Mirage F.1

[PR19_Kit]

Thanks for that gentlemen, the part in the Heller kit is in normal styrene, not transparent, but it has a 'window frame' moulded into the forward edge of it. That helps me some in a project I have in my head at the moment. 

[Dizzyfugu]

IIRC, it's a doppler radar aerial: some F1s have a nav/attack system and some don't.

EDIT:  some F1s have a laser rangefinder in a similar position, but I still think the fairing in the pic is doppler.

The LRF is in a simlar position, but has a different shape - more a kind of box-like wedge. This is the Doppler radar fairing, very similar to the Mirage IIIE.

[Zero-Sen]

The Mirage III E/R indeed has a Doppler telemetry system. As far as I known the Mirage F1CR/CT radar has ground/contour mapping capabilities and uses two type of cameras. The bigger/usual one is a panoramic camera (large windows) the smaller one is a vertical camera.

[KJ_Lesnick]

How did they manage to get so much aerodynamic performance out of such a small wing?

[Dizzyfugu]

Ask Lockheed about the Starfighter...? 

[PR19_Kit]

How did they manage to get so much aerodynamic performance out of such a small wing?

They're French.

That's all that need be said. 

[Weaver]

How did they manage to get so much aerodynamic performance out of such a small wing?

Well it's got every high-lift device known to Man for starters....

[cafe]

Thanks for that gentlemen, the part in the Heller kit is in normal styrene, not transparent, but it has a 'window frame' moulded into the forward edge of it. That helps me some in a project I have in my head at the moment.  

Then it's the laser rangefinder of the Mirage F1CT (fighter bomber converted from retired Mirage F1C-200, kept their old serials in the 2xx range), not the camera housing of the Mirage F1CR (recco variant, serials in the 6xx range). Both variants are missing one of the 2 cannons of the F1C, but not on the same side.  

The pic you posted on the previous page is showing a F1CR.

profiles of F1CR (top 2) and F1CT (bottom 2)

Mirage F1CT walkaround

Mirage F1CR walkaround

From wiki:

The Mirage F1CR carries reconnaissance equipment, internally and externally:

   A SAT SCM2400 Super Cyclone infrared linescan unit is installed in the space previously occupied by the port cannon.
   A space under the nose can be used for a Thomson-TRT 40 panoramic camera or a Thomson-TRT 33 vertical camera.
   The Cyrano IVM-R radar has extra ground- and contour-mapping modules.
   A variety of sensors can be carried in external pods carried under the fuselage centreline. These include the Raphaël TH Side-Looking Airborne Radar (SLAR), the ASTAC ELINT pod and the RP35P optical reconnaissance pod.

A total of 64 Mirage F1CRs were ordered by the French Air Force. The first air force unit equipped with the CR was Escadron de Reconnaissance 2/33 which became operational in September 1983.

The Mirage F1CT is a ground attack version of the Mirage F1C-200. Following their replacement in the air defence role by the Mirage 2000, the French Air Force had a number of surplus Mirage F1C-200s, and in 1988 it launched a conversion programme to turn these aircraft into interim ground attack aircraft to replace elderly Mirage IIIEs and Mirage 5s. The Mirage F1CT program brought the avionics of the F1C up to the standard of the F1CR, with the radar upgraded with the additional air-to-ground modes of the Cyrano IVM-R, an improved navigation/attack system fitted, with a laser rangefinder fitted under the nose. It was fitted with new Mk 10 ejection seats, while improved radar detection and warning devices, chaff/flare dispensers, and secure radios were also added. It gained the ability to carry a variety of air-to-ground weapons, including rockets, cluster bombs and laser-guided bombs, while retaining the F1Cs air-to-air armament.

Two prototypes were converted by Dassault, the first flying on 3 May 1991, with a further 55 converted by the workshops of the French Air Force at Clermont Ferrand by 1995.

[KJ_Lesnick]

Ask Lockheed about the Starfighter...? 

Well I suppose both have heavy wing-loadings, the F-1 had a better aspect ratio.  Still the F-104 had a freaky power to weight ratio -- the figures listed at least for the F-1 don't seem as impressive and the F-1 was supposed to be a match for the F-16.

[Weaver]

Who's saying the F-1 was a match for the F-16? I can't see that myself, nor do I recall seeing it claimed anywhere.

The early Mirage 2000 is a fair match for an early F-16. It's more of an interceptor than an air-superiority type, it's advantages over the F-16 being BVR missiles and better instantaneous turn rate, while the F-16 has more range and better sustained turn rate. Of course when you're looking at later versions of both aircraft with Micas and AMRAAMs the equation changes again.

[KJ_Lesnick]

Who's saying the F-1 was a match for the F-16? I can't see that myself, nor do I recall seeing it claimed anywhere.

I'd almost swear I heard it mentioned somewhere.  Truthfully I'm not sure how accurate the claim is judging by your reaction.

[Daryl J.]

Agave radar equipped F.1 and Exocet, Canada.

[tahsin]

Who's saying the F-1 was a match for the F-16? I can't see that myself, nor do I recall seeing it claimed anywhere.

I'd almost swear I heard it mentioned somewhere. 

That would be the Sale of the Century deal when the Mirage competed against the F-16 and the Viggen for the NATO wide contract in the late 1970s. Roy Braybrook used to mention in an airshow in 1975 or 76 the Dassault executives watched the F-16 perform and they took their F-1 away for a quick overnight painting. Impossible to match in the air, Braybrook would write but the French were not the people to give up contesting in looks.

[KJ_Lesnick]

Weaver

Well it's got every high-lift device known to Man for starters....

I'm not sure I understand what you mean?  I looked at pictures and I saw an outboard and inboard slat; a two piece double-slotted flap, spoilers for roll-control

[ysi_maniac]

Mixing Rafale and Mirage F1. (top view fits with first side view)