Spinners

File Name: [Fictional] McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom 'VNAF' File Submitter: Spinners File Submitted: 06 April 2013 File Category: What If Hangar McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom 'VNAF' for STRIKE FIGHTERS 2 This is a very simple mod of the stock Third Wire F-4C to create a fictional Phantom in service with the Vietnamese Air Force in the 1973 to 1975 timeline. BACKSTORY The end of the Linebacker campaign on October 23rd, 1972 coincided with the US Government's 'Project Enhance Plus' - essentially the building up of the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) to an adequate level to sustain effective operations after any final ceasefire and, more importantly for domestic politics, to continue the fight after the complete withdrawl of US forces. In a rush effort, 288 aircraft were transferred to the VNAF including 116 F-5's Freedom Fighters, 90 A-37's Dragonflys and 28 A-1 Skyraiders. Not content with that, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu specifically asked for F-4 Phantoms explaining that he felt that the VNAF was being issued with aircraft that were short on range and unable to carry the fight to the North. Initially refused, US President Nixon later added an amendment to 'Project Enhance Plus' by allowing the transfer of 36 F-4C Phantoms from USAF stocks. The war-weary F-4C's began to arrive in early 1973 to equip two squadrons of the VNAF based at Tan Son Nhut airbase seeing sporadic action during the uneasy truce and scattered skirmishes of 1973 and 1974. However, when NVA forces burst through the crumbing South Vietnamese defences during April 1975 they quickly captured Bien Hoa airbase to the north of Saigon and immediately swung west to capture Tan Son Nhut airbase catching most the surviving 27 F-4C's of the VNAF on the ground. The Phantoms were inspected and overhauled by Chinese technicians before entering service with the 927th Fighter Regiment of the Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) who operated the type until 1982 when they were grounded by a chronic spares shortage. INSTRUCTIONS 1. From the AIRCRAFT folder drag and drop the F-4C_VNAF folder into your Aircraft folder. 2. From the DECALS folder drag and drop the F-4C_VNAF folder into your main Decals folder. 3. (Optional) From the PILOTS folder drag and drop the PILOT_VNAF1 and PILOT_VNAF2 folders into your main Pilots folder. CREDITS Thanks to Third Wire for the continuous improvement of a great little game/sim. And thanks to everyone in the wider Third Wire community. Regards Spinners Version 1 - 06/04/13 Click here to download this file

McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom - 522nd TFS, Vietnam Air Force, 1973 The end of the Linebacker campaign on October 23rd, 1972 coincided with the US Government's 'Project Enhance Plus' - essentially the building up of the Vietnamese Air Force (VNAF) to an adequate level to sustain effective operations after any final ceasefire and, more importantly for domestic politics, to continue the fight after the complete withdrawl of US forces. In a rush effort, 288 aircraft were transferred to the VNAF including 116 F-5's Freedom Fighters, 90 A-37's Dragonflys and 28 A-1 Skyraiders. Not content with that, South Vietnamese President Nguyen Van Thieu specifically asked for F-4 Phantoms explaining that he felt that the VNAF was being issued with aircraft that were short on range and unable to carry the fight to the North. Initially refused, US President Nixon later added an amendment to 'Project Enhance Plus' by allowing the transfer of 36 F-4C Phantoms from USAF stocks. The war-weary F-4C's began to arrive in early 1973 to equip two squadrons of the VNAF based at Tan Son Nhut airbase seeing sporadic action during the uneasy truce and scattered skirmishes of 1973 and 1974. However, when NVA forces burst through the crumbing South Vietnamese defences during April 1975 they quickly captured Bien Hoa airbase to the north of Saigon and immediately swung west to capture Tan Son Nhut airbase catching most the surviving 27 F-4C's of the VNAF on the ground. The Phantoms were inspected and overhauled by Chinese technicians before entering service with the 927th Fighter Regiment of the Vietnam People's Air Force (VPAF) who operated the type until 1982 when they were grounded by a chronic spares shortage.

Douglas A-4E Skyhawk - 913th Fighter Regiment, Vietnam People's Air Force, 1977 The building up of the Vietnamese Air Force during 1970 and 1971 as part of President Nixon's 'Vietnamization' process saw it become the world's sixth largest air force and in August 1971 it's capability was given a boost by the transfer of 40 A-4E aircraft flown by USN pilots from carriers positioned around Dixie station who delivered them to Bien Hoa airbase near Saigon. Bien Hoa was itself being handed over to the Vietnamese Air Force at that time but a US presence was maintained to help with the handover of the aircraft and a four-month conversion course for air and ground crew commenced alongside the establishment of the two squadrons chosen to fly the Skyhawks. During early 1972 the Skyhawks saw limited action until late March when they were pitched against the North's 'Spring Offensive' but they were hampered by the poor weather under which the North stormed forward and with the switch to strategic attacks on the North by the USAF the Skyhawks were withdrawn as Linebacker 1, and the more concentrated and effective Linebacker 2, took centre-stage until the bombing was finally halted and an uneasy ceasefire was introduced after the Kissinger-Tho Peace Accord. During 1974 the drastic reduction in financial assistance from the US began to hurt the Vietnamese Air Force who retired many aircraft to flyable storage condition including the remaining Skyhawks and with limited funds they preferred to reactivate the elderly A-1 Skyraiders for close air support when skirmishes between NVA and ARVN forces began to become more frequent. NVA advances during late 1974 had been slow but steady but the North had continued to build up their forces until they were unleashed in early January 1975 and advanced quickly to capture Ban Me Thuot and the nearby military airfield where the mothballed Skyhawks were discovered although at least six were damaged by NVA shelling. Like many Vietnamese Air Force aircraft the Skyhawks were pressed into service with the Vietnam People's Air Force who were quick to show the aircraft in service for propaganda purposes but who also found the Skyhawk to be a useful attack aircraft and used the type in the border conflict with the Khmer Rouge forces of Cambodia (Democratic Kampuchea) and the invasion of Cambodia in December 1978 quickly followed by attacks against invading Chinese forces in February and March 1979 during the short Sino-Vietnamese war. These actions and the deteriorating spares situation led to the grounding of the remaining Skyhawks in the early 1980's but it is believed that spares were soon obtained covertly to keep them in service until 1990.

