Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

[SPINNERS]

Lavochkin La-13 'Fibber' v. Canberra

SOVIETLa-13FIBBER01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETLa-13FIBBER02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETLa-13FIBBER03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is the Focke Wulf Ta-183 masquerading as the Lavochkin La-13 'Fibber' rather getting the better of these RAF Canberras... it would never have happened in reality of course!

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Bereznyak-Isayev-Bratukhin BIB-20R - PVO Strany, 1955

Despite the failure of the wartime Soviet rocket-powered development and prototype aircraft, principally by Bereznyak-Isayev and Polikarpov, in 1946 Stalin demanded a new fast-climbing rocket-powered 'Blizhnii Istrebitel' or point defense fighter as a last line of defence against the perceived threat of US bombers armed with atomic bombs.

With Stalin's blessing the remains of the Bereznyak-Isayev design team formed an alliance with the Bratukhin design bureau (formed in 1940 to produce helicopters) and with input from TsAGI set about creating a rocket-powered interceptor. Almost immediately the new Bereznyak-Isayev-Bratukhin design team realised the inflexibility of an aircraft only powered by rocket engines and set about creating a more flexible design with a single axial-flow turbojet engine supplemented by booster rockets.

Designated BIB-20 the design initially had a straight wing with two large wingtip mounted rocket boosters before being extensively redesigned with swept wings and four smaller booster rockets initially clustered around the rear fuselage before later being relocated beneath the main fuselage. However, fears over tip stall led to a further redesign with the wings now having more chord at the wingtip than the wingroot in an attempt to generate more lift and delay the point of stall at the tip to that of the entire wing. The design also meant that the wingtips had more internal room enabling the landing gear to be mounted to retract outwards and allow fuel to be located in integral inner wing tanks that also boosted the torsional resistance of the wing to counter the additional outboard mass of the 'inverse taper' wing.

The prototype BIB-20 first flew on May 1st, 1949 piloted by Konstantin Gruzdev and powered solely by a Lyulka TR-3A single-shaft turbojet with a seven-stage axial compressor developing 5,500lbs of thrust. By the Autumn of 1949 the BIB-20 prototype had been retrofitted with four RD-1KhZ rocket engines each developing about 660lbs thrust and the first flight of the BIB-20R took place on November 7th, 1949 with Vasily Pliyev at the controls. On the modest power of the early engines the performance of the BIB-20R was quite unimpressive at low altitudes but was much improved at higher altitudes with the rocket engines enabling altitudes in excess of 60,000ft to be achieved and later versions with more powerful RD-2 rocket engines rated at 1,500lbs thrust each saw operational aircraft reach 65,000ft with an outstanding rate of climb.

Entering service in late 1953 the BIB-20R was hailed by the Soviet Union as a massive technical achievement but in reality the type suffered from very poor range and very high maintenance and with the MiG-19S entering service before the end of 1954 it was soon phased out in favour of more conventional aircraft.

SOVIETBIB-20FULLSTOP01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETBIB-20FULLSTOP02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETBIB-20FULLSTOP03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETBIB-20FULLSTOP04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETBIB-20FULLSTOP05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is the Republic XF-91 Thunderceptor masquerading as the Bereznyak-Isayev-Bratukhin BIB-20R. I removed the very large two-pronged probe from the 3D model and did a new skin from scratch, gave it some Soviet markings and a (hopefully) suitable backstory!!

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Blackburn Firestorm FB.2 - 802 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm, 1948

RNFIRESTORMFB201 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNFIRESTORMFB202 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNFIRESTORMFB203 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNFIRESTORMFB204 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNFIRESTORMFB205 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is the Lavochkin La-11 masquerading as the Blackburn Firestorm FB.2 in a scheme reminiscent of 3 of the 4 Sea Furies flying in front of Table Mountain in the photograph shown on Page 171 of the 'Typhoon and Tempest at War' book, much read by me in the 1970's! Perhaps somewhere along the Firebrand (and Firecrest) route somebody applied the brakes and gave the Fleet Air Arm what they really wanted.

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Boulton Paul Defiant I - Eskadrille 726, Royal Danish Air Force, 1940

RDAFDEFIANT01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RDAFDEFIANT02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

(Markings are a bit post-war).

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Curtiss P-40N Warhawk - No.101 Squadron, Israeli Air Force, 1948

Following the Israeli Declaration of Independence on May 14th, 1948 David Ben-Gurion declared the establishment of a Jewish state to be known as the State of Israel. Within two weeks the Israeli Air Force was formed mainly using foreign volunteer pilots (including many World War II veterans) flying a variety of obsolete and war surplus aircraft sourced by various means. Among these were 30 P-40N Warhawk fighter aircraft delivered in crates from the United States and alongside the Avia S-199's and Supermarine Spitfire LF Mk IX's they formed the backbone of the early Israeli Air Force.

