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RN Cougar and Skyray

Started by MartG, October 23, 2008, 02:08:34 AM

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MartG

October 23, 2008, 02:08:34 AM
In the mid 1950s, with forces comitted to various areas of the world, the Fleet Air Arm recognised that its existing force of fighters ( mainly Seahawks and Sea Venoms ) were becoming overstretched and needed reinforcing. With both Armstrong Whitworth and DeHavilland already struggling under heavy production commitments, it was decided to seek an off-the-shelf carrier capable fighter to supplement the existing carrier squadrons, leading to the purchase of 32 Grumman F9F Cougars in 1958. Although limited to primarily day-fighter use due to its lack of an AI radar, the Cougar was popular with its pilots.







When in 1959 it became apparent that there was likely to be a delay in introducing the Sea Vixen into service, a similar stop-gap purchase was made of McDonnell F4D Skyrays ( renamed Manta in FAA service ). These had minimal changes made to allow the carriage of Firestreak missiles in addition to their existing AIM-9 capability ( though only two of the heavier British missile were generally carried ).




Murphy's 1st Law - An object at rest will be in the wrong place
Murphy's 2nd Law - An object in motion will be going in the wrong direction
Murphy's 3rd Law - For every action, there is an equal and opposite malfunction

Jschmus

#1
October 23, 2008, 06:43:58 AM
Nicely done!  They both look very slick in FAA colors.  My fave is the "Manta".
"Life isn't divided into genres. It's a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you're lucky."-Alan Moore

sotoolslinger

#2
October 23, 2008, 06:48:30 AM
Must agree  :thumbsup: Very pretty :wub:
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Captain Canada

#3
October 23, 2008, 06:49:35 AM
You got that right, Jay....very slick in those colours ! It's neat to see how the clours really set off the shape of each a/c. I never realized the Cougar had such a wing shape !

Great job, Mart......keep 'em coming !

:cheers: :wub:
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kitnut617

#4
October 23, 2008, 09:10:27 AM
the colours just change the whole look of them --- wow factor just went of the scale !!
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Brian da Basher

#5
October 23, 2008, 01:18:41 PM
Quote from: kitnut617 on October 23, 2008, 09:10:27 AM
the colours just change the whole look of them --- wow factor just went of the scale !!

What he said!!! Outstanding!!!
:thumbsup:
Brian da Basher

Jschmus

#6
October 23, 2008, 05:14:39 PM
What scale are these, by the way?  I've got the 1/72 Tamiya Skyray, but I've never seen a 1/72 Cougar.  If there's one out there, someone please point me in the right direction.
"Life isn't divided into genres. It's a horrifying, romantic, tragic, comical, science-fiction cowboy detective novel. You know, with a bit of pornography if you're lucky."-Alan Moore

The Rat

#7
October 23, 2008, 06:07:34 PM
Nuttin' to say but   :wub: :thumbsup: :cheers:
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Ed S

#8
October 23, 2008, 07:29:07 PM
Very nice.  Clean, simple and well done.

What kits are those?

Ed
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ChernayaAkula

#9
October 23, 2008, 10:57:55 PM
Sweet!  :wub: Gotta love the Cougar and Skyray. Two very elegant designs!  :bow:
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MartG

#10
October 24, 2008, 12:20:15 AM
Quote from: Ed S on October 23, 2008, 07:29:07 PM

What kits are those?

Ed

Airfix Skyray, Hasegawa Cougar
Murphy's 1st Law - An object at rest will be in the wrong place
Murphy's 2nd Law - An object in motion will be going in the wrong direction
Murphy's 3rd Law - For every action, there is an equal and opposite malfunction

Big Bird

#11
October 24, 2008, 12:56:19 AM
Very nice, both fit my criteria for a successful WhatIf. They look right.  :thumbsup:

Weaver

#12
October 24, 2008, 02:24:04 AM
Hey those look good - well done!  :thumbsup: The RN actually adopted the AIM-9B before the RAF (on Scimitars) so they might very well have used Sidewinder and Firestreak together.

Funnily enough, I was just thinking last night: the Grumman F11-F Tiger was basically a good aircraft held back by it's underperforming J-65 engine, as proved by the sparkling performance of the J-79-engined Super Tiger prototypes (M=1.4 predicted, M=2 achieved!) What if the RN had taken an interest and sponsored an Avon-powered version? The J-65 was just a licence-built Sapphire and Avons and Sapphires were more-or-less interchangeable, so it's perfectly credible.

The F-11 programme went back to the mid-50s, so potentially, it could have had the in-service date of the RN Cougar and more performance than the Skyray......
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ysi_maniac

#13
October 24, 2008, 09:15:18 AM
Two well conceived and executed whiffs :wub: :wub: :wub: :wub: :wub:
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fallenphoenix

#14
October 24, 2008, 02:15:53 PM
ok, this one will be getting reproduced in the thirdwire sim series as soon as I'm done with the Tremblers Mirage III/Thunder Fmk.1

:cheers:
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