Spinners

Mikoyan MiG-29A 'Fulcrum-A' - Turkish Air Force, 1999 The coup d'état in Cyprus on July 15th, 1974 by a combination of the Greek army in Cyprus, the Cypriot National Guard and the Greek military junta ousted President Makarios III and replaced him with a dictatorship led by Nikos Sampson who declared the establishment of the Hellenic Republic of Cyprus. The coup was viewed as being illegal by the United Nations and was of huge concern to Turkey who feared that Sampson's next aim would be the total annexation of Cyprus by Greece. Within days Turkey had invaded Cyprus (without any resistance from the British forces based on the island) to quickly occupy 37% of the northern part of the island and expelling about 142,000 Greek Cypriots living in the north. War between Greece and Turkey seemed imminent but was averted when Sampson's coup d'état collapsed a few days later and Makarios returned to power triggering the collapse of the Greek military junta in Athens which had failed to confront the Turkish invasion. After the events of 1974, the United States imposed an arms embargo on both Turkey and Cyprus leading to sudden tension and mistrust between Turkey and the United States and pushing Turkey towards the Soviet Union leading to a vote in the Grand National Assembly of Turkey to become officially neutral (i.e. non-aligned) with President Fahri Korutürk announcing a huge increase in military spending with France and the Soviet Union gaining the most. In early 1975, the Turkish Air Force (Türk Hava Kuvvetleri) started to receive Dassault Mirage F.1's to replace embargoed Aeritalia F-104S Starfighters and also Sukhoi Su-17M's to supplement the handful of Phantom F-4E's that had escaped the embargo. Whilst still firmly in it's development phase, Turkey became the first international customer of the MiG-29 when the Turkish Air Force placed an order for 80 MiG-29A's in 1980 which entered service in March 1985. Skin Credit: EricJ

Mikoyan MiG-29AP - Aggressor Flight, Parani Air Force, 2007

Ahem.

McDonnell Douglas A-4E Ahit - IDF Aggressor Flight, 1974

Mikoyan MiG-21PFM 'Fishbed-F' - Senegalese Air Force, 1976

'Brawny-B'

Aero S-107 'Brawny-A' - 24th Bomber Regiment, Czechoslovak Air Force, 1970

Northrop F-5EA Tiger II - Grupo 6, Fuerza Aérea Argentina, 1982 Skin Credit: Sony Tuckson

Mikoyan MiG-41F 'Flatfish-A' - Soviet Air Force, 2018

Mikoyan MiG-41F 'Flatfish-A' - Russian Air Force, 2018

Folland Gnat FB.3 - No.75 Squadron, Royal New Zealand Air Force, 1967

Douglas A-4C Skyhawk - 340 Mira Hellenic Air Force, 1966 Skin Credit: Marcelo Silva

View File McDonnell Douglas A-4E Skyhawk 'Greece' McDonnell Douglas A-4E Skyhawk, Hellenic Air Force for STRIKE FIGHTERS 1 This is a simple mod of the Third Wire A-4E Skyhawk to create a fictional A-4E in service with the Hellenic Air Force during the 1967 to 1991 timeline. It should work with any Series One game with the A-4E LOD's and 'What If' markings are included for 330 Mira in an 'as delivered' USN scheme and also 339 Mira and 340 Mira in wrap-around camo schemes made by me using INSTRUCTIONS 1. From the AIRCRAFT folder drag and drop the A-4E_HAF folder into your Aircraft folder. That's it! CREDITS Thanks to TK for a great little game/sim. Thanks to BUFF for uploading the A-4E template from which I've used the lines and rivets layer. And thanks to everyone in the wider Third Wire community. Regards Spinners Version 1 - 10/06/18 Submitter Spinners Submitted 06/10/2018 Category Fictional Aircraft, Experimental and UAV's  

General Dynamics Falcon FG.1 - No.41 Squadron, RAF Strike Command, 1984

Hi - only just noticed this. Yes, I can do.

