Su-47kv Berkut/caiman

[dragon]

This will eventually be a Berkut with teeth! 1/72 Kits used: Revell Su-27 Flanker and Sukhoi S-37 BERKUT

BACK STORY (more to come as the plane progresses)

Excerpt from the book Viento de Libertad, Sangre Combativa (Sold in the US and UK as Freedom Regained)

23 January 20__
15H50
The Caribbean skies between Caracas and Havana.


    The six Su-47KVs flew in a loose V formation as they escorted an A319CJ from Caracas to Havana.  On board were Hugo Chavez, Evo Morales, Rafael Correa, Felipe Perez Roque, and Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.  They were negotiating what would be called the UNION OF LATIN AMERICAN SOCIALIST REPUBLICS.  The member countries would be for the moment Cuba, Ecuador, Bolivia, and Venezuela.  The proposed capital would be Caracas.  Atomic Ahmadinejad was there merely to be the arbiter for this union.  Elections would be held soon in Colombia, Peru, Panama, and other countries in the region.  More members were expected in the near future.  With a stroke of a pen many would be enslaved.
    The A319CJ Codenamed TIBURON 1 filled the starboard side of Colonel (Aviacion) Jose Luis "MATADOR" Martinez Perez's canopy.  He was the Executive Officer for the Aviacion Militar de Venezuela squadron AGUILAS DORADAS. It had taken him years to get this opportunity to get this close to TIBURON 1.
"AGUILAS!  Comrades.  Below us is the Imperialist fleet.  They are bent on killing our glorious leaders and the revolution." Said the flight leader, General Ernesto Raul "CIENFUEGOS" Garcia in his native Cuban accent.  This grated on MATADOR's nerves.  "It is laughable that they have named the two aircraft carriers in their fleet after a bad actor and a nearsighted aristocrat."
    Intelligence had forwarned the flight that the USS RONALD REAGAN and the USS THEODORE ROOSEVELT were conducting exercises near them.
    "Comrade Flight Leader, if these lackeys get the backbone to defy us, I will buy the rum at the base bar" laughed Lieutenant (Aviacion) Eduardo Vicente "CHIGUIRE" Hernandez Hernandez.  "I could try to leave some for you comrades."
    "Never underestimate your enemy" Said MATADOR in his characteristic dry tone.  "Lack of caution has killed lots of pilots in many countries."

[Maverick]

Nifty looking bash thus far Dragon, but I'm confused.  The Berkut was designed with an internal weapons bay, so are you going for a more Interdictor type aircraft a la the F-15E?

Backstory is way cool also, worryingly authentic

Regards,

Mav

[dragon]

"Actually MATADOR has a point." Reflected Flight Leader CIENFUEGOS.  "Those yankees would like nothing more than to declare the deaths of our Commanders as an accident.  Deploy on my mark.  CHIGUIRE take starboard wing, CALAMAR take port wing, HAMPON take top cover, LANCERO take bottom cover, MATADOR cover our six, I will take point.  Deploy now!"
    The six aircraft gracefully took their positions around the Presidential plane.  Soon they would be under Havana Air Control.  
    It would be a fairly easy shot from here pondered MATADOR as targeting data streamed across his HUD.  He looked back at what had brought him to this point in time and the actions he was to undertake.
    The year was 1995 and MATADOR was about to leave for entry into the Escuela de Aviacion Militar so he could be a military pilot like his father and his grandfather.  There had been at least one member of his family in at least one branch of the Venezuelan armed forces since the time of Simon Bolivar.  Duty- it was a proud family tradition.  Tonight's duty had been however to babysit his ten year old cousin Ignacio, who had fallen asleep while Jose Luis had been playing Flight Simulator.  His Aunt Isabel and Uncle Ramon had gone out that night by themselves for Dinner and some theater.  They would pick up Ignacio in the morning.  
    The only light on in the house was in Jose Luis' room when the phone rang in his parents' room.  It must have been near 03:00 am.  He was surprised when his father, General Jose Luis Martinez Tovar, appeared at his doorway- fully dressed.  
    "Son.  A word with you.  Out here in the hallway and close the door."  He could hear his mother crying in her room.  "Son, your Aunt Isabel and Uncle Ramon are dead.  I need to go to the Morgue in Bello Monte to identify the bodies."
    "What happened?" It was one of those questions one wanted to know but at the same time not really know.  He could see the distress his father was attempting to hide, that which his military training did not let him reveal to the outside world.
    "They were held up and shot by one of those cashiered soldiers involved in the 1992 Coup attempts that were pardoned by President Caldera.  Your Aunt and Uncle weren't carrying that much cash on them, the killer was arrested at the scene.  But that doesn't matter.  Ignacio is from now on, for all intents and purposes your little brother.  Take care of him like a big brother should."  
    With that the General turned around and went to his gun cabinet.  He pulled out his service Browning High-Power, put in the magazine and chambered a round.  He flipped the safety on and tucked the pistol in the small of his back.  He picked up his car keys, nodded good-bye to his son and headed out to identify the body of his youngest brother and his sister-in-law.  Crime was bad and getting worse, one needed to take precautions if one wanted to live.  Young Jose Luis watched this and took the lesson in.  The next morning would be very cold and sad.

