With parts 1, 3 and 4 completed and posted months ago, l am finally nearing the start of the long lost and mysteriously omitted part 2.

Part 2 was to be a FJ-4C Fury, but l have rewritten the old posts to bring them in line with Fry's new part 2 mount, the Grumman F11F-3 Tiger. l snaffled a Hasegawa F11F-1 kit at Model Expo for $10 and it will be by next build (once l complete and post my current build, an Argentine F-4U Phantom II).

Stay tuned. That Apartheid loving war criminal, Stephen Fry, will return, shooting down freedom loving heroes in Fresco, Fluffy and Farmer interceptors, in a Grumman Tiger.

I await the title correction with bated breath!

Quote from: Old Wombat on June 21, 2023, 04:39:33 AMI await the title correction with bated breath!

 

When are we going to see the Grumman F11F-3 Tiger? I'm really about seeing it when it's finally completed.

Quote from: thundereagle1997 on June 25, 2023, 09:55:35 PMWhen are we going to see the Grumman F11F-3 Tiger? I'm really about seeing it when it's finally completed.

Its started. Patience.

Grumman F11F-3 Tiger
a/c 302/S, 2 Squadron, SAAF
Dakhla, Spanish Sahara, 12 August 1958
Personal mount of Captain Stephen Fry



The deck career of Grumman's F11F-1 Tiger was brief. Operated from US Navy flattops as a stop-gap fighter until the introduction of Vought F8U Crusaders, the Tiger served with Navy combat units for just 5 years. Rapidly consigned to advanced training duties by the Navy, the US Marine Corps nethertheless found an ongoing frontline niche for the Tiger. Over 8 years, the USMC used their fighter-bomber F11F-2s in Africa, Asia and Latin America. Cheap, efficient and supersonic in level flight, the Grumman gave every appearance of being an export winner, but several factors worked against it. As a land-based fighter-bomber, the export oriented F11F-3 had the unfortunate position of being available at a time when it was competing against established high-end subsonic types (like the Dassault Canada Mystere IV, Canadair Sabre 6, the CAC CA-27 Sabre and the F-86H Sabre) and the first generation of supersonics (such as the F-100, F-104 and the Super Mystere, all of which were faster). Used to selling their products to naval operators, Grumman's marketing team failed to impress air forces with their F11F-3 sales pitch.



Brigadier Brian Boyle of the SAAF was an ace, with 5 kills credited to him in 1943-44. A highly regarded pilot and officer, in January 1953 he was assigned the duty of leading a team to define the SAAF's fighter requirements over the next ten years. After a tour of briefings, displays and test flights at leading aircraft manufacturers in Canada and the US, Boyle presented his report in July. The Decadal Fighter Evaluation Report, better known as The Boyle Report, recommended a two-stage procurement strategy. The first stage was referred to as The Interim Supersonic Fighter. Detailing how many of the emerging generation of supersonic fighters were immature platforms with questionable reliability,  safety and delivery schedules, Boyle recommended the adoption of a low risk interim solution. Although it was yet to have its first flight, the Report noted that the aircraft that best met requirements was the Grumman F11F-3 Tiger. Differing from the Navy and Marine versions in lacking carrier-specific equipment, such as folding wings, the dash 3 was tailored to airfield operations. Although it retained the arrestor hook of the carrier versions, the -3 replaced the retractable tail bumper with a chaff/flare cartridge pack. Thanks to its lighter but stronger wings, it also featured wingtip Sidewinder rails. The Report noted that the Tiger was a "modest iteration" of Grumman's successful F9F series, represented a "conservative" engineering risk and promised to be the most maneuverable of the UN's first generation of supersonic fighters. Significantly, if acquired directly from the Grumman production line, it could be in combat with the SAAF by early 1957. This assessment proved to be accurate; although the F-100 Super Sabre was technically in USAF squadron service before the F11F-3, the dash 3 Tiger beat the North American product into combat service. The second stage was what Boyle labeled The 1960 Mach 2 Fighter. Acknowledging the SAAF staff's preference for single seat, single engine fighters, the Boyle Report eschewed detailed discussion of the F4H Phantom II and recommended in-depth evaluations of the F-104 and Mirage III. Brigadier Boyle would later recommend the Mirage, but the selection of the F-104E to be followed by the F-104G would be a political one assisted by a spectacular measure of corruption. However, with this scandal still in the future, 120 F11F-3 Tigers were duly ordered from Grumman's Bethpage factory.



The F11F-3 Tiger was not Stephen Fry's first jet fighter. That milestone would go to a Koolhoven-built F-86F. After a secondment flying Tempest FB.21s with the Free Spanish Air Force, Fry was assigned to an instructor pilot position. Following a course on the T-33A jet trainer, He converted to the Sabre and taught others how to employ the swept wing fighter as a weapons system. In 1956 he switched to the new F11F-3 Tiger, being a member of the first cadre of SAAF pilots to train on the type. In October 1956 Fry joined 2 Squadron as its Qualified Weapons Officer and deployed to the frontline in March 57. 2 Squadron would fly the Tiger as a fighter-bomber, while 1 Squadron (which had simultaneously converted to the new mount) would fly it purely as a fighter. 7 Squadron and 11 Squadron SAAF would also take the Tiger into combat over North Africa.




