Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

[SPINNERS]

Finnish 'Barrels'

IlmavoimatJ29F01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IlmavoimatJ29F02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IlmavoimatJ29F03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IlmavoimatJ29F04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IlmavoimatJ29F05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

IlmavoimatJ29F06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

SEPECAT Panther GR.1 - No.8 Squadron, RAF Middle East Command, 1978

The loss of the TSR.2 programme was followed all too quickly by the cancellation of the F-111K order and then the French withdrawl from the AFVG programme. For a short while it looked like the Panavia consortium would fill the gap with the MRCA but the withdrawl of Canada and the Netherlands during the feasability studies and then finally Italy and Germany just before the formal programme launch left the UK Government with almost no options in their ill-fated search for a Canberra replacement.

However, quietly and without fuss, the Anglo-French SEPECAT consortium were progressing rather well with the Jaguar and proposed an essentially scaled-up design to fulfill the RAF's strike/attack requirement.

Using airframe knowledge gained from the Jaguar programme, plus the excellent Rolls-Royce Spey engines from the Phantom F-4K and F-4M programme, SEPECAT offered an in-service date of 1974 and the UK government accepted this proposal and negotiated a 70/30 work-split for BAC due to an initial lack of interest from France although France would later also adopt this excellent design.

Christened Panther, the prototype first flew in September 1970 (just two years after the Jaguar) and prototype and pre-production testing quickly progressed mainly due to just having one end-user. The Panther GR.1 entered service with the Royal Air Force in June 1975 when No.6 squadron converted to the 'big cat' from Phantoms. Total production of the initial GR.1 version reached 220 and SEPECAT also produced 130 Panther F.2's interceptors (re-enginned with the 30,000lb thrust class Rolls-Royce Teifi) for use by the UK air defence squadrons.

RAFPantherGR101 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFPantherGR102 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFPantherGR103 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The Chinese 'Flying Leopard' was released at Combat ACE recently and it's a cracker. What with the overall look of a pumped-up Jaguar and the Phantom style canopy it just screamed 'RAF Tornado substitute' at me but it just might have been 'put the kettle on I'm gasping'.

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19 - British Peoples' Republic Air Force, 1959

BPRAFMiG-1901 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BPRAFMiG-1902 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BPRAFMiG-1903 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A spiffing Czech' S-105 (MiG-19S) was released recently and I've just oversprayed the Czech' markings and added BPRAF markings and my 'Communist' No.5 squadron nose bars. I quite like the Soviet style two-digit numbers and moved them from the nose to the fin (makes a nice change from letters).

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17F - British Peoples' Republic Air Force, 1958

BPRAFMiG-17F01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BPRAFMiG-17F02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BPRAFMiG-17F03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

On reflection, I think the radar equipped Fresco-D (MiG-17PF) would have been a better choice.

[SPINNERS]

Gloster Gremlin F.1 - 54th Fighter Regiment, British Peoples' Republic Air Force, 1961

BPRAFMiG-21F01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BPRAFMiG-21F02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BPRAFMiG-21F03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Gloster Gremlin FG.2 - 44th Fighter Regiment, British Peoples' Republic Air Force, 1965

BPRAFMiG-21MF01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BPRAFMiG-21MF02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BPRAFMiG-21MF03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BPRAFMiG-21MF04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

TopGunSkiPhantomF-4E01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

TopGunSkiPhantomF-4E02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

TopGunSkiPhantomF-4E03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

TopGunSkiPhantomF-4E04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

TopGunSkiPhantomF-4E05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A new Desert Camo for the F-4C, D and E was released recently by 'SidDogg' and it got me thinking that it might look good with Soviet 'Top Gunski' markings! The nose marking is out of me own head and I've used the stock USAF scheme as well. Yes - I know I'm twisted but, in my defence, I am reading 'Red Eagles' at the moment...

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21MF - Soviet Fighter Weapons and Tactics Regiment, 1974

With only a handful of clandestinely acquired Phantoms the Soviet Fighter Weapons and Tactics Regiment used a variety of home-grown aircraft to supplement them, including the MiG-21MF.

TopGunSkiMiG-21MF01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

TopGunSkiMiG-21MF02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

TopGunSkiMiG-21MF03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Supermarine Swift FGA.6 - Royal Air Force, 1959

RAFSwiftFGA601 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSwiftFGA602 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSwiftFGA603 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSwiftFGA604 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

A recent release for the 'Strike Fighters' series of flight sims is the Supermarine Swift FR.5 by the DAT boys. I've added some No.2 Squadron markings to create a 'real world' FR.5 and some No.45 and No.58 squadron markings to create 'what if' FGA.6's. Pedants will note that all use Hunter serial numbers!

[SPINNERS]

General Dynamics F-111K - No.6 Squadron, Royal Air Force, 1971

RAFF-111A01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111A02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111A03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111A04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

General Dynamics Merlin S.1 - No.617 'Dambusters' Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1969

RAFF-111K02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111K03-1 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111K04-1 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111K08-1 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111K13 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

General Dynamics Merlin S.2A - No.14 Squadron, RAF, 1991

RAFF-111K09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111K10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

General Dynamics Merlin GR.4A - No.9 Squadron, Royal Air Force, 1996

RAFF-111K11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFF-111K12 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

General Dynamics Merlin FRS.3 - 899 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy, 1991

The F-111B entered service with the Royal Navy in 1970 as the Merlin FRS.3 and served until 1992. The last carrier borne deployment was by 899NAS aboard HMS Ark Royal during the 1991 Gulf War who then operated from Turkey patrolling the no-fly zone during the initial phase of Operation Provide Comfort before being replaced by the Tomcat FRS.2's of 892NAS.

RNF-111B01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNF-111B02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNF-111B03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNF-111B04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Highly unlikely I know but the F-111B was released earlier today and I just had to whif it in a Royal Navy stylee.

[SPINNERS]

General Dynamics Merlin FRS.3 - 899 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy, 1978

RNF-111B05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RNF-111B06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr