Fouga magister close air support aircraft

[Weaver]

(I've cut out the quote-trail because it was starting to look like the opening credits of Doctor Who...)

But would they be around in the late 60's? Also they wouldn't really need hi tec electronics for straffing ground targets. Just basic and remotely accurate hails of lead are all thay's needed .

If you're dealing with local insurgents in Central Africa jungles then the first thing you have to do is spot them before you can strafe them. Look at how much trouble the US had in Vietnam: none of the ground targets were hard to kill, the trick was finding them through the jungle canopy.

According to that website I linked to, the original Heli Tele was cobbled together from commercial parts by an AAC officer in 1972, so I'd think it technically possible in the late 1960s.


The evolution of Meteors was roughly like this:

Fighter mark's 1-4(?) had the short front fuselage. This was because they were originally intended to have six 20mm cannons, but the lowest two of them proved impossible to service safely, so they were taken out are replaced by lead ballast.

Next came the T.7 trainer. This traded the lead ballast and the guns for a longer front fuselage with two seats.

The various night-fighter versions (NF.11, 12 13(?) & 14) all used the trainer airframe in modified form. However because the guns had been deleted in favour of the rear seat, then had to have guns in the outer wings instead. They had the original oval fin, but with extra fillets above and below the fin to add some side area.

Last came the F.8 fighter: a sort of "ultimate edition". This kept the trainer-length fuselage, but had a single cockpit (with a tidier canopy) in the forward position, put the four guns back immediately behind it, and filled the remaining space with an extra fuel tank. It also had a squared-off fin taken from the Gloster Ace (E 1.44?) experiemental aircraft, and longer engine nacelles which improved area-ruling.

There were a few "T.7.5s" produced which had the T Mk.7 fuselage but the F Mk.8 tail unit and nacelles. Gloster's civil-registered demonstrator was one of these: it also had tip tanks with weird vertical fins above the tail and the nose (I don't know why).


You can see from this that converting a T.7 or an NF.14 into a single-seat gun-armed aircraft is really just re-inventing the F.8 the hard way. The only way to justify it would be if you ONLY had access to two-seater airframes and had to improvise. In that case, trying to get an ammo feed from cans in the rear cockpit to guns in the nose would be a hell of a fiddly job to back-yard engineer. Much easier would be to rip out the rear seat, panel and controls and put a custom-made fuel tank in their place. Then for a T.7, just hang gun pods under it, and for an NF, rip the radar out and fit guns and ammo in the nose, with holes cut in the original radome.

[NARSES2]

(I've cut out the quote-trail because it was starting to look like the opening credits of Doctor Who...)

Thankyou

[chrisonord]

Haha, I was starting to see that too @NARSES2   
Cheers.

[Weaver]

Just been looking through Hannants, and I noticed three rocket pods that specifically list the Magister amongst their list of applications:

LAU-10A pods for 4 x 5" Zuni rockets: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/LF3D7209?result-token=m8v2R

MATRA 122 pods for 7 x 68mm SNEB rockets: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/LF3D7212?result-token=m8v2R

7-round pods by CMK. Doesn't state pod name or rocket calibre (my guess would be SNEBs): https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/LF3D7212?result-token=m8v2R

I can't find a model of it, but Thompson-Brandt do a 4-round pod called the TBA 100-4 for their 100mm rockets, so logically, if the 127mm (5") Zuni pods will fit, the Thompson-Brandt ones should too.

[scooter]

Just been looking through Hannants, and I noticed three rocket pods that specifically list the Magister amongst their list of applications:

LAU-10A pods for 4 x 5" Zuni rockets: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/LF3D7209?result-token=m8v2R

MATRA 122 pods for 7 x 68mm SNEB rockets: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/LF3D7212?result-token=m8v2R

7-round pods by CMK. Doesn't state pod name or rocket calibre (my guess would be SNEBs): https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/LF3D7212?result-token=m8v2R

I can't find a model of it, but Thompson-Brandt do a 4-round pod called the TBA 100-4 for their 100mm rockets, so logically, if the 127mm (5") Zuni pods will fit, the Thompson-Brandt ones should too.

And a quick peek at the Magister's Wiki page also lists a pair of Nord SS-11 ATMs.

[Weaver]

Just been looking through Hannants, and I noticed three rocket pods that specifically list the Magister amongst their list of applications:

LAU-10A pods for 4 x 5" Zuni rockets: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/LF3D7209?result-token=m8v2R

MATRA 122 pods for 7 x 68mm SNEB rockets: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/LF3D7212?result-token=m8v2R

7-round pods by CMK. Doesn't state pod name or rocket calibre (my guess would be SNEBs): https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/LF3D7212?result-token=m8v2R

I can't find a model of it, but Thompson-Brandt do a 4-round pod called the TBA 100-4 for their 100mm rockets, so logically, if the 127mm (5") Zuni pods will fit, the Thompson-Brandt ones should too.

And a quick peek at the Magister's Wiki page also lists a pair of Nord SS-11 ATMs.

Yeah, but try getting an aftermarket AS-11. AS-12s are common, but AS-11s? Nah.  When I wanted some I had to buy an Azur(?) Flamant, take the missiles out of it, then sell the rest on here.

[chrisonord]

Just been looking through Hannants, and I noticed three rocket pods that specifically list the Magister amongst their list of applications:

LAU-10A pods for 4 x 5" Zuni rockets: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/LF3D7209?result-token=m8v2R

MATRA 122 pods for 7 x 68mm SNEB rockets: https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/LF3D7212?result-token=m8v2R

7-round pods by CMK. Doesn't state pod name or rocket calibre (my guess would be SNEBs): https://www.hannants.co.uk/product/LF3D7212?result-token=m8v2R

I can't find a model of it, but Thompson-Brandt do a 4-round pod called the TBA 100-4 for their 100mm rockets, so logically, if the 127mm (5") Zuni pods will fit, the Thompson-Brandt ones should too.

And a quick peek at the Magister's Wiki page also lists a pair of Nord SS-11 ATMs.

Yeah, but try getting an aftermarket AS-11. AS-12s are common, but AS-11s? Nah.  When I wanted some I had to buy an Azur(?) Flamant, take the missiles out of it, then sell the rest on here.

I have a Flamant kit too, and the missiles won't get used on it, as it will be draughted into the operation Saladin scenario. They already have guns fitted, so I am thinking rocket pods for it. The missile could possibly go on a westernised Mi-2 I bought, to mimic a Sikorsky/Westland wirlwind era type. That too could be involved in operarion Saladin, or be a FAA bird. The Magister with a bit of wiffdom, could be turned into quite a formidable little aircraft, so I might just have to get either a KP one.or a special hobby one.