Beyond The Sprues
Current and Finished Projects => Physical Models => Aero-space => Topic started by: Wulf on October 07, 2022, 09:34:23 PM
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been a while since ive been here, havnt done a whiff for a very long time
another forum im on recently had a 'shelf of doom' GB,....had this Airfix 1/72 Skyhawk that never got finished cos im allergic to light grey aircraft and couldnt face the USN scheme.....,...so a whiffing we shall go :) scheme is based on one that was given to the F8's late in their service
in the early 60s the French Navy had two brand new carriers.....the Foch and the Clemenceau.......to serve as fighters they bought 42 brand new Vought F-8 Crusaders......these proved to be unpopular, having the same incident rate that the US Navy had.....within 5 years they had lost 11 aircraft to landing accidents, on land as well as on carriers, including one that required the Foch to be docked for 6 months for repairs. They decided to replace the Crusaders with another aircraft but it was finding something suitable and within the budget ....Phantoms were too big and expensive but Sea Vixens were considered until the US Navy stepped in with an offer..........they would buy back the French Crusaders to help replace the ones they had lost and then sell new A-4 Skyhawks to the French.....this turned out to be a pretty good deal as the A-4 was cheaper to buy and operate, being smaller took up less room on deck than the F-8, and also had a secondary bomber role.......downside was it was less capable as a fighter
the Skyhawk proved popular, taking part in many operations in the coming years until both carriers were retired, indeed when the Foch was sold to Brazil they also bought all the Skyhawks the French had, which were then modernised and upgraded and would go on to serve for another 10+ years
(https://i34.servimg.com/u/f34/19/44/08/28/162.jpg) (https://servimg.com/view/19440828/1247)
(https://i34.servimg.com/u/f34/19/44/08/28/256.jpg) (https://servimg.com/view/19440828/1248)
(https://i34.servimg.com/u/f34/19/44/08/28/358.jpg) (https://servimg.com/view/19440828/1249)
(https://i34.servimg.com/u/f34/19/44/08/28/452.jpg) (https://servimg.com/view/19440828/1250)
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Very nice! A what-if that makes you ask why France did not consider the Skyhawk for service with the Aeronavale. Besides the obvious that the Étendard was designed for the same role that the Skyhawk performed.
***edit to correct spelling error.--jjf
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:smiley:
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:smiley:
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Sweet! :-*
Aeronavale Scooters are a neat idea. With Agave and an Exocet on the centreline...
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I like it a lot!