06/2022

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  INFO Eduard

  # 148

  e-magazine FREE Vol 21 June 2022

• Page 2

  INFO Eduard

  # 148

  e-magazine FREE Vol 21 June 2022

  © Eduard - Model Accessories, 2022

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• Page 3

  eduardeduard

  JUNE 2022

  CONTENTS

  EDITORIAL

  KITS

  BRASSIN

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED SETS

  BIG ED

  BUILT

  ON APROACH

  –

  July 2022

  TAIL END CHARLIE

  HISTORY

  Avia CS-199 ProfiPACK 1/72

  Sopwith Camel Comic ProfiPACK 1/48

  SPITFIRE STORY: Per Aspera ad Astra Limited edition 1/48

  Spitfire Mk.VIII Weekend edition 1/72

  Bf 108 ProfiPACK 1/32

  P-51D-5 Mustang ProfiPACK 1/48

  Fw 190A-8/R2 Mustang ProfiPACK 1/48

  Avia CS-199 1/72

  MEZEK 1/72

  Z-526AFS Akrobat 1/48

  MERSU 1/48

  Z-126 Trenér 1/48

  Saburo Sakai 2nd part

  Daniel Le Roy du Vivier

  The air war over Ukraine The third month

  Araxos 22

  The air war over Ukraine

  Trident against a bear

  4

  6

  48

  78

  94

  108

  114

  126

  145

  Published by Eduard-Model Accessories, spol. s.r.o.

  Mírová 170, Obrnice 435 21

  support@eduard.com www.eduard.com

• Page 4

  Good day, Dear Friends

  The show season has revved up, and after a long

  drought at that. Now, we are seeing a show and

  a contest pretty much every weekend and mo-

  dellers are again happy. We have even managed

  some progress in terms of a date and venue for

  this year’s E-day. So, I won’t keep you in suspense.

  E-day 2022 will take place on October 1, at the Mi-

  lovice Tankodrome. This is the place that our Mus-

  tang flight demo took place during the last E-day.

  But not to worry… That is not to say the event will

  be held outside. During the Covid lockdowns and

  restrictions, the Tankodrome received a beautiful

  new convention hall with some 3500 square me-

  ters of floor space, with another generous 1600 m2

  in gallery space. The facility is primarily intended

  to be used as a display area of both military and

  civil machinery, and the plan is to keep some of

  this in place during E-day. Any required space will

  be freed up by moving some of the exhibits outside,

  as needed. There is plenty of display space availa-

  ble outside the building, so this is not anticipated to

  pose any issues. There will also be plenty of room

  available for drop off or pickup of goods for mo-

  dellers and retailers alike. Parking is also conve-

  niently close to the exhibition hall for participants

  and ample parking will be available for visitors in

  the lower section of the property. This is where

  everyone parked during that Mustang demonstra-

  tion. The trip to the hall proper can be undertaken

  on foot, it being about a five minute walk. There is

  also a mini-train that connects the Tankodrome

  with the adjacent kids’ playground Mirakulum and

  the train has a new boarding platform located at

  the parking lot. There will also be another flight

  demonstration, but exactly what will take to the

  air will be revealed in September. It’s not yet been

  finalized, but it shouldn’t be limited to one aircraft

  only, and it will be observable from the airfield

  itself, or from the exhibition hall. That will be for

  those of us who prefer a little comfort.

  The venue offers a lot to visitors with families,

  especially kids, and to anyone that doesn’t parti-

  cularly care for modeling. At the moment, the fi-

  nal major question to address is if E-day will be

  a one or two day affair. My personal vote goes to

  two days, but there are relevant voices suppor-

  ting a one day show. All things that surround the

  show’s organization, judging system, categories,

  awards and the like will gradually be made known

  through the summer.

  Model Kits

  Although the June assortment of new kits may

  look somewhat standard, it contains two new

  items that are far from it. The first is the 1:72 scale

  Avia CS-199, a virtually iconic type for local mo-

  dellers. The good ol’ Kovozavody Prostejov kit from

  1978 of this airplane represents the beginnings of

  the love for the hobby for my generation. It evokes

  pleasant feelings of nostalgia. I believe that our cu-

  rrent technology effort will breathe a new life into

  this legendary type, and that it will garner attenti-

  on among not only Czech and Slovak modellers.

  There is some discussion here regarding how to

  approach the surface of our kit, since the actual

  machines were puttied, eliminating the appearan-

  ce of rivets. That even goes for panel lines, really.

