Info EDUARD
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{"cz":"Info EDUARD"}
{"cz":"Měsíčník o historii a plastikovém modelářství.","en":"Monthly magazine about history and scale plastic modeling."}
04/2023
Good evening, Dear Friends We have completed our retail department move. As of yesterday, we have vacated the facility in Most that since June, 2019, has served as our main retail headquarters as well as the facility that served as final kit packaging. It’s also the facility in which we lost a lot of the plastic for our kits when a fire broke out in December 2020. I admit to having hoped for an earlier move to a new facility after that fire. Immediately in the spring and summer of 2020, we prepared for a new-build facility, but that was ultimately quelled by the turbulent supply issues in the construction industry.
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INFO Eduard# 158e-magazine FREE Vol 22 April 2023Page 2
INFO Eduard# 158e-magazine FREE Vol 22 April 2023© Eduard - Model Accessories, 2023FREE FOR DOWNLOAD, FREE FOR DISTRIBUTION!This material may only be used for personal use. No part of the textor graphic presentations can be used in another publication in any other mediaform or otherwise distributed without the prior writtenpermission of Eduard - Model Accessories and authors involved.Editorial and Graphics - Marketing department, Eduard - Model Accessories, Ltd.Page 3
eduardeduardAPRIL 2023CONTENTSEDITORIALKITSBRASSINPHOTO-ETCHED SETSBIG EDBUILTON APPROACH–May 2023TAIL END CHARLIEHISTORYBOXART STORYChemistry 101Z-326/C-305 Trenér Master ProfiPACK 1/48Bf 110C ProfiPACK 1/48RUFE DUAL COMBO Limited 1/48Fw 190A-4 engine flaps and 2gun wings Weekend 1/48Tempest Mk.V Series 2 Weekend 1/48UTI MiG-15 ProfiPACK 1/72 reediceRUFE 1/48Z-326 Trenér Master 1/48F-35A 1/48Spitfire Mk. IXc early 1/48Bf 109G-2 1/48Fw 190A-2 1/48RufeThe Cavalry Arrives -VMF-223 at GuadalcanalThe high-altitude HindsThe air war over Ukraine -A year of bloodshedInstant, Epoxy and Dispersion AdhesivesHappy crabLike dogs on chainsGreen Hearts UmbrellaFatal mistakeThe Breakpoint463742467694102112120139Published by Eduard-Model Accessories, spol. s.r.o.Mírová 170, Obrnice 435 21support@eduard.com www.eduard.comPage 4
EDITORIALGood evening, Dear FriendsWe have completed our retail department move. Asof yesterday, we have vacated the facility in Mostthat since June, 2019, has served as our main retailheadquarters as well as the facility that served asfinal kit packaging. It’s also the facility in which we losta lot of the plastic for our kits when a fire broke out inDecember 2020. I admit to having hoped for an earliermove to a new facility after that fire. Immediately in thespring and summer of 2020, we prepared for a new-buildfacility, but that was ultimately quelled by the turbulentsupply issues in the construction industry. In the fall of2021, we began to negotiate the purchase of an existingfacility in Sedlec, a village neighboring our main officein Obrnice, some 5km away. We were able to keep thenegotiations pretty short with the owners, and the samegoes for the financing talks with the bank. The talkshit a typically Czech roadblock though, when it wasrevealed that the access road to our new facility wasbisected by a 10mwide swath of land belonging to theneighbor. Said neighbor is American, and as such, thenegotiations making the access road all ours took aboutanother 9 months. This finally happened last September.In February, all the plastic was moved to the newlyrenovated facility, officially known as Hall 2 and this wasfollowed by the retail department last month. The nextstep is to move final kit manufacturing into the buildingand that is slated for June.This was the easiest part of the whole thing. As I wrote inthe March editorial, the next phase is the reconstruction ofthe premises for Department 012, which is kit production.That requires setting up space intended for a tool shop, apress shop, warehouses for molds and materials, as wellas for the offices of designers and technologists. Thiswill be more demanding. The installation of the requiredequipment will be significantly more complicated thanthe modification of the premises for product storage andshipping. If everything goes well, we could move productionfrom Obrnice to Sedlec at the end of this year. It’s alla little like kit development. Yeah, we can get it done inx amount of time, but then the reality of the situationinevitably kicks in. So it’s probably more realistic toexpect the relocation of the manufacture of kits in thefirst half of next year, but the entire project is expectedto be complete by the end of next year. So, we actuallyhave a relatively good supply of time, and we can stillrealistically believe that this move will turn out likeour Zero or Nieuport 17projects. We managed theseprojects in a significantly shorter time than anticipated.If everything works out, it will benefit us a lot, and you too,as our ability to release new kits at a faster pace afterthe move will gradually increase. In the end, however, youdecide how much it will grow, because we will be guidedby demand for expanded production capabilities.One More Thing about NurembergWe wrote about this year's Nuremberg Toy Fair in the lastissue of this newsletter, and to be honest, I didn't needto return to the exhibition until last week. I changed myopinion after reading the evaluation of the exhibition byJindra Štěrbáček in Modelář magazine. I will not sugarcoatthis mess … I found the article extremely biased and eveninsulting. Its evaluation is unfair to both the organizersand the participants. I do not intend to argue with theannouncement that this year's fair was a significantlysmaller event for our industry than what we were used toin the pre-Covid years, but that was expected and at leastwe went there with a clear idea of what we were gettinginto. Accordingly, we made arrangements and changedour usual procedures based on our years of attending thefair. Specifically, for us and our colleagues and friendsat Special Hobby, it meant joining together and sharingone booth. But it was no mini-stand, as was written inModelář. Compared to previous years, we reduced thearea of the stand by one third. In the same way, ourprevious stands were no opulent exhibitions; I think theirsize corresponded to the size and importance of ourcompanies. We, that is, Eduard, will most likely stay withthis size of stand next year, Special Hobby will probablyseparate from us and set up its own tables. It will be a bitof a shame, for me, living with them was pleasant andconflict-free, even if I did eat their peanuts.The absence of a number of companies was expected,and not surprising for those who follow at least a littlewhat is happening in the world. Asia is still strugglingwith the repercussions of the pandemic, air travel iscurrently more of a hassle than normal, discouragingmany from traveling to Europe. Ukraine is defendingitself against Russian aggression, so the absence ofUkrainian companies is completely understandable,and it is also clear for the Russians, they are undersanctions and their participation is unwelcome forobvious reasons. In addition, Russian companies neverexhibited much in Nuremberg, I honestly only rememberZvezda. Americans aren’t exactly into travel either, andfrankly, in terms of the participation of different nations,two things are a mystery to me: why didn't the Polesactually come, and why did so many Australians comethis year? No one has to travel further than them, theyalso knew what they were getting into and how limitedthe possibilities of contact with manufacturers wouldbe in Nuremberg this year, and they came anyway! Hatsoff to them! When I add the year-over-year increase inturnover with the Australians between 2021 and 2022,it was a 71 % increase for us, so I personally considerit a definite positive point and I am slowly starting toresearch the process of obtaining an Australian visa.It’s time to fly to Australia, even though they havepoisonous spiders, snakes and all kinds of other fun stuff!I consider the opening of the toy fair to the public, andabove all to children and youth, to be a positive andrevolutionary step. If I am not mistaken, this is the firsttime in the history of the fair that children were allowed tovisit the exhibition. I’m sure that something like this wouldnever have happened if it weren't for covid lockdowns andthe changes in circumstances caused by it. If it weren'tfor the above-described reduction in exhibitors and thecorresponding reduction in the number of visitors, theorganizers would not have opened the exhibition up likethat. In fact, I would bet on it. However, I wouldn’t put moneydown on them keeping it that way when things settle downagain. But I will be happy if the weekend open to the publicremains a part of the fair. Among other things, it broughtus a change in the perception of Exhibition Sunday. It usedto be traditionally boring, nothing happened by then, wejust always kind of agonizingly waited for it to finally endand we could go home. Not that we didn't want to go homethis year, we wanted to, and how! But we didn't get bored.More people came on Saturday and Sunday than on theprevious three days combined, maybe even more than atany other time during the entire exhibition’s history. So weended up packing our stuff in the evening, tired as hell,but with a good feeling that at least we got away withit and did a good job. And Fredy and I have to find timeto go for coffee, because what we left to discuss on thetraditionally boring Sunday, we didn't have time to discussthis time due to the unusually high number of visitorsinterested in our products.So to sum it up, next year will be even better, if Putindoesn't completely screw up and unleash a nuclearapocalypse. I don't know how much better it will be,I rather expect the exhibitors to return gradually tonormal, but it may be different. In any case, I hope Jindraactually makes it to Nuremberg next year in person anddoesn’t have to write a report based on what he heardfrom someone else. That would be awesome and muchmore accurate.Kits in AprilBefore I start with the news, let me make onemore announcement. At the end of March, we hadINFO Eduard4April 2023Page 5
224 active items in the kit range. Before the fire inDecember 2020, there were 180 items, so now we havea significantly wider range than back then. With that,I dare to consider the renewal of the range of modelkits finished. Of course, it’s not the same range as in2020, but it wouldn’t be even if there was no fire. Therange of kits has always been dynamically changing,and given that we've regularly released an average ofsix new kits every month for the past two years, someof which were brand new and some of which wererehashed older items, the current range is significantlychanged. The current situation also does not mean thatwe will stop presenting older kits as news, kits whichare currently still missing from the catalog. In April,the 48th Bf 110C returns in the form of a redesignedProfiPACK, kit, as does the 72nd scale UTIMiG-15, asa reissue of the original kit. We are also nearing the endof the packaging changeover. We have very few kits leftin the old boxes in our warehouse, the vast majority ofthe range is in new boxes, whether they’re Weekend orProfiPACK kits. Those that we currently have in stockin their original packaging will be sold out in the nextinstallment of the Sweep campaign in April.So this finally brings me to the April news. In theProfiPACK range, we are expanding the family of Trenerkits (you’ll recall that this is the Czech word for “Trainer”,and was the name bestowed on this line of aircraft)with the first Tener with a retractable undercarriage,the Z-326 in M and MF versions. The kit also includesmilitary machines, known locally as the “Three-Hundreds”, consistent with their military designationC-305. In the Weekend series we have two new 48thscale items for April, the Tempest Mk.V Series 2 andthe Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-4. The Fw 190A-4 thus returnsas one of the last Focke-Wulfs that was missing. This is,among other things, because it is a rather complicatedversion with different combinations of armamentand engine cooling exhausts. In this case, the kit is ofa version with two cannons in the wing roots, and coolingflaps. One of the machines offered is a pure fighter, theremaining three are fighter-bombers, covering a choiceof aircraft from the Western Front, the Eastern Front andthe North African battlefield.I saved the crown jewel of April‘s new releases to theend of this section, and that is the A6M2-N Rufe. I’lladmit that I’m a little worried that you'll think of the Rufeas another, and even less interesting, Zero incarnation.I hope that we will convince you of the opposite, bothwith the kit itself and with a two-part historical-technicalarticle by Honza Bobek with some very readable, oftenunknown, information about this unique float equippedfighter. The Rufe is being first released in the LimitedEdition line as Dual Combo boxing, and shares onlytwo sprues with the older Zero Model 21. One is of thecanopy, the other contains small detail parts. Theother four frames are new, and are Rufe-specific. Weincorporated a number of features consistent withthe Rufe’s differences from your basic Zero, based onnewly discovered findings made during the completionof the project after consulting recognized experts onthe type. This is a good argument to consider for thosewho are on the fence over whether it is worth replacingtheir old Rufe kits with ours. For example, the externalreinforcement of the fuselage in the cockpit area, whichlook really nice on the model, are included and I stronglyI suspect that no kit thus far represented this feature.For those who don’t feel the need for the expense ofa dual combo boxing, and its associated price, please notethat the classic ProfiPACK kit will be out in July.BRASSINFor the Rufe, we are offering a whole range of accessoriesin parallel with the release of the kit, based on thecollection of kits for the A6M2 Model 21. Of course, weleave out the wheels, but among the accessories, thereare, for example, the folding wingtips. Some publicationsstate that the Rufe did not have these. As you will learnfrom the aforementioned article by Honza Bobek, the factis that at least several dozen aircraft from the start ofthe production run were equipped with folding wingtips.For the Zero’s main adversary early on, the F4F-3 Wildcat,we have an engine kit for the late version dash-3 in thecollection of April releases , differing from the older kit forthe F4F-3 Early in the engine cowl and with two versionsof the face ring and some detail installations underneath,such as a reduction gear. The 48th scale sets also includea machine gun set for Anson from Airfix, two sets,a radar and exhaust, for all F-16s from Kinetic, anda Mi-24V cockpit in that Soviet turquoise finish, in additionto a few other smaller sets. This set, as was the blackcockpit version for the same kit from Zvezda, is releasedas a combination of a 3D printed base complete with aSpace 3D decal.In 1/72 scale, this month we focused on the Bf 110E(Eduard) with three sets. These are an upgraded versionof the older sets for this model. The set of wheels iscast traditionally, as is usually the case with wheels.Conversely, the nose machine gun setup is 3Dprinted.Of interest is the cockpit set, the base of which hasremained cast, but the floor with the installation of thedeck guns and the rear machine gun are printed. So itis a kind of hybrid, rare in the Brassin line, but for thisset this combination seemed appropriate to us. In theBrassin line, you will also find several small sets for theHurricane IIb (Revell 1/32), two kits for 35th scale armorand three new sets of the Look line.Masks, Photoetched and Space SetsIn traditional photoetched sets, we are, among otherthings, releasing items for the competing Zero A6M2bfrom Academy, the bomb bay for the B-24D from Revell(ex-Monogram), the F4U-1D from Hobby Boss and the Mi-8MT from Zvezda, all in 1:48 scale. April also sees the long-awaited renewal of photoetched sets for our Hellcats,both the F6F-3 and F6F-5. Both of these are based onolder sets, but are upgraded to current standards.Of interest will be the two Spitfire Mk.IXc 1/24 setsfrom Airfix, and three sets, including two for the newSdKfz 251/1 Ausf C from Academy, are for combatvehicles in 1:35. Set 36499 for this model also includesa small instrument sheet made with 3D printingtechnology, used for the production of our Space sets,and indicates that the trend of combining differenttechnologies can also make its way to the photoetchedrange. Also being offered is one 1:350 USS Missouri setfrom the Hobby Boss kit, three 1:72 scale aircraft kits,and you'll also find three new BigEd and six Space setsHistorical and Other ArticlesI have already made mention of Honza Bobek’s article aboutthe Rufe fighter floatplane. It is in two parts, the secondpart will be published in the May newsletter. In addition toa number of lesser-known or hitherto unknown technicaland historical facts, it also brings a very interesting visualcomponent. Several unique, in some cases unpublished,photographs have been obtained from Japan courtesy ofMessrs Izawa and Yoshino, thanks to the assistance of theeditors of Scale Aviation magazine. I should also add thatin completing the kit we used the advice and materials ofMr. Ryan Toews, who also helped Honza considerably inthe preparation of his article.Part two of Tom Cleaver’s article Arrival of the Cavalrycomes out this month, about the activities of VMF-223,flying Wildcats during the battles for Guadalcanal. Thus,in this issue of our magazine, you have the opportunityto see the war in the Pacific from the point of view of thetwo opposing sides. Article of Tomáš “Hindman” Dvořákis offering interesting insight into service of high-altitudeHind E helicopters in service of Czech and CzechoslovakAir Force. In addition to these historical notebooks, aswith virtually the entire previous year, we are continuingwith our look at the air war over Ukraine with the series ofarticles by Miro Barič. The war is entering its next phase,and I’m afraid Miro will have plenty to write about in themonths to come. I have no doubt that the just deliveredSlovak and Polish MiG-29s will soon be mentioned aswell. Most of you will know that the majority of thesemachines will have hailed from the inventory of theCzechoslovak and Czech Republic Air Forces.We also have new Boxart Stories. Richard Plos prepareda Boxart Story for the Z-326/C-305 Trener Master,Tempest Mk.V Series 2 and the UTI MiG-15 kits. The firsttwo images were created by Adam Tooby, the boxtopimage of the Czechoslovak UTI MiG-15 comes from anearlier work by Kateřina Borecká. We are transformedback to the Battle of Britain era in a story describing theBf 110C painting, as Honza Bobek takes us back to theSecond World War with the author of the painting PiotrForkasiewicz, who, as is his custom, faithfully capturedthe atmosphere of air combat from this period. Theencounter between the Sturmoviks and the Focke-WulfFw 190s of JG 54 “Grünherz” is described in detail byAndrey Dikov, who also helped us with the preparationof the background for this image, created by Mark Ryś. Itdepicts our subject, flown by Otto Kittel, one of the mostsuccessful fighter pilots of the Luftwaffe, for whom one ofhis many encounters with the Sturmoviks would becomefateful.To vary the themes of this month’s articles a little, wehave the second part of Josef Blažek’s summary oninstant, epoxy and dispersion adhesives in the still newsection on modelling chemistry.And with that, I wish you a good read with this month’snewsletter, and I look forward to hopefully seeing you inProstějov and Mošon!Happy Modelling!!Vladimír ŠulcINFO Eduard5April 2023Page 6
HISTORYDuring the 1920s and 1930s the Japanese aircraftindustry was oriented towards the production offoreign aircraft built under licenses. However,the armed forces, especially the Navy, withregard to the specifics of the Chinese andPacific battlefields, came up with requirementsthat foreign aircraft designs did not offer. Hence,Mitsubishi Heavy Industries developed the Type96 naval fighter aircraft, better known as theA5M “Claude”. The head of the design team wasa young Japanese engineer, Jirō Horikoshi.Despite an engine that lacked some power, hemanaged to design a light and fast fighter witha fixed landing gear, which had no comparison inthe world regarding maximum speed. In October1937, Mitsubishi and Nakajima were approachedto develop prototype 12-shi Carrier-basedFighter. The requirements were so extreme, andin some cases contradictory, that the two designteams investigated whether they could be lessstringent. Nakajima eventually withdrew fromthe project, while the criteria for the prototypewere even raised based on experience on theChinese battlefield. In the end, Horikoshi‘s teammanaged to meet the technical specifications,not only thanks to the aerodynamic design anda new type of light alloy used for the aircraft‘sskin, but also thanks to the Nakajima Sakae 11engine. During the flight tests, the wing surfacesuffered cracking during overload, and aileroncontrol during high-speed maneuvers had alsoto be addressed. The new fighter had a powerfularmament of two cannons and two machineguns, extremely long range (over 1,800 km)and excellent maneuverability. The new fighterreached top speed of 533 km/h at an altitudeof 4,550 m. However, it lacked armor and otherprotective features and had a structural speedlimit of 600 km/h.Surprising ZeroThe new aircraft entered service in 1940 withthe 940hp engine Sakae 12 and received theofficial designation Rei shiki Kanjō sentōki (Type0 carrier fighter), with the “zero” being derivedfrom the imperial year 2600 (1940). Japanesepilots usually abbreviated it as Rei-Sen. Thatwas also the origin of the name Zero often usedby Allied pilots instead of the official code name,derived from the male name Zeke. As part of theNavy’s system, the new aircraft was given thetype designation A6M, where A6 meant that itwas the sixth type of carrier fighter to enterservice, and M stood for the Mitsubishi companyname. Zero fighters, specifically the A6M2Type 11, had been successfully deployed on theChinese battlefield since the summer of 1940,but their existence eluded Western intelligencebecause no one wanted to believe reportsfrom China that suggested the Japanese hada world-class fighter. Further modifications toits design were made during 1941, creating theA6M2 Type 21, which included several changes,the most visible of them being folding wingtipsfor easier handling on the decks. With the A6M2Type 21 modified this way, Japan entered thewar against the US and other Western nations.Mitsubishi needed to produce other aircraft inaddition to the Zero, so the Nakajima companybegan licensed production in late 1941. Total of740 A6M2 aircraft were produced by Mitsubishiby June 1942 with additional 800 delivered byThe Zero fighter became the symbol of the Japanese airpower during WWII. The light and maneuverable fighterhad the upper hand over Allied aircraft at early stages ofthe war in Pacific theatre, but gradually lost its advantageagainst newer opponents. During the war, other versions of theZero came along, one of the most iconic being its floatplaneversion, known by the Allied codename Rufe.Text: Jan BobekThis photo shows one of the first completed Nakajima A6M2-N seaplanes. This is the 13th aircraft produced, with serial number 913, completed on April 23, 1942.The picture was apparently given to Japanese troops to familiarize them with the new type of seaplane, as it was later captured by the Americans and publishedin the enemy aircraft identification manual in 1944.Photo: US NavyPhoto: ©IzawaLieutenant Ri-ichirō Satō, leader of the YokohamaKōkūtai’s fighter unit. He was killed in September 1942in a ground combat with USMC troops.INFO Eduard6April 2023Page 7
