Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

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Republic F-7C Thunderstorm - 428th TFS and 429th TFS Vietnam, 1968

During late 1958 the Langley Laboratory made the breakthrough that led to the realisation of a valid variable-sweep wing and by early 1959 Tactical Air Command (TAC) could see that this massive technological breakthrough could be the key to help them in their search for a tactical strike fighter to replace both the F-100 Super Sabre and the F-105 Thunderchief. Pretty soon however the numerical values for unrefuelled range and payload that TAC had attached to their mission requirements had the effect of turning all the paper studies from F-105 sized machines to much larger tactical bombers with a corresponding increase in cost and price and this reduced affordability was of great concern to TAC.

In the Autumn of 1959 TAC wisely decided to split their requirement into a smaller tactical fighter to replace the F-100 and a larger tactical bomber to replace the F-105, B-57 and B-66. The larger aircraft would evolve into Specific Operational Requirement No.183 that would launch the important TFX (tactical fighter experimental) programme and eventually lead (via a tortuous route) to the outstanding but highly compromised F-111 family whilst the smaller aircraft would lead to Specific Operational Requirement No.182 or TAX (tactical aircraft experimental).

Issued in March 1960 SOR182 called for a single-seat tactical fighter aircraft with "reduced dependence of paved runways" and with "the ability to carry a nuclear bomb at supersonic speed at tree-top height". Requests for Proposals were immediately sent out to industry and Republic Aviation's proposal soon gained the support of TAC by virtue of its use of a variable-sweep wing but also by the use of the existing J75 turbojet and F-105 avionics. With the end of F-105 production on the horizon Republic Aviation pushed hard for SOR182/TAX and in February 1961 they were rewarded with a contract for 24 prototype and pre-production YF-110 aircraft and 400 production F-110A machines and Republic wasted no time in bestowing the name of 'Thunderstorm' to the latest of their long line of fighter aircraft.

Republic Aviation were fortunate in being awarded the contract before Secretary of Defence Robert S. McNamara had got into his stride and the programme largely escaped McNamara and his whiz-kids. Development moved swiftly and during 1962 the programme was re-designated F-7 under the new tri-service designation scheme and the first prototype took to the air on December 22nd 1962 a full year ahead of the F-111A. Entering service in June 1965 the F-7A was followed by the F-7B two-seat trainer version and the more advanced F-7C version that first deployed to Vietnam in March 1968 when a two-squadron wing transferred to Takhli Royal Thia AFB, Thailand in a deployment called 'Combat Lancer'.

USAFF-7C06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-7C01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-7C02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-7C03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-7C04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-7C05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USAFF-7C07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

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Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17PF - Grupo 6 De Caza, Fuerza Aérea Argentina, 1961

The Argentinian elections of 1958 saw Arturo Frondizi become President and with some support from Peron's followers he introduced various policies to encourage investment and make the country self-sufficient in energy and industry. One major issue was Argentina's chronic trade deficit and in early 1960 Frondizi controversially cancelled the order for 28 refurbished F-86F Sabres on cost grounds and announced the procurement of 40 MiG-17PF interceptors from the Soviet Union for an undisclosed sum "to be funded solely by beef exports". Entering service with Grupo 6 De Caza in 1961 the MiG-17PF's were initially delivered in a natural metal finish but soon adopted a camouflage scheme and served in frontline service until 1977 and thus played no part in the 1982 Falklands/Malvinas conflict but did remain on 'reserve status' until 1983.

FAAMiG-17PF06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAAMiG-17PF07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17PF - Grupo 6 De Caza, Fuerza Aérea Argentina, 1964

FAAMiG-17PF03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAAMiG-17PF04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAAMiG-17PF05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is the stock Polish camo scheme (quite an unusual colour combination) with new Grupo 6 De Caza markings. The fin stripe marking is 'out of me own head' but is based on the 6 stars from their squadron patch. These Frescoes would have given the Royal Navy Scimitars and Sea Vixens a hard time in 1964!

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Dassault Mirage 5I - 154° Gruppo, 6° Stormo, Aeronautica Militare, 1971

AMIMIRAGE501 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMIMIRAGE502 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMIMIRAGE503 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMIMIRAGE504 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I love the long-nose Mirage 5 and I love 6° Stormo markings so I've spent a bit of time making a new 'Diablo' fin marking for the Mirage and adding a radar nose to what is actually a 5BA.

[SPINNERS]

Dassault Mirage IIICI - 154° Gruppo, 6° Stormo, Aeronautica Militare Italiana, 1966

The 1961 Franco-Italian Defence Agreement led to the early adoption of the Dassault Mirage IIIC by the Aeronautica Militare Italiana with Fiat responsible for licence-production of the airframe and final assembly with the SNECMA-supplied 13,500lb thrust Atar 9B-5 turbojet engine. Designated Mirage IIICI (I for Italie) the aircraft was equipped with the standard Cyrano I radar and armed with two 30 mm cannons plus one Matra/Fiat R531 'Spada' (Sword) semi-active radar homing missile and two locally produced Selenia 'Pugnale' (Dagger) heat-seeking air-to-air missiles.

Entering service in March 1964 with 154° Gruppo of 6° Stormo the Mirage IIICI mainly replaced the F-86K Sabre in Aeronautica Militare Italiana service and eventually equipped four squadrons in the interception role before being supplanted by the multi-role Mirage 5CI with the last Mirage IIICI being retired in 1984.