For the uppersurfaces I used the stock VIETNAMJ1 terrain tile and tweaked it a bit... wish I could remember what I did but it certainly works!

File Name: [Fictional] Douglas A-4E Skyhawk 'VPAF' File Submitter: Spinners File Submitted: 05 April 2013 File Category: What If Hangar Douglas A-4E Skyhawk 'VPAF' for STRIKE FIGHTERS 2 This is a very simple mod of the stock Third Wire A-4E to create a fictional Skyhawk in service with the Vietnam People's Air Force in the 1975 to 1990 timeline. BACKSTORY The building up of the Vietnamese Air Force during 1970 and 1971 as part of President Nixon's 'Vietnamization' process saw it become the world's sixth largest air force and in August 1971 it's capability was given a boost by the transfer of 40 A-4E aircraft flown by USN pilots from carriers positioned around Dixie station who delivered them to Bien Hoa airbase near Saigon. Bien Hoa was itself being handed over to the Vietnamese Air Force at that time but a US presence was maintained to help with the handover of the aircraft and a four-month conversion course for air and ground crew commenced alongside the establishment of the two squadrons chosen to fly the Skyhawks. During early 1972 the Skyhawks saw limited action until late March when they were pitched against the North's 'Spring Offensive' but they were hampered by the poor weather under which the North stormed forward and with the switch to strategic attacks on the North by the USAF the Skyhawks were withdrawn as Linebacker 1, and the more concentrated and effective Linebacker 2, took centre-stage until the bombing was finally halted and an uneasy ceasefire was introduced after the Kissinger-Tho Peace Accord. During 1974 the drastic reduction in financial assistance from the US began to hurt the Vietnamese Air Force who retired many aircraft to flyable storage condition including the remaining Skyhawks and with limited funds they preferred to reactivate the elderly A-1 Skyraiders for close air support when skirmishes between NVA and ARVN forces began to become more frequent. NVA advances during late 1974 had been slow but steady but the North had continued to build up their forces until they were unleashed in early January 1975 and advanced quickly to capture Ban Me Thuot and the nearby military airfield where the mothballed Skyhawks were discovered although at least six were damaged by NVA shelling. Like many Vietnamese Air Force aircraft the Skyhawks were pressed into service with the Vietnam People's Air Force who were quick to show the aircraft in service for propaganda purposes but who also found the Skyhawk to be a useful attack aircraft and used the type in the border conflict with the Khmer Rouge forces of Cambodia (Democratic Kampuchea) and the invasion of Cambodia in December 1978 quickly followed by attacks against invading Chinese forces in February 1979. These actions and the deteriorating spares situation led to the grounding of the remaining Skyhawks in the early 1980's but it is believed that spares were soon obtained covertly to keep them in service until 1990. INSTRUCTIONS 1. From the AIRCRAFT folder drag and drop the A-4E_VPAF folder into your Aircraft folder. 2. From the DECALS folder drag and drop the A-4E_VPAF folder into your main Decals folder. 3. From the WEAPONS folder drag and drop the FAB500_M62 folder into your main Weapons folder. CREDITS Thanks to Third Wire for the continuous improvement of a great little game/sim. Thanks to the creator of the FAB500_M62 bomb - I just wanted something different compared to the stock FAB's. And thanks to everyone in the wider Third Wire community. Regards Spinners Version 1 - 05/04/13 Click here to download this file

Backstory added. Wing markings will be angled - hope to release very soon.

There is a 'hump' somewhere (it used to turn up in the most unexpected of places - lol) but wouldn't it be easier to use one with a hump and edit/rename the skin bitmaps?

Same as for my F-4C's I guess. During the era of 'Vietnamization' surplus and/or war-weary aircraft were handed over to the Vietnamese Air Force and after the fall of the South in 1975 they fell into the hands of the Vietnamese People's Air Force (like the 'real world' A-37's and F-5's).

McDonnell Douglas F-4C Phantom - 927th Fighter Regiment, Vietnam People's Air Force, 1980 When NVA forces burst through the crumbing South Vietnamese defences during April 1975 they quickly captured Bien Hoa airbase to the north of Saigon and immediately swung west to capture Tan Son Nhut airbase catching most the surviving 23 F-4C's of the Vietnam Air Force on the ground. The Phantoms were inspected and overhauled by Chinese technicians before entering service with the 927th Fighter Regiment of the Vietnam People's Air Force who operated the type until 1982 when they were grounded by a chronic spares shortage.

A-4E Skyhawk - Vietnam People's Air Force, 1975

North American F-100D Super Sabre - 929th Fighter Regiment, Vietnam People's Air Force, 1976

Awesome package of one of my absolute faves!

That would be brilliant!

I'm in Aussie Phantom heaven, Thanks to Ravenclaw_007!

Wizard of Oz

Northrop F-5AY - 123rd Fighter Aviation Regiment, Yugoslav Air Force, 1980

lol - one day, one day.

Nice one Mac! I love April Fools and, in the days before websites, once posted a simple barcode within our cycling club newsletter explaining that club members had been specially chosen to test a laser scanner for time-trials and had to cut out the barcode and attach it to the top tube of their bicycles on the first club event of the season... on April 1st. Caught a few out.

Probably got a few holes in them... Or olive green with VPAF markings!