  So the question is whether or not to putty over the

  model’s surface during assembly. My suggestion

  would be to simply not apply a wash in the final

  stages of completion of the kit. It’s not entirely

  accurate to say that after being puttied, the rivets

  and panel lines disappear on the actual airplane.

  They can still be seen, but they certainly are not as

  pronounced. That goes for the panel lines as well.

  If you apply a wash to these surface features, you

  will accent them, and they will become that much

  louder. If you leave out the wash, then you will

  be left with panel lines and rivets at a state they

  should really be at. They will be as subtle as they

  should be and as they were on the real machines.

  I understand that some may see this as a bit of

  a cop out, but I hope you’ll agree that at the very

  least, it’s worth some thought.

  The second kit enjoying its premiere here and now

  is the 48th scale Sopwith Camel Comic. I don’t

  recall a standard plastic model kit ever being re-

  leased of this thing in this scale. Only Blue Max

  made a conversion set for our old Camel way back

  in the day. Perhaps the Comic was released as

  a short run kit at some point. And to be honest, it

  is a type that may be best suited to the short run

  concept. It’s not the type of subject that would be

  considered a “must have” in the display case, or

  even in the stash. But it is a cute little thing, and

  anyone that would want this in their collection can

  now do so. The only thing left to add is that both

  of the kits described here are ProfiPACK releases.

  In the Limited edition line, we’ve got another volu-

  me in the Spitfire Story, this time under the name

  Per Aspera ad Astra. The star of this show is the

  Spitfire Mk.Vc, and twice, to boot, this being a Dual

  Combo release. The marking options cover Europe,

  the MTO, North Africa and the Far East. Sometime

  ago, someone griped, I think it was with the Spitfire

  Mk.IX, that the marking options were boring. There

  is certainly no danger of that here! We also have

  a Spitfire in the 72nd scale Weekend line, this

  time a Mk.VIII, and we pulled out all the stops to

  keep this kit from being accused of boredom,

  too. We have a P-51D-5 re-edition, along with an

  Fw 190A-8/R2, both in 1:48th. The shelves are also

  seeing a restock of the Bf 108, but note that this

  is in 32nd! All three mentioned are ProfiPACK kits.

  Brassins

  If you asked me to pick out my favorite new Brassin

  item, it would have to be the ski set for the Trenér.

  It is 3D printed and it’s just darned adorable! I get

  that skis for a sport plane are awfully specialized

  items and that their rapid disappearance from sto-

  re shelves is unlikely to cause any drafts, but there

  is still just something about this set. And even if

  I never build myself a model of a Trenér with skis,

  I certainly would never turn down a ride in one.

  Most of the new items in the Brassin line are 3D

  printed, because we are slowly but surely aban-

  doning casting resin. Things like landing flaps can’t

  be properly poured anyway. There is a pair of 3D

  printed flap sets for the month of June, one repre-

  senting the wooden set installed in the Fw 190D,

  and the other is for the Spitfire Mk.VIII. As with the

  skis for the Trenér, both these sets are in 48th. The

  same goes for the Lewis machine guns for the

  Sopwith Camel Comic. In 1:72nd scale, there are

  EDITORIAL

  INFO Eduard4

  June 2022

• Page 5

  two new cockpit sets for the Avia S-199, one for the

  later blown sliding hood and one for the classic,

  older Erla Haube canopy.

  3D prints are also new this month for ship models

  in 1:350th. This is after a bit of an absence in terms

  of the Brassin line focusing on this genre, and we

  want to keep the focus in place. Three Brassin sets

  remain cast in resin this month, and they inclu-

  de wheel sets. I would point out that 3D printed

  Brassin sets specifically say PRINT on the label

  and on the price lists.

  Space, LooK, Masks and Photoetched

  In the Space line, we are releasing a record nine

  new sets. Besides sets for the Bf 108 in 1:32nd and

  two sets for watertight doors for ships in 1:350th,

  everything is in 1:48th, including sets for Zvezda’s

  new Su-25. Sets among those for the latter inclu-

  de classic photoetching, a Zoom set, seat belts

  in the Steel line and, of course, the two types of

  masks. The same sort of roundup applies for the

  48th scale AH-1G from Special Hobby and OH-13

  from Italeri. The main frets for the OH-13 have been

  significantly reworked from the out of production

  original.

