Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

[SPINNERS]

Avia S-99 - No.1 'Red Lion' Fighter Regiment, Parani Air Force, 1947

PARANS-9901 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PARANS-9902 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

PARANS-9903 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Both the Avia S-99 and the notoriously bad Avia S-199 are available as 'AI' only aircraft but are easily made flyable and actually fly very well. To recap, Paran is the fictional 'Red' Arabic nation from the original Strike Fighters game and this excerpt from the Strike Fighters 2 wiki page explains more...

Strike Fighters 2 is a PC game (Combat / Flight Simulator) that primarily centers on a fictitious conflict in the Middle East between the Kingdom of Dhimar and the Empire of Paran from the late 1950s to the early 1970s. Although the countries and conflict may not be real, the aircraft and weapons used are completely accurate. The conflict is modeled as a typical Cold War era 'proxy' war between the USA and USSR where Dhimar gets help from the US and Paran uses imported Soviet equipment and expertise.

The storyline of Strike Fighters is set during a fictional conflict between the Kingdom of Dhimar and the Empire of Paran. The story begins in 1919, when geologists discover oil in the Valley of Kerman, a place at the Dhimari-Parani border. When drilling operations begin in the oil fields, Shah Mushani of Paran sends his troops across the border, beginning a long conflict between the nations. In September 1933, Shah Mushani decides to put a halt to the conflict, following numerous attempts to capture the Mazadran oil fields. While Dhimar becomes a wealthy and economically powerful country, Paran has become poor. In February 1957, Halani Khomar, a Soviet-backed revolutionary leader, stages a bloody coup against the Mushani regime. Once in power, Khomar begins building up the Parani military forces, buying the newest fighter aircraft and tanks from the Soviet Union. King Husani Karmar al'Galbhi of Dhimar, fearing a new war, decides to approach the US for military assistance. Tensions between the two countries culminate in two years of terrorist attacks in Dhimari border cities. In June 1959, the Dhimari ports become subject to a Parani naval blockade, stopping all shipping from and to Dhimar. Prince Fa'ad al'Galbhi, commander of the Dhimari Air Force, starts an emergency buildup of air power by creating several Special Operations Wings, manned by foreign mercenary pilots willing to fight. In July, the US dispatches US Naval and Air Force squadrons to assist their ally. In September 1959, a mass Parani offensive is launched towards the Valley of Kerman and the Mazadran oil fields. War has returned to the desert...

[SPINNERS]

Folland Gnat FGA.2 - No.611 'West Lancashire' Squadron, Royal Auxiliary Air Force, 1965

RAFGNATFGA201 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFGNATFGA202 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFGNATFGA203 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFGNATFGA204 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFGNATFGA205 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The Folland Gnat is available in it's T.1, Finnish Gnat and Ajeet forms and the Ajeet 3D model and IAF skin are used here to make an RAF FGA.2 with No.611 squadron markings. I just wanted to check on what this squadron was called and I was pleasantly surprised to learn that it has recently reformed...


http://www.611squadronrauxaf.co.uk/news/130705/130705-104922.html

[SPINNERS]

BAC Lightning F.3 - No.43 Squadron, RAF Fighter Command, 1967

RAFLIGHTNINGF3A01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFLIGHTNINGF3A02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFLIGHTNINGF3A03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFLIGHTNINGF3A04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFLIGHTNINGF3A05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I was looking at the RAF's Phantom 'fighter' squadrons and noticed that all except No.43 squadron had previously operated the Lightning*... so I've put that right! Perhaps they disbanded in Aden in 1967 and immediately reformed as a Lightning F.3 unit at Leuchars. At this time, of course, the Lightnings were still gloriously silver with very colourful markings so I'll do a silver 'Fighting Cock' Lightning (perhaps an F.6) at another time.

* Similarly, all of the RAF's Lightning fighter squadrons operated the Phantom except No.5 and No.11 so I'll put that right too!

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas Phantom F.2 - No.5 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1971

RAFPHANTOMF201 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFPHANTOMF202 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFPHANTOMF203 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFPHANTOMF204 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

In putting the Phantom in service with No.5 squadron I've also used the designation F.2 to signify a dedicated 'ADV' version chosen to replace the Lightning whilst, sensibly, Buccaneers were procured in larger numbers to replace RAFG's Canberras.