Whilst the Warhawks were not ready to help in attempting to halt the Egyptian advance from the South during early June 1948 they were soon in operation in the close support role and also bolstered the air defences around Tel Aviv and were successful in shooting down several Egyptian Air Force DC-3's and Spitfires. The Warhawks were also tasked with escorting the handful of Israeli B-17 bombers but were mainly committed to the support of IDF ground forces. By December 1948 IDF ground forces were ready to commence Operation Assaf to take control of the Western Negev and the Warhawks helped in stopping an Egyptian counterattack and helped prevent another counterattack when a Warhawk flying an aerial reconnaissance sortie revealed Egyptian preparations and the IDF was able to launch a pre-emptive strike.

Following the ceasefire the remaining Warhawks were gathered together to re-equip No.101 who operated the type until the end of 1956 playing a minor role in Operation Kadesh by escorting Israeli Air Force DC-3s dropping Israeli paratroopers behind Egyptian lines at the Mitla Pass and Et-Tur.

IDFP-40NWARHAWK01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IDFP-40NWARHAWK02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IDFP-40NWARHAWK03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IDFP-40NWARHAWK04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IDFP-40NWARHAWK05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Not much input from me on this one (just my IDF decals and a red spinner) on this lovely P-40N by 'Raven' who has just about covered the entire P-40 series.

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Curtiss P-40N Warhawk - No.1 Squadron, Irish Air Corps, Gormanston, County Meath, 1949

IACP-40NWARHAWK01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IACP-40NWARHAWK02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IACP-40NWARHAWK03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IACP-40NWARHAWK04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I do like Irish Air Corps markings! Doh! The starboard badge needs reversing. The 'Spitfire The History' book by Eric Morgan and Edward Shacklady shows an IAC Spitfire Seafire with the underwing stripes also applied above the wing but the IAC Hurricanes are generally shown with stripes below and roundels above which is the direction I've taken here.

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Mikoyan I-104 - Frontovaya Aviatsiya, Soviet Air Force, 1976

SOVIETF-104GSTARFIGHTER01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETF-104GSTARFIGHTER02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETF-104GSTARFIGHTER03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETF-104GSTARFIGHTER04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETF-104GSTARFIGHTER05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETF-104GSTARFIGHTER06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETF-104GSTARFIGHTER07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I've been meaning to show this one for a while now but this is a mod by 'Spillone104' over at Combat Ace and with a handle like that you can imagine that he's a big Zipper fan! Not much input from me except for recolouring the (MiG-21!) tip tanks and altering the size and position of the decals.

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Sukhoi Su-9 Fishpot - F13 Flygvapnet, 1977

FLYGVAPNETSU-9FISHPOT01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETSU-9FISHPOT02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETSU-9FISHPOT03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETSU-9FISHPOT04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETSU-9FISHPOT05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETSU-9FISHPOT06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I'd have loved to have done grey undersides but I couldn't quite follow the mapping of the stock Su-9 Fishpot (which seems to have been created using a lot of their Su-7 - fair enough) and lost a bit of interest. Anyway, I'd created a recoloured RedTop for my Swedish Lightning a while ago and thought it would make a good addition to this Swedish Fishpot.

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Petlyakov Pe-11 'Fastfin' - Soviet Air Force, 1946

Whilst Vladimir Petlyakov was arrested in 1937 on the totally ficticious charges of aiding the Russian Fascist Party by 1939 he had been moved from prison to Moscow to work alongside many ex-TsAGI people in designing aircraft for the Soviet Air Force. Petlyakov was initially tasked with designing a high-altitude fighter and was progressing well with this design but was then instructed to redesign it as a dive bomber with the result being the outstanding Pe-2 which served in a variety of roles gaining Petlyakov not only his freedom but also the Stalin Prize in 1941.

After surviving an air crash whilst flying a Pe-2 in January 1942, Petlyakov studied a more advanced fighter aircraft during his long convalescence and sketched an unusual configuration of a rear wing with forward canards. Designated Pe-11 his design was revised to feature a tapered fuselage with the wings now mounted mid-fuselage but set back to the rear of the aircraft with a widened fuselage designed to accept the Klimov VK-250 engine formed from two Klimov M-125 V24 liquid-cooled piston engines joined side-by-side just aft of the cockpit ahead of which was a nose section designed to carry the heavy armament of four Volkov-Yartsev VYa-23 cannon. The vertical tail was mounted beneath the fuselage and a tricycle landing gear arrangement added further to the revolutionary look of the Pe-11.