  In the LooK line, we have items for the Hawk

  81-A2 (P-40B) in 1:32 from GWH, and also dedica-

  ted to it is one of the aforementioned wheel sets.

  The LooK line in June also grows to include sets

  for the F-104A and C in 1:48th scale from Kinetic.

  The Revell 1:48th SR-71A will have its sets too, and

  these will hail from the LooK and LookPlus lines,

  and 3D printed Brassin seats are here as well. The

  same can be said for Airfix’s 1:48th scale Vampi-

  re F.3. The range includes 3D printed seats in the

  Brassin line and a LookPlus set as of June.

  There is also an extensive list of new photoetched

  brass sets being released this month. We have

  items for the Tamiya 1:35th KV-2 that stem from

  the photoetching for the KV-1. The set includes

  photoetching for the open toolboxes, including

  their contents. Miniart released a new kit of a StuG

  III self-propelled howitzer. The photoetched set we

  have designed for this kit is pre-painted, including

  the items that were originally wood. It looks pretty

  darned good, and deserves a good look. June also

  sees the release of photoetching for Zvezda’s T-15

  with a different turret.

  Loyal fans of subject matter associated with the

  war in the Pacific have long liked the Hasegawa

  1:48th scale D3A Val. We decided to bring the very

  old photoetched set for this kit up to current stan-

  dards with a pre-painted set and to release this in

  conjunction with a TFace mask set. This is the first

  time this type of mask set is being released for this

  kit. Three sets are also designed for the excellent

  Special Hobby AH-1G kit in 1:48th, and for the afo-

  rementioned Su-25.

  For ship modellers, we can now offer the first two

  photoetched sets for Trumpeter’s CV-64 Conste-

  llation aircraft carrier in 1:350th. More sets are co-

  ming down the pipes over the next few months. As

  I had mentioned previously, this is a subject matter

  that we plan not to ignore, and will dedicated also

  Space and Brassin items to it. This month, the sets

  are of searchlights and machine guns for USN ve-

  ssels that are 3D printed. The Space sets for naval

  subjects include watertight doors for German and

  Japanese vessels of the Second World War.

  Have a gander at the new BigEd and BigSin sets

  as well, and the two new decal sheets of national

  insignia and stencil data for the new 1:72nd scale

  S-199.

  Coming Down the Pipe

  We are vigorously working on our 48th scale Wild-

  cat. The premiere of this type in our range will fall

  to the F4F-3. It will come in August and will initia-

  lly see the light of day as a ProfiPACK kit, a bit of

  a departure. Because we do want to bring and

  make this kit available in Omaha in July, we need to

  fine tune the molds no

  later than late June. I think

  this is all doable, and we should be able to show

  something off at any of the shows we attend throu-

  gh June. These will include the show at Prosek and

  the traditional Panther’s Cup. There, we will also

  be selling our new items for July, to include the

  ProfiPACK 1:72nd sliding canopy S-199, 48th scale

  ProfiPACK A6M2 Zero Model 11 and the Limited Red

  Tails & Co., dedicated to Fighter Groups of the 15th

  Air Force USAAF, flying the P-51D. Among the July

  releases, there will be several very interesting

  items, such as completely unbuttoned engine for

  the A6M2 Zero in the Brassin line, 3D printed, of

  course, same as the seat for the Su-25, and Pro-

  sek will also introduce the Eddie the riveter set for

  the Mi-24D. August new releases will be available

  for viewing, which will include first and foremost

  new sets for the forthcoming Wildcat, including the

  cockpit. There will be much to see, so if you happen

  to be nearby, stop in and see us!

  Articles

  Today’s newsletter offers a lot of good reading. We

  have the second part of the article on Saburō Sa-

  kai from Jan Bobek, a continuation of the evolution

  of the air war over Ukraine from Miro Barič. We

  have decided to add another one about this, it is

  an overtake from the website czechairforce.com

  written by Radim Špalek. The headline is Trident

  against a bear, and it is concentrating especially on

  the technology of the warfare used. More to it, we

  have even fourth installment, as Jaroslav Špaček

  weighs in on this year’s Tiger Meet. So, I wish you

  a pleasant read!

  Happy Modelling

  Vladimir Sulc

  Photo: Milovice Tankodrome Exhibiton Hall as it is today.

  INFO Eduard

  5

  June 2022

• Page 6

  Saburō Sakai during his war time service

  in China before outbreak of World War 2.

  HISTORY

  Stanford University Libraries

  GUADACANAL

  Americans landed at Guadalcanal on August 7,

  1942 and completely surprised the Japanese

  occupying forces in the area. The nearest base

  from where Japanese could launch an aerial

  counterattack was Rabaul located 550 miles

  northwest. Command of 25th Air Flotilla pro-

  mptly organized an attack with 27 G4M Betty

  bombers from the 4th Kōkūtai. Japanese figh-

  ter pilots at Rabaul were outraged by American

  invasion. But they were also excited about up-

  coming fight with an elite part of US aviation -

  naval fighters. Formation took-off at 9.50 from

  Vukanau airfield. Soon one of the Zeroes had to

  return, and at 13.15 only 17 escort fighters rea-

  ched Savo island north of Guadalcanal.

  By co-incidence, the Americans had in the air

  only two flights of four Wildcats from the VF-5

  squadron (USS Saratoga). The fighters were di-

  rected toward the Japanese bomber formation.

  During the fight the outnumbered Americans,

  some of them Midway veterans, successfully

  attacked the group of bombers, but they could

  not evade clashing with their escort fighters.

  Due to weight reduction the Zeroes were not

  equipped with radios and when bombers got

  under attack, they had to use gunfire to notify

  their escort! One of successful shooters was Lt.

  jg. W. M. Holt, who together with Ens. J. R. Daly

  downed two Bettys (both were awarded to Daly).

  Saburō Sakai and his wingmen started to cha-

  se attackers, but the Americans escaped. When

  Sakai disengaged from combat, he discovered

  that his wingmen were not following him. Then

  he saw something unexpected, his two wingmen

  were being chased by a lone Wildcat! However

  he misjudged the situation. In reality his wing-

  men Kakimoto and Utō with one more collea-

  gue were chasing the Lt. J. J. Southerland from

  Scarlet 2 formation of VF-5 (USS Sataroga).

  In the last few moments, his life was saved se-

  veral times by armor plate and robust structure

  of the Wildcat.

  Sakai joined fight under impression that his

  protégés were in danger, and he fired at the

  American from 600 m distance! After a wild

  chase, Sakai finally managed to outmaneuver

  him and photographed his opponent from fifty

  meters distance! Then he fired his guns. But the

  badly damaged aircraft suddenly slowed down,

  and a surprised Sakai unintentionally flew in

  Photo: Shori Tanaka via Yoji Sakaida

  INFO Eduard6

  June 2022

• Page 7

  HISTORY

  front of his enemy. He expected a deadly sal-

  vo, but it did not come. The Wildcat continued in

  a controlled flight, but showed no signs of

  aggression. Sakai returned in a wide curve and

  flew beside it so he could look at his opponent.

  The American plane was riddled with bullets

  and its tail surfaces, in Sakai´s words: “... were

  torn to shreds and looked like an old piece of

  cloth”. Sakai pushed his canopy back and watch-

  ed the American pilot.

  Southerland was just about to leave his airpla-

  ne. He took out the cable from the radio, unbuc-

  kled the straps and pushed back the canopy.

  According to Southerland, his instrument panel

  was heavily damaged, the rear view mirror had

  disappeared, the windshield was like a colander.

  His aviator googles were also gone. Fuel from

  riddled tank was leaking on the cockpit's floor

  and his right leg was covered with oil.

  Sakai was fascinated by the structural strength

  of his opponent´s plane. A Zero would not have

  been able to sustain such damage. As Souther-

  land was preparing for bailing out, he changed

  his hold of the stick from right hand to left hand.

  This probably made Sakai believing as if Ameri-

  can prayed.

  According to Sakai “Pug” Southerland even

  waved at him. Sakai was hesitating. Should he

  finish his already defeated enemy, further-

  more such a courageous and a good pilot? He

  finally decided to make a compromise and from

  distance of approximately 50 meters in a gentle

  ascent he made few shots from his cannons to

  the Wildcat's engine. The plane started to burn.

  Southerland described it as follows: “At this

  time, a Zero making a run from the port quarter

  put a burst in just under the left wing root and

  good old 5-F-12 finally exploded. I think the ex-

  plosion occurred from gasoline vapor. The flash

  was below and forward of my left foot. I was

  ready for it … Consequently I dove over the ri-

  ght side just aft of the starboard wing root, head

  first. My .45 holster caught on the hood track,

  but I got rid of it immediately, though I don´t re-

  member how.”

  Although "Pug" bailed out at a very low altitu-

  de over the forested terrain of Guadalcanal.

