Nothing says 1960s like Vietnam: you could get other countries involved in it like Britain and France, or you could reverse the situation and have the Soviets fighting in a jungle-covered ally state where the insurrection is supported with massive resources from the western-backed neighbour.

Quote from: Nick on January 25, 2024, 09:30:50 AMSpain was flying Me-109s (aka the Hispano Aviación HA-1112) into the mid-1960s. It isn't too far-fetched to imagine a similar WW2 aircraft doing the same.

Maybe the former French colony of Viet Nam keeps on flying MS.406 on anti-Communist missions.
Supermarine Seagull island hopping between Orkney and Shetland as an aerial taxi.

Beatles flying a garishly painted psychedelic Walrus named Goo-Goo-Gajoo on their world tour.

In 1945 and 1946 the french used up every sort of aircraft they had and even japanese left overs. Attrition rate was very high. After that, and a short use of Spitfire and Mosquitos, they had to rely on US aircraft only, apart from the Ju-52 and IIRC some Sea Otter. And the more useable aircraft were indeed  left to the south Vietnam Air Force, you can find some US type that had NOT been used in french Indochine (it won't be easy), but pre-war french ones would be stretching fantasy too much, I am afraid.

There was some gnarly fighting in West Africa in the 1960s which involved quite a few improvised warplanes.

I've got a pic of an African soldier sitting in the doorway of a DeHavilland Dove firing an infantry-spec M2HB with it's tripod legs roped to the seat legs.
You could do the improvised gunship thing with an easily available Airfix Heron instead of a Dove and it would be a really subtle whiff.

Another idea: what if Count von Rosen had used something other than the Minicons (SAAB Supporter predecessor) for his legendary hedge-hopping raid on the Nigerian Air Force's brand new MiG-17s. You could pick just about any other light piston-engined two seater: Bulldog, SF.260 (both currently available from KP), Cessnas etc...

In other episodes, Magisters saw action, but they could easily have been Jet Provosts or Mb.326s.

Then there were the re-fitted late WWII types like Cavalier Mustangs or B-26 Counter-Invaders: you might easily imagine other widely available late-war types like Tempests, Sea Furies, Sea Hornets, Bearcats, Thunderbolts, King Cobras and the like getting a refit as COIN aircraft. The fact that some of these really did see such service makes it better: just swap Conflict A's Mustangs for Conflict B's Sea Furies. Or you could model the post-war career of a what-if or never-produced type. The Martin Baker MB.5 springs immediately to mind.

I've got my still un-started Lift Here Short Seland kit in The Loft, and I'm currently flying one in a Flight Sim Rally as well. 

I so have a Takom M47 which would work as a base for a wiffy.
It's got a long service history with quite a few nations and wars..12 of them I think .
And I've never built a M47 before..so another plus 

Quote from: Nick on January 25, 2024, 09:30:50 AMSpain was flying Me-109s (aka the Hispano Aviación HA-1112) into the mid-1960s. It isn't too far-fetched to imagine a similar WW2 aircraft doing the same.

Maybe the former French colony of Viet Nam keeps on flying MS.406 on anti-Communist missions.
Supermarine Seagull island hopping between Orkney and Shetland as an aerial taxi.

Beatles flying a garishly painted psychedelic Walrus named Goo-Goo-Gajoo on their world tour.

P-51s and F4U Corsairs were still in use in the 1960s, the Dominican Air Force not retiring their P-51s until 1984.
The RCN, JMSDF and Uruguay were still using TBM Avengers circa 1960, and there's all kinds of other examples.

The Latin American Aviation History site is a great resource for things that lasted past their sell by date. 


LAAHS

I might even get around to building a Breguet Br.1150 Atlantic with four engines, one of you guys sent me a line drawing of this idea,,I'll be able to build all of my proposed projects in the set time, although they will keep me busy throughout the year.

Quote from: loupgarou on January 25, 2024, 12:50:36 PM

Quote from: Nick on January 25, 2024, 09:30:50 AMSpain was flying Me-109s (aka the Hispano Aviación HA-1112) into the mid-1960s. It isn't too far-fetched to imagine a similar WW2 aircraft doing the same.