McDonnell Douglas A-4E Skyhawk - 339 Mira, Hellenic Air Force, 1990

Grumman F-109A Wildcat - VC-7, United States Navy, 'Red Star' Fighter Weapons School, 1966 During the first USN Carrier Deployments to the Gulf of Tonkin during 1963 and 1964, the USN top brass were appalled by the results of its F-4 and F-8 fighter aircraft during their initial engagements with the Vietnam Peoples Air Force. Whilst the F-8 was a competent enough dog-fighter the handful of F-8 kills were scored with the AIM-9 Sidewinder missile mainly due to the 20mm Colt cannons jamming during high-G manoeuvers. USN F-4's were far less agile than the F-8's and were also handicapped by the official 'Rules of Engagement' requiring visual identification of enemy aircraft before firing the beyond visual range radar-guided AIM-7E Sparrow missiles. Whilst an urgent study into rectifying the situation was launched a senior Royal Navy pilot, Lt Commander Dick Lord, whilst on secondment to the USN's VF-126 squadron at Naval Air Station Miramar, California introduced the USN to methods and tactics he had learned as a graduate of the Royal Navy's intense Air Warfare Instructors School in Lossiemouth, Scotland. First and foremost was structured air-to-air combat manoeuvring training using, wherever possible, dissimilar aircraft and with 'red' aircrew purposefully flying the mission in the style of the enemy. With limited funding, the United States Navy 'Red Star' Fighter Tactics Instructor Program was launched to teach ACM tactics and techniques to selected Naval Aviators and Naval flight officers who would, in theory, return to their operating units as surrogate instructors. 'Red Star' initially used USN A-4 Skyhawks and borrowed USAF T-38 Talons to simulate the flying characteristics of the MiG-17 and MiG-21 and in early 1966 received eight Hindustan Ajeet aircraft directly from Hindustan's Bangalore production line. Entering service as the F-109A Wildcat, the Ajeet's were supported and maintained in USN service by the Grumman Aircraft Engineering Corporation. In service, the Wildcat's were flown by instructors pilots whose objective was to develop, refine and teach ACM tactics and techniques using the concept of dissimilar air combat training with the Wildcat pilot's replicating the performance of the Russian-built transonic MiG-17 'Fresco'. The eight F-109A's operated as part of VC-7 based at Naval Air Station Miramar from 1966 to 1980 and it's five surviving Wildcat's were scrapped when the squadron was disbanded on September 30th,1980.

Folland Gnat FGA.55 - 1st JaVa, Netherlands East Indies Army Air Division, 1963

View File SF1: Nanchang Q-5A 'Fantan' Mongolian AF (What If) Nanchang Q-5A 'Fantan' for Strike Fighters 1 This is a simple mod of the excellent Nanchang Q-5/A-5 Fantan brought to us by 101tfs, Erwin_Hans and friends back in 2008 to make a fictional export version for the Mongolian Air Force. This mod uses the famous 'ordway' MiG-19S pit and the original cockpit 'read me' is included in the aircraft folder - it's certainly worth a read. INSTRUCTIONS 1. From the Aircraft folder drag and drop the Q-5A into your Aircraft folder. That's it! I like to keep things simple so I use stock weapons and effects. CREDITS Thanks to TK for a great little game/sim. Big thanks to Erwin_Hans, 101tfs and friends. Big thanks also to Richard Pitts2A Ordway for the Mig-19 cockpit. And special thanks to everyone in the wider Third Wire community. Regards Spinners Version 1 - 01/06/18 Submitter Spinners Submitted 06/01/2018 Category Fictional Aircraft, Experimental and UAV's  