  He was found by Solomon Islander Bruno Nana

  who helped him to reach American lines. On Au-

  gust 20, 1942, Southerland was evacuated from

  Guadalcanal on the first PBY Catalina to land at

  Henderson Field. He later returned to combat

  and became an ace himself, and was awarded

  the Distinguished Flying Cross (DFC). His Wildcat

  Bu.No. 5192 was found in 1998.

  Of the eight Wildcats that clashed with Tainan

  Kōkūtai just three got back to the carrier. VF-5

  squadron was followed by VF-6, which lost ano-

  ther four machines. Fighting Six scored only

  Zero kill achieved by fighters that day (After in-

  dividual dogfights Tainan Kōkūtai pilots turned

  to the Tulagi island and began climbing through

  a cloud layer.

  As Sakai flew out of the clouds with his fellow

  pilots, his canopy was hit by machine gun fire

  that barely missed his head. It was the first time

  in his career, that he was attacked without be-

  ing aware of the attacker. Moreover the attacker

  was not a fighter but a bomber! Sakai was cha-

  llenged by the SBD Dauntless dive bomber pilo-

  ted by Lt. Dudley H. Adams of VS-71 (USS Wasp).

  “Dud” Adams attempted to escape into the

  clouds, but he was quickly caught by Sakai who

  delivered a devastating fire from close range.

  The SBD Dauntless' gunner AR3/c Harry E. Elliot

  did not have chance and was killed instantly. The

  burning machine fell into left spin. Adams was

  able to get out of the airplane and later was pic-

  ked up by the destroyer USS Dewey. Adams was

  awarded the Navy Cross for his brave attack

  against Japanese.

  Adams belonged to Dauntless Flight 120 (VS-

  71) that searched for enemy in vicinity of Tu-

  lagi island together with Flight 319. They came

  from Bombing Squadron 6 (VB-6) and Scouting

  Squadron 5 (VS-5) respectively. Sakai was

  about to put his strengths against them.

  Shortly after Sakai shot down Adams´ Dauntle-

  ss, he saw a formation of eight aircraft. He de-

  cided to attack it together with his wingman Enji

  Kakimoto. He thought it was an American fighter

  formation. “If I had two of them in one attack,

  they would be demoralized”, Sakai thought, and

  then the airplanes reduced distance between

  themselves. Fighters would never do such step

  in preparation for a fight.

  Sakai for the first time misjudged the tactical

  situation “Well, they have not seen me yet”, he

  thought. But “the fighters” were actually Dau-

  ntless bombers from Flight 319. They were rea-

  dy for attackers and getting a tighter formation

  was necessary for their effective defense. Addi-

  tionally, all the machines were flying basically

  next to each other, so they were not supposed

  to get in each other's line of defensive fire. Sa-

  kai attacked on the right flank of the formati-

  on and with horror realized his mistake. But he

  was already too close, so he closed his eyes and

  started fire.

  AO2/c Harold L. Jones, was gunner in a bomber

  that got hit hard by Sakai, he recalls: “As the

  Zero coming directly in from astern was about

  500 feet away, he started shooting. Some of our

  gunners answered with their twin 0.30 caliber

  machine guns. Some gunners, including myself,

  could not bring our guns to bear on him without

  damaging their tails, but as the Zero turned to

  the right and pulled up to miss us, every gunner

  was shooting at him – he could have been only

  100 feet away.”

  Jones could not fire yet, but his plane was ge-

  tting heavy fire from Sakai. As the Japanese

  attacker flashed past, Jones squeezed off about

  30 rounds from his guns: “I probably got some

  hits, but I think he was already hit and wounded

  by the time I fired on him. His cockpit exploded,

  turned orange. Then I swung my guns over to

  take care of the other guy coming in from under-

  neath.”

  Jones' pilot Ens. Robert C. Shaw was also busy,

  as his Dauntless' controls were heavily da-

  maged. Jones learned from Shaw they shall be

  ready to leave the aircraft. Finally, Shaw man-

  aged to get back and after 60 miles landed on

  the deck of the USS Enterprise. The machine

  with the number B-18 had 232 bulletholes!

  Sakai got confirmation for shooting down Sha-

  w's machine. Kakimoto also scored one victory.

  His victim was Robert E. Gibson. A 20 mm pro-

  jectile exploded under the armored seat after it

  bounced from the bomb under the fuselage! But

  he made back to the flattop as well. Shooting

  down of Sakai's Zero was credited to AMM2/c

  Herman H. Caruthers, gunner of formation le-

  ader Lt. Carl H. Horenburger (Dauntless S-12).

