1/144 Lochkeed-Martin YF-113

[Brian da Basher]

1st Lt. Johnny Carter was awakened in the pre-dawn hours of Sept 18, 2007 and told to make double-time over to Mission Briefing. With a mindless speed and attention to detail, 1st Lt. Carter got into his flightsuit and collected his gear and strode out of his quarters and crossed the dusty wastes of this far-flung base not far from Alma-Ata. Camp FUBAR was the affectionate name the men of the 94th Fighter Wing had given the desolate place, whose official designation was Forward AFB 109.

The war with China had not been going well for U.S. forces. The opening salvo was fired in the Pacific as expected and the U.S. Pacific Fleet had suffered enormous losses. Apparently the Chinese had some amazing stealth submarine technology and a well-trained, expert carrier strike force no one knew about. Well, now Uncle Sam would attack the dragon through the back door.

1st. Lt. Carter joined his squadron mates in the Mission Briefing center, a quonset hut as uninspiring as the rest of the Kazakh landscape. The C.O. pulled a curtain off the wall map and a collective gasp was heard. The day-glow orange string now stretched all the way to Beijing. The men of the 94th were ordered to cut the head off the dragon.

Continued...

1st of 7 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

1st Lt. Carter spun around on his way to the flightline. Maj. Don Parks, the flight leader had tapped him.

"Now Meathead, remember to stay close and keep your eyes peeled. For us to make this mission pay, you've got to keep those commies off me so I can get my bunker-busters on target, ya hear?"

"Five-by-five, Major. Anything comes near us will get smoked."

Maj. Parks tapped his wingman on the shoulder again and gave him a thumbs-up before heading down the flightline to his own aircraft.

Man screw up once and you're branded for life, Lt. Carter thought. The "Meathead" monniker had stuck to him like glue ever since he'd saluted that well-armed gorgeous blonde sergeant from the Air Police and called her "Sir" upon returning from the drunken debauchery of a weekend pass.

1st Lt. Carter approached his ride and returned the salute of his crew chief. Man this Diamondback is one sweet bird, he thought as he climbed the ladder and got in the front office.

The crew chief made the all-clear sign and Lt. Carter pushed the throttle forward and began to roll.

Continued...

2nd of 7 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Spey_Phantom]

so TAT is what that pile of parts turned out to be, didnt see this coming.
that is a verry creative idea and a verry good build    

[Brian da Basher]

Lt. Carter rendevoused with Maj. Parks at 45,000. The Major waggled his wings in greeting. Well the flying surfaces of the YF-113 Diamondback could hardly be called wings, but with advanced computer controls they performed better than anything else around.

"Meathed" Carter's headphones crackled.

"Sandman 1 to Sandman 2 check weapons systems. Five minutes to The Badlands."

"Rog Sandman 1 running systems check."

Lt. Carter performed all the requisite checks that had been drilled into him by years of training.

"Sandman 2 to Sandman 1 all systems go."

"Roger Sandman 2. Descend to 250 feet. Flights Able and Charlie vectoring off at 10 o'clock."

The other two flights of Diamondbacks had other, equally high-level targets to deal with.

"Copy Sandman 1. Descending to 250."

"Sandman 2 Badlands in 1 minute. Observe radio silence and keep all active radar dark until ordered otherwise. Sandman 1 out."

Baker flight of two YF-113 Diamondbacks was about to cross the border into China.

Continued...

3rd of 7 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

Flying at a mere 250 feet, the Diamondbacks were practically undectable to the Chinese. The first hour of Baker flight's penetration into China was quiet and uneventful.

Suddenly, as they neared the city of Xi'an in Shaanxi province, the sky around them exploded. 20 m.m. A.A.? Lt. Carter wondered. He watched the Major gain altitude and quickly followed. Now we'll see how good these Diamondbacks are at being invisible, he thought.

The air at 35,000 was a lot more peaceful, and Lt. Carter resumed keeping an eye out for any Chinese aircraft. He saw a contrail far off at 3 o'clock but it was on a course to take it even farther away. Lt. Carter wondered if perhaps Charlie flight had lost some of its magic and been spotted.

Baker flight ate up the miles as the proceeded towards the target. Lt. Carter hadn't expected the mission to be such a cakewalk.

Continued...

4th of 7 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

Baker flight crossed the border into Hebei province, just a short hop away from the target. Apparently the stealth magic was holding, at least for now.

