NATO reporting name Fishwife

[Glenn Gilbertson]

In the Spring of 1956 Western intelligence noticed that some of the posters for the Soviet Navy Day (celebrated on the last Sunday of each year) showed images of an unknown aircraft - was this artistic licence, disinformation or the first public acknowledgement of a new flying boat fighter?


"Glory to the valiant Navy – the faithful protectors of our motherland!"
NATO agents made great efforts to obtain information, and picked up rumours of a new fighter for the Black Sea Fleet that the pilots had nicknamed удильщик (udil'shchik = anglerfish )or Морской черт (Morskoy chert = monkfish) – which implied that the machine had a large mouth but a small tail.

The West's efforts were eventually rewarded with photographic evidence of a jet flying boat fighter that was given the NATO reporting name Fishwife:


The aircraft was soon identified as the Beriev Be–11, developed to escort the new Be–10 patrol jet flying boat and have a secondary ground – attack capability. The People's Commissar for Defence Procurement, accepting the desirability of keeping the ability to operate from water if runways were destroyed, had indicated that the design must have a wingspan of less than 11 metres so that it could be accommodated within the 12 metre wide docks of the underground submarine base being tunnelled into a hillside near Balaklava in the Crimea. In the interests of economy, preference would be given to a design using components already in production in the USSR.
The Beriev Design Bureau concluded that the MiG-15 could be used as the basis for the new fighter. The size was right, with a wingspan of just over 10 metres, and the MiG's VK-1 centrifugal-flow engine would be more tolerant of disturbed maritime operating conditions than an axial-flow engine. Apart from adding a hull and floats, the wings would need to be raised from the mid – to a shoulder position on the fuselage and combat reports had indicated the near impossibility of harmonizing the MiG's mixed 23mm & 30mm armament, so a battery of 4 x NS-23 23mm cannon (mounted higher on the fuselage)was preferred. The space in the wings previously occupied by the undercarriage bays was useful for fuel, with the strong structure designed to support the undercarriage legs being modified to carry fuel tanks, bombs or air-ground rockets.
The Soviet Navy operated the Be-11 only until 1968 (when the Be-10 was also withdrawn). The performance was just about adequate to combat Greek or Turkish early jet fighters, but trials of an above-wing mounting for an AA-2 missile proved disappointing. Nonetheless, the aircraft was useful in the light ground-attack role, for which the cannon battery was quite adequate and a second pylon was later added to each wing to carry bombs or rockets.
The model:
Another ancient Airfix MiG-15 was sacrificed, and mated with parts of an equally ancient Airfix Grumman Widgeon/Gosling. Both showed signs of their age, with crude detail and poor fit.



Not much would be visible in the cockpit, but the seat had extra detail from scrap, instrument panel  & panel aft of seat from card, stick & gunsight from more scrap.

Wings were shoulder-mounted and hull blended in with the Milliput & wet finger technique. Anhedral for the wings, dihedral for the tailplane; the fin looked adequate to cope with the additional keel area.


The intake area was sculpted by eye – it designed itself. Milliput shareholders rejoice. Splitter behind intake was cut from used decal backing.Pitot tube carved from plastic rod.


The Airfix canopy was a horrible shape, so a new one was crash-moulded from scrap packaging.
Photos showed Beriev flying boats in overall grey, grey with bright blue undersurfaces, or a rather lurid green with bright blue undersurfaces, with red stars on the wings and tail. The second scheme was chosen as the most pleasing, using Humbrol 64 & 68 enamels, brush-painted. The Soviet ensign home-made decal was added to the fuselage and Bort from a spare sheet.
Hope you like it:






http://i165.photobucket.com/albums/u68/glenngilbertson/P1330256_zpsmtl90wly.jpg

[Librarian]

Now that's inspired...it could work. Love the backstory too

[PR19_Kit]

I just LOVE that one, superb work there. 

And the codename is utterly BRILLIANT too. 

[TheChronicOne]

Niiiice!!  Glorious work, comrade! What a great concept and nice pictures!  "IS RUSSIAN!!" 

[rickshaw]

Is good.  Comrade, how well did this glorious fighting aircraft of the Peoples' Republic naval forces operate in the Arctic against the Capitalists?   

[zenrat]

Fantastic.

[NARSES2]

Brilliant 

[ericr]

excellentissime !

I nearly missed that thread, I'm glad I bumped into it.

Long live seaplanes !

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Is good.  Comrade, how well did this glorious fighting aircraft of the Peoples' Republic naval forces operate in the Arctic against the Capitalists?   

This had been thought about carefully.Soviet secret agents embedded within NATO Headquarters worked to ensure that any invasion would be launched against the glorious people's beaches of the Black Sea.
The pilots of the Black Sea Fleet all agreed that their primary duty was to defend agreeable beach resorts the vulnerable underbelly of the Motherland, so it was not necessary to freeze their vulnerable parts off in a frozen hell-hole
safe to leave the Arctic to be covered by wheeled aircraft that could operate off scraped-ice runways.

[DogfighterZen]

Excellent, love the build, story and pics, great work!

[Captain Canada]

Very cool. Love the way that Widgeon fuselage grafts on there ! Made for each other !

[zenrat]

Those two ladies are wearing what Mrs z refers to as Bum Floss...

[DogfighterZen]

Those two ladies are wearing what Mrs z refers to as Bum Floss...

very good! We call them slingshots around here...

[Dizzyfugu]

Neat, I like that a lot! Jet-powered flying boats are always spectacular, and  this one looks very good. I also like the simple grey/blue paint scheme. 

[Glenn Gilbertson]

Thanks for the kind words - glad the project has given some fun.
I couldn't get a translation for the "bacon slicers" worn by the women soldiers' Defensive Distraction Unit, so:
Слава наших женщин-солдат в стринг бикини!
Slava nashikh zhenshchin-soldat v string bikini!