Spinners

FMA I.Ae.26 Vencejo - Grupo 1 de Caza del Comando Aereo de Defensa, Fuerza Aerea Argentina, 1949 An early step towards establishing the Fuerza Aérea Argentina as a separate branch of the Argentinian Armed Forces was taken during February 1944 when the newly created position of Commander-in-Chief of Aviation was made by the Department of War. This led directly to the creation of the Fuerza Aérea Argentina by decree on January 4th, 1945 with Brigadier Edmundo Sustaita becoming the first Commander of the Air Force shortly afterwards. Sustaita wasted no time in beginning a programme of modernization and in June 1946 he was aided by the incoming President Juan Perón who declared his strong desire for economic independence for Argentina with an ambitious five-year plan to increase wages, achieve full employment, stimulate industrial growth whilst also improving transportation, communication, energy and social infrastructure. Specifically to boost the Argentinian aviation industry President Juan Perón brought three teams of engineers to FMA (Fábrica Militar de Aviones) to drive forward the technological development of Argentinian aviation. One team was led by Émile Dewoitine, one by Kurt Tank and one by the Argentinian-born Daniel Olguin who had worked under the leadership of Edgar Schmued at North American Aviation since 1938. Whilst Dewoitine and Tank were tasked with designing interim and advanced jet fighters (the Pulqui I and the Pulqui II respectively) Olguin's task was to urgently design and manufacture a propeller-driven fighter aircraft under the designation I.Ae.26. It was completely logical for Olguin to start with a design that resembled the North American P-51D but his I.Ae.26 design was subtly different to the American aircraft being longer and having a different airfoil profile (NACA 66) to its laminar flow wings. Powered by a Rolls-Royce Griffon Mk 61 (rated at 2,035 hp) a key feature of the I.Ae.26 design was ease of manufacture and maintenance with a slightly box-like fuselage with detachable panels for ease of access replacing the conic sections of the P-51D. To aid production the airframe was divided into five main sections consisting of the forward fuselage, centre fuselage, tail, left wing and right wing all of which were fitted with wiring and piping before being assembled. Development progressed swiftly with the prototype I.Ae.26 flying for the first time on April 30th, 1947 flown by senior FMA test pilot Miguel Kempes who achieved a calibrated level flight speed of 444 mph at 30,000 ft (8,046 m). Such performance was considered outstanding and the cockpit layout was praised by all FMA test pilots. Kempes gave a spectacular display of the prototype I.Ae.26 at the 'Veinticinco de Mayo' airshow held in Buenos Aires on May 25th, 1947 and, afterwards, President Juan Perón announced a production order for 100 aircraft and also bestowing the name of 'Vencejo' (Swift) on the I.Ae.26. Entering service with Grupo 1 de Caza in August 1948 the Vencejo was popular with Fuerza Aerea Argentina pilots and whilst still in service in 1955 it did not participate in the Revolución Libertadora and was eventually phased out of service towards the end of 1960 when it was replaced by the F-86F Sabre. Skin Credit: Charles

FMA I.Ae.26 Vencejo - Grupo 1 de Caza del Comando Aereo de Defensa, Fuerza Aerea Argentina, 1949

Nuisance Raider

A brace of Butcher Birds

Top: North American P-51D Mustang of No.8 Squadron Middle: North American P-51D Mustang of No.9 Squadron Bottom: North American Mustang Mk.IV of No.601 Squadron (RAF) attached to the Andalus Fighter Wing in the Spring of 1945 Skin Credit: amariani

Sweet! Thanks mate!

Wing Commander Ian Gleed's Mustang Mk.IV

Fighter Sweep Over Riqdur

Raw Power

Dawn Patrol

"Oh England, my Lionheart, Dropped from my black Spitfire to my funeral barge"

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.IA - No.87 Squadron, RAF Fighter Command, 1940 When No.87 Squadron returned from France in May 1940 they were seriously depleted and after a brief period at Debden they were sent north to Church Fenton to recuperate and re-equip before moving south to No.10 Group on the South West coast. In early August 1940 the squadron began to receive new black-painted Spitfire Mk.IA's and immediately started day and night patrols before commencing night intruder operations over enemy airfields in northern France in October 1940. Skin Credit: Charles

Bell P-400 Airacobra - No.8 Squadron (The Scorpions), Royal Dhimari Air Force, 1942 Skin Credit: Charles

Bell Airacobra Mk.1B - No.601 Squadron, RAF Middle East Air Force, 1942

Lovely skin and great screenshots!

Jungle Shark

Thanks Pierre and thanks to Starfighter2. Package amended but will be offline for a short while.

View File [Fictional] Supermarine Spitfire IXc 'Dhimar' Supermarine Spitfire IXc 'Dhimar' for STRIKE FIGHTERS 2 This is a simple mod of the stock Third Wire Spitfire IXc to create a fictional Spitfire IXc in service with the Royal Dhimari Air Force in the 1943-1947 timeline. INSTRUCTIONS 1. From the AIRCRAFT folder drag and drop the Spitfire9c_Dh folder into your Aircraft folder. 2. From the DECALS folder drag and drop the Spitfire9c_Dh folder into your Decals folder. That's it! Although you will need a suitable 'prop' pilot (not supplied here). CREDITS As always, thanks to Third Wire for a great little game/sim. Extra special thanks to Starfighter2 for the Spitfire cockpit. And, finally, thanks to everyone in the wider Third Wire community. Regards Spinners Version 1 - Sept 24th, 2021 Submitter Spinners Submitted 09/24/2021 Category What If Hangar  

Wing Commander Ian Gleed's Bell Airabonita Ib

Parani Butcher Bird

Top: Supermarine Spitfire LF.IXc of No.2 Squadron Middle: Supermarine Spitfire LF.IXc of No.3 Squadron Bottom: Supermarine Spitfire LF.IXc of No.4 Squadron

View File [Fictional] Avia S-199P for Strike Fighters 2 Avia S-199P for STRIKE FIGHTERS 2 This is a simple mod of the stock Avia S-199 to create a fictional S-199P in service with the Parani Air Force in the 1946-1952 timeline. INSTRUCTIONS 1. From the AIRCRAFT folder drag and drop the S-199P folder into your Aircraft folder. 2. From the DECALS folder drag and drop the S-199P folder into your Decals folder. That's it! (But you will need a suitable 'prop' pilot). CREDITS As always, thanks to Third Wire for a great little game/sim. Special thanks to Starfighter2 for bringing us the superb Me-109 cockpit used here. And, finally, thanks to everyone in the wider Third Wire community. Regards Spinners Version 1 - Sept 21st 2021 Submitter Spinners Submitted 09/23/2021 Category What If Hangar