Fry would have a turbulent experience flying the F11F-3. He would be credited with five victories, but would be shot down twice (once after flack damage, once after cannon damage from a Socialist Algerian Fresco), use the tail hook for a wheels-up landing at an emergency airstrip and be forced to eject from another Tiger after running out of fuel. That time he landed in a contested region and shot at several of the Senegalese Tirailleurs (French speaking black Africans serving on behalf of the Free French) that had been dispatched to rescue him. He continued to evade friendlies until an all-white Free French Foreign Legion patrol found him. He did much better when being rescued by white helicopter crews.



A rundown of Fry's credited victories in the F11F-3 Tiger follows:

- 16 April 1957: Socialist Union Fresco A, with AIM-9B
- 5 August 1957: Socialist Moroccan Fluffy D, with AIM-9B and cannon
- 23 August 1957: Hungarian Farmer C with AIM-9B
- 7 June 1958; Basque Fluffy F, cannon kill
- 13 June 1958: Socialist Algerian Farmer C with AIM-9B



Stephen Fry would go on to fly, fight and kill in F-104E Starfighters and F-101E Voodoos. In the latter, he committed what has been described as a war crime.




The model depicts Captain Fry's aircraft, 302/S, as it was photographed on 12 August 1958. Armed with four 20mm cannon, two LAU-3 rocket pods and two AIM-9B Sidewinders, the plane is prepared for a flak suppression sortie. UN documents record that 2 Squadron SAAF took part in Operation Offer 33 that day, an attack mission against Red logistical targets in and around Marrakech, Socialist Morocco. In fierce fighting, the Reds lost 5 planes (but only 1 pilot KIA), while the UN lost 8 planes shot down (7 aircrew POW, 3 KIA and 2 rescued). One of the UN planes lost that day was this aircraft, Captain Fry being forced to eject when his flak-damaged engine lost power south of Angarf. He was gratefully picked up by the all white crew of a Canadian CH-126 rescue chopper.

I was never really familiar with the Tiger. From my point of view, it looks a bit like an enlarged Folland Gnat.

Quote from: comrade harps on July 16, 2023, 07:24:09 AM...
- 16 April 1957: Socialist Union Fresco A, with AIM-9B
- 5 August 1957: Socialist Moroccan Fluffy D, with AIM-9B and cannon
- 23 August 1957: Hungarian Farmer C with AIM-9B
- 7 June 1958; Basque Fluffy F, cannon kill
- 13 June 1958: Socialist Algerian Farmer C with AIM-9B
...

I know about Fresco and Farmer, but what is a Fluffy?

Damn that looks good Glen..never seen a Tiger look that good 👍
Basque Fluffy ..only thong which comes to mind is a cheesecake 

Quote from: perttime on July 16, 2023, 10:13:45 AMI was never really familiar with the Tiger. From my point of view, it looks a bit like an enlarged Folland Gnat.

Quote from: comrade harps on July 16, 2023, 07:24:09 AM...
- 16 April 1957: Socialist Union Fresco A, with AIM-9B
- 5 August 1957: Socialist Moroccan Fluffy D, with AIM-9B and cannon
- 23 August 1957: Hungarian Farmer C with AIM-9B
- 7 June 1958; Basque Fluffy F, cannon kill
- 13 June 1958: Socialist Algerian Farmer C with AIM-9B
...

I know about Fresco and Farmer, but what is a Fluffy?

Quote from: Wardukw on July 16, 2023, 01:19:13 PMDamn that looks good Glen..never seen a Tiger look that good 👍
Basque Fluffy ..only thong which comes to mind is a cheesecake 

The mysterious Fluffy is the UN codename for a fighter frequently known as the Hunter in alternative universes.

beautiful looking build, and again great camo       

A fluffy basque?
With fluffy stockings and suspenders?
 

Good job Comrade.  The selection of colours is making me hungry.

Tigers in camouflage look SO good! 

Quote from: zenrat on July 17, 2023, 03:48:49 AMA fluffy basque?
With fluffy stockings and suspenders?
 

Good job Comrade.  The selection of colours is making me hungry.

Icecream? Cake?

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on July 17, 2023, 04:29:28 AMTigers in camouflage look SO good! 

It does, doesn't it. Lovely build of one of my favourite jet fighters 

Quote from: perttime on July 16, 2023, 10:13:45 AMFrom my point of view, it looks a bit like an enlarged Folland Gnat.

Never really thought about it, but your right.

Quote from: NARSES2 on July 17, 2023, 06:10:25 AM

Quote from: Dizzyfugu on July 17, 2023, 04:29:28 AMTigers in camouflage look SO good! 

It does, doesn't it. Lovely build of one of my favourite jet fighters 

Quote from: perttime on July 16, 2023, 10:13:45 AMFrom my point of view, it looks a bit like an enlarged Folland Gnat.

Never really thought about it, but your right.

I kept thinking of a single engined Q-5 Fantan during the build, but yes, l see the Gnat resemblance now.

The styling is very much of the 50s. Even the nose up angle on the ground is very 50s, like a MiG-17 or a Vautour. Similar tech, similar issues, similar solutions, l suppose.