsubishi G4M Betty, Bristol Blenheim, Savoia-Marchetti SM.79, Petylyakov Pe-2 and the Handley Page Hampden. Many of these aircraft have been overlooked as 'also-rans' by history and the scale modelling community but an examination of similar types designed for similar roles from various Axis and Allied air forces demonstrates just how much aircraft development kept pace during the conflict, and how despite their clear external differences aircraft designers all over the World were drawing the same conclusions as a result of experience gained in a shooting war. Comprehensive enough to inform but concise enough to be useful, Fall of Iron presents a picture of Wartime bomber development that will help the reader understand the essential role these unsung machines played and the sometimes remarkable use that was made of them. This books is 92 pages

More