[SPINNERS]

McDonnell Douglas Phantom F.2 - No.11 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1974

RAFPHANTOMF205 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFPHANTOMF206 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFPHANTOMF207 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFPHANTOMF208 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I've always liked No.11 Squadrons markings since the days of the old Frog F.6 but need better artwork for the 'tail' eagles as mine use the eagles from the squadron badge which aren't quite the same as the darker eagles with a white outline seen on their Lightning fins. The rivalry between the Binbrook Lightning units and the Phantom AD squadrons must have been immense!

[SPINNERS]

Grumman Merlin F.2 - No.11 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1975

RAFF-111BMERLINF201 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111BMERLINF202 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111BMERLINF203 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111BMERLINF204 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111BMERLINF205 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111BMERLINF206 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

With some of the post-war procurement decisions made by the UK MoD perhaps this isn't so far-fetched!

[SPINNERS]

BAC Lightning FGA.7 - No.1 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1970

RAFLIGHTNINGFGA701 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFLIGHTNINGFGA702 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFLIGHTNINGFGA703 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFLIGHTNINGFGA704 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFLIGHTNINGFGA705 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFLIGHTNINGFGA706 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFLIGHTNINGFGA707 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

An unlikely Hunter replacement for No.38 Group but quite an eye-catcher! The stock Iceland terrain stands-in for Norway which is where No.1 Squadron were often deployed on NATO exercises.

[SPINNERS]

Grumman F-111B 'Defender' - 186th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, Montana Air National Guard, 1980

On November 24th, 1962 the US Defense Departement issued a press release announcing the award of the TFX programme to General Dynamics ahead of Boeing. There was an immediate outcry at this decision as only a few weeks earlier the Air Force Council had stated their declared preference for the Boeing submission as had the Chief of the Navy although the US Navy had, in fact, rejected both explaining that neither were fully compatible with carrier operations and neither had adequate CAP loiter endurance. It was not until March 21st, 1963 when Robert McNamara (Secretary of Defense) was called as a witness to the 'McClennan hearings' where McNamara explained the evaluation groups preference for the General Dynamics submission based on the higher degree of commonality when compared to Boeing's submission adding that, in their view, Boeing were proposing two different airplanes. After the dust had settled General Dynamics and the US Air Force battled on with their version of the TFX which would eventually lead to the F-111A entering squadron service (and operational service in Vietnam) in 1968.

However, for the US Navy things were different. Initially, by appointing Grumman to develop the naval version of the TFX (as the F-111B) the US Navy had hoped that this experienced and trusted contractor would turn the heavy tactical bomber into something that would meet their carrier-based interception requirement and at least they also had Hughes onboard for the radar/missile system with the promising AWG-9 radar and AIM-54A missile. But by early 1964 the Navy were determined that the F-111B would not proceed except without major changes and asked that the manufacture of the F-111B development aircraft should be halted until the aircraft was redesigned but this was overruled by the Pentagon. Even the first flight of the F-111B on May 18th, 1965 failed to provide any comfort as the TF30 engine compressor stalls were evident from the start. By October 1965 the Navy Preliminary Evaluation considered the aircraft to be grossly underpowered, range was less than half of the requirement and the engines were judged to be a significant flight safety problem. Furthermore, the fixes required to bring the F-111B into something at least marginally capable of flying the Navy mission brought commonality down from 80% down to 29% and during early 1966 the Navy became increasingly vocal about wanting to bail out but it was not until after a new and particularly scathing Navy Preliminary Evaluation held in March 1967 that they did so*.

McNamara was incensed and instructed General Dynamics and Grumman to revert back to the original '80% commonality' F-111B and develop it for use as an interceptor by the USAF's Aerospace Defense Command Interceptor Squadrons as a replacement for the F-101 Voodoos and F-102 Delta Daggers and to supplement the F-106 Delta Darts. Almost as a way of denying failure, McNamara instructed the Defense Department not to allocate a new designation but to keep the F-111B designation for the Air Force interceptor. With an immediate order for 288 F-111B's a reluctant Air Force at least had some use for the short-nosed F-111 and put the aircraft to good use but the real winner was McDonnell Douglas who gained new orders from the Navy for the F-4J Phantom and also the swing-wing F-4S 'Super Phantom' ordered instead of the VFX (Tomcat).