[dragon]

Nifty looking bash thus far Dragon, but I'm confused.  The Berkut was designed with an internal weapons bay, so are you going for a more Interdictor type aircraft a la the F-15E?

Backstory is way cool also, worryingly authentic

Regards,

Mav

Mav,
    It will get better.  Hopefully it will read like Clancy.
    As to the model, online research has shown me that the Su-47 (the proposed fighter version and not the demonstrator version) has some hardpoints on the wings. I am proposing the wing armament for the air-to-air armaments while the internal weapons bay is purely for bombs.  Yes, it will also have those canards too.  
    Check this thread every so often.    

[Archibald]

Brilliant backstory, the kind I like... but we need better pics of your forthcoming marvel!!!    

[Maverick]

Sounds like a 'Plausible' as they say on Mythbusters.

The backstory is firing along very nicely too.

Mav

[dragon]

As tragic as the circumstances were for Cousin Ignacio's becoming part of the Martinez household, there was some good that came from it.  Laura Perez de Martinez had been frail all her life.  Her health had been one of the reasons why Jose Luis had been an only child.  Her Doctor had expressed concern over her health if she got depression because of "Empty nest syndrome".  With Ignacio around, that was no longer a concern.  Jose Luis could go to Military Aviation School with nothing to worry about at home.
 





F-20F CAZON

Military Flight School was tough.  Jose Luis would visit as often as he was granted "liberty".  He kept his grades up and was able to get the assignment he wanted- F-20E and F-20Fs in Squadron 202 Anacondas.  It was the same squadron his father had been in during the 1992 coup attempts and when the Venezuelan Air Force got invited to RED FLAG.  Like his father before him, MATADOR had fallen in love with the forward swept wings and canard combination.  While his father the General could talk for hours about his beloved F-20E (Editor's note: single seat forward swept variant of the F-20), MATADOR preferred the lines of the F-20F two seater.  In Venezuelan service it was known as the F-20E or F-20F CAZON (Editor's note: local name for a species of shark).  MATADOR took to the forward swept planes like puppies and little boys take to each other, it was like if he had been born for this type of aircraft.  It was here where MATADOR developed his signature combat maneuver- the "snap" shot or "Chute" as the other pilots called it.  Basically a combination of Pugachev's cobra with a quick acquisition of the target.  At first the other pilots had nicknamed him TIROLOCO (Editor's note: spanish name for the Hanna-Barbera character Quick Draw McGraw).  Because of his success at air combat exercises with this and other maneuvers, he became MATADOR.  
    The year was 1997.  General Jose Luis Martinez Tovar retired from the Venezuelan Air Force.  It was good timing too.  The Presidential pardons had allowed many of those that had been cashiered during the 1992 coup attempts rejoin their old units.  General Martinez Tovar had shot down an F-20A flown by a coup plotter during the November 27, 1992 coup attempt.  Now that Hugo Chavez was part of the political scene and likely to win the 1998 Presidential elections, that coupled with the Chavez simpathizers in the high ranks of the Venezuelan military, things would be unpleasant for those that had been loyalists in 1992.

[Rafael]

Dragon, even though, for obvious reasons, I can't say too much about this, I ardently expect the Great Finale in both backstory and model product.  

All I can say is, so far your accounts are so real that I experienced reliving life through what-if....

Congrats
Rafa

[dragon]

Dragon, even though, for obvious reasons, I can't say too much about this, I ardently expect the Great Finale in both backstory and model product.  

All I can say is, so far your accounts are so real that I experienced reliving life through what-if....

Congrats
Rafa

Coming from you, someone who is still living the real life story, this means a lot.  I will endeavor to make the plane and the back story live up to a true life survivor/eyewitness' standards.

