Mb339

[Howard of Effingham]

ok, so back in the good ol' days when men were men and a defence budget meant
having zillions of $ to spend, i see the USAF going italian and buying the MB339A and K.
no jokes about any one of the italians in NYC please,  

using the supermodel kits of these variants [they are now part of the italeri empire]
i'll do two ANG ones, states to be decided though.

though i can't post pictures here, i'll do my best to have them ready for one of the
model shows later on this year and maybe a retro liveried HH-71B!!  

HoE

[Shasper]

As a T-33 replacement instead of the T-37? Interesting. . .

Shas B)

[elmayerle]

As a T-33 replacement instead of the T-37? Interesting. . .

More like as a T-37 replacement since the MB339 dates from the early- to mid-seventies (early for PD effort, mid for first prototypes) at the earliest.  ISTR that Lockheed teamed with Aermacchi to offer a MB339 variant for the JPATS competition.

[Shasper]

ok im thinkin of the -326 then. d'oh!


Shas B)

[elmayerle]

That'd be rather more plausible, and would make sense, too.  *chuckle* I could see the USAF buying the MB326C and then adapting it as a trainer for other fighter radars.  Even if they didn't use the MB326 in place of, or in addition to, the T-37, I could see the MB326C (with an enlarged and pointed nose for the F-104's radar) being used to supplement fighter pilot training in addition to the T-38.

[Howard of Effingham]

part of the reason for picking the MB339 is that i happen to see an MB339 fuselage
everytime i go to the RRHT center in derby. iirc, this is the fuselage that was brought
back from the falklands after the war and wound up being used by aermacchi/lockheed and rolls-royce
as a sorta demo airframe for JPATS. it still has the white livery and JPATS markings
on the tail. and well i like the RR viper that would of powered this JPATS entry as it
is [its a shell of a fuselage only] is surrounded by all manner of vipers and there is
not an  :f16: sight.        

[ysi_maniac]

Very plausible, indeed.

[Brian da Basher]

JPATS? For a moment I thought you said spats. Darn!

Brian da Basher

[Howard of Effingham]

JPATS? For a moment I thought you said spats. Darn!

^_^ now there is an idea!  ^_^

hmm, would it work for pilots for whom a retread or washout was likely?