Maybe the former French colony of Viet Nam keeps on flying MS.406 on anti-Communist missions.
Supermarine Seagull island hopping between Orkney and Shetland as an aerial taxi.

Beatles flying a garishly painted psychedelic Walrus named Goo-Goo-Gajoo on their world tour.

In 1945 and 1946 the french used up every sort of aircraft they had and even japanese left overs. Attrition rate was very high. After that, and a short use of Spitfire and Mosquitos, they had to rely on US aircraft only, apart from the Ju-52 and IIRC some Sea Otter. And the more useable aircraft were indeed  left to the south Vietnam Air Force, you can find some US type that had NOT been used in french Indochine (it won't be easy), but pre-war french ones would be stretching fantasy too much, I am afraid.

https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=40230.msg674131#msg674131

And in similar vein....................... 



https://www.whatifmodellers.com/index.php?topic=36589.0

If all fails I can rely on the 1/24 Austin FX-4 taxi  kit either the Revell or the Japanese suppliers as they  use the same moulds for the 1968 production model. For me the commercial van but not any of the prototypes, my idea is based around the hearse that was sold .

Then there's the tilt-wing experimental aircraft which would lead onto the Boeing V-22 Osprey,
light bulb in head just went on, coincidence or what. Kits ordered from eBay, tilt-wing Osprey!
The Canadians and Bell both built similar aircraft. Leftover parts will form the tilt-dyne.

Of course following on from my last post, the 1960s were the era of COIN aircraft, so any armed, odd-looking turboprop you can come up with would fit right in. The US projects are relatively familiar, but the French produced a fascinating series of studies in the 1950s (so likely to be ready for combat by the 1960s), all documented in French Secret Projects - Bombers. None of them led to production contracts because the nuclear force had the budget priority and because their need (Algeria) was too urgent and US WWII surplus could be delivered faster. Some of them were deliberately designed to follow WWII practice to keep things simple and rugged, so a modified WWII model would form an excellent basis for them.


The Fouga CM 178 was a Magister airframe with the engines replaced by two Astazou turboprops on pylons _above_ the wing, the former intakes and engine being faired over and used to house two 20mm cannons and two 12.7mm machine-guns. The tail was 40% larger to allow for single-engine directional control. Single and two-seat versions were projected.

The Breguet 1060 was an Alizé with all it's ASW equipment removed and two 30mm cannons in the undercarriage pods.

The Dassault MD 315B Flamant Rose was a project which mated the wings, engines and tail unit of a standard Flamant transport to a new, slim ,tandem-seat fuselage with armour and either four 12.7mm MGs or two 30mm cannon.


Potez 75 (115 ordered 1956, cancelled 1957. Could easily have seen service in the 1960s):



Morane-Saulnier MS.155 Epervier (prototype 1958):


SIPA 1100 (officially won the competition for an "overseas" aircraft, 10 ordred in 1956, cancelled in 1958):


SNCASO SO 7100 Dogue (never built but much discussed. This was the most self-consciously "simple WWII" dersign):


Sud-Est SE 116 Fonceur / SE 117 Voltigeur (piston pure attack/turboprop attack+transport versions of the same airframe. 170 SE117s ordered early 1960, cancelled late 1960 due to change to more transport-orietented requirement):


Dassault MD 415 Communauté / MD 410 Spirale (wide fuselage/slim fuselage variants of the same design. Never ordered):


The Dassault projects make me wonder about a British equivalent based on the Jetstream, either with a modified stock fuselage or an all-new slim one.

Too many choices to choose from, I just bought the Scott Lowther book Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird:Origins and Evolution on eBay at a ridiculous bargain price. From the text that I have seen there was a proposal for a bomber the B-71 Blackbird, I will probably build the Chinook later in the year.

The Potez 75 looks like a smaller version of one of the French 1930's "Air Cruiser" concepts.

Nuclear power, of course, can be relatively easy.  Take any ship class serving in the 1960s, remove the stacks, and voila!  Nuclear powered ship.

Stranger were nuclear powered airplanes.

And there is the entire early space program to choose from.  Armed Gemini or Apollo or Soyuz, a British or French rocket or even manned capsule, an early military space surveillance satellite.