Spinners

Cross-deck operations

McDonnell F-4B(UK) Phantom FG.1 - 700P Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy, 1966 By 1961 it was inescapable that McDonnell's F4H-1 Phantom was fast becoming the standard against which all other fighters would be judged a fact quickly realised by the Royal Navy who were seeking a replacement for the De Havilland Sea Vixen in the fleet defence role. Lord Mountbatten pushed hard for a minimum change version of the F-4B and stone-walled any attempts to force the P.1154 upon the senior service. In March 1962 the UK Government cancelled the P.1154 and announced that 100 McDonnell F-4B's would be purchased for the Royal Navy for delivery during 1965 and 1966 and also announcing extensive refit plans for both HMS Ark Royal and HMS Eagle to keep them in service until 1975. Despite the desire for a minimum change version some changes were necessary. The short 54 foot decklift length of the Royal Navy's carriers meant that the radar and radome had to be designed to swing round 180o and an extra-extensible nose wheel leg had to be incorporated to increase the nose-up angle to compensate for the less powerful catapults on the British carriers. However, Mountbatten and the Admiralty resisted all calls to adopt the promising Rolls-Royce Spey turbofan engine and this undoubtedly helped in McDonnell getting the first F-4B(UK) into the air on June 26th, 1964 with deliveries to the specially formed 700P Naval Air Squadron commencing early in 1965 and eventually equipping four front-line squadrons as the Phantom FG.1. During 1972 and 1973 all surviving Phantom FG.1's were retro-fitted with the Westinghouse AWG-10 pulse-doppler radar and the type remained in service until 1984 seeing service in the 1982 Falklands conflict.

McDonnell F-4B(UK) - 806 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy, 1980

Survivor

Strike Fighters Gold is still in the Third Wire store at $10 and does include the Bird Dog.

Vought Cutlass FRS.1 - 806 Naval Air Squadron, Royal Navy, 1958

2B or not 2B

By the light...

That's where you've gone wrong.

So, Stop The Pigeon, Stop The Pigeon, Stop The Pigeon, Stop The Pigeon, Stop The Pigeon, Stop The Pigeon Stop that Pigeon, How? Nab him, jab him, tab him, grab him, Stop that pigeon now!"

Seriously good!

I liked it Russ! One of my first downloads. Happy days...

Gloster Javelin FAW Mk.51 - No.2 (Province of Leinster) Squadron, Irish Air Corps, 1960

Rovers Return

1943

Gloster Javelin FAW Mk.56 - 341 Squadron, Hellenic Air Force, 1962

LOL the real tragedy is that it's taken a Swede to teach me to spell in my native tongue.

Double Delta

Saab J21RA - Flygflottilj 10, Flygvapnet, 1952

Nice one Ed - looking forward to this.

A Javelin does the high jump

Bristol Type 125 Bullfrog - No.72 Squadron, RAF Fighter Command, 1937 Bristol's most successful aircraft during the inter-war period was the Bristol Bulldog fighter which formed the mainstay of the RAF's fighter-interceptor force from 1930 onwards. In 1932 the RAF were seeking a replacement for entry into service during the 1935-1936 period and the Air Ministry specification F.7/30 demanded a fighter aircraft capable of at least 250 mph and armed with four machine guns. The Bristol Aircraft Company concurrently worked on no less than three designs to meet this challenging specification; The Bristol Type 123 biplane fighter powered by the Rolls-Royce Goshawk III V-12 evaporatively cooled engine rated at 695 hp. The Bristol Type 125 high-winged monoplane powered by the Bristol Perseus 9-cylinder single-row supercharged radial engine rated at a projected 810 hp. The Bristol Type 133 monoplane fighter with retractable undercarriage powered by the Bristol Mercury 9-cylinder single-row radial rated at 640 hp. By late 1933 Bristol's Chief Designer, Frank Barnwell, had begun to favour the middle-ground of the Type 125 but acknowledged that the Perseus engine needed more development as the first production versions of the Perseus were rated at a disappointing 580 hp (lower than the same-size Mercury) although future improvements would see the Perseus not only eventually deliver the planned 810 hp by about 1936 but an impressive 930 hp was forecast further down the line. The Type 125 'Bullfrog' first flew on June 2nd, 1934 piloted by Cyril Uwins and testing over the next eight months proved very successful, especially when an improved and more powerful Perseus engine was installed. In the long-awaited F.7/30 competitive trials held at RAF Martlesham Heath during the Spring of 1935 the Bristol Type 125 and the rival Gloster Gladiator were hard to seperate and the Air Ministry eventually awarded productions contracts to both Bristol and Gloster for 160 aircraft each. Entering service with the recently formed RAF Fighter Command in March 1937 the Bristol Bullfrog's introduction into RAF service was initially difficult with many pilots being caught out by the aircraft's increased wing loading but it soon became as popular as the earlier Bristol Bulldog had. By the outbreak of the Second World War, the Bullfrog had largely been replaced in front line RAF service by the Hurricane and Spitfire but two squadrons were used in the unsuccessful Norwegian campaign in 1940 and the aircraft served with distinction in the Mediterranean and Middle East theatres before being phased out of service during 1941. Should be in the masquerade thread really - hope you like it!

Lockheed P-38Q 'Molniya' - 437th Fighter Regiment, Soviet Air Force, 1944

It hasn't got the Lily but I've done a VVS EE Lightning on Page 5 of the 'Masquerade' thread.