Saludos

[dragon]

Close up of progress of forward fuselage

Close up of future location of para brake

1998, Hugo Chavez Frias was inaugurated as President of Venezuela.  He promised a lot of things, among them a new constitution and the end of the 4th Republic.  It was ready for approval via plebescite in the middle of December 1999.  
    MATADOR sat in the ready room for his squadron at PALO NEGRO AFB and looked at the mission board for December 14, 1999.  He and his Weapons Systems Officer, PAPUPAPA were scheduled to patrol Venezuelan air space in his beloved F-20F.  Didn't look like that was going to happen today.  It had rained nonstop since the beginning of the month just about everywhere over Venezuela.  He had called his family in Caracas to make sure they were safe.  His mother had mentioned that all the rain reminded her of the story of Noah- where God washes away evil with the rain.  Ignacio being the teenager, questioned why the President wanted to keep the plebescite going when the nation was in clear and present danger from mother nature.  The General just wanted his son to be careful.  The torrential rains continued.
    "You know?"  Said PAPUPAPA folding his Newspaper and staring at the rain outside, "I wonder if all this rain is God's way of telling Venezuela that it is about to make a big mistake?"
    "PAPUPAPA, you know that isn't my area of expertise."  Said MATADOR.  He pondered what his family had told him from Caracas.  Being a military professional, politics did not interest him, or at least it wasn't supposed to.  Lightining flashed and thunder rolled loudly.  "Still, you might have a point there."
    Common sense said that something bad was about to happen, yet the President called for the people to defy nature and vote for the new constitution, almost as if he was on a timeline or something.
    On December 15, 1999 the new state of Vargas fell off the communications grid in the middle of nation-wide voting on the new constitution.  It was hours before the Government noticed that the state was oddly silent.

[dragon]

Progress.  The forward fuselage is no longer "drafty" due to application of styrene sheets and putty.  


Underside.  Cutting and patching had to be done in order for the SU-27 fuselage to mate gracefully with the S-37 fuselage.


Tail detail.  The "stinger" or parabrake housing has been intended to make it look like the ones on the Su-30MKVs


Looks fast!  I haven't even added the canards yet!  (Mainly because I need a place to hold on to the model while I putty, sand and repeat.

[BlackOps]

Dragon, looks like you have most of the tough part behind you. It's shaping up rather nicely    Back story is quite good also.

[dragon]

The TV channels noticed almost immedietly that Vargas had fallen off the communications grid.  While the returns were being reported for the plebescite, the various news channels wondered openly what was going on in Vargas.  Orders were inevitable.
    "MATADOR!  PAPUPAPA!"  Yelled the Squadron Commander as he hung up the phone.  "Take your CAZON and check out the state of Vargas to see what is going on down there.  CHIGUIRE!  CORRONCHO!  Check out Yaracuy.  CALAMAR!  PELON!  Check out Zulia.  Gentlemen.  I know the weather is crap.  Be careful out there!  Watch that fuel!"
    "Yes, Sir!"  The pilots answered in unison and scrambled to their planes.  The jets were soon airborne.
    MATADOR was shocked at the sight of what he saw on the ground.  It looked like if a child had put toy houses on dirt and then poured buckets of water over his play city.  PAPUPAPA was silent in his back seat.
    "Hey.  Isn't that the beach we were talking about the other day?"  Said PAPUPAPA.  MATADOR looked down and then looked at his map.  PAPUPAPA was right.
    "Yeah.  I used to go there a lot when I was in High School.  Girls in Bikinis, music, a cold beer, good times."  Said MATADOR remembering the old times.  He was actually nostalgic about those days.  "There used to be a restaurant I would go to after leaving the beach and before going to the parties.  Awesome arepitas with nata, Cazon empanadas, and great fried fish.  Have a Polar or two and it was as close to heaven without dying."
    "El Rey del Pescado Frito, I think it was.  Greatest Empanadas de Cazon I have ever eaten.  Personally I preferred a Cardenal over the Polar beer.  Looks like it is gone."  PAPUPAPA stared at the hillsides.  "Check out the hillsides.  Notice something weird?"
    "Yeah, they used to be dotted with ranchitos (Editor's note: houses typical of shanty towns, similar to those found in Brasil's favelas- unplanned and made with questionable building materials and formal construction technique).  Lots of gaps in those hillsides.  My parent's foreign friends would comment on how pretty all those lights were when they saw them at night.  Things were different in the morning, of course, when they saw the source of the lights.  "  MATADOR wondered how many people were dead, missing or displaced.  It had to be in the thousands.  He checked his fuel gauge.  The F-20F had a notoriously short combat radius just like its F-5F ancestor but like its ancestor the F-20F was a nimble machine.  Without the tanker planes flying, and the lack of knowledge on the condition of the runways at nearby Simon Bolivar International made it imperative that they return to Palo Negro.  It was still raining, and tomorrow it would get worse.  There would probably be more people missing tomorrow.  Why were all assets assigned to the plebescite and not to the rescue attempts?  "Lets return to base."
    They returned to base and reported their sightings.  History shows that an estimated 30000+ people were missing presumed dead, the actual number impossible to quantify.  100000 people were left homeless.  They probably wouldn't sleep for days.

[dragon]

Dragon, looks like you have most of the tough part behind you. It's shaping up rather nicely    Back story is quite good also.

Gee, I wish you were right.  The part behind the cockpit still has to be faired in, sanded and contoured....  We still have a ways to go.  

[ysi_maniac]

I like your model and backhistory