Spinners

Thanks! Yes, of course. But the numbers font was just a wild guess so if anyone could steer me to a more accurate font I'd be grateful.

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.1 - Groupe de Chasse II/5 'La Fayette' When the first Spitfire prototype took to the air in March 1936 it made the majority of contemporary interceptor fighters obsolete overnight and its performance and potential represented such a leap forward that rival nations would need to invest huge sums to design and develop similar aircraft. Even France, with its large and diverse aircraft industry, realised that their fighter aircraft were not as advanced as this new benchmark so it came as no surprise that the French Air Ministry wanted to purchase Spitfires. However, by November 1938 there were no less than thirteen countries on the Supermarine order book for Spitfires and whilst the Foreign Office had placed France at the top of the priority list the initial French order for just three aircraft was so pathetically small that Supermarine publicly made it a lower priority to the Belgian request for 15 aircraft and a licence to build at least a further 30 aircraft. Baron Amaury de La Grange, the vice-president of the French Air Commission, was a personal friend of US President Roosevelt and La Grange managed to convey to Roosevelt the urgency of France's position and asked for military help. With war clouds brewing in Europe, Roosevelt was forthcoming and instructed the US War Department to sell the most modern American airplanes to France and also persuaded Neville Chamberlain (the UK Prime Minister) to place France back at the top of the priority list - a request to which Chamberlain agreed but only providing that the French order was increased to 50 aircraft. Initial deliveries were made to the Armée de l'Air in June 1939 with Groupe de Chasse II/5 'La Fayette' based at Toul-Croix-de-Metz becoming the first operational French Spitfire squadron later in the following month. The aircraft of this famous squadron were painted with the same 'Chief Sitting Bull' insignia used by the American volunteers of the 'Lafayette Escadrille' during the First World War before the entry of their country into the conflict. Only sixteen aircraft had been delivered at the outbreak of war in September 1939 and whilst deliveries continued for a short while no other Armée de l'Air squadrons were formed and the UK Government requisitioned the final nineteen aircraft before they were delivered. Just some new decals on Cliff7600's Spitfire 1a over Gepard's Battle of Britain terrain. Good work boys!!

Soviet Spitfire Vb

It's not a DAT product. I had one passed to me in 2014 to test out in SF2 by an Argentinian modder 'drakkodj' over at the What If modellers website. Sadly, I lost this and a ton of stuff in my big data loss in 2016 when my PC and my external hard drive both went t!ts up.

For the Motherland!

Ilmavoimat Spitfires

Avia B.35P 'Rorýs' - 1st Fighter Regiment, Parani Army Air Force, 1940 Skin Credit: Monty CZ

Letov Š-328P - Parani Army Air Force, 1941

Bristol Beagle Mk.II - No.29 Squadron, RAF Fighter Command, 1938 After a poor start the Bristol F.2 'Brisfit' reconnaissance-fighter was successfully developed into the robust and manoeuvrable F.2B two-seat fighter - an aircraft capable of holding its own against most single-seat fighters during the latter part of WW1. In the immediate post-war period the aircraft was further developed into the F.2B Mk.II equipped with desert equipment and a tropical cooling system for army co-operation and air policing duties. During the 1920's Bristol developed and introduced numerous variants and derivatives of the aircraft with revised tail units and strengthened undercarriages. Even after production finished in 1927, Bristol enjoyed several years of manufacturing spares and refurbishing the aircraft for continued service into the 1930's. In late 1927, as a private venture, the board of the Bristol Aeroplane Company asked their chief designer Frank Barnwell to design and develop a multi-role successor to the F.2B for the decade ahead - naturally stipulating that the new aircraft should use an 'in house' Bristol engine. Barnwell was aware that Roy Fedden was working on the nine-cylinder Pegasus radial engine as a follow-on to the successful Jupiter engine but using a shorter stroke to increase the revolutions per minute and including a supercharger for added power. On the expected power output of the Pegasus engine (635h.p.) Barnwell schemed a much larger aircraft than the F.2B with a near doubling of the all-up weight to 5,600lb making the new aircraft suitable for a variety of roles such as light bomber, reconnaissance-fighter, army co-operation and night fighter. Designated as the Bristol Type 119, Frank Barnwell designed a single-bay biplane with staggered wings braced by wires in the centre section only. The fabric-covered fuselage was of metal construction using members built up from rolled high-tensile steel strips riveted together and essentially similar to the earlier Bristol Bulldog single-seat fighter. The Pegasus engine installation was neatly cowled with a Townend ring. Under the fuselage the strong undercarriage was divided and attached to the fuselage with streamlined legs and struts. The pilot's cockpit was positioned below a shallow cutout in the trailing edge of the upper wing with the observer's cockpit positioned behind the pilot and featuring a twin Lewis Gun installation mounted on a Scarff ring. Bombs could be carried on three external hardpoints under the fuselage and the lower wings carried a pair of podded .303 Browning machine guns that were belt-fed with 400 rounds per gun. Development moved swiftly and the first prototype took to the air at Filton on January 18th, 1931 piloted by Cyril Uwins. Bristol's bold private venture investment soon paid off with almost immediate Air Ministry interest in the Type 119 during the Spring of 1931 soon followed by an order for 90 Type 119 aircraft to the specially created Air Ministry Specification G.3/31 calling for a two-seat general-purpose light bomber. These were manufactured as the Bristol Beagle Mk.I and entered service with No.35 Squadron at Bircham Newton in April 1933. As an almost parallel programme, Bristol were awarded a contract for 60 aircraft to the new Air Ministry Specification F.6/31 calling for a two-seat general purpose fighter and these were manufactured as the Bristol Beagle Mk.II differing only in the deletion of the three external hardpoints. Entering service with No.29 Squadron in June 1933 the Beagle Mk.II's also served with No.64 Squadron as Home Defence night-fighters and were still in service at the time of the Munich Crisis in September 1938. Skin Credit: Monty CZ

Bristol Beagle Mk.II - No.29 Squadron, Royal Air Force, 1938

Parani Yak-3

Acrid Smoke

Iechyd da Russo!

Japan '46

'28' (two fourteens)

Egyptian Faceplate-D

Top: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23PFM "Faceplate-D" - Mongolian Air Force, 1972 Bottom: Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-23PFM "Faceplate-D" - Egyptian Air Force, 1967

Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-21PFM "Faceplate-D" - Mongolian Air Force, 1971 3D Model: Cocas Skin Credit: Coupi

Republican Hurricane Mk.I

'Fran'

Stout defender of Dhimar

Top: Polikarpov I-189 'Groza' - Flown by Lydia Litvyak of the 73rd Guards Fighter Aviation Regiment, Soviet Air Force, 1946 Bottom: Polikarpov I-189 'Groza' - "Normandie-Niemen" attached to the 303rd Air Fighter Division, Soviet Air Force, 1946