Nakajima by February 1944. The gun armamentwas improved and variants with magazines forup to 150 rounds could be used on the Type 21.Such a Zero may have been designated as Type21a.Here comes the RufeFloatplanes are a very old idea. Fighters of thisdesign had already been deployed in combatduring the First World War. After the war, theirpriority gradually declined as the performanceof these seaplanes fell gradually behind thatof fixed landing gear machines. The ImperialJapanese Navy returned to the idea in 1933during preparation for a new seaplane tender.IJN came up with a specification for a machinethat was to protect a coastal base during itsconstruction and was to be capable of reachingspeeds of 200 knots. Kawanishi had beenpreparing a study of such a seaplane since 1934.It was to operate from a tender, or launch froma catapult, and be able to counter fighter aircraft.The prototype was not built, and preparationswere halted in 1936. Subsequently, the conceptof a two-seat machine was considered, but eventhis idea was abandoned.In the late 1930s, the US Navy prepared a plan tobuild 2,000 flying boats. The Japanese decided torespond to this threat. Therefore, in September1940, the IJN commissioned Kawanishi withthe specification for the 15-Shi fast interceptorseaplane. Kawanishi had already been workingon a fast floatplane reconnaissance aircraft(later designated the E15K Shiun) for severalmonths, and the Navy hoped for synergy fromthis decision. However, at the same time, itfeared certain delays because Kawanishi’saircraft carried a number of innovative features.Therefore, the IJN decided to convert theMitsubishi A6M2, which was currentlyundergoing combat test deployment in China,to a fighter seaplane. Mitsubishi was fullyoccupied with the production of Zeros and othertypes of aircraft. Therefore, the IJN turned toNakajima, which began licensed productionof A6M2 fighters at its Koizumi plant in late1941. The company had some free design andproduction capacity and was therefore awardedwith works on the seaplane.Shinobu Mitsutake was appointed chiefdesigner. His team tried to make the most of theA6M2 design. Some authors state that standardfighter seaplane was based on the A6M2 Type 11,which did not have folding wingtips. In fact, atleast the first few dozen production machineshad folding wingtips. On captured Rufes, thisdesign feature is still documented on the 37thaircraft produced.The designers added a metal central float to thefuselage. The pylon was mounted to the mainwing spar and attached to the rear wing spar bya “V” shaped strut. The pylon, with incorporatedthe oil cooling system, was located roughlywhere the Zero had the auxiliary tank attached.The absence of the auxiliary tank was replacedby tanks in the float. The stabilizing floats weremounted on separate pylons. Hatches wereadded to the wing´s skin to allow access to theinternal wing structure and pylons.This elegant solution for mounting the centralfloat was already used on the F1M Pete biplaneand contributed to the high aerodynamic purityof Mitsutake’s design. The central float andits dynamic effects on the fuselage structureduring take-off, high-G maneuvers, and landing,necessitated the need to reinforce the fuselagestructure in the cockpit area by additional metalsheets.On the first few dozen machines, a system forpurging the fuel tanks was installed on top ofthe central float. The fittings of this system,which protruded from the float at the top, wereprotected by a hemispherical cover. The floatwas also fitted with a rudder.The last significant change from the Zero wasan increase in the vertical tail area for thestability of the machine. Testing of the prototypebegan on the day of the Japanese attack onHawaii and continued intensively during early1942. The prototype was converted from theland-based version of the Zero fighter, the A6M2Type 11 c/n (6)69. The next nine A6M2-N aircraftwere to be produced at Nakajima by conversionfrom Mitsubishi A6M2 Type 21 carrier fighters,which were to undergo repairs due to damagein combat. Among them were the machines c/n(5)159 and (3)312, which took part in the attackon Hawaii aboard the aircraft carrier Shōkaku.However, the converted seaplanes sufferedHISTORYWildcats aboard the USS Wasp prepare for an air strike against Tulagi and adjacent islands in the early morninghours of August 7, 1942.This picture taken from Dauntless on August 7, 1942, shows smoke rising from burning fuel supplieson Tanambogo Island, where the Rufe seaplanes were based. To the right is Gavutu Island and to the leftis Gaomi Island. Florida Islands can be seen in the background.Photo: Naval Histor y and Heritage CommandPhoto: Naval History and Heritage CommandINFO Eduard7April 2023Page 8
A close-up photo of Tanambogo Island after the attack of Wildcats shows the wreckage of two Rufe seaplanes, several beaching trolleys and a wooden seaplane rampsloping into the water.Yokohama Kōkūtai aircraft that USMC technicians took from Tulagi to NAS Alameda, USA.Courtney Shands pictured in 1957 at the rank of Rear Admiral. As commander of VF-71,he was instrumental in the destruction of the Rufe aircraft from Yokohama Kōkūtaion Tanambogo Island on August 7, 1942.Photo: Naval History and Heritage CommandPhoto: Naval History and Heritage CommandPhoto: BUAER NewsletterHISTORYINFO Eduard8April 2023Page 9
from corrosion. Therefore, the conversions ofA6M2-N Nos. 8 and 9 were not carried out andNo. 10 was instead completely manufactured asa new machine.The floatplane fighter did not exceed comparableseaplanes in performance. It did increase inweight due to the floats and design changes,but the Zero´s landing gear and tailhook weightwas missing. The machine had excellentmaneuverability and stability at medium andhigher altitudes and retained reasonably goodflight characteristics even at lower altitudes.Its empty weight increased by approximately14 % over the A6M2 Type 21 and its speed wasreduced to 234 knots at 5,000 meters from theoriginal 275 knots at 4,400 meters of the Type21. The seaplane had a range of 962 nauticalmiles and a maximum flight time of 6 hours.Armament consisted, as with the A6M2, of two20 mm cannons in the wing and two 7.7 mmmachine guns in the fuselage. The aircraftcould carry two 30 kg or 60 kg bombs carriedunder the wing. However, unlike the Zero Type21, seaplane was not equipped with a circulardirectional antenna at the rear of the cockpitand did not have a headrest behind the pilot'sseat.This fighter seaplane was first designatedRei-Shiki Ichi Gata Suijō Sentōki (Type 0 Mk.1Seaplane Fighter). In July, the aircraft wasaccepted by the IJN and entered service underthe designation Ni-Shiki Suijō Sentōki, or Type2 Seaplane Fighter. It bore the abbreviateddesignation A6M2-N. Nakajima consideredpreparing another fighter seaplane, which wasto reach a speed of 250 knots, but eventuallyabandoned its preparation.Series production began in April 1942 and endedin July 1943, as production of the KawanishiN1K Kyōfū (Rex) fighter seaplane begana month earlier. Nakajima produced a total of258 A6M2-N seaplanes, with the highest numberof machines (24) in a single month leaving thegates of the Koizumi plant in April 1943. As soonas the Allies observed this machine in aerialencounters, they assigned it the code nameRufe.The first pre-production and production A6M2-Nseaplanes were received in the spring of 1942 bythe Japanese Navy's oldest unit, the YokosukaKōkūtai. Its main task was research andtesting of new aircraft, weapons and technicalequipment. It was also involved in training and,late in the war, was deployed in combat.With the Rufe aircraft, the unit was joined by theirprevious flight pilot, Lt. Ki-ichirō Nishihata, whoFire-damaged Rufe seaplane from Yokohama Kōkūtai being transported to NAS Alameda, USA.Seaplane tender Kimikawa Maru in Ominato Bay, Japan, pictured in April 1943. F1M Pete seaplanes are visible on the deck. This vessel delivered most of the Rufe seaplanesto the Aleutians during 1942 and 1943.Photo: BUAER NewsletterPhoto: Naval History and Heritage CommandHISTORYINFO Eduard9April 2023Page 10
was in charge of training on these seaplanes. Itwould be difficult to find a more ideal officer forthis task. Nishihata was a native of Fukuoka andgraduated from the Etajima Naval Academy inits 59th class in November 1931. He successivelyheld several command positions as Buntaichō.From late 1934 he served with Sasebo Kōkūtai,then commanded the seaplane carrier unitKamikawa Maru. In late 1937 he became aninstructor at Kasumigaura Kōkūtai and a yearlater became leader of the seaplane unit onthe light cruiser Kinu. He apparently served onthis ship until October 1941. Therefore, it is notsurprising that his age and experience earnedhim the nicknames “foster parent” and “realparent” at Yokosuka Kōkūtai. His influenceon the development of the A6M2-N seaplane,its acceptance into the Naval Air Force'sarmament, and the success of its deployment,was profound.Nishihata attained the rank of corvette captainin November 1942 and by the end of the warwas one of the commanding officers of Kōkūtai302, armed with, among other aircraft, Raidenfighters. In September 1945 he was promoted tothe rank of Commander.Anchorage at TulagiThe first Rufes to engage enemy in the SouthPacific belonged to the fighter Buntai, whichwas formed in May 1942 as part of the YokohamaKōkūtai. The commander of the entire Kōkūtaiwas Capt. Shigetoshi Miyazaki. He was born in1897 in Kōchi and graduated with distinctionfrom the Naval Academy in 1918 in its 46th class.After training aboard the destroyer Tachikaze,he first served with the Yokosuka Kōkūtai andother aviation units, but from late 1924 he wasassigned to the Japanese embassy in Paris.From June 1926 he was naval attaché to theLeague of Nations, and from April 1927 to May1928 he was the Japanese plenipotentiary tothe Geneva Naval Conference. After a series ofcommand and training posts, he took commandof the Yokohama Kōkūtai on 20 April 1942.Leader (Buntaichō) of his fighter unit was Lt.Ri-ichirō Satō, who had previously served withthe Yokosuka Kōkūtai. Twelve fighter seaplanesarrived to Rabaul in early June. The first patrol inthe vicinity of Rabaul was performed on 5 Juneand five days later five Rufe pilots saw samenumber of B-17s from the 19th BG. However,there was no combat. During June, the seaplanepilots encountered the enemy machines severalmore times, but never got chance to shoot atthem.In early July, they moved to Tulagi Island offGuadalcanal and encountered enemy aircraftalmost daily. The naval base for the Rufesbecame the nearby islet of Tanambogo, while theMavis seaplanes moored at the islet of Gavutu.The garrison commander on these islands wasCapt. Miyazaki. All marine and engineer units,as Japanese and Korean civilian personnel wereunder his command. But only a small portion ofthe 1,500 or so men he commanded were trainedfor ground combat.The first victory was claimed on July 10 ina battle with two Liberators of the 435th BS.One of the Liberators was damaged, but thegunners reported that one of the floatplanesbroke away from the fight with a smokingengine. The crew also managed to photographone Rufe. A week later, B-17s from the same unitkilled PO1c Hori who remained missing afterthe fight. Aboard the Flying Fortress were USMarine Corps officers who managed to takevaluable photographs of the northern coast ofGuadalcanal and the Tulagi area, despite beingforced to retreat by other Rufe seaplanes.The same fate befell the Sea.1c Matsui incombat with a B-17 of 11th Bombardment Group(Heavy) on July 23. Seven bombers of this unitencountered twelve Rufe seaplanes during1 August, and the Japanese, with no losses oftheir own, severely damaged three of them. The11th BG board gunners, however, reported twokills.B-17s raided Tulagi also on August 4, 1942.Seven Rufes attacked the heavies over theirtarget. The gunners of the 26th BS, 11th BGclaimed one seaplane as downed, but one Rufecollided with a B-17E commanded by 1st Lt. RushE. McDonald. All of his crew and the Japanese pilotSea.1c Kobayashi perished.During the Allied landing on Guadalcanal inthe morning hours of August 7, Wildcats andDauntless bombers from USS Wasp attacked theanchorage at Tulagi and surrounding islands,destroying all seven H6K Mavis flying boats andsix Rufes in water and two on the island. OneRufe later apparently escaped and joined twocolleagues at Shortland Island off Bougainville.Under Miyazaki's leadership, Yokohama Kōkūtaipersonnel at Tulagi, Gavutu, and Tanambogo,The first aircraft shot down by Rufe pilots in the Aleutians was a B-17B (c/n 38-215) "Old Seventy". She is pictured in this photo from Alaska back when she was alsoused as a cargo machine.Photo: American Air Museum in BritainHISTORYINFO Eduard10April 2023Page 11
along with other units, engaged in groundcombat. Miyazaki's last radio message was,“Enemy troop strength is overwhelming.We will defend to the last man. Pray for oursuccess.” Improvising under harsh conditions,the defenders under Miyazaki's commandperformed superbly. In the first landing onAugust 7, they inflicted 10% casualties on theAmerican troops, and the defenses on someislands persisted until noon on August 9.Five Rufe pilots were killed on Tanambogo Islandon August 8 in action against U.S. Marines. Theysucceeded in setting fire to a Stuart tank of 1stCompany, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marines. Of thethree tankers, two were killed and one waswounded. Forty-two defenders were killed,including the executive officer of the YokohamaKōkūtai, Lt. Cdr. Saburō Katsuta, who was lastseen on the tank’s turret.Lt. Satō escaped to Halavo Island with aboutforty men and was killed with thirteen of themin a battle with members of the 2nd Marineson September 19. Only one of his pilots wascaptured, it was Warrant Officer YomichioHirahashi.Patrol flights continued from Shortland forseveral days in late August under the commandof Ensign Kofuji, but on September 2, 1942, theYokohama Kōkūtai fighter unit was disbandedand the personnel and remaining Rufe seaplaneswere taken over by the Kamikawa Maru.Commanding officer of Yokohama Kōkūtai Capt.Miyazaki was formally in command of the unituntil October 1, 1942, when he was posthumouslypromoted to Rear Admiral. According to thetestimony of one of Japanese prisoners,Miyazaki committed suicide by explosive ina dugout on August 8. One of his formercolleagues in the Geneva Naval Conferencenegotiations, Rear Admiral William Ward Smith,commanded Cruiser Division 9 at the time withthe cruisers USS Indianapolis and USS Louisvilleduring the Battle of the Aleutians.Aleutians and KurilsThe first unit to engage the enemy with Rufeswas Tōkō Kōkūtai. Formed in late 1940, it wasdeployed at the start of the war in the Pacificduring the conquest of the Philippines and theDutch East Indies. In June 1942, with six H6KMavis flying boats, this unit was deployed inthe capture of Attu and Kiska Islands in theAleutians. Protection for the invasion forcewas provided by floatplanes from the seaplanetenders Kamikawa Maru and Kimikawa Maru.The command soon recognized that to fightthe Americans in the Aleutian area, fighterIn this photo taken in August 1942, some of the fighter pilots of the 5th Kōkūtai are posing at the Kiska base. Rear row from the left: Sea2c Hachirō Narita, next to him standsthe most successful fighter pilot in the Aleutian area, PO2c Gi-ichi Sasaki, PO2c Saishi Okawa and the last airman is probably leader of fighter unit Kushichirō Yamada.Front row from the left: Sea2c Minoru Minazawa and Sea2c Yoshio Suzuki. Sasaki and Okawa were killed during raids against Amchitka. The Rufe R-106 has a partiallyvisible convex cowling located on top of the main float. An E16A Jake seaplane can be seen in the background.Seaplane A6M2-N from Tōkō Kōkūtai moored off the shore in the Aleutians. Note the lighter colouring of thecontrol surfaces. It is possible that some sort of waterproofing is stuck to the top of the wing to cover the edgesof the cannon hatches.Photo: ©IzawaPhoto: ©IzawaHISTORYINFO Eduard11April 2023Page 12
seaplanes needed to be deployed to protect theanchorages and bases under construction, asfloat-type observation aircraft were not idealfor this purpose. Moreover, both tenders gottasks in another part of the Pacific.In early June a Rufe fighter unit was formed inYokosuka under the command of Lt. KushichirōYamada. Six machines were transported toKiska by seaplane tender Chiyoda, and the unitwas integrated into Tōkō Kōkūtai. The planeswere usually moored to buoys in shallow waterand transported ashore for maintenance usingbamboo structures. They usually patrolledin pairs and sometimes engaged with enemyaircraft several times a day. Very soon theystarted using 30kg bombs against heavybombers. During anti-submarine patrols theyprobably used 60kg bombs. The weather in thearea was often inclement with fog and low cloud.Therefore, even the four-engined aircraft oftenoperated at relatively low altitude. Yamada'spilots first encountered enemy on July 7 and8, 1942, during a Liberator raid on Kiska. Firstvictory was achieved ten days later, one B-24and one B-17 were claimed, but Americans lostonly one Flying Fortress of the 28th CompositeBombardment Group. It was an old B-17B c/n38-215 “Old Seventy” from the 36th BS, withseasoned veteran Major Jack Marks at thecontrols. The machine exploded at 2,000 feetin a dogfight with Rufe pilots near Rat Island.However, there is another version saying thatthe damaged bomber crashed into a mountainrange.In early August, Yamada's fighter unit wasdetached from the Tōkō Kōkūtai and becamethe 5th Kōkūtai, whose number of aircraft wasexpanded to twelve fighter seaplanes. DuringAugust it was also reinforced with observationfloatplanes.The fighters of the 5th Kōkūtai scored theirfirst victory on August 7, 1942. The warshipsunder the command of Rear Adm. W. W. “Poco”Smith sailed from Kodiak to Kiska to shell theJapanese positions. The fog made combatactivity considerably more difficult for bothbelligerents. In addition to the heavy cruisersUSS Indianapolis and USS Louisville, the lightcruisers USS Honolulu, USS St. Louis and USSNashville and four destroyers were also part ofthe fleet.Despite the fog in the area, the Americansmanaged to open fire at 19:55, simultaneouslysending six SOC Seagull observation aircraftover the target.The Japanese came into contact with theobservation planes several times but had littlechance to attack them successfully in the badweather. The first to fire was Lt. Yamada withhis wingman and they claimed a Seagull shotA picture taken on November 7, 1942, shows several damaged Rufe seaplanes in Holz Bay, Attu Island.Photo: Naval Histor y and Heritage CommandHISTORYINFO Eduard12April 2023Page 13
down. Later, Yamada got into a fight with theobservation planes again, and with a PO2cGi-ichi Sasaki, they scored two victories.The Americans lost one Seagull and three weredamaged. The crew of the downed Seagullapparently survived, but interestingly, themachine (Bu. No. 9945) belonged to the air unitof the battleship USS Indiana, which was notpart of the fleet.The crews of H6K Mavis attempted to blindlybomb the American vessels through low cloudcover, and one of the Rufe pilots attacked thedestroyer USS Case in very adverse weatherconditions. He was driven off by defensive firefrom 5-inch and 20mm guns. Japanese gunnersfrom shore batteries also attempted to engagethe US ships, as the Rufes' pilots droppedphosphorus bombs over them , presumably toidentify enemy´s position.American troops landed on Adak Island onAugust 30 and built with incredible speed anairfield in the following weeks. For the Japaneseon Attu and Kiska, this worsened the prospectsof completing their own airfield.An unequal battle occurred on September 15,1942, when the submarine base at Kiska wasattacked by fourteen heavy bombers from the28th CBG, accompanied by fourteen Lightningsand the same number of Airacobras from XI.Fighter Command. This formation was engagedby four Rufe pilots, two of whom were killed.PO2c Gi-ichi Sasaki scored four victories overfighter aircraft in this engagement and claimedone as probably destroyed, but his machineturned over on landing. At the end of the dayonly one Rufe remained operational. In lateSeptember, the Kimikawa Maru arrived at theisland, bringing six Rufes and two observationaircraft. In the following week the unit facedsignificant odds on several occasions includingP-40s of No. 111 Sqn RCAF, and on October 4 wascompletely without fighter seaplanes. Americanand Canadian fighters often strafed the anti-aircraft gunner positions to reduce the risk tolow-flying bombers that arrived over the targetonly minutes later.At the beginning of November, the 5th Kōkūtaiwas redesignated Kōkūtai 452. In same periodadditional aircraft were supplied, but thesewere destroyed in the following days during astorm and in a strafing attack by Lightnings andMarauders. In late December, Kimikawa Maruagain brought in new Rufe seaplanes. On thelast day of 1942, Japanese fighters managed toshoot down a B-25 of 28th CBG, a P-38 of 343rdFG and destroyed a Catalina that was forced toland.The Kōkūtai 452 was still operating in extremelydifficult conditions. Planes were anchoredin Arctic temperatures at the seashore orin shallow water, their only protection beinga tarpaulin stretched across the forward halfof the fuselage. Yet unit´s technicians managedto keep most of the seaplanes operational.Primarily they operated from Kiska Island, andspare planes were offloaded on Attu, wherethere was less danger from Allied aircraft.On January 24, 1943, a patrol of two Rufesdiscovered five cargo ships with escort cruisers,which were securing the landing on the islandof Amchitka. Rufes attacked with 60kg bombsand continued their strafings in late Januaryand during February. Their main target was theairfield, which the Americans were building onthe island with their usual incredible speed.American air defenses managed to shoot downseveral of the Rufes. Sasaki, who became theonly Rufe fighter ace in the area, did not returnfrom one of these dangerous missions.It occurred on the evening of February 18, 1942,the day after the first Curtiss P-40s from the18th Fighter Squadron arrived at the newlycompleted airfield, which was named Fox Fieldbecause of its short runway. The Rufe pair wasled by Warrant Officer Kunitsugu Nakamachiand PO1c Sasaki flew as his wingman. In theair, however, two quadruplets of Curtiss planeswere waiting for them. The Japanese pairwas attacked by the first flight, led by MajorClayton J. Larson. Hundreds of soldiers fromthe surrounding hills watched in amazement asthe battle took place off the west coast of theisland.This photograph is one of the images that fell into the hands of the Allied forces after the landing on the Aleutians. It probably dates from late 1942 and early 1943and shows the airmen of Kōkūtai 452.Photo: Fold3HISTORYINFO Eduard13April 2023Page 14
Nakamachi, still over the water, dropped hisbombs and turned northwest back toward hisown base, but he had little chance against thefast Curtiss planes that attacked from above. Hewas hit by Larson and his wingman 1st Lt. Beary.The burning Rufe crashed into the sea.A determined Sasaki gave up the raid on theairfield just off the coast and also tried to breakthrough to the northwest. American fightersmade repeated runs on Sasaki. The experiencedJapanese pilot combined tight 360-degree turnsand steep descents. He even fired twice atLarson without result. His fight against the oddswas like this over 35 miles stretch. However,Sasaki was eventually hit and crashed into thesea about 5 miles west of the northwesterntip of Amchitka. The victory was scored by Lt.Stone.The last aerial engagement of Rufe seaplanes inthe Aleutians occurred on March 17, 1943.In ten hours, the Americans made a total of fiveraids on Kiska from the Adak and Amchitkabases. They deployed 13 B-24s, 16 B-25s, 32P-38s, and eight P-40s. The Japanese couldonly send seven Rufe fighters against them.Among them was Kiyomi Katsuki, who madea name for himself in the South Pacific as a Petebiplane pilot and later became a fighter ace.The formation faced ten Lightnings and claimedtwo victories, but the Americans recorded nolosses.This seaplane fighter unit, which changeddesignation three times during its operations,had shot down fifteen aircraft certainly andfive probably since the summer of 1942. In lessthan eight months of its combat deployment,it operated against the enemy over sixty days,in many cases conducting multiple actions ina single day. It lost twelve fighter seaplanesand ten pilots in aerial combat. Its remaining 23machines were written off in the Aleutians dueto defects and weather conditions.At the end of March 1943, the remaining airmenof Kōkūtai 452 were evacuated by submarineto Japan. In May the unit was reorganized andreceived new Pete, Jake and Rufe seaplanes. Itsfighter unit was commanded by Lt.(jg) ShunshiAraki. From July his unit was based on LakeBettobu on the Kuril island of Shumshu, 11 kmsouthwest of Kamchatka.Their opponents were again the Liberator crews.Rufes engaged them for first time on July 19.In addition to the Rufe seaplanes, the sporadicfighting involved IJN observation aircraft aswell as Army aviators with Ki-43 Oscars fromthe 54th Hikō Sentai.The Kōkūtai 452 fighters achieved their lastvictories on September 12 in a battle witha formation of eight B-24s and twelve B-25s.They reported two B-24s shot down and oneprobable. However, Japanese Army fightersalso joined the fight and the Americans sufferedheavy losses. In addition to the two Liberators,they lost seven Mitchells and some crews madeemergency landings in Soviet territory.In early October 1943, the fighter Buntai ofKōkūtai 452 was disbanded and the unitcontinued to serve with reconnaissance aircraftin the Kuril Islands until the summer of 1944.The original commander of this unit, KushichirōYamada, later served as the Hikōtaichō ofKōkūtai 302 at Atsugi Base and committedsuicide on August 15, 1945. Araki ended hisservice in the same fighter unit as Yamada, andhe too did not live to see the end of the war.To be continued…Pilots of the 11th Fighter Squadron at Umnak Air Force Base, Alaska, pose for a photographer while playing cards. They were among the opponents of the Rufe seaplanes.The unit's commander was John S. Chennault, the eldest son of Claire Lee Chennault, who led the legendary volunteer Flying Tigers in China. The P-40E's nose shows thatthe apple didn't fall far from the tree.Photo: Fold3HISTORYINFO Eduard14April 2023Page 15
Shots of the wrecks of Rufe seaplanes after landing on Attu and Kiska islands in mid-1943. The hangar images were taken at the base on Attu.Photo: US NavyPhoto: Alaska State LibraryPhoto: US NavyPhoto: US NavyPhoto: US NavyPhoto: US NavyHISTORYINFO Eduard15April 2023Page 16
Rufes had a grey paint coating on all surfaces,which was sprayed over a reddish-brown basepaint. To prevent corrosion, the interior surfacesof the flap area were also painted aluminiuminstead of the Aotake paint that was common onA6M Zero fighters.Due to the change in the name of the aircraft, thefuselage identification stencil changed in July orAugust 1942. It occurred between approximatelythe 30th and 50th Rufe produced. From October1942, the manufacturer stopped putting the dateof manufacture on the stencil.At the end of August 1942, Nakajima introduceda yellow identification stripe on the leading edgeof the wing on A6M2-N aircraft, and at the sametime introduced a white outline of Hinomaru onthe fuselage.In February 1943, naval fighter units wereinstructed to spray the aircraft with darkgreen on the upper surfaces. Ground personnelusually made use of paint that was availablefor maintenance on aircraft of other categoriesthat already had green paint. In the case of theseaplane units, these were the Aichi, Mitsubishiand Kawanishi aircraft. The shades of theircamouflage paint varied slightly depending onthe paint supplier. The use of war booty paints, forexample in Rabaul, or the use of paint designedfor warships cannot be ruled out. When thispaint was applied, the white outline of fuselageHinomaru was often thinned or completelyrepainted. However, some aircraft were left ingrey paint on all surfaces and are documentedfrom as late as 1944.In the final months of production, the new A6M2-Naircraft received a standard coat of D1 dark greenpaint on the upper surfaces, a shade specificto the Nakajima paint supplier. This changewas accompanied by the introduction of whiteoutline on the Hinomaru on upper surfaces. Withcombat units this white part was often thinned orcompletely repainted, which could also be doneon the fuselage Hinomaru.The coloring of the transport cart is often givenas black, but this does not match contemporaryphotographs. More likely is the dark grey-bluecolor used for naval vehicles and technicalequipment. The dark blue color used by theImperial Navy, for example for workshopequipment, cannot be ruled out either. Theconstruction of the cart was composite, with thevertical stabilizing parts and the parts on whichthe float was mounted being made of wood. Thewhole cart was painted in one color, but in servicethe paint naturally showed signs of wear and tear,the grey paint from the main float sometimes hadworn off and remained on parts of the cart.Colors and markings Text: Jan BobekUnpublished photograph of Rufe NI-119 with a group of Kōkūtai 802 NCOs taken in early 1943 at Shortland Base. This is an aircraft that was finished with grey painton all surfaces and the unit level received a coat of dark green paint on the upper surfaces. The rectangular field of grey paint on the fuselage is clearly visible, which themechanics have retained for the machine's production stencil.Photo: ©IzawaPhoto: US NavyHISTORYINFO Eduard16April 2023Page 17
17. června 2023V Kulturním domě RychvaldModelářský klub Ostrava 446a předsednictvo IPMS.CZEzve všechny příznivceplastikového modelářstvína Mistrovství České republiky mládeže adoprovodné akceMistrovská soutěž mládeže je organizována pod záštitou SMČRMistrovství ČR mládeže (letadla 1/72,1/48,1/32), bojová technika(1/72,1/48,1/35), lodě a ponorky, dioramy a civilní technika.Doprovodná porovnávací soutěž seniorů, letadla (1/72,1/48,1/32),bojová technika (1/72,1/48,1/35) a civilní technikaBližší informace a propozice na www.aircraft.cz,osobní kontakt Petr Potyš, mob. 730 430 239PROPOZICE NA STRÁNKÁCH SMČRPage 18
It was fortunate the Japanese were initiallyas nearly hamstrung as the Americans.The Imperial Navy’s 25th Air Flotilla (5thAir Attack Force), based at Rabaul, hadbeen reinforced only days before theAllied incursion into the Solomons aspart of a general build-up preparatory tooccupying Guadalcanal and supportinga further Japanese drive into the NewHebrides. On August 9, Vice AdmiralNishizō Tsukahara activated the EleventhAir Fleet at Rabaul and assumed controlof regional air operations. The one-armedsenior aviator, who had lost his arm toa spinning propeller, advocated a policy ofstrong reprisals against the Americans.However, since his bomber force hadtaken severe losses during the first twodays of aerial combat, the admiral wasrestricted to planning harassment andreconnaissance missions to the island.The Americans were fortunate thatGuadalcanal and the Japanese airfieldsat Rabaul were separated by more than600 miles of the Solomon and Coral Seas.Though the Zero was the longest-leggedoperational fighter in the world, the 1,300mile round trip between Rabaul andGuadalcanal taxed even its capabilities tothe limit, while the twin-engine Betty hadfuel for only 15 minutes over the target.The range limitations of the Zero and theBetty meant missions had to be flown bythe most direct route, with no margin forfeints or for speeding up the throttled-backengines of the fuel-conserving fightersWe left the pilots and mechanics of VMF-223 in the firstpart of this article as they began to familiarize themselveswith Henderson Airfield and the situation on Guadalcanal.The latter certainly did not make them so happy, but it didcompromise their combat determination.Text: Thomas McKelvey CleaverPhoto: National Archives via NAASPhoto up: Aerial view of the runway of HendersonAirfield on August 22, 1942, two days after VMF-223arrived on the island. The buildings to the south of therunway were intended as workshops and the roofswere made of 7/8-inch-thick steel.HISTORYINFO Eduard18April 2023Page 19
and bombers. Additionally, the weatherin the South Pacific meant they flewfrom their bases after the morning cloudbuildups had dissipated, which meantadherence to a predictable timetable Theroute took them from Rabaul to Buka, offnorthwestern Bougainville, down to Buin,overlooking the Shortland Islands, thenstraight through New Georgia Sound, soonto be known as “The Slot.”Before the war, the Australian Navyhad recruited Australians living in theSolomons to remain behind if the Japaneseappeared and operate a radio warningsystem when they spotted Japanese navalor air forces. Coastwatcher Jack Read,whose station in the hills of Bougainvilleoverlooked Buka, was generally first tosend t word of an impending air strike.Paul Mason, near Buin, was next. Therewas invariably two hours betweenMason's warning and the arrival of thebombers over Guadalcanal. This scheduleallowed the Marines to count upon severalquiet hours after dawn and before dusk forgetting work done, with at least two hoursduring mid-day in which to find cover andtake aim. The Japanese arrived punctuallybetween 1200-1300 hours, dependingon the weather enroute. Weather inthis equatorial region was marginallypredictable and subject to rapid changewithout prior notice.A combat schedule developed sincethe Japanese could only fly a largeformation of bombers from Rabaul indaylight. Weather allowing, the bombersand their escorting fighters would takeoff from their air bases at Rabaul by0800 hours, though delays were causedby early morning build-ups of weatherover the Solomon Sea that could delaydeparture until as late as 1000 hours. Asthe Japanese formation flew down TheSlot, the aircraft were spotted by theAustralian coastwatchers on the variousislands, who radioed their sightings toCactus Control at Henderson Field. By thetime they passed Munda, the defenderson Guadalcanal would man their fightersand take off. The Wildcats needed everyminute of warning they could get, since ittook around 45 minutes for the airplanesto get to 20,000 feet. The enemy formationwould finally arrive between 1100-1300hours. Given the variability of weather,there were a few times where the cloudsover The Slot prevented the coastwatchersfrom spotting the oncoming Japanese intime to give sufficient warning.The Japanese Are Intent on TakingGuadalcanal BackMuch of the battle noise that had keptLieutenant Trowbridge awake that firstnight on the island came from the fightalong what the Marines thought was theTenaru River but was actually a lagoon.The Ichiki Battalion - the first Japanesetroops to arrive on the island as part ofYamamoto’s plans to drive the Americansinto the sea - were engaged by well-dug-indefenses as they advanced on HendersonField. Dawn on August 21 found thesurviving Japanese holding their position.First Battalion, First Marines, movedinland around the lagoon and envelopedthe enemy.As the enemy troops tried to escape downthe beach, they were strafed by newly-arrived VMF-223 Wildcats. All resistanceended by 1700 hours. When some woundedJapanese opened fire on the Marines, theywent through the battlefield and shotevery enemy soldier they came acrosswhether dead or alive, except for 15 takenprisoner. Thirty Japanese survivorsescaped to tell the tale to their comradesat Taivu Point. Food, equipment, weapons,and ammunition were taken from the 871dead. That evening, Colonel Ichiki buriedhis unit's colors, drew a ceremonialdagger, and disemboweled himself in thesoft sand beside Lengo Channel.The Marines Meet the EnemyAt mid-day, Admiral Fletcher’s carriersgave cover so that two transports couldslip into Sealark Channel and unloadsupplies. MAG-23’s senior mechanicswere a welcome addition when theycame ashore from the destroyer that hadbrought them up from Efate.Coastwatcher Jack Read radioeda warning that a strike force was on thePhoto: NHHCThe commanding officer of VMF-223, Maj. John Smith after returning from Guadalcanal at NAS Anacostia.The Wildcats needed every minute of warning theycould get, since it took around 45 minutes for theairplanes to get to 20,000 feet.HISTORYINFO Eduard19April 2023Page 20
way down the Slot. Lieutenant HughMacKenzie, the coastwatch liaisonofficer at Lunga, patched into the Marinecommunications net, known as TexasSwitch, and for the first time was ableto pass the news to American aviatorswho could rise to the challenge. CaptainSmith’s four-plane division responded tothe call.They were over Savo Island at 1207 hours,climbing through 14,000 feet, when theyspotted six Zeros five hundred feet higherand on a reciprocal heading. Smith openedfire head-on at the leading Zero as thetwo aircraft roared toward one other. TheJapanese pilot flinched first. He pulled up,exposing his belly to Smith's six .50-calibermachine guns, and then fell away smokingas Smith was engaged by a pair of Zerosthat had latched onto his tail. Smith quicklydiscovered the Wildcat was heavy enoughto disengage by diving away if there wassufficient altitude. His wingman, SergeantJohn Lindsey, was hit in the fight butmanaged to make a dead-stick wheels-up landing at Henderson Field, with hisWildcat becoming the squadron’s first loss,while Smith became the first pilot claima Zero shot down. In a second fight laterthat afternoon, Lieutenant Trowbridgeclaimed two more, though the Japaneserecorded all planes returned. Over thenext two days, the Marines claimed twomore Zeros and proved they could stay inthe same air with their more-experiencedopponents.The First Big BattleOver the next four days, what wouldbecome the Battle of the EasternSolomons began to shape up as the twonavies sought to find each other.Despite the loss of the heart of theImperial Navy’s carrier strike force withthe sinking of Akagi, Kaga, Soryū andHiryū at Midway, their remaining carrierfleet was still formidable when comparedwith the carriers the U.S. Navy couldbring to action. The First Carrier Divisionnow formed the heart of Japanese navalaviation, composed of the fleet carriersShōkaku and Zuikaku and the light carrierZuihō. The light carriers Jun´yō, Hiyō andRyūjō of the Second Carrier Division werea worthy second line.At 0600 hours on August 24, AdmiralNagumo’s Kidō Butai turned southeast,into the wind, and Shōkaku and Zuikakulaunched the first search patrols of theday. Admiral Kondo’s Advance Force, 120miles southeast, also turned to remain inposition to guard Nagumo’s eastern flank.Starting at 0615 hours, the two carrierslaunched 19 Kates on searches out toa distance of 250 miles. No one reallyexpected to locate the Americans, sincethe Japanese carriers had sailed out ofrange during the night.The Reinforcement Force transports werescheduled to arrive off Guadalcanal thenight of August 24. If the 5th Air AttackForce’s Bettys could not knock outHenderson, carrier aircraft would have tobe committed. Since Admiral Yamamotohad stipulated that the Shōkaku andZuikaku air groups were not to attack landtargets so long as Task Force 61 remaineda threat, the only force available for anattack on the airfield was the small RyūjōAir Group, with its nine B5N Kates and 24Zeros. Since the scheduled 5th Air AttackForce mission against Henderson wasscrubbed because of bad weather, use ofRyūjō’s small force on August 24 becamebecame inevitable. The strike would belaunched as soon as she and her escortswere within range.Because there was as yet no operationalradar as yet at Henderson, and sincecoastwatcher sightings had proven to beless than completely reliable due to thevagaries of weather in the region, AirGroup 23 Executive Officer Lt. ColonelCharlie Fike had begun launching one ortwo divisions of Wildcats at “Tōjō Time,”1100-1500 hours, when it was most likelythat an incoming strike might appear. Thus,when the small Ryūjō attack force arrivedat 1415 hours, a division of Wildcats led byMarion Carl was waiting at 20,000 feet,with another 12 Wildcats and P-400s fromthe newly-arrived 67th Fighter Squadronon alert at the field. Carl’s wingmanwas Tech Sergeant Johnny Lindley, with2nd Lieutenant Fred Gutt flying sectionleader with VMF-212’s Marine Gunner TexHamilton on his wing.Aces from Guadalcanal. From left: Maj. John L. Smith, Lt. Kenneth Fraizer, Maj. John Dobbin and Maj. Robert Ga-ler. The first two from VMF-223 the second from VMF-224, the unit which reinforced the fighters at Guadalcanalon August 30.When the “Condition One” flag went up in response, theirpilots scrambled to man all the available Wildcats, followedby a further scramble down the main runway. While they weresupposed to take off in order of divisions and sections behindthe flight leader, in practice everyone rushed to get airborneto gain the altitude advantage over the incoming bombers.Because of performance differences between the individualplanes, the system of elements and divisions broke down, andeveryone joined up on whomever was closest.Photo: via authorHISTORYINFO Eduard20April 2023Page 21
The Ryūjō force approached Guadalcanalfrom the direction of Florida and Malaitaislands at 10,000 feet. LieutenantMurakami led the six Kates along withthe six escorts led by Warrant OfficerShigemi in one formation, while theformation of nine “attack” Zeros led byRyūjō’s Hikōtaichō (air group commander)Lieutenant Nōtomi, flew about 1,600 feet tothe right of the bombers.Carl spotted the force over Tulagi. As hewheeled his four Wildcats into position,he radioed a warning to Henderson Field.When the “Condition One” flag went up inresponse, the r pilots scrambled to manall the available Wildcats, followed bya further scramble down the main runway.While they were supposed to take off inorder of divisions and sections behindthe flight leader, in practice everyonerushed to get airborne to gain the altitudeadvantage over the incoming bombers.Because of performance differencesbetween the individual planes, the systemof elements and divisions broke down,and everyone joined up on whomever wasclosest. Leading the dash was CaptainRivers Morrell, VMF-223's executiveof ficer.At 1423 hours, Carl peeled off and ledthe way as the four Wildcats dived on theRyūjō force. Carl lined up on six airplanesin the larger formation that turned out tobe Shigemi’s six escort Zeros. Firing fromoverhead and diving through the formationwith Technical Sergeant Lindley glued tohis wing, Carl was certain he had set oneof the “bombers” on fire for his first victoryover Guadalcanal and second of the war.Close behind, Hamilton and Gutt fired atthe same formation. While Hamilton wasdrawn into a protracted dogfight withthree of the “escort” Zeros, Gutt was ableto shoot one of the Kates and dive throughthe formation behind Carl and Lindley,who became separated as they zoomed toregain altitude for a second attack.The Kates came directly over the beachand lined up on the four 90mm antiaircraftguns of Battery E, 3d Defense Battalion.At 1428 hours the guns opened fire whilethe Kates released their 36 60-kilogrambombs in a group drop at 1430 hours.A “Betty” was claimed by the overexcitedgunners, who actually hit nothing. TheKate’s drop was equally inef fective, with nodamage inflicted even though the bombsdetonated on either side of the guns.Nōtomi’s attack formation had moresuccess. The three shotai formationsattacked from three directions just as thebombs were dropped, strafing the runwaywith impunity. Nōtomi’s threesome caughtThe wreckage of a Wildcat after one of the Japanese raids on Henderson Field.Capt. Joe Foss (left) became the most successful ace of the Southern Solomons campaign and the first Americanaviator to match Eddie Rickenbacker’s World War I score of 26 victories.Photo: via autorPhoto: Cpl. L. M. Ashman, USMC via NHHCHISTORYINFO Eduard21April 2023Page 22
up with a Wildcat that had just lifted offand shot it up. Wounded in the head andshoulder, the pilot managed to keep theairplane airborne long enough to ditchreasonably well off Florida, where hewas rescued by islanders and returned toTulagi the next day.67th Fighter Squadron skipper CaptainDale Brannon and his wingman, 2ndLieutenant Deltis Fincher, dashed for theirAiracobras when they saw the ConditionOne flag go up. Both remembered theycould hear the drone of the enemyoverhead by the time they were in theircockpits and starting up. As they racedin echelon along the runway, they couldhear the explosions of the bombs over theroar of their engines. Just as they lifted offand retracted their gear, a Zero swoopedin front of them. They turned into oneanother and let fly with everything: eight.30-caliber machine guns, four .50-calibermachine guns, and two 20mm cannon,disintegrating the Zero. They flew throughthe debris as they clawed for altitude butwere attacked in turn by the shotai leaderand wingman of the fighter they had justdestroyed. The enemy fighters made onepass and disappeared. Both P-400s werehit by 7.7mm bullets, but Brannon andFincher were undeterred. Unfortunately,as Brannon later recalled, “When we gotup to Guadalcanal, one of the first thingsthat we found out was that the British hadput a high-pressure oxygen system inour airplanes. The Marines had oxygen,but it was low pressure. I remember wemanaged to get all the way up to 16,000feet on our first fight. We were reallywoozy. And of course, the Zeros were wayup above us.”Three Wildcats took on the retiring attackZeros at low altitude over Lengo Channel.VMF-212’s 2nd Lieutenant Bob McLeodgot good hits on one that he claimeddestroyed. In fact, the pilot – LieutenantNōtomi’s wingman – was able to nurse hisstricken fighter back over Guadalcanal,where he crash-landed, was found byJapanese troops, and was eventuallyevacuated off the island. In return,VMF-223’s 2nd Lieutenant Elwood Baileywas shot down. Last seen in his parachute,descending toward the water near Tulagi,he never made it home.Lieutenant Murakami’s Kates executeda wide formation turn to the north afterthey dropped their bombs, in an attempt toretire from the area. At 1433 hours, MarionCarl executed what observers called “themost beautiful overhead pass,” downinga Kate on the formation’s left side. Lindleyand Gutt also fired on the Kates. As theydid so, reinforcement began arriving.Captain Morrell, flying what was probablythe best Wildcat on the island, was in thelead followed by five second lieutenants.All six attacked the five surviving Katesand five escort Zeros from below. As theydid so, two attack Zeros arrived to helpward off the attackers. 2nd LieutenanttKen Frazier destroyed a Kate on the rightside of the formation on his first passwhile Carl shot a Zero off Lindley’s tail;however, he did not destroy it, as credited.Gutt was shot up and wounded in the leftarm and left leg by another Zero, but madeit back to Henderson Field. LieutenantsRex Jeans and Red Taylor teamed up todisable a Kate, but Taylor - one of the sixVMF-212 reinforcements - was immediatelyshot down and killed by a Zero. Last of all,VMF-212’s 2nd Lieutenant John Kingfired on a Kate that blew up. AfterMany Wildcats were destroyed not only in combat but also on the ground. Either as a result of enemy attacks or in crashes during take-off and landing. These aircraftthen became a source of spare parts.Photo: via autorHISTORYINFO Eduard22April 2023Page 23
King’s victory, the Wildcats withdrew.Altogether, the Marines claimed 20confirmed victories: 12 Kates, a non-existent “Betty,” and seven Zeros. However,the Japanese lost only four Kates,including the one that crash-landed, andthree Zeros, including the one Brannonand Fincher had blown up. Marion Carlwas credited with four victories, includingthe phantom Betty, and was immediatelyrecognized as the first Marine Corps ace.In fact, he was actually two kills shy, butwould make up the difference two dayslater. The Marines had won the first big airbattle. There would be many more.The End For VMF-223By October 2, the surviving fliers ofVMF-223 were exhausted from near-dailybattles and the terrible living conditions onGuadalcanal. That day, the enemy returnedwith another fighter sweep; the skies wereclearer and the coastwatchers radioedtheir warning in time for the Wildcats toget off the field and grab sufficient altitude.to meet the 27 Zeros in a hard-foughtfighter-versus-fighter battle. Leading sixVMF-223 F4Fs, Marion Carl scored whatwould turn out to be his last victory,bringing his score to 16.5 before his gunsjammed. His wingman Ken Frazier wasable to shoot down two before the othersturned on him and shot up his Wildcatbadly enough that he was forced to bailout. His score of 12 put him in third-place inVMF-223's “ace race,” behind Smith andCarl. Newly arrived VMF-121 pilot 1stLieutenant Floyd Lynch dropped oneenemy fighter, but the top score of theday went to “Coach” Bauer, whose fourvictories made him an ace in only twosorties. This time, Japanese recordsconfirmed the nine Zeros claimed by theMarines was accurate.VMF-223's exhausted fliers took off forwhat turned out to be their last missionfrom Henderson Field on October 10.Squadron leader John Smith led sevenWildcats to escort SBDs and TBFs to NewGeorgia where more enemy ships had beenspotted. Halfway there Smith happenedto look back and saw 15 Rufe and Petefloatplanes closing on his formation. Hecalled a warning and reversed course; theother six followed. Spotting the oncomingAmericans, the enemy formation turned toflee, but the Wildcats caught up and shotdown six Petes and three Rufes. Smith’sRufe was his final victory, giving hima total of 19 to make him the leading Marineace to that point in the war.October 12, 1942, saw the survivors ofVMF-223 climb aboard an R4D headedfor Espiritu Santo. Over their nine-weektour, the squadron claimed 110 victories,including 47 Zeros and 47 Bettys. JohnL. Smith was credited with ten Bettyswhile Marion Carl claimed eight, to giveboth pilots more Japanese bombers intheir scores than any other Marine pilotsduring the war. Nineteen pilots had landedat Henderson Field on August 20; ten paidthe ultimate price.Adapted from “The Cactus Air Force: AirWar Over Guadalcanal,” by Eric Hammeland Thomas McKelvey Cleaver; OspreyPublishing (2022).Capt. Jimmy Flatley led VF-10 to Guadalcanal after the USS Enterprise was severely damaged in the Battle of Santa Cruz.Photo: via autorHISTORYINFO Eduard23April 2023Page 24
HISTORYTHE HIGH-ALTITUDE HINDSCZECH AND CZECHOSLOVAKHINDS E FROM TECHNICALPERSPECTIVETomáš „Hindman“ DvořákINFO Eduard24April 2023Page 25
The Hind’s E predecessor, the Hind D,was continually developed and manyof the features of the Hind E werealready adopted. The only differencesdistinguishing the two at first sight atevery stage of development are the ATGMused and the location of the APU intake.The Hind E used more advanced andbeam-targeted supersonic 9M114 Shturmmissiles instead of wire-controlledsubsonic 9M17P Falanga ones. The guidingsystem appearance also differed in theshape of the antenna cover on the portside below the nose and different doorsand other details on the sighting/aimingsystem on the starboard side. Also, whilethe Hind D has the intake for APU on thestarboard side of the fuselage ridge justopposed to the APU’s exhaust on theport side, the Hind E is feeding the air toAPU through the whole tail beam via thetriangle-shaped opening in the low partof the vertical stabilizer on the starboard.All the other features, including morepowerful TV3-117V engines, “wet” pylons,shape of the main as well as tail rotorblades and other features can be seen notonly on the Hind E, but also on late HindD choppers, depending on the state of thedevelopment. But Czechoslovakia did notuse these late Hind Ds.Series variationsEarly series of Hind E (numbers from0701 to 0710 in Czechoslovakia) wereequipped with older type of the Friend-Foe identification system SRO-2 Chrom.It was recognizable by the “three fingers”antennae on the top of the WSO’s cockpitcanopy windshield frame and on thebottom of the tail fin. The gun cameraS-13 was mounted on the port side on thefront of the joint section of the wing andthe vertical pylon. This corresponded tothe Hind D, but the early Hinds E lackedthe small, bulged antenna of the warningsystem S3M Sirena (it was also absenton the rear of the outer pods). Instead,the Czechoslovak Hinds E used themore advanced passive system L-006Beryozka (birch) installed in the bulkyoval covers on both sides of the frontfuselage between front and rear cockpit.These were quite popular among pilotsas they were used as handy shelves forthe map cases or helmets prior to orafter the flight. Behind and under theport Beryozka antenna, there was a fixedlanding light FFP-7 added. On the trailingedge of the tail, two small bulges of thewarning system antennae were added.These were monitoring the rear area.The early Hinds E also kept the frame inthe wheel bay separating the port andstarboard compartments.The early Hind D were additionallyequipped with the flare dispensersASO-2V. These were fixed to the rear ofthe tail by the metal belts encircling thetail. The early Hinds E had the dispensersscrewed directly into the frame of the tail.As the Hind E was developed the laterseries (Nos 0786 through 0790 and 0812through 0816 in Czechoslovakia) had thegun camera removed from the port sidewing and a new type (SS-45) installed inthe rear pilot-in-command cockpit in thecase on the right side of the gunsight. Theabove-mentioned frame in the main wheelbay was removed, which was greeted bytechnicians as it made easier the accessto the serviced components in the bay.The choppers with tail numbers 0832through 0839 presented another step inthe development of the Hinds E suppliedto Czechoslovakia: The covers of theL-006 system were moved behind therear cockpit and raised out of reachfrom the ground. The three-fingersSRO-2 antennae were changed for thetrapezoidal antennae of new system62-01 Parol. As a third visible change, theflare dispensers were moved from thetail to the rear of the center section ofthe fuselage behind and above the wing.Also, their number was increased fromfour to six (three on each side). Theyfirstly had covers, but as their removaland fixing during maintenance was rathercomplicated, the covers were gone onlater series of Hind E.The last Hinds E supplied to Czecho-slovakia were choppers with the numbers0927, 0928 and 0929. They sported minorchanges on the instrument panel in therear cockpit, but otherwise were thesame as the previous ones. Two of thesewere lost in fatal air crashes and sevenairmen were killed.After several technical inspections andoverhauls, most of the oldest Hinds Ein the inventory of the Czech army werediscarded and Nos. 0702, 0710, 0788,0790, 0815, 0835 and 0839 were sold toAAL company from United Arab Emirates.After some non-specified overhaul, theywere sold – probably to Libya or Sudan.First modernizationAfter the political changes in 1989, firstupgrades to the Czechoslovak Hinds Ewere made. Due to the rising numberof participations on Western airshows,HISTORYThe original type designation of Hind E was Mi-24V, wherethe letter V means “vysotnyi” which translates as “high-altitude”. This corresponds to engines' higher power availableat higher level. This allowed not only a higher ceiling but, mostimportantly, the ability to hover at higher height above sealevel, both with or without the ground effect.The first batch of Hinds E sported the gun camera placed in the intersection of the end of the wing and theend pylon like on the Hind D but the small bumpy antenna of the warning S3M Sirena system is missing.Photo: authorINFO Eduard25April 2023Page 26
equipment had to be added to ensureat least very basic “westernalization”.The GPS system, digital feet-calibratedaltimeter and western-standard trans-ponder were added. The GPS antennawas mounted on the frame of thewindshield of the WSO’s cockpit and thewhite fin-shaped antennae of the APX-100transponder were placed behind the frontwheel bay and on the top of the tail boom.Stealth HindThe Hind E No. 0837 was selected forthe trials of the special surface finish.Rubber panels covered nearly the wholefuselage with intention to delete the radarfrequency and so make the helicopterless visible on the radar screens. Thenew surface was also painted with anexperimental camo scheme. The paint wasto degrade the visibility of the helicopterthrough the night vision goggles. None ofthe measures proved efficient, the onlyeffect, apart of the smooth surface (theriveting was hidden under the rubberpanels), was the added weight whichunbalanced the weight distribution of thechopper.The weaponsApart of the above-mentioned ATGMsShturm replacing the much slowerFalanga, Hind E had a much wider varietyof weapons. There were unguided rocketblocks B8V20 of 80 mm caliber, gun podsGUV either with 30 mm grenade launcher9-A-669 or with one 12,7 mm 9-A-624 four-barrel Gatling gun plus two 7,62 mm onesof the same system. Another option werecannon pods containing two-barrel UPK-23/250 cannon of 23 mm caliber, minecontainers KMGU-2 or rocket launchersRM-122. More to it, up to four external fueltanks, each of 450 liters of volume, couldbe fitted to the inner and outer racks. TheShturm missiles could be fitted not only tothe end pylons, but also to the outer racksthrough special adapters, increasing themaximum number of ATGMs to eight.Prior to the political changes at the end of1989, one set of the exhaust gas coolingsystem (EVU) was supplied, but it wasnever used. This system was eventuallytested by the Czech army in 2002 witha new set of the same type previouslysupplied.The “new” generationAs a part of the debts payments byRussian Federation to Czech Republic,17 new Hinds E were supplied to theCzech army between 2003 and 2006.Seven of them kept the older designationMi-24V, while ten others were designatedMi-35, which was the export designationof basically the same aircraft . But someminor differences existed.The first batch consisted of sevenchoppers numbered 7353 through 7358plus 0981. They were all powered by thenew engines TV3-117VMA and the flaredispensers were fitted differently to thefuselage. The cockpits were painted inblack instead of the turquoise color usedpreviously. This change was done with aimto allow use of the night vision goggles(NVG). Unfortunately, the illumination wasnot NVG compatible, so the effort wasuseless.As there was no GPS system installed,these choppers were in fact the same asthose supplied in the eighties, includingthe Cyrillic stenciling in the cockpits.What was missing was the systemFriend-Foe, so these machines hadneither the antennae of the SRO-2 Chrom,nor the 62-01 Parol. But early into use,these new choppers were fitted withAPX-100 transponders and a little bitlater also with LUN 3520 radio of Czechorigin. The T-shaped black antenna wasfitted on the tail slightly to the right side.In the WSO cockpit, the control panel wasHISTORYThe chopper number 0836 demonstrates the form of the final supply during the existence of the socialist Czechoslovakia. On the frame of the windshield of the WSO’scockpit there is the trapezoidal antenna of the 62-01 Parol system and the bulky covers of the L-006 Beryozka system are already moved behind the rear cockpit.Photo: Petr SoukopINFO Eduard26April 2023Page 27
HISTORYThe control panel of the new radio LUN 3520 allowing continuous change of thefrequency replaced the Doppler navigation system DISS and the navigational datawere instead supplied by the GPS system.Control panel of the LUN 3520 radio was fitted over the left front weaponry panelin the cockpit of WSO.The cargo compartment with two black cases for the NVG system accessory.Control panel of the infrared-guided missile countermeasure system L-166V-11E„Ispanka“ was located next to the right front weaponry panel in the WSO’s cockpit.Left side of the WSO’s cockpit already in black color with English stenciling and theconversion table from feet to meters. Necessary, as the altimeters were calibratedin meters.The proof the chopper number 3365 was originally (or was intended to be) Hind F …Photo: authorPhoto: authorPhoto: authorPhoto: authorPhoto: authorPhoto: authorINFO Eduard27April 2023Page 28
mounted on the left front panel while inthe rear cockpit of the pilot-in-commandit replaced the now obsolete Dopplernavigation system DISS.Next supplied were three Hinds Enow designated Mi-35 as mentionedpreviously. These were Nos. 7360, 3361and 3362. These choppers were alreadyNVG compatible, the cockpit stencilingwas in English. In the cargo compartment,there are two black cases hanged on thestarboard side to store the NVG cabling.These choppers were equipped with theGPS antenna fitted to the tube of theDUAS system. To be honest, the solutiondeveloped by the LOK (Aviation RepairShops in Kbely; Kbely being part ofPrague) looked much better …As a new transponder KT-76C wasinstalled, its antenna was placed on thebottom of cover of the Shturm guidingsystem. This placement was ratherunhappy, as the antenna was quitevulnerable when the towing shaft was tobe fitted. Due to that, it was moved to theformer position behind the front wheelbay like in the case of APX-100. As theKT-76C did not need the second antenna,there was none on the tail boom.Last sevenThe very last of the Hinds E suppliedeither to Czechoslovakia or to CzechRepublic (Slovakia only received theformer Czechoslovak Hinds D and Ein the process of dividing the assetsof Czechoslovakia and did not buy anynew Hinds) were seven examples withnumbers from 3365 to 3371. They werein the same configuration as the threepreviously supplied and underwent thesame changes regarding the transpondersand radio installations. Later, four of them(3367, 3368, 3370 and 3371) got the KT-76Ctransponders replaced by APX-119 . It wasvisible by minor change of the position ofthe antenna behind the front wheel bay(from centerline slightly to the starboardside) and the second antenna was addedagain on the top of the tail boom. At theend of the Hinds E service in Czecharmy, the short-wave radio Jadro wasdeleted and with it also its wire antennaebetween the rear fuselage and horizontalstabilizers.Of the 17 newly supplied Hinds E, 11 wentthrough general overhaul in the LOM(Aviation Repair Shop Malešice; Malešicebeing part of Prague) company. Theygot the same colors (so-called NATOstandard, as described in Czech army)as they were supplied from Russia incompliance with Czech requirements,but as the colors were not sprayed withthe use of templates, the borders of thecolor shades are diffuse. The twelfth HindE planned for the general overhaul didnot make it, as it was lost in an accident(engine failure while conducting the hovercheck ).Why just the Hinds E?There might be a question why the CzechRepublic opted for the already obsoleteHind E during negotiations with theHISTORYA nice view on the rear cockpit illuminated for the use with the NVG.Photo: David VšetíčekINFO Eduard28April 2023Page 29
Russian side and did not ask for the muchmore advanced Hind J or its derivatives.There was for sure the aspect of theprice, as the Hind J would have been moreexpensive and so less of them would havebeen supplied. But the main reason was(according to some sources) that thearmy did not want to enter a new type intoits inventory due to logistic reasons. Andmore to it, there was a quite ambitiousplan for upgrades, which was to beshared by the V4 states (Czech Republic,Slovakia, Poland and Hungary). But theplan collapsed and in effect it markedthe beginning of the end of the Hinds Ein the Czech army. Although a toughattack and transport helicopter, it hadonly the essential avionics to be allowedto fly in the modern airspace of the 21stcentury and would be sentenced to doomin the modern battlefield, as it lacks allthe modern Defensive Avionics Systemsas well as target and data acquisitionsystems.In fact, the request for Hinds E supply wasquite a surprise for Russians because thisversion was already out of production forseveral years. But they finally fulfilled therequest, although rather peculiarly. Theairframes of the Hinds E supplied werenot newly manufactured, which is clearlysupported by the fact the serial numberswere the continuation of the line of theHinds F supplied to Niger. The 3365 HindE, i.e., Mi-24V, even had a Mi-35P machinedata-plate. According to the author’s ownexperience, that he got during his 2001stay in the Rostov factory, where theHinds are produced, it was a commonpractice for a Hind E to enter the generaloverhaul to leave it as an Hind F.In the foreign servicesApart of the older Hinds E sold to AAL,Czech Republic donated six of thesehelicopters to Afghan government. Inthe Afghan National Army, they got newnumbers 113 (originally 0836), 114 (0703),115 (0816), 116 (0834), 117 (0838) and 118(0812). During the general overhaul priorto being sent to Afghanistan they receivedthe more powerful TV3-117VMA engines,while all the GPS and identificationequipment was removed. VHF and UHFradios were installed and the T-shapedwhite antennae were placed on the top ofthe tail boom (for the AT-160 COM1) andon its bottom (AT-160 COM2). Probably themost visible change was the installationof the long tubular antenna of the HFradio 10-389. It ran alongside the wholetail boom on the starboard side. Therewere also several other minor upgradesand changes. These choppers served inAfghanistan very reliably form the end ofNovember 2008 until their dischargementin 2016.HISTORYAntennae of the APX-100 transponder were fitted behind the front wheel bay and on the top of the tail boom.Photo: authorDetail of the GPS antenna fitting developed in LOK.Photo: authorINFO Eduard29April 2023Page 30
HISTORYThis part of our series will be a summary of theevents in the past 12 months. In the end, as usual,we focus on the events taking place betweenFebruary 1 to March 1 and relevant tothe air war.February 2022For several months the Russian troops weregathering near the Ukrainian borders and theAmerican intelligence services warned it was notan exercise but preparation for the invasion. Thegovernment in Kremlin repeatedly stated that itwas not going to attack Ukraine, on the contrarythe troops would be withdrawn after the exercisewas completed. None of it was true. On Thursday,February 24. 2022, early morning the massivebombing of the targets all over the entire Ukrainestarted and the Russian troops attacked in fourdirections – to Kiev, Kharkov, Donbas and Khersonfrom Crimea. The most important target was Kiev.Putin’s army wanted to capture the capital andconsequently the whole country in a couple of days.The paratroopers from the helicopters were taskedto capture the airport Hostomel near Kiev so thatthe reinforcements and heavy equipment could bemoved there by the transportation airplanes. TheRussians however failed to capture Kiev and kill orcapture Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky.He refused the American offer to evacuate saying:“I need ammo not a ride!”March 2022The Russian advance on Kiev and Kharkov wasstalled and was very slow in Donbas. The Russiansmade a rapid advance in the south only. The localUkrainian command there failed miserably inorganizing the defenses, a criminal deed in fact. Ina couple of days, Kherson, north-west of Crimeaand Melitopol, north-east of Crimea, were captured.Mariupol was surrounded but the advance fromKherson to Mykolaiv and Odessa was halted byUkrainians. The key moment was the Russian defeatat Voznesensk. At Kiev the Russians tried to breakthrough with a convoy many kilometers long. TheUkrainian troops however (and Russian logisticalmistakes) stopped the convoy and significant partsof it were destroyed. Without supplies the Russianshad to start a retreat.April 2022In the beginning of month, the Russians had towithdraw from the areas north of Kiev. After they lefta lot of evidence was found about the massacre ofcivilians in the town of Bucha and other cities. Afterits retreat from Kiev, the Russian army started tofocus on Donbas where heaviest fighting has takenplace since. Even though Russians withdrew fromcertain areas, they continued to shell the Ukrainiancities with missiles. Step by step the military aid forUkraine started. In the beginning of April Slovakiawas among the first countries to offer aid bydelivering S-300 AA system. In the middle of April,in the Black Sea, the cruiser Moscow, a flagship ofthe Russian Black Sea Fleet was sunk having beenhit by two Ukrainian missiles.May 2022The Ukrainians started heavy shelling and bombingof the Snake Island located near the coast andborder with Romania. The island controls theshipping routes to Odessa. The Russians capturedit during the first day of war. In the middle ofMay, the defenders of the steelworks Azovstal inMariupol were ordered to cease the resistance.By May 20 all of them surrendered. Even thoughthese days is considered taboo, during thismonth the Ukrainians received their first aircraftText: Miro BaričPhoto: Ukrajinian armed forces, social media and other public sourcesThe air war over UkraineA year of bloodshedThe first UH-60 Black Hawk of the Ukrainian GRU military intelligence.Even though the Russian aggression against Ukraine startedin the Crimea and Donbas in February 2014, and their terroristactivities even sooner, in February this year we commemoratedthe first anniversary of the Russian attack on the whole Ukrainianterritory. It is the largest conflict in Europe since 1945.INFO Eduard30April 2023Page 31
HISTORYdeliveries – 21 decommissioned Mig-29 fightersfor the spare parts and 14 Su-25 combat aircraft.The deliveries were made through the mediatingparties.June 2022In their advance in Donbas the Russians tookadvantage especially of their overwhelminglysuperior artillery. Therefore, the Ukrainians startedto receive the new 155 mm howitzers from the Alliesand above all HIMARS rocket launchers which arecrucial for destroying the Russian ammunitiondumpsters, bridges and command posts. In June theCzech Mi-24 and Slovak Mi-17 helicopters arrivedin Ukraine. In the end of the month, after anotherseries of successful Ukrainian attacks, the Russiantroops had to flee from the Snake Island. On theother side, after a long-lasting effort the Russiansmanaged to capture the city of Severodonetsk inthe Luhansk area.July 2022The front line practically stalled. In the beginningof month, the Russians captured Lysychansk butdid not advance any further. The fiercest battleswere fought for the town of Bakhmut and have beengoing on until the present time. The Ukrainiansstarted to successfully deploy HIMARS rocketlaunchers to destroy the Russian ammunition andfuel dumpsters. The Russians retaliated by bombingthe civilian targets.August 2022The Ukrainians received the anti-radar HARMmissiles a started to use them successfully toblind the Russian AA defense. During this monththe large-scale attacks were launched againstthe Russian military airports on the occupiedCrimea. On August 29 the long-awaited Ukrainiancounterattack was launched in the Kherson area.September 2022While the Russians focused on the defense ofthe Kherson area the Ukrainian troops launcheda surprise attack on the other side of the frontline. In a couple of days, they liberated Balakliya,Kupyansk and Izyum and by the end of the monthLyman and practically the whole Kharkov area.Putin reacted by declaring partial mobilization eventhough only in March he promised that there wouldnot be any. The hastily organized referendums aboutthe annexation to Russia took place on the occupiedterritories. The Russians started to use the Iraniankamikaze drones to bomb the Ukrainian cities.October 2022The counterattack towards Kherson continued.On October 6, in the vee hours, the explosion tookplace on the Kerch bridge connecting the occupiedCrimea with Russia, one road lane was destroyed,and the railway section was seriously damaged. OnOctober 29 in Sevastopol the attack of the remote-controlled boats against the Russian warshipsat anchor took place. The Russians launched thebombing campaign against the Ukrainian energyinfrastructure.The memorial with the MiG-17 aircraft in Bachmut underwentrenovation shortly before the war.Belarusian volunteers from the Kastuś Kalinoŭski regiment in Bachmut.The MiG-17 at the memorial was eventually destroyed like most of the town of Bakhmut.A Ukrainian soldier takes a picture infront of the memorial in Bachmut duringthe fighting.INFO Eduard31April 2023Page 32
HISTORYNovember 2022On November 11, the Ukrainian troops liberatedKherson. It has been only 42 days since Putindeclared the city will be Russian forever. At Bakhmutthe fighting in the muddy trenches, reminiscent ofWWI, continued. The Russian bombing of the civilianinfrastructure continued as well. As a reaction to it,the West started to supply Ukraine with the modernAA defense systems.December 2022The muddy terrain did not allow any significantmovements at the frontline. The Ukrainians, usingthe drones, attacked the airports from wherethe Russian strategic bombers took off. The USApromised Ukraine the delivery of the Patriot AAdefense system and later were joined by Germanyand Netherlands as well.January 2023The New Year started with the largest massacreof the Russian soldiers when the building wherehundreds of them stayed for celebrations, includingthe stored ammunition, was hit by HIMARS missiles.There was an ammunition dumpster in that buildingas well. After several months, the Russiansachieved the breakthrough at Bakhmut. They tookadvantage of the poorly planned Ukrainian troopsrotation and captured the town of Soledar northof Bakhmut. Germany and USA promised UkraineMarder and Bradley AFVs.February 2023The Russians continued with the push they initiatedimmediately after the New Year. They tried toattack along the whole frontline, from Kupyanskand Kremnina at the junction of the Kharkov andLuhansk areas through Bakhmut and Avdiivka inDonetsk up to Vuhledar. The pressure at places wasenormous accompanied by large losses, but theadvance was minimal. According to some reports,in two months since the beginning of the year theRussians captured only 85 square kilometers ofterritory. Each square kilometer of the Ukrainianterritory gained cost them 250 soldiers killed …Especially at Vuhledar, where they stubbornlyattacked across the large, widely open terrain, theRussians suffered big losses – they lost more thanhundred tanks and armored vehicles and the wholeMarine brigade.Russian lossesSeveral aircraft and helicopters were reportedshot down on both sides, but these claims couldnot be verified. Same as during the previousmonths, many of these destroyed aircraft couldbe only documented later when the wrecks werediscovered, and the new images surfaced. Thedestruction of the Russian Mi-35M helicopter (othersources stated Mi-24VM) was confirmed howeveras it had to perform emergency landing on February9 near the frontline at Tokarivka in the Kharkovarea, barely 3 kilometers from the Russian border.Immediately after landing it was destroyed by theartillery fire from the 14th Independent MechanizedBrigade of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. This wasrecorded on video by a drone and later photographsappeared showing a helicopter wreck lying on theside. On Monday, February 13, the Russian SukhoiRussia launched at least six balloons with corner radar reflectors into Ukraine onFebruary 15. At least one of them was shot down by Ukrainian air defense forces.A Russian Mi-35M had to make an emergency landing near Tokarivka in the Kharkivregion on February 9 and was subsequently destroyed by Ukrainian artillery.Su-25 with designation RF-95143 and fuselage number “yellow 37” photographedin February 2022 in Belarus and destroyed a year later in Belgorod Oblast.INFO Eduard32April 2023Page 33
HISTORYSu-24M, carrying registration RF-93799 and bortnumber “blue 45”, was hit above Bakhmut by theportable missiles. Its crew members belonged tothe so-called Wagner mercenary group. Despitethe number thirteen in the date, the aviators werelucky and managed to land the burning aircraftat their home base. On February 23, the pilot ofthe Su-25SM carrying registration RF-95143 andbort number “yellow 37”, was not so lucky. On hisreturn from the combat mission, he crashed nearthe village of Orekhovo in the district of Valyukiin Belgorod area. The cause of the crash wassupposed to be a mechanical failure. The pilot fromthe 266th Squadron of the Attack Aviation did notsurvive.Ukrainian lossesDuring the reported period, loss of one Ukrainianaircraft was confirmed. On February 13 nearPishchanka in Vinnytsa area, while interceptingthe Iranian-made drones Shahed-136, a Mig-29was destroyed. Its pilot, Lieutenant DmytroShklyarevskyi saved himself on the ejection seatbut suffered injuries and had to be hospitalized.From the hospital the pilot wrote that he hadsurvived by a miracle and an operation wasawaiting him. On the same day, the informationappeared in the Ukrainian media that after fourmonths long recovery Major Vadym Voroshylovfrom 204th Brigade of the Tactical Aviation returnedto the duty. We wrote about him in the previousparts of this series. On October 12 he shot downfive Shahed-136 drones and the debris from the lastone hit his Mig-29 and he also had to eject. Hangingon the parachute he took a selfie of his bloodiedface – in this way he wanted to check his wounds.Also, the images of the Ukrainian Mi-8, hit underunknown circumstances in the previous period,appeared. First, on February 13, an image of theMi-8MSB-V sporting digital camouflage and bortnumber “yellow 88”, was published. The fuselageof the damaged helicopter was filmed during itsground transportation. Immediately next day, onFebruary 14, the video of another Mi-8MSB-V wreckcarrying digital camouflage, appeared. The wreck,lying in the snow-covered countryside, was filmedfrom the board of another Mi-8. No further detailsare known at this time.Equipment deliveriesOn February 21, the Ukrainian military intelligenceservice GRU published the photograph of thefirst Black Hawk helicopter in its service. Basedon the coloration it was determined that it wasShots of the wreckageof a Ukrainian Mi-8helicopter from thedeck of anotherchopper of this type.Su-24M of the Ukrainian Air Force. The yellow coloring of the lower surfaces is to prevent firing from their own ranks.Damaged Ukrainian Mi-8MSB-V in digitalcamouflage during ground transport.Sequence of shots of a Ukrainian Tu-143 drone launching from an SPU-143 wheeled launcher.INFO Eduard33April 2023Page 34
HISTORYmost likely the former US Army UH-60A serialnumber 80-23439 which later received the civilianregistration N60FW and was modernized by AceAeronautics company from Alabama. After a longdiplomatic pressure, Germany, USA and the GreatBritain committed to deliveries of the moderntanks Leopard 2, Abrams and Challenger 2. Othercountries joined the effort to deliver Leopard tanks,Poland in the first place. Training of the Ukrainiantank crews began in Germany, Poland and GreatBritain and during our reporting period the firstLeopard 2A4 tanks arrived in Ukraine from Poland.After this delivery the discussion started aboutdeliveries of fighters and long-range missiles.We will talk about this next time.Russian improvisationsWhile the stream of the modern armor is comingto Ukraine increasing variety of the emergencymodifications appear on the Russian side. In a yearof fighting Russians lost more than 1700 tanks, 2100AFVs and further 1000 armored personnel carriersand other armored vehicles. Moreover, these areall the losses documented on the Onyx server byphotographs and videos, the actual losses will beeven higher. The high losses lead to the deploymentof the artillery tractor MT-LB, originating in the1950s, in the role of an AFV. It had not been intendedfor the first line employment therefore it featuresweak armor (maximum 10 mm on the hull) andlight armament (one 7.62 mm machine gun).To increase the firepower of these vehicles theRussians started to install the naval AA cannons onthem, which were removed from the old warshipsrusting in the ports. Part of the modifications are2M-7 turrets carrying 14.5 mm caliber twin machineguns which in 1950s had been installed on the smalltorpedo and patrol boats.The 2M-3 turrets carrying the 25 mm caliber twincannons promise better firepower. This weaponwas produced during 1953–1984 in the Soviet Unionand was installed on patrol ships, minelayers orlanding crafts. Only the Soviet Navy used 25 mmcaliber 110-PM cannons. Their rate of fire was up to300 rounds per minute, horizontal range 2.5 km andvertical range 1.7 km. However, their installation onRussian MT-LB with 2M-7 naval turrets with two 14.5 mm caliber machine guns.MT-LB with barbette and2M-3 turret with a pair of25 mm caliber guns, whichthe Russians removed fromthe old ships.INFO Eduard34April 2023Page 35
HISTORYMT-LB is bizarre. They are welded on the ceiling ofthe rear part of the hull including the whole shipbarbette, instead of cutting the opening in thehull and putting the barbette inside. This doubledthe vehicle’s height. Originally these turrets weredesigned for the AA warfare, but they cannot meetthe current requirements. They only feature manualaiming which is sufficient for the slow flying targets.It is supposed then that these vehicles are assignedto ground warfare, to provide supporting fire for theinfantry. Due to their height, however, they presentan easy target for the opponent.Drone attacksIn addition to their effort to break through theUkrainian defense on the front line the Russianscontinued with shelling of the civilian infrastructurein the Ukrainian cities. During the large-scale attackon February 10, they launched 71 cruising missilesout of which 61 were shot down by the Ukrainian AAfire. 20 Shahed-136 drones were destroyed as well.However, the rockets that penetrated the defensehit and damaged four power stations. In additionto the missiles and drones the Russians started tolaunch the balloons. They carry the radar reflectorswhich deflect the radar microwaves back to itsantenna. This causes a strong disturbance on theradar screen. The goal is to disable the UkrainianAA defense. Not only the Ukrainians waste theprecious rockets on the useless balloon, but thechances are that the actual missiles will breakthrough as the anti-weapon will be confused bymultiple targets. The Ukrainians also retaliated bythe drone attacks. During February 27 and 28 thewhole series of incidents took place deep in theRussian territory. Ukrainians do not officially claimthem but the whole situation looks like testing thecapabilities of the variety of UAVs before the large-scale attack. There were different types of dronesused on different targets. The Russians officialstatement is that all these drones were shot downand no damages were sustained which is not quitetrue in the case of Tuapse on the Black Sea coast.On Tuesday, February 28 the Rosneft oil refinerywas damaged by the drone explosion. A smaller firebroke out. The Russians were lucky as the explosionand fire took place away of the main oil tanks.At the same time the attack of at least 15 droneswas launched on the targets in Crimea, at least twohit Belgorod in the Russian territory. The old Tu-141Strizh jet reconnaissance drone, full of explosives,crashed in the Krasnodar southern outskirts. Onedrone crashed right next to the gas compressorstation in Kolomen area which is only 100 kmsouth of Moscow! No surprise the the Russiansstarted to build the AA defense around Moscowand even the Pancir AA systems appeared on theroofs of several houses in the Russian capital.However, the most daring attack against theRussian targets took place at the end of Februaryin Belarus. On February 26, at the Machulishchybase near Minsk two explosions damaged BerievA-50U AWACS aircraft. The Russian AF has beenoperating out of this base since the beginning ofwar and besides A-50U Mig-31s are flown out ofthere. The attack was supposedly conducted bythe Belorussian resistance who consequentlyfled the country. According to their claims theydamaged the radome and the hump containing thesatellite communication located behind the pilot’scockpit. They used two commercial drones eachcarrying 200 grams of explosives. At least thehump damaged behind the cockpit was recordedon video and later confirmed by satellite images.Destroying the electronics effectively disabledA-50U from performing its missions even thoughthe flight capabilities were not impaired by suchsmall charges. A couple of days later the aircraftwas flown in for repairs. The question is how fastthe Russians can fix it. Only seven A-50U were builtin 10 years, between 2011 and 2021.Satellite shot of Maxar after the attack. Damage to the hump on the fuselageand the antenna dish are discernible.Russian Defense Ministry photo of an A-50U before the drone attack.Footage of the attacking drone. It landed on a hump with antennason the back of the aircraft and exploded there.A drone also crashed near Kolomna, just 100 kmfrom Moscow, on February 28.A satellite image of an A-50U at Belarus’ Machulishchy airport was takenby Planet Labs PBC shortly before the attack.INFO Eduard35April 2023Page 36
HISTORYWreckage of a Tu-141 Strizh drone that landedon the outskirts of Krasnodar on February 28.Drones also landed on Belgorod on February 27 .Refinery in Tuapse damaged by drone strike on February 28.INFO Eduard36April 2023Page 37
#82183BOXART STORYWhen the first prototype Z-326, serial number301 with the OK-90 matriculation (laterchanged to OK-LHA), took off at 9.20 a.m onAugust 12, 1957, it marked a further extensionof the Z-26 series production. It was toend with the Z-226 version, but persistentinterest abroad eventually exacted not onlythe resumption of production, but also a fairlysignificant modernization of the entire design.The Z-326 with its retractable undercarriageand new cockpit canopy moved further awayfrom the original design of a wooden wingand tailplane underpowered aircraft witha four-cylinder engine. In the form of theZ-326 Trener Master, it was an all-metal,six-cylinder aircraft with the aforementionedretractable landing gear, which, like theZ-226T, was also very good in aerobatics(though not as good, being heavier) and couldalso be used for basic training of both civilianand military pilots, as well as for flying forfun or towing gliders.The Czechoslovak People’s Army ordered tenC-305s, a slightly modified military versionof the civilian version, after good experiencewith the previous C-5, C-105 and C-205versions. These aircraft, delivered in 1960,sported several minor changes. They hadsmall signal lights on the undercarriage legcovers, illumination of the cockpit and flaresdispenser with a small control panel in thecockpit. The undercarriage lights were notthere to illuminate the surface during taxi,but to signal the undercarriage is down. Asthe C-305s had all the instruments neededfor night flying, future military pilots did so.A young pilot often had a full plate during hisfirst night solos, even with such an easy-to-control aircraft the Trener was. So, the riskof forgetting to deploy the landing gear andsubsequently bellying the aircraft was high.Two small lights therefore signaled to theobserver on the ground the landing gear ofthe aircraft was down. In case no lights werevisible a flare was fired to “wake up” the pilot,who either still had time to get the wheelsdown or he had not and then retracted theflaps, gave the full throttle and went foranother try.C-305s were also used for training Indonesianpilots in Czechoslovakia then nearly all ofthem were gradually handed over to Svazarm(organization for cooperation between civiliansector and army) from 1970. The aircraft withnumber 0610 was among the last to be handedover. This was done in September 1972 andthe aircraft was assigned to the Kladno AeroClub and obtained the OK-OTE registration. Itwas one of the C-305s that were deliveredto the army in simple aluminum overpaintinstead of the more attractive green-bluemetallic supplemented with blue and whitestripes on the fuselage. And in this form theformer 0610 began its civilian career. Not longafterwards, a cartoon of a cheerful crab waspainted on the left side of the engine cowling.The painting was inspired by the well-known author of animal-themed cartoons,Pavel Kantorek. In addition, the front of theengine cover was painted blue while thewing tips and the upper part of the verticalstabilizer were painted red. A little later, theundercarriage covers got black paint withtwo stripes (presumably white). Later still,as part of the overhaul, OK-OTE receiveda red paint job in standard Z-226, but it can’tbe said to have helped its appearance... In theend, however, it got the attractive metallicmilitary coloring mentioned above. It wasdone in the Zbraslav Aero Club in 2008 afterthe aircraft was repaired from a previousaccident. Today it is in the possession of theMilitary Historical Institute, unfortunately ina non-airworthy condition.In 1972, however, it was still in good shape,albeit with one limitation: “OK-OTE wasclassified in Normal category and thus wasnot allowed to fly aerobatics. It was due tothe collision with another C-305 in which itsuffered major fuselage damage during itsmilitary career. Before it was modified fortowing of gliders, we used it only for trainingday and night and for navigation flights,”recalls Jasoň Kučera, a long-time member ofthe Kladno Aero Club.On the boxart of kit No. 82183, made by AdamTooby, an unspecified aeroclub memberfrom Kladno is flying with OK-OTE overthe beautiful landscape of the KřivoklátProtected Landscape Area. Apparently beforethe OK-OTE got the towing equipment, andalso before the landscape below became thePLA Křivoklát...Text: Richard PlosIllustration: Adam ToobyHappy crabINFO Eduard37April 2023Page 38
The Battle of Britain is one of a long list oflegendary milestones that defined World WarTwo, though it’s the only one that played outexclusively in the air. Between August 8 andOctober 31, 1940, the Luftwaffe paid for theBattle of Britain with the loss of 221 Bf 110s,either destroyed outright or heavily damaged.Approximately four hundred of their airmenwere either killed in action, captured, orseriously injured. German airmen includingBf 110 and bomber crews claimed 2,169victories.The RAF experienced Bf 110 crews createda defensive circle (Abwehrkreis), but this wasnot always a strictly defensive manoeuvre.Bf 110 airmen often used it as a decoy toattract the attention of the enemy and allowtheir bomber colleagues to escape.However, if a Bf 110 crew had the freedom tochoose the tactical situation, the advantagesof their aircraft could be used with greatsuccess against Spitfires and Hurricanes,such as concentrated firepower, long range,better initial acceleration in a dive, better rateof climb and a higher operational altitude.But when Bf 110 crews were forced to providedirect escort to the bombers, they could getinto trouble because of the lower speed ofbombers. If they wished to retain their speedadvantage, the German fighters were forcedto manoeuvre around the bomber formation.In a way, they were like dogs on a chain.This was the situation that RAF fightersobserved when defending against the air raidof September 3, 1940, re-created in artworkby Piotr Forkasiewicz. The Luftwaffe sent 73bombers escorted by nearly 500 fighters tothe targets near London. The bombers weredivided into several groups. A formation ofthirty Do 17s from II./KG 2 hit the North Wealdairfield, escorted by Bf 110s from I./ZG 2 andIII./ZG 26 and Bf 109s from JG 26.On departure, the Germans got into a dogfightwith Hurricanes from No. 17 Sqn RAF andCzechoslovak No. 310 Sq as well as Spitfiresfrom No. 19, 54 and 222 Sqn RAF. A total offive Bf 110s from I./ZG 2 went down. Off theEnglish coast, I./ZG 26 joined the defence.One Bf 110 was lost by I./ZG 26 another one byII./ZG 26 (plus one damaged) and two had tobe written off by III./ZG 26.Al Deere of No. 54 Sqn RAF was trying toget into a firing position behind one Bf 110of ZG 26 when his target was unexpectedlyattacked by Colin Gray in a vertical dive.To Deere's surprise and considerabledispleasure, the enemy aircraft burst intoflames under the fire of his colleague. He hadto admit, however, that Gray had performedan incredible feat of marksmanship. But toboost the artillery men's morale the victorywas eventually credited to the AA unit, to thechagrin of all the airmen.The Germans lost only one Dornier 17. TheBf 110s crews scored some 20 victories and,according to British records, can be creditedwith about nine RAF fighters shot down andseven damaged. Five RAF pilots were killedand six suffered injuries. Although the Bf 110were chained to the bombers like dogs, theycould bite to death. The machine “3U+GT”,which is depicted in Piotr’s artwork, belongedto 9./ZG 26 that emerged successfully fromthe battle. Two Spitfires were claimed byOfhr. Lugger, one Spitfire and one Hurricanewere claimed by Lt. Sidow while Lt. Grisslichand Ofw. Hott each shot down a Spitfire. Thecrew of the badly damaged “3U+GT” made anemergency landing at Wissant without injury,but their machine had to be written off.How successful was the Bf 110 in the role offighter in the Battle of Britain? There are welldocumented victories and losses of Spitfire,Hurricane and Bf 109 units, giving their kill/loss ratios as 1.7, 1.2 and 1.5 respectively. TheBf 110 units are a bit enigmatic due to missingdetailed records about their victories. Only216 aerial victories are documented in detailbetween August 8 and October 31, 1940.However, this figure is based on records ofonly three Zerstörergruppen, while details offour others are completely missing!However, from the data of the higherLuftwaffe command, it is known that duringthe abovementioned period, Bf 110 andbomber crews claimed almost 600 victories.If we accept the estimate that 75 % of thisfigure was achieved by Bf 110 airmen, then weget an unexpected champion of the Battle ofBritain. The kill/loss ratio for the Bf 110 wouldbe 2! Despite this achievement, the battleended with the first German failure since thebeginning of the war.BOXART STORY #8209Text: Jan BobekIllustration: Piotr ForkasiewiczLike dogs on chainsINFO Eduard38April 2023Page 39
#84117BOXART STORYOn February 11, 1943, with the help of Sovietaviation units, the Soviet 55th Army ofLeningrad Front continued its offensive asa part of the “Polar Star” operation againstGerman Army Group Nord. So the fightersof JG 54 created an “umbrella” over theGerman ground units to prevent raids bygroups of Soviet ground attack aircraft. Thefollowing description covers only one hour offighting over the front.One of the Shturmovik groups consisted offour Il-2s of 57. ShAP KBF led by St. Lt. V.Soldatov escorted by Kpt. A. Baturin’s fiveI-153s 71. IAP KBF approached the frontlinearound 11:35 and was reportedly interceptedby more than 10 Fw 190 and Bf 109 fighters.Soviet biplanes were tied in air combat andset up a defensive circle, but despite all thecombat instructions demanding Il-2 leaders tokeep with their fighter escort, the Shturmovikgroup continued its way along the routePopovka–Nikolskoye seeking for targets. Asa result, all were lost.They were attacked by several 2./JG 54Fw 190s. Apparently the Shturmoviks, mostof which were one-seaters without gunners,decided to split and try to reach Soviet linesin two pairs. Those two who turned right wereattacked by Oblt. H. Götz (claims at 11:33 and11:40) and Fw. H-J. Kroshinski (11:35), while theleft pair was shot down by Lt. A. Mack (11:38)and Fw. Otto Kittel (11:42). It is supposed thefirst aircraft downed was a wingman’s one-seater with board number 41 piloted by youngSgt. Pavel Myakinkiy. The others were one-seaters No. 33 and No. 39 of deputy squadroncommander Soldatov (credited with some15 combat sorties) and Stn. A. Litvinov(2 sorties) and two-seater No. 35.As it was discovered after the war, Myakinkiymanaged to survive the crash-landing andmade his way to the frontline. In the foresthe met another Soviet pilot with a broken leg.By night they plodded to Pustyn’ka railwaystation and Pavel tried to find a rest in thehouse of locals. Unfortunately, the house heknocked to was occupied by German stationguards and he was killed by a hand-grenadein the following skirmish. His wounded friendwas found in a haystack nearby and beatento death with rifle butts. Locals found Pavel’sdocuments as well as pilot’s wife letteraddressed to “Mikhail” and buried the aviators.Then JG 54 attacked another group of fourIl-2s of 57. ShAP KBF led by Ml. Lt. P. Morozovescorted by three Yak-7s, one Yak-1 of Maj. G.Romanov and four I-16 of Lt. A. Lomakin of 21.IAP KBF. The Shturmoviks arrived on the battlescene at 11:45 and had time to make their firststrafing attack against targets in Nikolskoye.On their second run they were reportedlyattacked by two Fw 190s and eight Bf 109scoming from the side and at first glanceSoviet pilots thought those were also Sovietaircraft. But they were obviously 1./JG 54’sFw 190s of Lt. H. Adameit and Uffz. R. Raupachaccompanied by 4./JG 54’s Bf 109s. The Yakswere involved in battle with the Bf 109sresulting in two apparently unsubstantiatedclaims, while Germans claimed “LaGG-3”. Yakslater joined the surviving Il-2 group north ofNeva river, without losses and escorted themsafely to Grazhdanka airfield. Before thatthe Fw 190s had managed to make severalattacks, damaging two Shturmoviks andclaiming three.A Group of two Il-2s of 943. ShAP led by Maj.Mikhail Vasilyev escorted by two Yak-1s of14. GIAP and two P-40s of 196. IAP led by St.Lt.A. Slipchenko had failed to fulfil its task andreturned to base. Behind the enemy lines nearZakhozhye the wingman rammed his leaderand Vasilyev went missing. Most probably,this is the unknown pilot with a broken legkilled together with Myakinkiy. On the wayback home the Shturmovik fighter escortwas attacked at 11:50 by lone Messerschmittwithout result.As result of the day the Luftwaffe fightersclaimed 19 Soviet aircraft shot down onLeningrad front, including 8 Il-2, 4 P-40,a P-39, 4 LaGG-3, one MiG-3 and one La-5.Two Fw 190 and one Bf 109 were shot down byfighters, one Ju 87 and one Bf 110 by groundfire. On the other hand, Soviet 13th Air Armyand subordinated navy units lost 4 Il-2, 1 La-5,1 P-40 and 1 MiG-3 shot down in air combats,one more MiG-3 made a forced landing onairfield and 2 Il-2 were damaged. One Il-2 waslost due to aerial collision and another one shotby Flak. Meanwhile the Soviet pilots claimed16 German aircraft shot down, including 6Fw 190, 5 Bf 109, 4 Ju 87, a Ju 88 plus a Ju 87and one Bf 109 claimed by AA units.Text: Andrey DikovIllustration: Marek RyśGreen Hearts UmbrellaINFO Eduard39April 2023Page 40
BOXART STORY #84187At the end of the war, the Me 262 jetspushed the boundary of flight performanceabove the level of all fighters of the time.Yet they were not invincible. In addition tothe faulty deployment and the technicalproblems, surprise or disadvantageousposition at the enemy encounter often dealtthem a fatal blow. But the biggest troublewas the landing approach, during whichthe Schwalbe was most vulnerable. In anycase, shooting down a jet was somethingspecial for any Allied fighter and by the endof the war, a good number of them had thisvaluable scalp to their credit.One of the former pilots of the Me 262,Hubert Lange, said that the most dangerousopponent in his opinion was the HawkerTempest. “It was extremely fast at lowaltitudes, very agile and heavily armed,”the German pilot recalled. Some Me 262sfell victim to a tactic known in No. 135 Wingas the “Rat Scramble”. In this scenario thescramble Tempests standed at the runwayof the B-80 Volkel Air Base waiting for thenotice about Me 262 in the air. Then theytook off immediately, but the pilots madeno attempt to engage the German jets.They instead headed straight for Rheine-Hopsten airfield where the Me 262 andAr 234 were based. The aim was to attackthe jets during their approach to land, whenthey were flying slowly with flaps deployed,so they were unable to accelerate. TheGerman response to this tactic was a strongair defense system with more than 500Anti-Aircraft batteries including over 150four-barrel 20mm Flakvierling batteriesspecifically protecting the landing approacharea. After seven Tempests were lost toflak fire at Hopsten within a week, the RatScramble tactic was abandoned.On November 3, 1944, however, W/Cdr JohnB. Wray, commander of No. 122 Wing, wasnot in the air to hunt rats. He was up for an“air test” with his personal Tempest codedJBW. At the same time, he was going to tryout the new anti-glare goggles. At 18,000 ft(5,500 m), he saw two Me 262s about 2,000ft (700 m) below. They were not at their topspeed, but spotting him, they turned tail.Wray dived on the nearest one and openedfire at 300 yards. Several 20 mm shells hittheir target, which flipped onto its back anddived vertically into the cloud. Wray claimedit as a “probable” but was only creditedwith a “damaged”. But as post-war recordsrevealed, this Schwalbe did not actuallysurvive his attack.More than a month later, on December 17,Wray took off again from Volkel Base andwas steered by No. 83 Group Control Centerto Weert, where several jets had beenspotted. Shortly after he turned his Tempestat an altitude of just 2,500 ft (760 m) to thesouth, he saw a pair of Me 262s crossing hispath, flying westwards. He began to pursuethe leader of the pair while his wingmanfocused on the other Schwalbe. Althoughboth were on full throttle, using maximumpower of their Napier Sabre engines, theMe 262s were pulling away from them,gently descending. Neither of the men inthe cockpits of the Tempests could havedone anything about it had it not been fora surprising reversal. For some reason, thepilot of the leading Schwalbe decided toturn left and continued until he was headingeast. This put him directly in front of Wray'sguns.It was perhaps only at that moment thatthe German pilot realized what a mistakehe had made and began to maneuver wildlyat low level. This was his second mistake,because instead of using full power toincrease the distance between himself andthe dangerous Tempest, he thus continuedto lose his speed advantage and probablyalso lost sight of his surroundings, hesubsequently hit a building with the wingand only a few seconds later crashedinto the waters of the nearby Rhine. Themoment just before the fatal collision withthe building was captured by Adam Toobyon his boxart. We may never know why thepilot of the Me 262 made the unfortunatemaneuver that put him in a very awkwardposition. He may not have known about theTempest pair before. In any case, he wasone of the twelve confirmed Me 262s lostin combat with the Tempests, sixteen morebeing acknowledged as damaged by theAllied pilots of these mighty fighters.Text: Richard PlosIllustration: Adam ToobyFatal mistakeINFO Eduard40April 2023Page 41
BOXART STORY#7055“Canopy, oxygen, KAP, ARK, SRO, battery, gyro,landing gear ...” The instructor listens to thepre-flight check by the student pilot in thefront cockpit. A few seconds later, the studentmoves the thrust lever forward, revs theRD-45 engine to 11,560 rpm, releases thebrakes and heads out for his examinationflight. Unless he screws up, he's in forhis desired first solo flight ... “Watch theheading,” comes the instructor’s calm voiceover the headset as the nose lifts. “He's reallygot a good memory,” flashes through thestudent’s mind as the main gear wheels leavethe concrete runway. He screwed up one ofhis first take offs as he got a little bit offthe heading of the runway and immediatelygot a telling off from the instructor. So fartoday, though, it’s looking good. He’s raisingthe landing gear, retracts flaps and takesthe engine revs down to 10,800 rpm. An eyeon the exhaust gas temperature: 680°C.That’s good. Feeling like everything's goinglike clockwork, he sets course towards thetraining zone…The year 1951 marked a major breakpoint forthe Czechoslovak Air Force. After a periodin which a handful of pilots had becomefamiliar with the S-92, i.e., the Me 262, orwith the early designs of Soviet jets asthe Yak-17 and Yak-23, the wheels of firstMiG-15s touched the runway of Mladáairbase in May. The qualitative leap from themadcap and unreliable propeller-driven AviaS-199s to the best jet available at the timewas enormous. Moreover, Czechoslovakiawas the first country to obtain the rights tolicense production of the MiG-15. A licensingagreement was signed on April 17, 1951. Thefirst ten MiG-15s were however assembledfrom parts shipped from the USSR, and thefirst of these took to the air on November 6,1951. As early as May, however, the Air Forcetook delivery of six single-seat MiG-15swhich flew in directly from the USSR. In July,they were supplemented by four two-seatersUTI MiG-15s, delivered in crates. All theseaircraft were intended for the No. 5 FighterSquadron based at Mladá airbase. It wasthe only unit in Czechoslovakia to use theS-92/CS-92 (Me 262) and S-101 (Yak-23) jets.This unit was transformed into the Air ForceJet Training Center (PVSL) on June 1, 1951 andLt. Col. Jaroslav Týkal, later CzechoslovakAir Force commander, led it for the firsttwo months.The Center first task was to retrain thepersonnel of the entire 3 Air Division, whichcommand was subsequently taken over byLt. Col. Týkal. Since then, the UTI MiG-15swere in constant use and their need grewas the number of pilots of this type wasincreasing. However, the Czechoslovakianproduction started only in 1954, until then theaircraft used for training and conversionswere delivered directly from the USSR. A totalof 3,454 MiG-15s rolled off the Czechoslovakproduction lines, and the UTI trainer wasby far the most numerous of the variantsproduced. By 1961, 2013 of them had beenproduced, most of them were exported. Only155 were destined for the Czechoslovak AirForce, where they ended their service on April1, 1983, with the 4th Squadron, of 1 FighterAir Regiment based in České Budějovice.At that time, the unit's inventory included twoUTI MiG-15s, Nos. 2311 and 2470.The aircraft No. 2463 depicted in the paintingby Kateřina Borecká, started its servicein 1957 at 15 Fighter Air Regiment based inŽatec. In 1970 it underwent repairs at theKbely Aviation Maintenance Center (LOK)and was assigned to 6 Fighter-Bomber airRegiment in Přerov. Its service ended with30 Fighter-Bomber air Regiment in HradecKrálové at the beginning of 1983.... A hand on the throttle pulled it back to speeddown to below 400 km/h, the maximum forflaps and landing gear deployment. But therewas still time for it. First, he had to obtainclearance to enter the airfield traffic pattern,then to adjust the altitude and lower thespeed even more. “Slow down descending,”comes the instructor’s voice in the headset,but more just for saying something at last, asthere wasn't a single comment from the backcockpit during the whole time of maneuveringin the training zone. On the final approach,everything looked fine and after the landinggear wheels touched the runway smoothly,he knew, he’d done it. “Are you afraid?” theinstructor snaped at him, barely out of thecockpit. “N... no, Captain,” the student pilotreplied in surprise. “Okay, so scat and prepareyourself for solo flight!”Text: Richard PlosIllustration: Kateřina BoreckáThe BreakpointINFO Eduard41April 2023Page 42
CHEMISTRYText: Josef BlažekFoto: autorWe will then focus on cyanoacrylate (CA)glues, their accessories, epoxy adhesives anddispersive type glues. We will discuss theirdifferences and their composition, how they work,and their properties that make them suitable fordifferent situations. We’ll demonstrate specificglue types, with products from Bolt due to theirwide range of products and popularity amongmodellers. However, the characteristics we willbe discussing are applicable to products fromother manufacturers as well.CYANOACRYLATE GLUESThese are also known as instant glue and oftenshortened to CA, and as the name implies,these are rapid curing systems that harden oncontact with the bonding surfaces. Practicalapplications of these types of adhesives are farand wide, to include such materials as plastics,glass, metal, fabric, paper and wood. Bondedmaterials can be dissimilar. They can easilybe obtained from hardware and hobby storesand pretty much any place that caters to thehandyman. To begin, we’ll discuss the principleon which these glues work. They are based on anunstable compound, which in this case is ethylcyanoacrylate. The compound reacts with water(or moisture in the air) to quickly harden. To geta little more technical, the chemical reactionwith water leads to reactive sites at the end ofthe molecular chains. These reactive sites thenconnect to each other under the influence of theongoing reaction, which leads to the formationof a dense network of interconnected molecules.This process is actually visible to the nakedeye. If there is a sufficient quantity of the glueapplied, the gradual hardening can be observeduntil the adhesives has hardened as a whole.On the contrary, if we spread a small amount ofglue, the whole process of gradual solidificationis extremely dynamic, which is caused by therapid penetration of moisture from the air(that is, water) into the glue. This penetrationof moisture into the glue fundamentally affectsthe speed of setting, which, from a modeler’sperspective, explains why open containers ofglue gradually set (moisture penetrates the glueafter initial opening and consequent initiation ofthe reaction).STORAGE AND SHELF LIFEOF CA GLUESThere are a lot of myths in the modellingcommunity about how to store and how notto store instant glues in order to extend theirlife. Unopened adhesives have an extendedshelf life due to the protective gas filling,but this does not mean that their shelf life isinfinite. In general, higher storage temperature,higher exposure to UV radiation (light) andhigher humidity always have negative effectson the overall life of cyanoacrylate adhesives.To give a specific example illustrating the ideaof the dynamics of the shortening of the shelflife, when storing instant glues at an ambienttemperature of about 30 degrees Celsius,the shelf life will be shortened by some 60 toInstant, Epoxy and Dispersion AdhesivesTo continue our discussion on modelling chemistry andtips for beginners (and maybe advanced modellers willfind out something new, too), we will look at more typesof adhesives that are commonly used in the hobby.Vítěz mezinárodních IPMS soutěží v kate-gorii Master a několikanásobný mistr ČR.Autor článků v mezinárodních časopisechs celosvětovým dosahem (Military IllustratedModeller, Cocardes International, ModellFan,Modelář). Spoluautor modelářského startupuPlastic Invasion.JOSEF BLAŽEKINFO Eduard42April 2023Page 43
CHEMISTRYStorage Medium Temperature Resulting Shelf LifeFreezer -18 °C 2 YearsFridge 4 °C 1 YearIndoors 18–20 °C 6 months70%, which is a relevant decrease of the overallusability of the product. It follows that the idealstorage environment is dry, cool and dark. Youhave a refrigerator or a freezer, as does everyhousehold, and this is ideal for storing CA. To thecontrary, these recommendations do not applyafter opening the glue container and exposingthe contents to the local environment. Storingopened adhesives in the refrigerator or freezerin order to extend their life is a pure myth. Theaforementioned locations provide high levelsof moisture, relatively speaking, which within theconditions of the way the glues work, impact theshelf life of the material negatively. On opening,the container with the glue loses its protective gaslayer, and the moisture can now directly activatethe chemical reaction of the adhesive. One wayto combat this might be to store the containersin plastic Tupperware with sealable lids that willrestrict the amount of moisture getting to theglue, and combine this with storage in a cool,dry dark place. But in the case of storing thecontainer in a sealable containers, it is necessaryto consider the unavoidable rise in the gluestemperature to that of the local environment.The shelf life of the glue can be extended, but thegradual thickening of the liquid is unstoppable.With this in mind, it makes sense that the sizeof the package and quantity of glue that itcontains, are a factor corresponding to shelf life.The modeller should acquire bottles of CA thatthey can use in the course of a couple of monthsafter first opening it. It is also important to storethe glue away from other materials, especiallythose that act as activators. The glues aregenerally compatible with one another, so that ifone bottle of CA becomes thick, it can be thinnedwith thinner stuff to achieve a compromisedviscosity that is acceptable to the user.After opening the adhesive, its lifespan in theabove-mentioned storage in the freezer orrefrigerator will be quite variable, depending onthe quality of the seal and exposure to moisture.However, if after opening, the glue is stored ina typical modelling room at a temperaturebetween 18 and 20 degrees Celsius and alwaysclosed tight after use, a shelf life of about threemonths can be expected.CYANOACRYLATE GLUE VAPORSAfter the application of cyanoacrylate adhesivesand their subsequent hardening, effects of theinevitable vapors can often be seen, whichresemble frost. Such evaporation has negativeeffects when it is released into difficult to reachplaces on the model, such as the inner parts ofthe canopy, especially when they are displayedclosed. Why does this phenomenon arise and canit be eliminated or reduced? During the hardeningof the glue, the natural and gradual evaporation ofethyl cyanoacrylate and its reaction with humidityoccur. These vapors thus harden as a result ofthe reaction, which results in the formationof micro particles of hardened instant glue.A larger amount of these hardened micro particlessettle in the vicinity of the applied glue and thefrosting effect becomes obvious. There are someoptions to minimize or optically eliminate thisphenomenon. It is easiest to use only a smallamount of glue to minimize the fumes. Anotheroption is the use of special alkoxycyanoacrylates,which have a reduced evaporation rate.In general, it is good to avoid closing the areawhere we apply the CA adhesives early, so thatthere is room for evaporation. When drying, it isa good idea to rotate the parts resulting with theglue at the top, to allow vapors to escape intospace and prevent them from spreading overthe surface of the model, which would happenwhen they are turned over and the fumes haveaccess to them as they escape. Since the releaseof vapors can occur even after some time, theentire glued joint can be sealed against vaporrelease by applying an overcoat, which ensurescoverage of the release adhesive even afterit has hardened and thus minimizes negativeeffects on the model. Despite all our efforts,however, a situation may arise when unwantedvapor escape occurs and we are forced to removethese negative consequences of CA use. In mostcases, it is sufficient to clean the affected areaswith a dry brush or cotton swab (on clear parts).Alternatively, you can use the thinner embeddedin the surface, which, however, must not dilutethe base color of the given parts.BASIC TIPS FOR CYANOACRYLATEGLUES AND THEIR USE ACCORDING TOCOMPOSITION AND VISCOSITYA large number of cyanoacrylate adhesivesfrom various manufacturers are available on themarket today. As was mentioned at the beginningof today‘s chemistry class, for the sake of claritybetween the basic types, we will focus on Boltbrand products. At the same time, the describedproperties and use can be freely applied tovarious products of other manufacturers with thesame or similar consistency and composition.BOLT! CA BOLT THINThe classic representative among cyanoacrylateadhesives are the thin variety, which are the mostaccessible type of CA in terms of their consistency.Their use is very universal and they representthe ideal ‘entry’ type for working with instantglues. They can be applied in the usual way, i.e.by applying them to one or both glued parts,which are then pressed together. Alternatively,the procedure where the parts are pressedtogether and the glue is applied along the jointcan also be used. Here, however, it is necessaryto maintain a gap between the parts to providethe glue someplace to wick into. The minimumsize of such a gap depends on the viscosity ofthe thin instant glue, but in general it needs tobe at least around 0.03 mm, which in modellingpractice is quite small. Thin instant adhesivesare especially suitable for gluing non-porousmaterials, and wood and paper should generallybe avoided, where the glue will quickly soakinto the material, causing insufficient amountsof CA in the joint its subsequent instability andfragility. The reaction time of thin second gluesis generally very short and varies between1-3 seconds, which restricts the possibilitymoving and manipulating glued parts.CA HOT BOLT ULTRA THINThe follow-up type to thin instantadhesives is the so-called ‘superfast’ adhesives with an acceleratedreaction time. Their applicationdiffers from regular thin gluesin that it becomes impossible toapply them to the abutting surfacesof the parts and then pressingthem together, because during thenecessary handling, the glue reactswith the surrounding environmentand hardens virtually immediately.So, super fast instant glues need tobe used by applying drops at pointsINFO Eduard43April 2023Page 44
HODINA CHEMIECHEMISTRYof contact of the target components, which canbe used to advantage, for example, in the jointsbetween main parts of the model. Completecuring of the applied glue is generally withinone second of application. Thanks to the speedof curing, the disadvantage of using the adhesivein porous materials is eliminated, since theadhesive sets up faster, before it is absorbedinto the surface and thus remains in the gluedjoint, which ensures the required strength of thejoint. For the sake of completeness, it is goodto mention that the presented representative ofsuper fast instant glues is not interchangeablewith other types of cyanoacrylate glues.CA BOLT MEDIUMSecondary adhesives of medium viscosity arevery versatile in their use. This type of glue issuitable for most materials (even porous ones)and can be used for most common situationsencountered when assembling plastic modelsand their accessory, dissimilar items. Theirapplication is possible in one of two ways, as inthe case of thin instant adhesives. They can beapplied to one or both bonding surfaces, whichare then pressed together. The reaction timeis longer compared to thin glues and variesbetween 5 and 15 seconds. This extended curinginterval gives us the possibility of subsequentmanipulation and correction of part positions.This can be used to great advantage whengluing more complex or larger units, where itmay be necessary to achieve optimal alignment.The second typical method of application is thedrip method, which, however, due to the thickerconsistency of the glue compared to thin glues,requires a gap of increased size to a minimumof 0.1 mm. However, its viscosity is of a universalconsistency that can be mixed with both thin andthick types of instant glues.CA BOLT THICKThick cyanoacrylate adhesives (often describedas gel types) are characterized by having thehighest viscosity of the discussed basic typesof CA adhesives. This property allows them tobe used effectively in the case of gluing porousmaterials and at the same time the possibility ofjoining glued surfaces with a greater clearanceof up to 0.5 mm. When gluing parts with greaterclearance, the curing time of the glue issignificantly extended and can be sped up usingaccelerators, which will be discussed in thenext part of this article. Thick CA adhesives arebest applied in the classic way, where they areapplied to one or both mating surfaces, and thenthe components are pressed together. As alreadyindicated, the total reaction time is significantlylonger, which carries with it the added bonus ofmanipulation time and fine adjustments. The useof thick instant adhesives is very suitable for smallparts, when after applying the glue to point(s)of contact, time is allowed for a clean and preciseconnection. Due to their composition, this class ofadhesive is normally mixable with thinner types(medium and thin adhesives). A longer curingtime is associated with the negative impactstemming from a greater amount of fumes visibleemanating from the area of glue application.These vapors, which we have already described,can be produced for a long time with this type ofglue, and it is advisable to take this manifestationinto account during future assembly steps,especially with regard to clear parts of the model.CA BLACK BOLTIt‘s been a few years since themodelling world was hit by thephenomenon of the so-called‘black instant glues’, which sandvery well. In most cases, it isnot an admixture of a specialmiracle ingredient or blackpigment, but the addition ofrubber (if its presence is desired)to the glue. This special type ofcyanoacrylate adhesives standsout, in addition to its visibilityon most common surfaces, dueto its elasticity. It is thereforeparticularly suitable for flexible materials, whichare very rare in plastic modelling. Examples ofsuch materials include the aforementioned rubberparts, softened and foamed plastics or compositematerials, and several others. In general, theseare joints where it is claimed that the flexibilityof the glued materials and the durability of theglued joint under stress are maintained. Suchconnections are not typical for static plasticmodelling and the use of such special glues isnot generally of any great advantage to plasticmodellers.SPECIALIZED ACCESSORY ITEMSFOR CA ADHESIVESSince the mere application of cyanoacrylateadhesives and subsequent gluing is often notenough for the ideal desired results, there arespecial accessories for working with instantadhesives. The basic products are acceleratorsand, conversely, debonders of already hardenedglue The following takes a closer look at these.BOLT UP AcceleratorAccelerators are used for instant or very fastcuring of CA adhesives, even in thick layers. Theyhave a thin consistency and their application isvia a swab, wire tip, dispersal sprayer or a brush.The reaction speed on contact with the glue isalmost immediate, which is appreciated whenthere is a need to quickly cure a large amountof glue between parts with visible clearance orwhen the glued surfaces are compressed underambient stress. Immediate bonding of the contactsurfaces between the parts is achieved, andthe need to further manually press the partstogether becomes no longer necessary. Whenchoosing an activator, it is good to pay attentionto the suitability of its use on plastic parts.BOLT OFF DebonderIn modelling practice, it is almost impossible toalways achieve gluing of parts without unwantedand visible traces of glue around the application.Furthermore, incorrect positioning of the partscan lead to a need to separate the attached partsINFO Eduard44April 2023Page 45
CHEMISTRYand start over. All these cases can be solved withthe help of cyanoacrylate adhesive removers.Simply applying this liquid to the glued jointwill, over a few dozen seconds, help to separatewrongly adhered parts, but it is always better totake an active approach to cleaning and ungluingparts and removing the glue using a debonder.Probably the most suitable tool for cleaning partsfrom cyanoacrylate glue is the use of cottonswabs dipped in the remover. Traces of the glueare removed by gently rubbingthe area with a moistened swabuntil we are satisfied with theappearance of the fixed area.Since the glue dissolves underthe cotton swab and clogs thecotton tip, depending on theextent and amount of glue to beremoved, it is advisable to useseveral applications with cleanswabs, as required. For areasthat are difficult to access orareas with a broken surface, it isappropriate to use fine brushes,that have been relegatedspecifically for this purpose afterserving out their usefulness aspaint applicators. Inexpensivebrushes from art supply storesor hobby shops will suffice forthese needs. When choosing a cyanoacrylateadhesive remover, or debonder, it is good tocheck to make sure that the type doesn’t etch theplastic of the model, as some will.EPOXY TYPE ADHESIVESEpoxy glues, which consist of two components,are also included among the glues thatare commonly found in plastic modelling.The principle and application of this class ofadhesive is very simple. After mixing bothcomponents in the specified ratio, usuallyone to one, a chemical reaction occurs, theobservable start of which begins after a fewdozen seconds. Subsequently, the mixedcomponents harden very quickly. Epoxy gluesare especially suitable for hard materials, whichunderlines the suitability of their use in plasticmodelling. Their biggest advantage is that aftercuring, they do not leave visible traces in theform of fume production in their local vicinity,as in the case of instant glues, and are thusa big help when gluing larger models, especiallyif they are made of a polyurethane or laminate.Such types of models cannot be glued withsolvent type glues, which we detailed in the firstpart of this article, and epoxy two-part glues area suitable alternative for gluing together largesurfaces and eliminating the shortcomings ofcyanoacrylate glues. Another good use of thesetypes of adhesives is joint reinforcement alonginvisible join lines, allowing any required thinningof plastic parts in preparation for the installationof aftermarket accessory sets. A generalshortcoming is their apparent softness comparedto hard cyanoacrylate joints, and therefore theyare sand poorly. Currently, there are alreadyspecial two-component epoxy adhesives withadditional additives on the market that canminimize these shortcomings.DISPERSION TYPE ADHESIVESAs in the previous cases, we will explain whatdispersion adhesives are and what they aresuitable for in plastic modelling. A commonmistake in the definition of dispersion adhesivesis that they are a solution consisting of a polymerin water. In fact, it is a mixture of polymer withwater, whereby the aforementioned polymer isnot dissolved, but only perfectly dispersed in theresulting emulsion. Dispersion adhesives havea milky white color that gradually fades to clear asit hardens. The white color is therefore not causedby any pigment, but by small polymer particles thatscatter light and create that ‘milky effect’. Manydispersion adhesives can be diluted as neededwith water (non-waterproof dispersion adhesivessuch as those produced by Herkules) and thuscreate a liquid that can be embedded into poroussurfaces to attach individual details. A typicalexample is the simulation of natural surfaces inthe creation of dioramas. The opposite is the caseof dispersion water-resistant adhesives, whichhave a substantially higher dry matter contentof the polymer and are therefore not as thin asadhesives that can be diluted with water. Dilutionof these adhesives is only possible to a smallamount, to some 5% and always only with distilledcold water; otherwise precipitates will form. At thesame time, if we let such diluted glue stand, thewater will begin to separate. A higher dry mattercontent of the polymer then means a higherstrength of the joints, and the adhesives thus haveup to 3 times greater strength (as in the case of,for example, Herkules vs. PERFECT G Express).Another difference compared to glues witha lower dry matter content is their hardness andthe possibility of sanding the hardened glue. If weuse glues with a lower content of polymer solids,when trying to sand, the glue starts to chew upbecause it is soft. On the other hand, dispersionadhesives with a higher proportion of polymersolids are significantly harder after curing andcan be sanded. Here, however, it is importantto note that it is better to use coarser/sharpersandpapers and to minimize friction, becausehigh friction creates a higher temperature, whichcauses the glue to soften after setting, despiteits high percentage of polymer solids (i.e. D3/D4-based glue).PERFECT G Express glueAn example of dispersion PVAC glues is BoltPerfect G Express. The specific properties of thisglue make it suitable for porous materials such aswood or paper, and it is therefore useful mainly forthe needs of creating dioramas or for attachingaccessories to models of combat equipment. Thebenefit of this type of glue is mainly the shortenedcuring time compared to classic dispersion glues(for example Herkules, Tamiya Craft Bond, etc.),which enables accelerated creation and thussaves invested time. Specifically, the completedrying time is between 5-15 minutes, dependingon the amount of glue and the extent of the gluedjoint. As with other dispersions, the glue is whitein its liquid state and clear after curing. The highdry matter polymer content of the in this type ofglue means above all the ability of the glued jointto be stronger. Such a property is suitable for theuse of gluing clear parts on aircraft models. Theglue is thus a good compromise for those whoare afraid of damaging clear parts when gluingthem with solvent glues or, on the other hand,are afraid of the fumes that are released fromcyanoacrylate glues. Gluing with a dispersionadhesive is not as strong as compared to thementioned types of adhesives, but if we choosea suitable dispersion adhesive with a higherpolymer dry matter content, we will also achievegood bond strength.SUMMARYIn the first two parts of our series focusing onmodelling chemistry and tips for beginners andadvanced modellers alike, we presented thebasic, readily available and commonly used typesof glues that can be used for plastic modelling.All the mentioned types described in the first andsecond parts of our series have their strengthsand weaknesses, and the use of all the mentionedtypes of glues gives the plastic modeller theability to deal with constructing all conceivableassemblies from various materials that theymight come up against. In the next part, we willfocus on tools and aids suitable for applying andworking with the types of glue presented thus far.INFO Eduard45April 2023Page 46
#82183Z-326/C-305 Trenér Master1/48ProfiPACK edition kit of Czechoslovak single engine two-seat trainerand aerobatic aircraft Zlín Z-326 Trenér Master including C-305, Z-326Mand Z-326MF versions in 1/48 scale. Kit presents markings selectionincluding Czechoslovak, Czech and foreign users.plastic parts: Eduardmarking options: 6decals: EduardPE parts: yes, pre-paintedpainting mask: yesresin parts: noProduct pageKITS 04/2023INFO Eduard46April 2023Page 47
Z-326, No. 610, Kladno Aero Club, Kladno Airfield, Czechoslovakia, 1975Z-326MF, No. 918, Repülőiskola Nyíregyháza, Nyíregyháza Airport, Hungaria, 2020C-305, No. 604, Czechoslovak People’s Army, Czechoslovakia, 1965This aircraft served as C-305 in the militaryaeroclub of Czechoslovak People’s Army for basictraining of student pilots. During this service anunspecified collision (on the ground) with otheraircraft occurred according to some sources,resulting in fuselage damage. The aircraftwas repaired but lost its aerobatic categoryclassification and was overhanded to the civilianKladno Aero Club at the end of September 1972.Prior to conversion to the tug version, it wasused for training and navigation flights. Theaircraft retained the overall silver livery as itwas used in army, but the nose was adornedwith blue color, while wingtips and top of thevertical stabilizer were painted red. More to it,the cartoon of the smiling crab was painted onthe port side of the nose with unusually stylizedTrener Master inscription above it. The paintingwas based on a cartoon by Pavel Kantorek,Czechoslovak professor of physical science atRyerson University, Toronto. He was author ofmany humorous cartoons with animals starringin the main role.Hungaria is one of the countries, where theTrenér family is very popular. There were 12 ofZ-326 Trenér Masters delivered directly from thefactory in 1961 and 1962, but this one is not one ofthem. This aircraft was sold to Gabon (Air serviceLibreville) in December 1966 with registrationmark TR-LMX and later was delivered to France,where it was flying under registration F-BSTAas Z-326. The conversion to MF version wasdone in Hungary and the aircraft sported non-standard right engine cover – the one used onZ-326 powered by Walter Minor 6-III engine, i.e.,with four wide louvres. This was later changed forthe standard cover for the M-137 engine. Today,the University of Nyíregyháza is the owner of theaircraft and uses it along other ones for pilottraining of its students.Czechoslovak People’s Army obtained tenZ-326 in military version C-305. These aircraftvaried only slightly from the civilian ones, asthey were equipped with small indication lightson the undercarriage leg covers and with thesignal rockets dispenser under the belly withcorresponding control panel in the cockpit. Theseserved for basic pilot training in Military AeroClubs, where young beginners were startingtheir career of military pilots prior to enlisting.Some aircraft were flying in simple silver livery,other obtained attractive three-tone coloringwith metallic light blue-green as a basic one. Thisaircraft was handed over to civilian Aero Clubsrepresentative (Svazarm organization) on May8, 1968 and was assigned to Vrchlabí Aero Clubconsequently. Later it was transferred to OlomoucAero Club and finally to nearby Prostějov AeroClub, where it is flying with OK-OTA registrationtoday.KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard47April 2023Page 48
Z-326M, No. 609, private owners, Slaný Airfield, 2022Z-326, No. 902, private owner, Großenhain, Germany, 2022Z-326, No. 894, Escadrille Orion, Marmande Virazeil, France 2013This is one of the still flying aircraft produced asC-305 for the Czechoslovak People’s Army. It washanded over to the civilian Svazarm organizationon May 26, 1972 and was given the OK-OTDregistration. It served in the Aero Clubs of Točná,Kladno and briefly also Jičín, where it reachedits time between overhauls and was grounded.During the process of the assets allocationof the then Aero Club of the Czecho-SlovakFederation Republic, this aircraft was assignedto the Aero Club Polička. There it underwentoverhaul, making it airworthy again, and also theconversion to the Z-326M version. The Aero Clubthan used it primarily for towing of sailplanes. In2006, however, it was sold to a private owner whooperated it at the Líně airport. Subsequently, itwas sold to a pair of private owners who keepflying this Trenér Master from Slaný airport.In 1963 the management of the Moravan Otrokovicecompany officially ended the production of theZ 26 series aircraft. So, this Z-326 serial number902 was manufactured as the “last” of all Trenérsand was factory stored until 1965. However, thecustomer demand was strong, so after two years,serial production was running again. In June1965, the No. 902 aircraft left Czechoslovakia forFrance with registration F-BMQX. One of its firstbases was Villefranche Airport. After completingits flight school career, it was stored and latersold to Switzerland. Since 1992 it was in thepossession of Groupement Avion Historique inLausanne. At that time, but also shortly afterbeing sold to Germany, it bore the registrationHB-TCB. In this form, it also briefly appearedduring maintenance in the Czech Republic. Itwas registered as D-ERIO after 2015 and remainsprivately held.After manufactured in 1963, this Z-326 wasfactory stored until June 25, 1965, when it washanded over to a French customer. It served inthe flying school in Challes and later was in theinventory of Association Pour La Sauvegarde DesAvions Anciens. It is a part of another group ofenthusiasts today, Escadrille Orion, based at theMarmande Virazeil airfield.KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard48April 2023Page 49
Recommended:for Z-326/C-305 1/48644186 Z-326 LööK (Brassin)644197 Z-326 LööKplus (Brassin)648729 Z-326/526 wheels (Brassin)3DL48096 Z-326 SPACE (3D Decal Set)D48097 Z-126/226/326/526 cockpit placards (Decal Set)EX912 Z-326 TFace (Mask)# 3DL48096# 644186# 648729OVERTREES#82183XZ-326/C-3051/48Product pageOVERLEPT#82183-LEPTZ-326/C-305 PE-Set1/48Product pageKITS 04/2023INFO Eduard49April 2023Page 50
RUFELimited edition kit of japanese interceptor/fighter bomberfloatplane A6M2-N (Allied code name Rufe) in 1/48 scale.Kit presents Rufe serving in Imperial Japanese Navy AirService during World War II.plastic parts: Eduardmarking options: 8decals: EduardPE parts: yes, pre-paintedpainting mask: yesresin parts: noProduct page#111711/48DUAL COMBOKITS 04/2023INFO Eduard50April 2023Page 51
Yokohama Kōkūtai, Tulagi Island, Solomon Islands, August 19425th Kōkūtai, Kiska island, Aleutians, August 1942This plane is early production Rufe with purgesystem cover on the top of the main float and withfolding wingtips. The commander of the fighterunit, which was part of the Yokohama Kōkūtai,was Lt. Ri-ichirō Satō. He was born in Sendai,Miyagi Prefecture and graduated from EtajimaNaval Academy in 1938 in its 66th class. He waspromoted to Lieutenant junior grade in November1940 and received rank of Lieutenant when hewas assigned to the Yokohama Kōkūtai in May1942. From early July his unit was based onTulagi Island off Guadalcanal. Their adversarieswere American Flying Fortress bombers andLiberators. His unit claimed five victories. Satō, incooperation with other pilots, claimed one certainand one probable victory over a B-17. After theAllied invasion of Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942,most of the Yokohama Kōkūtai pilots were killed inground combat, including Satō. USMC techniciansfound on Tulagi Island ten Rufe wrecks and tooktwo, including the Y-161, to the U.S. Naval AirStation Alameda for research.This plane is early production Rufe with purgesystem cover on the top of the main float andwith folding wingtips. Rudder and probably othercanvas-covered control surfaces had lightercolor shade. The aircraft of this fighter unitsuccessively bore at least four different markingson their tail surfaces, depending on how this unitwas designated and subordinated to differentcommands. Its most successful fighter pilot wasthe CPO Gi-ichi Sasaki. He came from MiyagiPrefecture and joined the Navy in 1937. Sasakibecame a pilot of two-seat float planes andparticipated in combat in China. He took part inthe conquest of the Philippines and the Dutch EastIndies on board of the Mizuho seaplane tender.After its sinking, he was assigned to the TōkōKōkūtai in the Aleutians, which was eventuallyrenamed the 5th Kōkūtai and then to Kōkūtai 452.He achieved a total of four individual victories– five shared and one aircraft credited shared asprobably destroyed. He was killed on February19, 1943, over Amchitka Island in a dogfight witha Curtiss P-40 pilot.KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard51April 2023Page 52
c/n 15, Lt.(jg) Keizō Yamazaki, Kōkūtai 802, Shortland Island, February 1943Kōkūtai 802, Faisi-Poporang base, Shortland Islands, February 1943This is the fifth A6M2-N produced and is one ofthe few Rufes converted from the A6M2 Type 21carrier fighter. This plane had purge system coveron the top of the main float and folding wingtips.It was one of two Yokohama Kōkūtai seaplanesthat were based in Shortland during August 7,1942, when the rest of the unit was destroyed onTulagi Island. Rufe was then taken over by theair unit of the Kamikawa Maru, and in October1942 it was taken over by 14th Kōkūtai (Kōkūtai802). It is possible that the two bands on thefuselage were in fact grey, obscuring the originalwhite markings of the Kamikawa Maru. In March1943, this machine was transferred to MarshallIslands. The tail surfaces are marked withvictories achieved by several pilots, includingLt.(jg) Keizō Yamazaki, who achieved a probablekill of P-38 of the 339th FS on February 13 duringthe defense of Shortland. Yamazaki was born inOdawara, Kanagawa Prefecture. He graduatedfrom the Etajima Naval Academy in its 68th classin 1940 and completed his flight training in June1942. After his unit was integrated into Kōkūtai902, he was promoted to the rank of Lieutenantin November 1943. In February 1944, he becamecommander of Kōkūtai 256’s fighter unit equippedwith Zeros based in Shanghai. During the fall of1944 he led his unit in Taiwan during air battlesagainst U.S. Navy aviators.This aircraft was among the new ones thatKōkūtai 802 took over in Japan during December1942. The top of the main float did not have purgesystem cover. At the unit level, the aircraftreceived a dark green paint, but the upper partof tail surfaces was left in original color. Theaircraft probably had a late production stencilon the fuselage. The rudder sported a victorymark and there was also a horizontal red stripeon the vertical tail surfaces, which was probablythe unit’s identifying marking. It is likely that theaircraft took part in the aerial combat on February13 and 14 in the defense of the Shortland Islandsand Buin, in which the American units sufferedfairly significant losses.KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard52April 2023Page 53
Kōkūtai 452, Bettobi Lake, Shumshu Islands, Kuriles, July 1943Kōkūtai 802, Emidj Island, Jaluit Atoll, Marshall Islands, October 1943This aircraft was taken over by Kōkūtai 452 inJapan after evacuation from Aleutians. The top ofthe main float did not have purge system cover.At the unit level, the aircraft received a coat ofdark green paint. The aircraft probably had a lateproduction stencil on the fuselage. Among thesuccessful pilots of this unit was Warrant OfficerKiyomi Katsuki. He served on the seaplane tenderChitose at the start of the Pacific War as a F1Mbiplane pilot. In January 1942, he claimed shareddestruction of Dutch PBY flying boat. In theSolomon Islands area, he shot down a Dauntlesson October 3 and during the following day, whiledefending his own ship, he rammed a B-17 of the72nd BS. The entire crew of Capt. David C. Everittwas killed, but Katsuki and his observer survived.Katsuki received a written commendation fromthe unit commander. He achieved two morevictories during the same day. After retrainingto A6M2-N, he was assigned to Kōkūtai 452 andclaimed B-25 and B-24. With N1K Rex at Kōkūtai934 he shot down a B-24 in January 1944. Heachieved two more victories as Zero pilot withKōkūtai 381 over Balikpapan and Singapore. Atthe end of the war, he served with Kōkūtai 352in Japan.This late production aircraft was finished ina factory applied dark green paint. After relocationto the Marshall Islands area in March 1943, Kōkūtai802 under the command of Lt.(jg) Yamazaki wasprimarily engaged in anti-submarine patrols andthe pursuit of four-engine bombers. Long-rangereconnaissance was carried out by another partof this unit, which was armed with H8K Emilyflying boats. In September 1943, the designationof its aircraft was changed to Y4 in connectionwith the transition to the subordination of the22nd Kōkū Sentai (Air Flotilla). The identificationmarkings on the tail surfaces of Rufe seaplaneschanged from red to white during service inthe Marshall Islands. In October, fighter unit ofKōkūtai 802 was integrated into Kōkūtai 902, andin November, the fighter unit clashed with USNavy aircraft during a raid on Truk.KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard53April 2023Page 54
Ensign Jin´ichirō Ozawa, Sasebo Kōkūtai, Sasebo Air Base, Japan, September 1944Kōkūtai 934, Ambon island, Moluku Islands, March 1944This late production aircraft was finishedin a factory applied dark green paint. Afterparticipating in the defense of Chichijima inJuly 1944, Sasebo Kōkūtai continued seaplanepilot training in Japan. The Sa-106 was flown byEnsign Ozawa. He joined the Navy in 1943 aftergraduating from high school and received hisflight training at Tsuchiura Kōkūtai. On October30, 1944, while practicing a fighter dogfightbetween two Rufe seaplanes, Ozawa had to bailout from his aircraft when the elevator controlcable broke. He almost did not survive the bailingout. At the end of the year, the Sasebo Kōkūtai’sfighter Buntai was transferred to land-basedfighter unit. During the fighting over Okinawa onJune 22, 1945, Ozawa achieved one victory againsta formation of more than thirty American aircraft.He was then reassigned to Kōkūtai 723 with C6NMyrt reconnaissance planes and was to conducta Kamikaze mission on that type of aircraft.After the war he pursued electrical engineeringand took part on the first microwave intercitytransmission in Japan.This late production aircraft was finished ina factory applied dark green paint. At the unitlevel the white outline of Hinomaru was repaintedto reduce the visibility of the machine. In early1944 the Kōkūtai 934 was equipped with E13AJake and F1M Pete observation aircraft and alsowith Rufe and N1K Rex fighter seaplanes. Theirfrequent opponents were the Beaufighter crews ofNo. 31 Sqn. RAAF. One of the Kōkūtai 934 pilots,PO2c Hidenori Matsunaga, scored approximatelyten Beaufighters as shared victories. In March1944 he was transferred to Kōkūtai 381 flyingZeros. In some publications, the Rufe witha lightning bolt was considered to be Matsunaga’smount. He was photographed with Rufe (unknowntail code) with similar marking together withanother pilot. Design of the lightning bolt varied,and its color was most likely white. The identityof the pilots to whom belonged the seaplaneswith lightning is unknown. It could have beena formation leader’s machine, or possibly theaircraft of a fighter squadron unit commanderLt.(jg) Toshiharu Ikeda, who scored a victoryover a Spitfire with a Rufe. Ikeda later becamecommander of Hikōtai 603 and was killed on June23, 1944, at Saipan.KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard54April 2023Page 55
Recommended:for RUFE 1/48644205 A6M2-N Rufe LööK (Brassin)648845 A6M2-N Rufe seat PRINT (Brassin)648846 A6M2-N Rufe exhaust PRINT (Brassin)648847 A6M2-N Rufe cannon barrels & cockpit guns PRINT (Brassin)648848 A6M2-N Rufe folding wingtips PRINT (Brassin)648849 A6M2-N Rufe gun bays PRINT (Brassin)3DL48114 A6M2-N Rufe SPACE (3D Decal Set)EX934 A6M2-N Rufe TFace (Mask)648850 A6M2-N Rufe cockpit PRINT 1/48 Eduard - release 05/2023648851 A6M2-N Rufe landing flaps PRINT 1/48 Eduard - release 05/2023648852 A6M2-N Rufe engine complete PRINT 1/48 Eduard - release 05/2023OVERTREES#82219XA6M2-N Rufe1/48Product pageOVERLEPT#11171-LEPTRUFE PE-Set1/48Product page# 644205# 648848# 648849# 3DL48114# 648846# 648847KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard55April 2023Page 56
RUFE - new sprues in detailSprue GSprue LKITS 04/2023INFO Eduard56April 2023Page 57
Sprue TSprue UKITS 04/2023INFO Eduard57April 2023Page 58
RUFE - test buildbuilt by Jakub NademlejnskýKITS 04/2023INFO Eduard58April 2023Page 59
KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard59April 2023Page 60
BUILT1/48 EduardKōkūtai 452, Bettobi Lake, Shumshu Islands, Kuriles, July 1943# 11171This aircraft was taken over by Kōkūtai 452 in Japan afterevacuation from Aleutians. The top of the main float did not havepurge system cover. At the unit level, the aircraft received a coatof dark green paint. The aircraft probably had a late productionstencil on the fuselage. Among the successful pilots of this unitwas Warrant Officer Kiyomi Katsuki. He served on the seaplanetender Chitose at the start of the Pacific War as a F1M biplanepilot. In January 1942, he claimed shared destruction of Dutch PBYflying boat. In the Solomon Islands area, he shot down a Dauntlesson October 3 and during the following day, while defending hisown ship, he rammed a B-17 of the 72nd BS. The entire crew ofCapt. David C. Everitt was killed, but Katsuki and his observersurvived. Katsuki received a written commendation from the unitcommander. He achieved two more victories during the same day.After retraining to A6M2-N, he was assigned to Kōkūtai 452 andclaimed B-25 and B-24. With N1K Rex at Kōkūtai 934 he shot downa B-24 in January 1944. He achieved two more victories as Zeropilot with Kōkūtai 381 over Balikpapan and Singapore. At the endof the war, he served with Kōkūtai 352 in Japan.built by Jan KotasINFO Eduard60April 2023Page 61
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Bf 110CProfiPACK edition kit of German WWII twin-engine heavyfighter aircraft Messerschmitt Bf 110C in 1/48 scale.This version was used as a day and night fighter.plastic parts: Eduardmarking options: 5decals: EduardPE parts: yes, pre-paintedpainting mask: yesresin parts: no#82091/48Product pageKITS 04/2023INFO Eduard62April 2023Page 63
Bf 110C-2, WNr. 3578, 9./ZG 26, Barly, France, August 1940Bf 110C-4, WNr. 2095, 4./ZG 1, Trier-Euren, Germany, June 1940Bf 110C-2, WNr. 3257, Hptm. Heinz Wagner/Stfw. Adolf Schmidt, CO of 4./ZG 76, Abbeville, France, August 1940In the beginning of the war this Zerstörergruppewas equipped with Messerschmitts Bf 110D.III./ZG 26 converted to 110s in the beginning of 1940under the command of Hptm. Johannes Schalk.Before the war, this aviator commander theAustrian Jagdgruppe 1 and he was also one of thefirst Bf 110 pilots decorated with Knight’s Cross.On September 3, 1940, Ofw. Hott behind thecontrols of this One-Ten, participated with thewhole III./ZG 26 in escorting Do 17 from II./KG 2on their raid to the North Weald airfield. Whiledefending the bombers, his aircraft was damagedand Ofw. Hott crash-landed it at Wissant,France. The damage was assessed as being ateighty percent. This aircraft was camouflagedin RLM 70, 71 and 65 colors. There is a 9./ZG 26insignia painted on the both sides of the nose– a white cock at the fighting stance. The aircraft’sindividual letter, repeated on the wingtip, ispainted in the Staffel color i.e. yellow. Thereare three white bars painted on the vertical tailsurfaces marking the enemy aircraft shot down.II./ZG 1 was established on May 15, 1939, basedon I. Gruppe JG 54 and equipped with the single-seat Bf 109D and Bf 109E. The conversion to the Bf110C two-seat heavy fighters took place in March1940 in the Northern Germany. After the transferto the western border, in the preparation for theattack on the Netherlands, Belgium and France,the unit was incorporated into the Luftflotte 2under which command it flew combat missionsuntil the surrender of France. Then the II./ZG 76was renamed as III. Gruppe Zerstörergeschwader76. The unit’s insignia in the form of three waspspainted on the aircraft nose, was retained evenafter the unit’s transfer.II. Gruppe Zerstörergeschwader 76 wasestablished on May 1, 1939, by renaming I./ZG 144.It was equipped with single-seat MesserschmittBf 109D which in February and March theytraded for Bf 110. Flying One-Tens the unit tookpart in the attack on the Netherlands, Belgiumand France and after France surrendered theunit was transferred to Abbeville airfield on theFrench coast from where it started to fly bomberescorts to the targets in the Great Britain. Thelast flight of the Messerschmitt Bf 110C-2 markedM8+BM and crewed by Hptm. Heinz Wagner andradio operator Stfw. Adolf Schmidt, was a bomberescort to the Luton airfield with the adjacentindustrial area which took place on August 30,1940. The plane was most probably shot downby P/O William McKnight (flying as a wingman toS/Ldr Bader) at the altitude of 1,000 feet.It crashed on Enfield Sewage Farm, WharfRoad, Ponders End near the large reservoir andthe crew was killed.KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard63April 2023Page 64
Bf 110C-2, WNr. 3026, Lt. K. Koch, 1.(Z)/JG 77, Kirkenes, Norway, October 1941Bf 110C, 1./NJG 3, Benghazi, Libya, May 1941Zerstörerstaffel of the newly established I./JG 77,equipped with the aircraft and personnel fromIII./ZG 76, was formed in May 1941. The reasonwere the preparations for the attack against theSoviet Union. The unit was transferred to theHoybuktmoen airfield near Kirkenes. The missionof the Bf 110 crews were the attacks againstthe railroad connecting the important port ofMurmansk with the rest of the Soviet Union. The unitwas equipped with Bf 110C, D and probably severalBf 110E aircraft. In January 1941 the unit wasrenamed to 6.(Z)/JG 5. The camouflage of thisaircraft was probably sprayed with RLM 71 and 02on the upper surfaces, side and lower surfaceswere camouflaged in RLM 65. The factory markingswere over sprayed with RLM 02 and the mottlingwas sprayed in the same color. The unit insignia,a dachshund biting the Soviet airplane, waspainted on the aircraft’s nose.I. Gruppe Nachtjagdgeschwader 1 was formedby renaming V./LG 1 and its mission was thenight interception of the British middle andheavy bombers flying raids against the Germancities and industrial centers. Between Februaryand October 1941, the 1. Staffel was temporarilyrelocated to the south, first in Sicily and Greecefollowed by the North Africa, Benghazi andDerna airfields. The unit flew missions with itsMesserschmitts Bf 110C and D against the Britishbombers attacking the German and Italian troops.During the unit’s operations on the southern frontthe fighters were camouflaged in black color.The white band on the fuselage tail, marking theaircraft flying on the southern front, was paintedonly partially, on the fuselage spine. 1./NJG 3insignia, an owl sitting on the Moon, was paintedon both sides of the fuselage. During its servicein the south, the featured airplane had its verticaltail surfaces and complete horizontal tail surfacesreplaced due to the damage. The replacementparts retained their original camouflage.Recommended:for Bf 110C 1/48644076 Bf 110C LööK (Brassin)648085 MG 15 gun (2 pcs) (Brassin)648602 Bf 110C/D radio equipment (Brassin)648607 Bf 110C/D/E exhaust stacks (Brassin)EX752 Bf 110C TFace (Mask)OVERTREESOVERLEPT#8201XBf 110C1/48#8209-LEPTBf 110C1/48Product pageProduct page# 648085KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard64April 2023Page 65
Fw 190A-4 w/ engine flaps & 2-gun wingsWeekend edition kit of German WWII fighter aircraft Fw 190A-4in 1/48 scale. This version of the Fw 190A-4 was equipped withflaps on the engine cooling outlets. The wing was equipped withtwo cannons in the wing root.plastic parts: Eduardmarking options: 4decals: EduardPE parts: nopainting mask: noresin parts: no#841171/48Product pageKITS 04/2023INFO Eduard65April 2023Page 66
WNr. 0142481, Fw. Otto Kittel, 2./JG 54, Krasnogvardeyjsk, Soviet Union, February 1943Lt. Leopold Wenger, 10./JG 2, Caen-Carpiquet, France, February 1943WNr. 142317, Fw. Ludwig Seif, 11./SKG 10, Sidi Ahmed, Tunisia, January 1943Otto Kittel was born on February 21, 1917,to German parents in Korunov (German:Kronsdorf, since 1945 Krasov) near Krnov inAustria-Hungary. After the declaration of theCzechoslovakia, the Krnov region became part ofit, but after the Munich Agreement it was one ofthe territories that Czechoslovakia had to cede toGermany under pressure from the Great Powers.The inhabitants claiming German nationalitysubsequently became German citizens. Kittel wasapprenticed as a car mechanic in Mladá Boleslavand joined the Luftwaffe in 1939. He completedhis first combat deployment during the fightingin Yugoslavia in the ranks of JG 54, which wasdeployed in East Prussia to support Army GroupNorth in the advance on Leningrad during theattack on the USSR. On June 24, 1941, Otto Kittelscored his first two aerial victories, and onSeptember 14, 1943, he achieved his 100th kill.However, he did not survive the war. His aircraftwent down in flames near Dzhūkste, Latvia, aftera dogfight with a formation of 14 Il-2s. However,it is not clear when this occurred, it is stated tobe either 14 or 16 February 1945. During WorldWar II, he shot down 267 enemy aircraft, all onthe Eastern Front, ranking him 4th in the list ofLuftwaffe aces.At the end of 1941, the Luftwaffe considereda resumption of the bombing of Great Britain andcoastal shipping. It was ordered that every fighterunit taking part in operations against GreatBritain would include one Staffel for the purposesof the so-called “hit and run” bombing missions.This role was taken up by 10.(Jabo) Staffel withinJG 2. Under the command of Oblt. Frank Liesendahl,the unit sank twenty ships for a total of 630,000BRT of shipping in four months. Wenger’s aircraftcarried the standard day camouflage scheme ofLuftwaffe fighters consisting of RLM 74/75/76.The fox biting a ship in two was the insigniaof 10.(Jabo) Staffel. One of the pilots of this unitwas Leopold Wenger, born on November 19, 1921in Graz. He was killed on April 10, 1945, when hewas shot down over Vienna.An order dated November 30, 1942 redesignatedIII./ZG 2 as III./SKG 10, but the unit maintainedits combat assignment for ground support,bombing and destroying of enemy groundassets including airfields and ports in Tunisia.III./SKG 10 operated in the area until April 30,1943, when they handed over their remainingfour aircraft to II./Schl.G. 2, the unit they shareda base with. During combat operations, pilots ofIII./SKG 10 destroyed hundreds of Allied tanksand other ground equipment, shot down thirteenaircraft and sank or damaged twelve ships. Theaircraft flown by Feldwebel Seif was camouflagedin RLM 74/75/76. The white fuselage band wasapplied to aircraft operating in the MTO. The portside of the engine cowl sported the III./SKG 10unit marking, a yellow winged arrow on a blueshield.KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard66April 2023Page 67
48936 Fw 190A-4 landing flaps (PE-Set)FE863 Fw 190A seatbelts STEEL (PE-Set)648351 Fw 190A-4 cockpit (Brassin)648352 Fw 190A-4 engine (Brassin)648354 Fw 190A-4 fuselage guns (Brassin)648356 Fw 190A wingroot gun bays (Brassin)648366 Fw 190A propeller (Brassin)648371 Fw 190A control surfaces early (Brassin)648381 Fw 190A exhaust stacks (Brassin)648778 Luftwaffe rudder pedals PRINT (Brassin)SIN64837 Fw 190A-4 advanced (Brassin)SIN64839 Fw 190A-4 essential (Brassin)D48038 Fw 190A-4 national insignia (Decal Set)EX587 Fw 190A TFace (Mask)Jaboschwarm I./JG 54, Krasnogvardeysk, Soviet Union, Spring 1943JG 54 received its first Fw 190A-4s in earlyFebruary 1943, with white camouflage on theupper surfaces and RLM 65 on the bottom. OnFebruary 19, 1943, JG 54 scored its 4,000th aerialvictory, achieved by an Fw. Otto Kittel. After thewinter period, the upper surfaces of the aircraftwere painted black RLM 70, dark green RLM 71and brown. As was customary with JG 54 in avariety of camouflage fields. The winter whitepaint remained on some of the less worn areas.The Roman numeral III marked aircraft is anexample of such a state and the color scheme ispartly a mere reconstruction based on the betterdocumented aircraft of JG 54. Roman numeralswere used to mark staff aircraft in this period.Recommended:for Fw 190A-4 1/48# 648351# 648778# 648352KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard67April 2023Page 68
#84187Weekend edition kit of British WWII fighter aircraft Tempest Mk.Vin 1/48 scale. The kit offers the aircraft manufactured within Series 2and serving in the RAF during and after the end of World War II.plastic parts: Eduardmarking options: 4decals: EduardPE parts: nopainting mask: noresin parts: noProduct pageTempest Mk.V Series 21/48KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard68April 2023Page 69
EJ750, W/Cdr John B. Wray, CO of No. 122 Wing, B.80 Volkel, the Netherlands, December 1944EJ536, F/Lt Pierre H. Clostermann, No. 56 Squadron, B.80 Volkel, the Netherlands,beginning of April 1945EJ705, P/O Frank A. Lang, No. 80 Squadron, B.80 Volkel, the Netherlands, December 1944W/Cdr John Wray was an experienced fighter-bomber pilot who flew Beaufighters, Whirlwinds,Hurricanes and Typhoons and after the No. 122Wing’s commander W/Cdr R. P. Beamont was shotdown he assumed his position. Wray’s TempestEJ750 was marked with the first letters of hisfull name‚ i.e, JBW, and flying it on November3 he claimed a Me 262 damaged. After the warhowever this “damaged” aircraft turned out tohave been destroyed. On December 17, 1944,Wray claimed another Me 262 jet kill. Its pilot,Lt. Wolfgang Lübke from II./KG 51 hit a building bythe left wingtip and crashed into the nearby riverRhine during the low altitude dogfight. In January1945, W/Cdr Wray finished his tour of duty asa No. 122 Wing commander and the Tempest EJ750was re-marked with SA-B code letters indicatingthat it belonged to No. 486 (RNZAF) Squadron.On February 8 it was lost during the anti-shipping attack when the pilot F/Lt Miller madean emergency landing in the occupied territory.The well-known French pilot, F/Lt Pierre HenriClostermann, flew with No. 56 Squadron fromMarch 18 until April 5, 1945. His usual mount wasinitially a Temperst serial number EJ708 markedUS-W, in the end of March it was replaced bya Tempest serial number EJ536 and on thefuselage it again carried the US-W code letters.On April 5, 1945, while at its controls, he damagedtwo Fw 190D-9s and destroyed four Ju 88Gs onthe ground. On the starboard side under thewindshield Clostermann had painted 16 crosses,symbols of his current air combat successes(in total 12 confirmed kills and four probables).He finished his combat career flying with No. 3Squadron with the total score of 14 confirmedkills, four probables and nine enemy aircraftdestroyed on the ground.Right before D-day, the No. 80 Squadron,operating Spitfires Mk.IX, was incorporated intothe Great Britain air defenses. In August it wasre-equipped with the new Hawker Tempests Mk.V.In the end of September, the unit was transferredto the Continent as a part of the 2nd TAF. Tempestserial number EJ705 was most frequently flownby an Australian pilot P/O Frank Lang. On thestarboard side under the windshield his Tempestcarried the nose art in the form of a kangarooholding the Australian flag. Flying this aircraft onJanuary 22, 1945, he destroyed two gliders and incooperation with other pilots from his unit shotdown a Bf 109. Flying EJ705, other pilots fromNo. 80 Squadron destroyed two Bf 109 and oneFw 190. EJ705 finished its wartime career onMarch 11, 1945, when it was seriously damaged byan in-flight engine fire.KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard69April 2023Page 70
Recommended:for Tempest Mk.V Series 2 1/4848976 Tempest Mk.V upgrade set (PE-Set)48977 Tempest Mk.V landing flaps (PE-Set)FE943 Tempest Mk.V seatbelts STEEL (PE-Set)FE1079 Tempest Mk.V series 2 Weekend (PE-Set)BIG49212 Tempest Mk.V (PE-Set)644006 Tempest Mk.V LööK (Brassin)644039 Tempest Mk.V w/ late wheels LööKplus (Brassin)648416 Tempest Mk.V cockpit (Brassin)648417 Tempest Mk.V engine (Brassin)648418 Tempest Mk.V exhaust stacks (Brassin)648419 Tempest Mk.V gun bays (Brassin)648421 Tempest Mk.V wheels late (Brassin)648446 Tempest Mk.V undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)648450 RP-3 60lb rockets for Tempest Mk.V (Brassin)648499 Tempest Mk.V intake ring (Brassin)648500 Tempest Mk.V dust filter w/ eyelid (Brassin)SIN64858 Tempest Mk.V ADVANCED (Brassin)3DL48023 Tempest Mk.V SPACE (3D Decal Set)D48030 Tempest Mk.V stencils (Decal Set)EX628 Tempest Mk.V TFace (Mask)EX695 Tempest Mk.V (Mask)SN330, S/Ldr Colin H. Macfie, CO of No. 3 Squadron, Wunstorf, Germany, 2nd half of 1947Tempest serial number SN330 missed the wartimeservice. In November 1945 it was dispatched toGermany and in January 1946 assigned to theNo. 80 Squadron. During the following month itwas damaged and returned to the Great Britainfor repairs at Hawker company. After therepairs were completed, it was delivered to theNo. 3 Squadron sporting the overall coat of thealuminum paint and new, type D cockades. J5-Hcode letters were painted in the unit’s traditionalgreen color. S/Ldr Colin Hamilton Macafie chosethis aircraft as his commander’s plane. In May1948 the Tempests were replaced by VampiresF.1 and SN330 was returned to the Great Britainfor storage. In November 1950 it was sent for thescrap metal.# 648417# 648416# 644006KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard70April 2023Page 71
6. KVĚTNA 9–16.30 hKULTURNÍ DŮM KOPŘIVNICE25. ročník mezinárodní výstavy a soutěžeMezinárodní soutěž plastikových a papírových modelů ve vyhlášených kategoriíchSOUTĚŽ MODELŮMLÁDEŽE DO 15-TI LETSPECIÁLNÍ CENY „MORAVSKÝ KNIPL“A„MORAVSKÝ ŠRAPNEL“Page 72
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6 Fighter-Bomber Air Regiment, Přerov Air Base, Czechoslovakia, summer 1974Indonesian Air Force, Jakarta-Kemajoran Air Base, Indonesia, 1960sSoviet Union, 1960s through the 1970sThe unit emblem on the nose hints the aircraftbelonged to 6. sbolp (6 Fighter-Bomber AirRegiment), but it is unclear which squadron flewit. It might be the Squadron 2, and thus the topof the fin and the dot in the unit crest were blue.Aircraft flown by the Squadron 1 had these partspainted in red while the Squadron 3 yellow.A total of fifteen Czechoslovak-built UTI MiG-15swas delivered to Indonesia during the late fifties.All were taken out of inventory in 1973 when theT-33A Shooting Stars replaced them. The colorfultail appeared on Indonesian MiG-17s and MiG-21sas well.Many Soviet two-seater UTI MiG-15s wore theunderlined letter “U” in Cyrillic along with thefuselage number. It was the abbreviation ofthe term “uchobnyi”, meaning “training”. Blackwalkways are not visible in the photo of thisaircraft.KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard73April 2023Page 74
Algerian Air Force, 1960s through the 1980sc/n 922226, Hävittäjälentolaivue 31, Rissala Air Base, Finland, late 1960sThe Algerian Air Force obtained its first examplesof the MiG-15 in the mid-sixties. Twenty of themwere still in service in 1984. The presence of thenational insignia on the upper starboard andlower port wings is unclear. Current Algerianaircraft repeat the fuselage codes in theselocations.This aircraft was sold to Finland on November 10,1962. It crashed on November 27, 1970 and waswritten off. During the fall of 1969, it escortedCzechoslovak Il-18 with president LudvíkSvoboda on board during his visit to Finland.The lynx silhouette places this aircraft withHävittäjälentolaivue 31 (Fighter Squadron 31).OVERTREES OVERLEPT#7055XUTI MiG-151/72#7055-LEPTUTI MiG-15 PE-Set1/72Product page Product pageRecommended:for UTI MiG-15 1/72672077 UTI MiG-15 cockpit (Brassin)3DL72014 UTI MiG-15 SPACE (3D Decal)KITS 04/2023INFO Eduard74April 2023Page 75
www.eduard.com/bfcBUNNY BUNNY FIGHTERFIGHTERCLUBEduard's special membership club for all modeling enthusiasts!15% Permanent Club discount at Eduard Store – you will receive permanent 15% discount on all Eduardproducts and also discount on various other non-Eduard products. Fixed, permanent, forever!Unique valuable Club kits and accessories – you will gain access to unique and nowhere else to be soldproducts, specially made for BFC members.Even better prices at Eduard events stand – do you know that Eduard usually has huge discounts ontheir products at fairs and events all over the world? BFC members will have even higher discount atthese events.Club T-shirt – you will receive fancy BFC T-shirt with unique design and special barcode(used for event discounts). This exclusive T-shirt will be only availableto the members of BFC.Free entry fee on E-day – you will not have to pay a penny to visit Eduard's E-day.That means lot of fun at E-day for two days and entry kit, absolutely free!* E-day - INTERNATIONAL SCALE KIT EXHIBITION - IPMS Czech Republic ChampionshipBOX CONTENT:Plastic parts, Marking options 6, Decal Set, PE parts, Maska, Brassinparts (two different types of wheels, landing flaps, dust filter witheyelid, intake ring and RP-3 60lb rockets), 3D decals for main and si-dewalk instrument and control panels with photo-etched details andseat belts.BOX CONTENT:Plastic parts, Marking options 4, Decal Set, PE parts, Maska, Brassinparts (undercarriage wheels, cockpit, exhaust nozzle, FOD).How to become a member of BFC?How to become a member of BFC?Simply by purchasing the Activation product. You will be given 15% discount on (almost) every Eduardproduct in your shopping cart. To apply this discount, the Activation product has to be in your shoppingcart. Activation product is excluded from this calculation.Activation products:Activation products:Tempest Mk. V + T-shirt 1/48MiG-21MF + T-shirt 1/72Page 76
BRASSINBrassin set - exhaust stacks for Hurricane Mk.II in 1/32scale. Made by direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: RevellSet contains:- 3D print: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noBrassin set - exhaust stacks for Hurricane Mk.IIin 1/32 scale. Made by direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: RevellSet contains:- 3D print: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no632188Hurricane Mk.II exhaust rounded PRINT1/32 Revell632189Hurricane Mk.II exhaust fishtail PRINT1/32 RevellProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard76April 2023Page 77
632190Hurricane Mk.II wheels1/32 RevellBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for Hurricane Mk.IIin 1/32 scale. The set consists of the main wheels anda tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: RevellSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- 3D print: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yesBRASSINCollection of 4 sets for Bf 109G-4 in 1/32 scale.Recommended kit: Revell- LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)- TFace painting mask- exhaust stacks- undercarriage wheels634032Bf 109G-4 LööKplus1/32 RevellProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard77April 2023Page 78
BRASSINBrassin set - 10ton jacks for German WWII AFVin 1/35 scale. The set consists of 3 jacks. Madeby direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 15 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noBrassin set - wire cuters for German WWII AFVin 1/35 scale. The set consists of 5 wire cutters.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 5 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no635024WWII German 10 ton jacks PRINT1/35635026WWII German wire cutters PRINT1/35Product pageProduct pageINFO Eduard78April 2023Page 79
BRASSINLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard and STEELseatbelts for A6M2-N Rufe in 1/48 scale. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- resin: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no644205A6M2-N Rufe LööK1/48 EduardCollection of 4 sets for Anson Mk.I in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Airfix- LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)- TFace painting mask- radiators- undercarriage wheels644204Anson Mk.I LööKplus1/48 AirfixProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard79April 2023Page 80
644206B-25J LööK1/48 HKM644207F-16C Block 25 LööK1/48 KineticBRASSINLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard and STEELseatbelts for B-25J in 1/48 scale. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: HKMSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- 3D print: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard and STEELseatbelts for F-16C Block 25 in 1/48 scale. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: KineticSet contains:- resin: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard80April 2023Page 81
BRASSINBrassin set - the seat for A-1J in 1/48 scale. Seatbeltsare printed together with the seat. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: TamiyaSet contains:- resin: 1 part- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no648842A-1H seat1/48 TamiyaBrassin set - the engine for F4F-3 in 1/48 scale.The cowling are included. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 36 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no648826F4F-3 engine late PRINT1/48 EduardProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard81April 2023Page 82
BRASSINBrassin set - guns for Anson Mk.I in 1/48 scale.The set consists of the 4 guns. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: AirfixSet contains:- 3D print: 10 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: noBrassin set - seat for A6M2-N Rufe in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts. Made by direct3D printing. Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 1 part- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no648845A6M2-N Rufe seat PRINT1/48 Eduard648844Anson Mk.I guns PRINT1/48 AirfixProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard82April 2023Page 83
BRASSINBrassin set - gun barrels for A6M2-N Rufein 1/48 scale. Easy to assemble, replacesplastic parts. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no648847A6M2-N Rufe cannon barrels & cockpit guns PRINT1/48 EduardBrassin set - exhaust pipes for A6M2-N Rufein 1/48 scale. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Made by direct 3D printing. Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no648846A6M2-N Rufe exhaust PRINT1/48 EduardProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard83April 2023Page 84
BRASSINBrassin set - folding wingtips for A6M2-N Rufein 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: noBrassin set - gun bays for A6M2-N Rufe in 1/48 scale.Made by direct 3D printing. Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 16 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no648849A6M2-N Rufe gun bays PRINT1/48 Eduard648848A6M2-N Rufe folding wingtips PRINT1/48 EduardProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard84April 2023Page 85
BRASSINBrassin set - nose radar for F-16 in1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: KineticSet contains:- 3D print: 5 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no648855F-16 radar early PRINT1/48 KineticBrassin set - exhaust nozzle for P&W F100 poweredF-16 in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: KineticSet contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no648854F-16 exhaust nozzle P&W F100 PRINT1/48 KineticProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard85April 2023Page 86
BRASSINBrassin set - turquoise-painted cockpit for Mi-24Vin 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: Eduard / ZvezdaSet contains:- 3D print: 10 parts- resin: 46 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no- SPACE 3D decals: yes648857Mi-24V cockpit turquoise PRINT & SPACE1/48 Eduard/ZvezdaProduct pageINFO Eduard86April 2023Page 87
BRASSINBrassin set - the cockpit for Bf 110Ein 1/72 scale. Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- resin: 25 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no672312Bf 110E cockpit1/72 EduardBrassin set - nose guns for Bf 110E in 1/72 scale.Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 13 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no672311Bf 110E nose guns PRINT1/72 EduardProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard87April 2023Page 88
BRASSINCollection of 4 sets for P-39Q in 1/72 scale.Recommended kit: Arma Hobby- LööK set (pre-painted Brassindashboards & Steelbelts),- seat- exhaust stacks- gun barrells674003P-39Q LööKplus1/72 Arma HobbyBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for Bf 110Ein 1/72 scale. The set consists of the main wheels anda tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yes672310Bf 110E wheels1/72 EduardProduct pageProduct