Suddenly, Lt. Carter's Missile Warning light went off and he jinked hard to his right. SAMs? MiGs? Chinese fireworks? he wondered. He caught a glimpse of the missile tailing him and decided to take a gamble. He punched the throttle on his Diamondback for all it was worth and climbed as far and as fast as the YF-113 would go. He guessed the SAM on his back was an older model, one that would not reach the altitude his Diamondback was capable of. He felt the G-forces pin him hard to the back of his seat as he continued to climb. At 68,000 the SAM detonated behind him. Lt. Carter descended and immediately spotted the Major, thanking the heavens that he was safe.

This was a good test for approaching the head of the dragon, Meathead Carter thought.

Continued...

5th of 7 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

As Baker flight approached the perimeter of Beijing, Lt. Carter's Headphones crackeled.

"Sandman 1 to Sandman 2, we're going in low. I'm gonna do a dump-and-run on the target. Hopefully we'll get some altitude and outrun those Chow-Mein eating commies all the way home. Keep above and behind me the whole way in. I didn't come this far just to have to order up a Red Cross package."

"Roger Sandman 1. I've got your back all the way."

The Diamondbacks rolled simultaneously and descended to 250 again. Lt. Carter checked his six and climbed another 150 feet and kept an eye out.

All was well for another 30 seconds until Lt. Carter's Missile Warning light went off again. Meathead cut his throttle and opened his dive brake, losing speed to what felt like a crawl. The missile blazed ahead of him and he cut loose with his 20 m.m. cannons, destroying it.

Lt. Carter opened up his throttle and turned hard, catching sight of what appeared to be an F-35 from Bizzaro-world, gaudily painted with the bright red markings of the Peoples' Liberation Air Force. Meathead hit a toggle switch on his panel and smiled as one of his birds launched and locked on target. The Chinese pilot attempted to peel away from the missile, but was too slow. Lt. Carter saw his missile strike the Chinese craft amidships and the entire thing was blown to kingdom-come. Lt. Carter smiled as he imagined his crew chief painting the kill marking on his Diamondback.

Continued...

6th of 7 pics.

Brian da Basher

[Brian da Basher]

The Major prepared to run up on his target, a Central Committee leadership bunker buried deep in the bowels of Beijing. Lt. Carter kept his eyes peeled. He noticed a slight contrail approaching the Major at 7 o'clock from a distance. Lt. Carter threw his Diamondback into a sharp turn and cut loose his remaining bird, hoping it would do some damage before the Chinese foe could do anything to stop Sandman 1.

The missile homed in on the Chinese fighter, whose pilot attempted to escape in a violent maneuver. Unfortunately, it was more than the Chinese fighter could handle and Lt. Carter watched in awe as the wings snapped off the PLAF fighter and it plummeted to earth.

That kill bought the Major just enough time to do his "dump-and-run" and unload his payload on the target. Lt. Carter could hardly believe his eyes as he saw the ground below erupt in a huge fireball. No one's getting out of that alive, he thought.

Meathead's earphones crackled again.

"Sandman 1 to Sandman 2, target destroyed, uploading mission data. In 10 more ticks, we head back to Camp FUBAR."

"Roger that, Sandman 1. Looked like you got it right on the bullseye."

"Affirmative, Sandman 2. Mission data uploaded to NRO CommSat. Let's get the hell outta here!"

The two Diamondbacks shot fast and high for altitude as they vectored back to base. Getting in wasn't so bad, I wonder if we'll be able to get back out? Meathead Carter asked himself as they headed for home.

Last of 7 pics.

Brian da Basher

[PanzerWulff]

WOW Bri that was fast and the LiL guy looks Killer to boot
                 
"Panzer"

[cthulhu77]

Crikey, two days out of the gate and he pulls this sh*t on us?  Now, I sit here with my head hanging low...

  Awesome backstory too...did you do some serious caffeine or what?  

[Rafael]

Send me the plans!!! Send me the plans!!! Send me the plans!!! Send me the plans!!!  

OOOOhhh yes, yes, yes!!!

Simplicity itself, only in its most beautiful form!!!        

Rafa

[Chap]

Now THAT is cool! Great work once again Brian.

~Steve

[The Rat]

Brian, you've thunderstruck us again.      

[B777LR]

Very cool build! It even inspired me to use a stand to create a similar turkish space-bomber