AMIMIRAGE3CI01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMIMIRAGE3CI02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMIMIRAGE3CI03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Dassault Mirage IIICI - 22° Gruppo, 51° Stormo, Aeronautica Militare Italiana, 1967

AMIMIRAGE3CI06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMIMIRAGE3CI07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMIMIRAGE3CI04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

AMIMIRAGE3CI05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Another of my favourite units - I just love that whole cat v. mice thing!

[SPINNERS]

Republic F-7J - VF-1 'Wolf Pack' USN Navy, 1975

In May 1968 the Armed Services Committees of both houses of Congress refused to authorise further funds for the F-111B forcing the Department of Defence to issue a stop-work order to General Dynamics. Whilst this was initially received as good news by the US Navy they soon felt that they had been forced to jump out of the frying pan and into the fire when the Republic Thunderstorm was forced upon them and Grumman's promising VFX submission (Model 303 'Tomcat') and associated AWG-9 radar and AIM-54 missile were allowed to pass into history. Entering service in 1971 the F-7J Thunderstorm was Republic's first naval aircraft and served with both the USN and the USMC seeing extensive action in Vietnam and also seeing action with two USMC squadrons during the 1991 Gulf War.

USNFLOGGER01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USNFLOGGER02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USNFLOGGER03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USNFLOGGER04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USNFLOGGER05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USNFLOGGER06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Deviating from my earlier Republic F-7C Thunderstorm backstory perhaps McNamara did latch on to this programme and force the US Navy to adopt this smaller swing-wing aircraft. Or perhaps when the US Navy bailed out of the F-111B they adopted the Thunderstorm. Anyway, a nice suggestion Greg!

[SPINNERS]

Republic F-7M 'Thunderpig' - VMFA-333 'Shamrocks', United States Marine Corp, Operation Desert Storm, 1991

The final version of the Republic Thunderstorm was the USMC's F-7M (M for Marine) who always affectionately referred to it as the 'Thunderpig'.

USMCF-7MTHUNDERPIG01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USMCF-7MTHUNDERPIG02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USMCF-7MTHUNDERPIG03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USMCF-7MTHUNDERPIG04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Any suggestions for an engine for the Thunderpig? Would there have been a 'dry' only turbofan suitable in size and power?

[SPINNERS]

Republic F-7M 'Thunderpig' - VMFA-451, United States Marine Corps, 1991

USMCF-7MTHUNDERPIG06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USMCF-7MTHUNDERPIG08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

USMCF-7MTHUNDERPIG09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I thought I'd use real world 'Desert Storm' F-18A unit for my second 'Thunderpig' squadron and chose VMFA-451.

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19S - Grupo 1 de Caza, Fuerza Aérea Argentina, 1966

FAAMiG-19S01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAAMiG-19S02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAAMiG-19S03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAAMiG-19S04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I like the MiG-19. Apart from the Chinese J-6 copies, it did seem to get by-passed in history by the success of the MiG-21 but it was an outstanding design becoming the first supersonic production aircraft outside of the USA and introducing axial flow engines in Soviet service.

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19S - Grupo 6 de Caza, Fuerza Aérea Argentina, 1972

FAAMiG-19S07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAAMiG-19S08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAAMiG-19S10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAAMiG-19S06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19S - Grupo 10 de Caza, Fuerza Aérea Argentina, 1977

FAAMiG-19S09 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAAMiG-19S10 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAAMiG-19S11 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAAMiG-19S12 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAAMiG-19S13 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FAAMiG-19S05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is the stock grey camo scheme for the Egyptian Air Force and it looks pretty cool in FAA markings. The 'new' Grupo 10 de Caza patch is based on that seen on their 'real world' Mirage and took me quite a while to create from scratch!

[SPINNERS]

BAC Lightning F.52A - Aggressor Flight, Royal Saudi Air Force, 1983

When the last Saudi F.53 was delivered in 1972 the four Saudi Lightning F.52's (ex-RAF F.2's) were refurbished by BAC Warton and brought up to F.2A standard and returned to Saudi Arabia to form a small Aggressor flight at Khamis Mushyat. A further two ex-RAF F.2A's were acquired and brought up to the same F.52A standard and in the early 1980's the surviving five aircraft had all received a 'Ghost Grey' camo scheme and remained in service until 1986.

RSAFLIGHTNINGF52A01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RSAFLIGHTNINGF52A02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RSAFLIGHTNINGF52A03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RSAFLIGHTNINGF52A04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RSAFLIGHTNINGF52A05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

[SPINNERS]

Yakovlev Yak-23F 'Flora' - Hävittäjälentolaivue 11, Ilmavoimat, 1955

FINLANDYAK-23FFLORA01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FINLANDYAK-23FFLORA02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FINLANDYAK-23FFLORA03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I've been meaning to do something with cute little Flora (ooh, er, missus) for quite sometime now and she caught my eye today. This is the stock silver skin but tinted a darker shade of grey and with Ilmavoimat and HävLLv 11 decals added by me. There is a bit of artistic licence in the HävLLv 11 shield plus it needed two versions as it's 'handed'.

[SPINNERS]

Yakovlev Yak-23F - Hävittäjälentolaivue 21, Ilmavoimat, 1956

FINLANDYAK-23FFLORA05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FINLANDYAK-23FFLORA06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

FINLANDYAK-23FFLORA08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr