Re: Spinners' Strike Fighters Thread

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Dassault-Fairey Mirage F.1A - No.111 'Treble One' Squadron, RAF Fighter Command, 1962

The first flight of the Fairey FD.2 research aircraft in October 1954 intrigued Marcel Dassault who had already built a much smaller delta-winged prototype in an attempt to meet an earlier Armeé de l'air specification for a target-defence interceptor. Dassault was impressed with the size and layout of the FD.2 and proposed a technical collaboration programme between Fairey and Dassault. This saw the FD.2 flight programme move to Cazaux on the Bay of Biscay and make such good progress that on March 18th, 1956 Peter Twiss reclaimed the world speed record with a speed of 1,132mph a massive 300mph increase over the previous record held by the F-100 Super Sabre. Dassault immediately became convinced that the delta was the way ahead and planned a scaled-up version of his previous delta to be powered by an afterburning version of the fast-improving Atar turbojet.

Despite being a company-funded programme Dassault wasted no time in developing his new delta and Roland Glavany flew prototype Mirage III-001 from Melun-Villaroche on November 17th, 1956. Development moved swiftly and at the 1957 Paris Air Show the Dassault trade pavilion attracted the attention of senior RAF officials who, in the aftermath of the infamous 1957 Defence White Paper, wanted an inexpensive Hunter replacement and some sort of back-up for the Lightning whose future was as uncertain as it's development was slow. An ever-alert Rolls-Royce then became interested in the French delta and via the British Ministry of Supply asked Dassault for the opportunity to supply the Avon turbojet to anyone who was interested. Dassault could see that this was potentially the key to unlocking lucrative sales to Britain and suggested to Fairey a revival of their earlier collaboration to licence-build any Mirage orders to Britain and, facing extinction, Fairey readily agreed.

A successful first flight of the Mirage IIIA in May1958 saw the RAF confirm their interest in the French delta and the production order for 95 Mirage IIIC aircraft for the Armeé de l'air at the end of 1958 gave the British Ministry of Supply the confidence to place an order for 50 Mirage F.1 interceptors and 100 Mirage FGA.2 fighter-bombers in February 1959. In announcing the purchase of a 'foreign' aircraft the British Prime Minister, Harold MacMillan, could immediately add that the aircraft would be built in Britain and have a high British content due to the Rolls-Royce Avon Mk.210 engines, Martin-Baker ejection seat, ADEN cannon and Ferranti A.25 Airpass radar and this helped make the decision to buy the Mirage a little bit more palatable.

Entering service with No.74 Squadron in August 1961 the Mirage F.1 was quickly replaced on the production line by the Mirage F.1A with the earlier aircraft being brought up to the same standard to eventually equipped three squadrons of RAF Fighter Command with upgraded aircraft serving until 1980 when they were replaced by Mirage F.6 a design based on the Mirage 2000.

RAFMIRAGEF1A02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMIRAGEF1A03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMIRAGEF1A08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMIRAGEF1A05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMIRAGEF1A06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Despite the well-documented link between the Fairey FD.2 and the Mirage III (Marcel Dassault readily admitted it was an influence and claimed that Britain was mad not to develop it) I'm not totally comfortable in making this a Dassault-Fairey joint venture but I am happy with how it looks!

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Dassault Mirage FG.2 - No.20 Squadron, RAF Middle East Command, 1967

RAFMIRAGEFG202 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMIRAGEFG204 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMIRAGEFG205 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMIRAGEFG201 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The stock French Desert Camo skin makes a good RAF Middle East skin even with 'ne pas marcher' stencils on the wings!

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Dassault Mirage FG.2 - No.34 Squadron, RAF Middle East Command, 1972

RAFMIRAGEFG205-1 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMIRAGEFG206 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMIRAGEFG207 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMIRAGEFG208 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMIRAGEFG209 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This Libyan skin is from the stock Mirage 5D and has been tweaked to suit the different contours of the Mirage 3C. In this modified state I'm calling it 'Sand' Camo but I must admit to preferring the simpler 'chocolate and sand' camo shown on the No.20 Squadron machine.

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Dassault Mirage FG.2 - No.79 Squadron, RAF Germany, 1967

RAFMIRAGEFG206-1 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMIRAGEFG207-1 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMIRAGEFG208-1 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMIRAGEFG209-1 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFMIRAGEFG210 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The stock French Camo skin for the Mirage 5F is used here, again modified to fit the different shape (and mapping) of the Mirage 3C. I'm imagining that the F.1A and FG.2 were the first generation of British Mirages with a second generation being a multi-role Mirage based on the longer 3E with multi-mode radar and the extra belly pylons of the 5BA and possibly powered by the Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan. Mind you, even the basic 5F would have been welcomed by the RAF as a Hunter replacement (if I purposefully forget the Harrier).

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Dassault Mirage 5Y - Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslav Air Force, 1971

YUGOSLAVMIRAFE5F01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

YUGOSLAVMIRAFE5F02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

YUGOSLAVMIRAFE5F03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

YUGOSLAVMIRAFE5F04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Not much time tonight so a quick Yugoslav 5Y (perhaps they had the embargoed 5J's) in the stock Armeé de l'air silver skin with new decals by me (I like making my own 'national marking' decals even though the game has almost every post-war nation all built in). I'll catch up with the camo version tomorrow night and perhaps find a suitable unit marking.

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Dassault Mirage 5Y - "The Lions", 123 Fighter Aviation Squadron, Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia Yugoslav Air Force, 1977

YUGOSLAVMIRAFE5F05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

YUGOSLAVMIRAFE5F06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

YUGOSLAVMIRAFE5F07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is the stock French Camo scheme from the Mirage 5F (with a bit of overspray on the fin leading edge) and with 123 Fighter Aviation Squadron markings including a fictional 'nosebar' marking but based on their Lions insignia.

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Republic F-91G Thunderceptor - JG 74 Mölders, West German Luftwaffe, 1956

The first flight of the Republic XF-91 on May 9th, 1949 did not attract that much interest in the non-aviation world where the main news item was the previous day's approval of the West German Constitution but the detonation of the Soviet Union's first atomic weapon in August 1949 made the development and deployment of a fast, high altitude, point-defence interceptor an urgent priority. By October the XF-91 'Thunderceptor' had been fitted with four Reaction Motors XLR11 rocket engines giving the aircraft an outstanding rate of climb and high-altitude performance albeit at the expense of range. The Korean War starting in June 1950 then added to the urgency of the programme and soon production F-91A's started pouring off the Farmingdale production line for an eager USAF and NATO air forces.

When West Germany joined NATO in 1955 the F-84F Thunderstreak became it's principal tactical fighter with the F-91G Thunderceptor becoming it's standard interceptor-fighter entering service with JG74 'Mölders' serving until 1962 when they were gradually replaced by the Saunders-Roe SR.177 (another mixed-power interceptor) . West German Thunderceptors were unique in being armed with the large indigenous 'Speer' infra-red homing missile which was the largest heat-seeking missile until the Soviet 'Anab' entered service in 1961.

LUFTWAFFETHUNDERCEPTOR01A by Spinners1961, on Flickr

LUFTWAFFETHUNDERCEPTOR02A by Spinners1961, on Flickr

LUFTWAFFETHUNDERCEPTOR03A by Spinners1961, on Flickr

LUFTWAFFETHUNDERCEPTOR04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

LUFTWAFFETHUNDERCEPTOR05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

LUFTWAFFETHUNDERCEPTOR06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

LUFTWAFFETHUNDERCEPTOR07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

LUFTWAFFETHUNDERCEPTOR08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The 'Speer' is actually the AS.30 air-to-surface missile and it's data has been edited to give it the heat-seeking characteristics of the Aim-9B Sidewinder but with longer range and larger warhead more typical of the Aim-7D Sparrow.

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Ling-Temco-Vought F-8EJ Crusader - 302nd Hikotai, Japan Air Self-Defense Forces, 1971

JASDFF-8EJ01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

JASDFF-8EJ02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

JASDFF-8EJ03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

JASDFF-8EJ04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Some computer problems have plagued me this week eventually requiring a re-install of W7 (and some data loss sob sob) and it's taken a few evenings to sort out. Anyway, the latest in Third Wire's DLC range was released this week and it's the F-8E(FN) of the French Aéronavale complete with the standard USN scheme plus the overall grey and overall 'bleu' seen here. I've done JASDF Crusader's before but not it this new scheme.

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BAC Skylark FG.3 - No.41 Squadron, RAF South East Asia Command, 1976

SEACSKYHAWKFG301 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SEACSKYHAWKFG302 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SEACSKYHAWKFG303 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SEACSKYHAWKFG304 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

SEACSKYHAWKFG305 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

The recent 'Kiwi' Skyhawk comes with no less than four different skins and this one really is a cracker! It really does cry out for SEAC markings! Afficionadoes of the Lightning will note some familiar serial numbers.

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Dassault Super Mystére - No.2 Squadron, Belgian Air Force, 1966

BAFSUPERMYSTERE01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFSUPERMYSTERE02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFSUPERMYSTERE03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFSUPERMYSTERE04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFSUPERMYSTERE05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

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Dassault Super Mystére - Belgian Air Force, 1963

BAFSUPERMYSTERE06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFSUPERMYSTERE07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BAFSUPERMYSTERE08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

Couldn't resist the same markings on the early IDF camo (but with white Hunter F.6 codes). It's not a very appropriate camo but perhaps Belgium had sent Super Mystéres in support of UN forces in some 60's hotspot

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Dassault Super Mystére B3 - No.2 Squadron, Royal Dhimari Air Force, 1971

With the realisation that the future lay with his outstanding Mirage family of aircraft Marcel Dassault quickly lost interest in his earlier creations but was persuaded to offer a new 'attack' version of the Super Mystére for export. The Super Mystére B3 was powered by a Rolls-Royce Avon 200 series turbojet rated at 10,000lbs dry thrust and this engine replaced the thirsty afterburning Atar 101G-2 of the B2 but offered equal thrust and lower fuel consumption. Avionics were still primitive but the B3 introduced additional underwing pylons for bombs, rockets or missiles and the aircraft was a good platform for ground-attack. Dhimar became the first export customer for the B3 ordering 30 aircraft which were delivered in 1961 and the B3 was soon overshadowed by it's more glamorous delta-winged stablemate.

DHIMARISAAR01 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMARISAAR02 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMARISAAR03 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMARISAAR04 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

DHIMARISAAR05 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

This is the J52 engined version of the Super Mystére used by the Israeli's and given the name of Sa'ar (Tempest).

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Dassault Sirocco FG.4 - No.6 Squadron, RAF 'Operation Granby' 1991

RAFSCIROCCOFG401 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSCIROCCOFG402 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSCIROCCOFG403 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFSCIROCCOFG404 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I like the overall shape of the Super Etendard and think a Spey engined version would have made an ideal Hunter replacement in the mid-1960's.

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Blackburn Buccaneer S.2 - No.139 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1968

Such was the power and influence of First Sea Lord Earl Mountbatten that when the production order for the Buccaneer S.Mk2 was announced in January 1962 not only was his Royal Navy order for 80 aircraft intact but there was an unexpected RAF order for 100 aircraft as Canberra replacements for RAF Germany. This came as a blow to BAC who, despite no official announcement, knew that this meant the certain end of their outstanding TSR.2 programme although the axe wouldn't fall for another six months after an 'operational review'.

The original Blackburn Aviation team continued with the design, development and production of the Royal Navy version whilst Hawker Siddeley were given full control of the RAF programme and some urgency was injected into the programme with the grounding of the Vickers Valiant in 1964 due to fatigue problems. At the time, the Valiant was an important component to the RAF's contribtion to SACEUR and, in his role as deputy head of Allied Command Europe, the RAF's former Chief of the Air Staff Sir Thomas Pike requested an additional order of 40 Buccaneer S.2's.

Hawker Siddeley worked flat out on the RAF Buccaneer programme and soon 'anti-flash' white Buccaneers were taking to the air with the first two squadrons to re-equip being No.100 and No.139 Squadrons at RAF Wittering who exchanged their Victor B.2's for Buccaneer S.2's in April 1967 in a move prompted by concerns of the Victor's suitability in the low-level strike role, the RAF's preference towards the Vulcan and the need for Victor B.2 airframes for conversion to tankers.

RAFBUCCANEERS201 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFBUCCANEERS202 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFBUCCANEERS203 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFBUCCANEERS204 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFBUCCANEERS205 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

RAFBUCCANEERS206 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

I've seen some 'Senior Service' S.1's in anti-flash white and reckon that early RAF Buccaneers could have had the same scheme.

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Vought F-8EB - No.1 'Osprey' Squadron, Belgian Zeemacht, 1979

BMCF-8ECRUSADER06 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BMCF-8ECRUSADER07 by Spinners1961, on Flickr

BMCF-8ECRUSADER08 by Spinners1961, on Flickr