As with all things at this time, Petlyakov had to sell the idea to Stalin but the success of the Pe-2 during 1943 and early 1944 saw Petlyakov's radical design given Stalin's blessing and a production contract was awarded on May 1st, 1944 with an instruction to achieve a first flight within one year. Thankfully, development moved swiftly during 1944 and, on April 30th 1945, after some short taxiing 'hops' the prototype Pe-11 took to the air before an 'official' first flight on May 1st, 1945. With Germany defeated it might have been thought that production orders would be cancelled but development continued with the first Pe-11's entering service in early 1946 with the 3rd Aviation Squadron (part of the 73rd GIAP) commanded by Lidiya Vladimirovna Litvyak.

SOVIETPE-11FASTFIN01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETPE-11FASTFIN02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETPE-11FASTFIN03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETPE-11FASTFIN04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETPE-11FASTFIN05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SOVIETPE-11FASTFIN06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is the Henschel Hs P75 masquerading as the Petlyakov Pe-11 'Fastfin'! This is a new skin by me but the 3D model has some issues (tears) meaning that it doesn't accept decals too well. A British version (the Boulton Paul Firenza) is shown on Page 11.

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Duel: MiG-21PFM (VPAF) v. F-104C (USAF) Vietnam, 1968

DUEL01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DUEL02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DUEL03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DUEL04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DUEL05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DUEL06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DUEL07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DUEL08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DUEL09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AFAIK these two missed each other over the skies of Vietnam with the VPAF getting the MiG-21PFM in 1968 and the F-104C's having gone back to the States during the previous year. With equal pilot ability my money would be on the MiG-21 but tactics and missile technology might have a bigger effect on the outcome than the MiG-21's relative agility when compared to the Zipper.

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Sukhoi Su-9 'Fishpot-A' - 104th Fighter Brigade, Egyptian Air Force, 1967

EAFSU-9FISHPOT01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

EAFSU-9FISHPOT02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

EAFSU-9FISHPOT03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

EAFSU-9FISHPOT04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A bit of a simple one this - almost a night off!

[SPINNERS]

Sukhoi Su-9 'Fishpot-A' - Luftstreitkräfte der NVA, 1966

LSKSU-9FISHPOT01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

LSKSU-9FISHPOT02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

LSKSU-9FISHPOT03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

LSKSU-9FISHPOT04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Firstly, yes, the Hunter kicked my arse! This is the stock Su-9 skin (slightly edited to remove some traces of Su-7) with my own LSK markings and then using the stock 3-digit red LSK codes (I'm not really sure how LSK codes work). I like the simple 'tube' like looks of the Fishpot (and Fitter) and it definitely has a J-Lo thing going on at the back!

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Saab SK-59A - F13, Flygvapnet, 1975

FLYGVAPNETHA-200SUPERSAETTA01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETHA-200SUPERSAETTA02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FLYGVAPNETHA-200SUPERSAETTA03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is the Spanish Ha-200E 'Super Saetta' masquerading as the Saab SK-59 jet trainer. The lovely Ha-200 was released over at the DAT site recently (the home of many similarly esoteric aircraft for Strike Fighters) and comes with Egyptian and Spanish skins. I've lashed up this Flygvapnet skin as best as I can as a bit of a 'speed build' but it really deserves a decent template.

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Fairey Firefly Mk.5 - Royal Dhimari Navy Fleet Air Arm, 1950

DHIMARIFIREFLY501 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMARIFIREFLY502 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMARIFIREFLY503 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Republic Thunderchief FGA.2 - No.33 Squadron, RAF South East Asia Command, 1971

RAFSEACTHUNDERCHIEFFGA201 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSEACTHUNDERCHIEFFGA202 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSEACTHUNDERCHIEFFGA203 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSEACTHUNDERCHIEFFGA204 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSEACTHUNDERCHIEFFGA205 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSEACTHUNDERCHIEFFGA206 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSEACTHUNDERCHIEFFGA207 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A lovely Euro 1 skin by 'daddyairplanes' is used here with my SEAC insignia and No.33 squadron markings. I thought I'd use No.33 squadron as they had one spell in Malaya with Tempests and Hornets from 1949 through to 1955 and a second spell in Malaya as a Bloodhound SAM squadron from 1965 to early 1970.