Nanchang Q-5A 'Fantan' - Mongolian Air Force, 1989

Mongolian Q-5A Fantan's

View File Avro Canada CF-103 Archer Avro Canada CF-103 Arrow for Strike Fighters 1 This is a simple mod of the excellent Shenyang F-8IIM 'FinBack-B' brought to us by Erwin_Hans back in 2008 to make a fictional Canadian cold-war interceptor with markings for the following RCAF squadrons; No.409 Squadron (Blue & Yellow Rudder Stripes) No.410 Squadron (Red & White Rudder Stripes) No.414 Squadron (Black & Red Rudder Stripes) No.416 Squadron (Black & Yellow Rudder Stripes) No.425 Squadron (Black & Silver Rudder Stripes) N.B. 1960's RCAF markings are a bit of a challenge as they changed so often so I've just gone for a mid-1960's snapshot! BACKSTORY Serving with no less that nine front-line RCAF squadrons at its peak in the mid-1950's, the Avro Canada CF-100 Canuck provided all-weather defense against Soviet intruders and the four Canuck squadrons based in Europe from 1956 to1962 were, for some time, the only NATO fighters capable of operating in zero visibility and poor weather conditions. However, recognising the fact that the Soviet Union was working on newer jet-powered bombers the RCAF began looking for a missile-armed replacement for the CF-100 even before it had entered service and in January 1953 the RCAF's All-Weather Interceptor Requirements Team submitted a report to the Canadian Government outlining their requirements. In response, Avro Canada came up with three distinct proposals; 1. A subsonic CF-100 development with a thinner swept wing and tail surfaces and with external missile stores (CF-100S). 2. A single-seat supersonic delta-winged aircraft with twin engines and external missile stores (CF-103). 3. A large two-seat supersonic delta-winged aircraft with twin engines and an internal missile bay (CF-105). After a full year of reviewing Avro Canada's proposals the RCAF announced in February 1954 that they considered that the CF-103 represented the optimum balance between cost, efficacy and in-service date and requested that Avro Canada should be awarded a production contract for 200 CF-103's. To keep costs down the RCAF stipulated the use of two key 'off the shelf' items; the Hughes MA-1 fire control system (from the Convair F-102A) and the Rolls-Royce Avon afterburning turbojet (from the English Electric Lightning). Whilst both items were actually still under development themselves, they were considered to be a safer choice than any home-grown paper project and likely to reach maturity for the projected in-service date of 1960. The only area of risk was the decision to arm the CF-103 with the radical British ADEN 230 twin-barreled cannon in a streamlined semi-conformal installation carrying the cannon and with a 500 round ammunition drum stored immediately above and inside the fuselage. The CF-103 used the then fashionable delta-wing configuration but with slab tailplanes and, in order to house a large radar set, the CF-103 used a solid nose with variable geometry air intakes on the fuselage with intake ramps and splitter plates which proved to be a perfect match for the Avon RB.146 turbojet engines each rated at 12,500 lbs thrust dry and 16,500 lbs thrust with afterburner. The aircraft was intended to be built directly from the production line thus skipping the traditional hand-built prototype phase and luckily very little re-design was required as testing progressed. On October 4th 1957, the same day as the launch of Sputnik 1, the first CF-103A was rolled out at Avro Canada's facility at Malton, Ontario eventually making it's first flight on December 30th, 1957 with Chief Development Test Pilot Janusz Zurakowski at the controls. Flight testing quickly demonstrated excellent handling and overall performance, reaching Mach 2.1 in level flight. Development was slowed slightly due to problems with the Hughes MA-1 Fire Control System and the ADEN 230 twin-barreled cannon but the first two CF-103A's entered service with No.425 Squadron on August 15th, 1961 in a ceremony at RCAF Namao, Alberta becoming fully operational by the end of the year. INSTRUCTIONS 1. From the Aircraft folder drag and drop the CF-103A and CF-103B folders into your Aircraft folder. That's it! But why are there two aircraft? Firstly, I wanted to show this aircraft with AIM-4D Falcons so chose the CF-103A for that but to get Falcons to appear in 1963 I've had to use 'USAF' as the nation name in both the data.ini and textureset.ini which allows a 1963 in service date instead of the 1966 (the allowable export year of the AIM-4D). Secondly, I like the look of the black intakes used on the CF-103B which are an affectionate nod towards the mighty CF-105 Arrow. So all five CF-103B skins have black intakes whilst the CF-103A has grey intakes and the continuous 'cheat line' but you can swap things around to suit your own preferences. CREDITS Thanks to TK for a great little game/sim. Enormous thanks to Erwin_Hans, olo007 and 101tfs and the Inksy Group for bringing us the Shenyang F-8IIM. And special thanks to everyone in the wider Third Wire community. Regards Spinners Version 1 - 27/05/18 Submitter Spinners Submitted 05/27/2018 Category Fictional Aircraft, Experimental and UAV's