Footlight - a warmed over Me 262?

[comrade harps]

Progress Air Design Cooperative (PADC) HVX-2 Fontano
Personal mount of Andrei Mikhaylovich Kulagin
White 01 of 9th GIAP, People's Air Force of the Socialist Union
Poznan, Poland, May, 1946



It was not uncommon for the popular names of Red military aircraft to be taken after the names of Communist heroes and martyrs. In this case, Fontano was a reference to Spartaco Fontano, an Italian Communist and leader in the French resistance who was executed by the Germans in February, 1944. However, the fact that fontano in the international language of Esperanto meant jet was no coincidence in the naming of this aircraft, the Socialist Union's first turbojet fighter.




Despite appearances, the Fontano was designed in parallel to the Me 262, its designers being unaware of German developments until after the design had been settled. Thus, when Western analysts dismissed the type as a "warmed over Me 262", they were wrong. The HVX-1 was designed by a team at the Progress Air Design Cooperative lead by Dmitry Pavlovich Grigorovich. Design work started in late 1942, at a time of urgency and before a Red jet had flown. The first prototype flew in late 1943 with piston engines, as no jet engines were ready for flight until January 1945.




When a jet-powered HVX-1 finally flew, it was somewhat underpowered and the engines unreliable, but development was swift and it was soon joined by  several prototypes and production examples of the combat-capable HVX-2 (which emerged in April). A pure fighter, the HVX-2 was armed with a pair of 20mm ShVAK cannon and was in squadron service by the end of the year.



Andrei Kulagin flew the HVX-2 Fontano with the 9th GIAP from February 1946, his first combat in the type taking place on the 16th of the month. By the time the war in Europe ended on 8 May, 1946, Kulagin had added 7 kills to his score, ending the war with 18 kills.

The Western Allies gave the Fotano the reporting name Footlight.

[NARSES2]

I like that, very Sukhoi looking

[Logan Hartke]

Yeah, looks a LOT like the Su-9!

Cheers,

Logan

[Dizzyfugu]

An AZ Models Kikka in disguise? Nice idea, though, pondering about abusing one, too... 

[comrade harps]

An AZ Models Kikka in disguise?

Yep. As soon as I saw that kit I knew it was a natural for a whif.

[Dizzyfugu]

It certainly is, just as the Alexejev fighters from ICM. I just cannot convince myself to get one, due to the steep price tags on both. And there are still LOTS of other ideas/projects in store. But one or two Kikkas will certainly move across my work bench, too, even though I am not certain what they could be. One will surely remain Japanese, but the other one... A German Luft 46 night fighter could be nice, since there's a two-seater kit available? The options are endless... 

[Army of One]

Oh I really like that.......

[Cobra]

This is Superb You Really did a Top Notch Job Here! Any More Superb Projects Planned Dan

[Tophe]

Wonderful model.

[comrade harps]

Any More Superb Projects Planned  Dan

Hopefully superb projects in the wing - VL Myrsky as an Indian HAL-built fighter 1942 - a French Helldiver 1946 WW2 Indochina - Norsmeman USN light COD during invasion of Japan 1946  - and a regianne Re 2000 as a Boeing fighter.

Why not?