* Historical Note - The US Navy's F-111B agony actually continued until July 1968

USAFF-111BAARDVARK01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-111BAARDVARK02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-111BAARDVARK03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-111BAARDVARK04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-111BAARDVARK05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-111BAARDVARK06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-111BAARDVARK07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-111BAARDVARK12 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

From a suggestion by Thorvic. No serial numbers on this one (except last piccie) but I hope you like it!


Alternate camo version (again, no codes or serials)

USAFF-111BAARDVARK08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-111BAARDVARK09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-111BAARDVARK10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-111BAARDVARK11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

BAC Lightning F.3 - No.1 Squadron, RAF Fighter Command, 1966

RAFLIGHTNINGF301 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFLIGHTNINGF302 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFLIGHTNINGF303 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFLIGHTNINGF304 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I'd normally remove the unsightly probe!

[SPINNERS]

General Dynamics Merlin F.3 - No.229 Operational Conversion Unit, Royal Air Force, 1986

RAFFB-111AMERLINF301 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFFB-111AMERLINF302 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFFB-111AMERLINF303 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Radar not by Blue Circle 

[SPINNERS]

SEPECAT Jaguar FGA.1 - No.6 Squadron, RAF Near East Air Force, 1971

In May 1965 the Memorandum of Understanding between France and the UK was signed regarding the joint development of a light strike aircraft for the Armée de l'air and an advanced strike trainer for the RAF leading to the SEPECAT Jaguar programme. However, an early realignment of the UK's requirement saw a sensible early move away from the advanced strike trainer to a tactical strike aircraft and an earlier order for the Hawker Siddeley Hawk. This decision led to the first Jaguar 'S' taking to the air in March 1968 and the first production machines entered service as the Jaguar FGA.1 with No.6 squadron based in Cyprus in November 1971.

RAFJAGUARFGA101 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFJAGUARFGA102 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFJAGUARFGA103 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFJAGUARFGA104 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFJAGUARFGA105 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFJAGUARFGA106 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The French Jaguar 'A' was released recently and includes Armée de l'air green/grey camo and a nice desert camo. As the mapping is different I couldn't use it on the GR.1 3D model but, instead, I have simply put RAF markings on the 'A' to create the RAF's first production version the FGA.1 - a slightly more austere aircraft compared to the GR.1 but running earlier and a worthy Hunter replacement!

[SPINNERS]

Grumman F-111B Bobcat - 178th Fighter Interceptor Squadron, North Dakota ANG, 1976

USAFF-111BAARDVARK14 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-111BAARDVARK15 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-111BAARDVARK16 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-111BAARDVARK17 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-111BAARDVARK18 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-111BAARDVARK19 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I'm hoping to release the F-111B 'USAF' and wanted a camo skin to accompany the Grey scheme with Montana markings. It didn't take me too long to plump for 'The Happy Hooligans' of the North Dakota ANG!!

[SPINNERS]

Grumman Merlin FG.1 - No.43 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1977

RAFF-111BMERLINFG101 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111BMERLINFG102 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111BMERLINFG103 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111BMERLINFG104 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Gloster Javelin F.Mk50 - No.2 Squadron, Belgian Air Force, 1961

BAFJAVELINF5101 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFJAVELINF5102 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFJAVELINF5103 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFJAVELINF5104 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFJAVELINF5105 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFJAVELINF5106 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Not much time tonight so a quick Belgian Javelin (using stock BAF Meteor codes).

[SPINNERS]

SEPECAT Jaguar FRS.4 - 899 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy, 1980

RNJAGUARFRS401 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNJAGUARFRS402 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNJAGUARFRS403 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNJAGUARFRS404 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNJAGUARFRS405 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNJAGUARFRS406 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNJAGUARFRS407 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A lovely Aeronavale skin for the Jaguar 'A' was released recently to make a Jaguar 'M' and I've used this with my Royal Navy markings to make a Jaguar FRS.4 (should really be FRS.3 but I've already used the '3' on my RAF FGR.3). The skin colour is, of course, more 'bleu' than EDSG but it really looks the part.