  But it was rather a prestige decision than any-

  thing else. Sakai was under fire of everyone in

  bomber formation. Closest and therefore with

  “I probably got some hits, but I think he was already hit and wounded by

  the time I fired on him. His cockpit exploded, turned orange. Then I swung

  my guns over to take care of the other guy coming in from underneath.”

  A6M2 Type 21, PO1c Saburō Sakai, Tainan Kōkūtai, Lakunai airfield, Rabaul, New Britain island, August 7, 1942

  Sakai´s V-128 was also flown by PO2c Arita and PO1c Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, who is credited with 87 victories. The colors of the stripes is chosen from

  Sakai's recollections, but there are other interpretations, such as a black or yellow stripe on the fuselage. During a fighter escort to Guadalcanal

  on August 7, Sakai shot down Wildcat F12 from VF-5 piloted by "Pug" Southerland in an epic dogfight. Sakai was later severely wounded in the face

  by fire from VB-6 Dauntless near Tulagi Island. After nearly five hours and more than 1,000 km, he managed to land back at Rabaul.

  INFO Eduard

  7

  June 2022

• Page 8

  HISTORY

  highest chance for accurate fire was Jones.

  When Sakai's aircraft was shaking under the

  fire of the Americans, he flew at 7,800 feet.

  When he regained control, he was at 800 feet.

  A large part of the windscreen was gone, the

  air flowed uncomfortably into the cabin. Sakai

  was bleeding from his right eye and with his left

  eye he saw only a little. Several times, he tried

  to bandage the wounds, but the bandages flew

  away every time. Finally, he used a scarf around

  his neck. He was far from certain whether he

  had enough fuel to return, and he did not know

  exactly where he was. The pain drove him to

  madness. Between the islands of Santa Isabel

  and Choiseul he decided to perform a suicide

  attack on any Allied vessels. He went back se-

  veral times toward Guadalcanal and then north

  again to Rabaul, but he found no target.

  Again he decided to fight for his life but sleep

  began to overhelm him. Sakai woke up several

  times as his aircraft went into a dive. But what

  he did not know was that he was flying in the

  wrong direction. After a while, he looked strai-

  ght ahead and saw a clear vision of his mother

  calling him, “Saburō, get up! Get up! Shame on

  you!” He saw her pointing to the direction where

  he was supposed to fly. He turned in this directi-

  on (90 ' to the left), and after a long time he saw

  the sweet silhouette of the Green Island. Rabaul

  was about 100 miles away.

  Eventually, he arrived at Lakunai Airport, and

  after several unsuccessful attempts, he finally

  landed and collapsed on his seat. He had flown

  560 miles and his flight lasted 4 hours and 47

  minutes. Officers Lt. Sasai, Lt.Cdr. Nakajima and

  Cdr. Kozono personally helped Sakai to get out

  of cockpit. It was very unusual for senior offi-

  cers to take care of a subordinate.

  The doctors were unable to deal with such inju-

  ries, therefore he was sent to Japan. When Sa-

  kai was giving goodbye, Sasai gave him a silver

  buckle with an engraved legendary tiger, "Come

  back to us when you are healed, we'll wait for

  you."

  5)

  but it was too ambitious a wish, in a very

  short time almost none of Sakai's comrades

  were still alive.

  JAPAN (August 1942 - June 1944)

  After being sent to Yokosuka Marine Hospital, he

  was immediately treated by senior eye surgeon

  Lt. Cdr. Dr. Sakano. The operation was done du-

  ring Sakai's full consciousness, and the torture

  lasted for thirty minutes. The left eye eventually

  healed completely, but with the right eye he was

  able to see only up to distance of about 40-60

  cm. He was then hospitalized in Sasebo hospi-

  tal. His friend and former colleague Hiroyoshi

  Nishizawa visited him there. The conversation

  revealed that both were practically the last to

  remain alive from the original Tainan Kōkūtai.

  6)

  On November 1, 1942 Sakai was extraordina-

  rily promoted to Warrant Officer rank, then

  the hospital released him in January 1943.

  He reported at the former Tainan Kōkūtai now

  designated as Kōkūtai 251 at the Toyohashi base

  in Japan. There he was able to test a captured

  Boeing B-17.

  A few months later Kōkūtai 251 had to return to

  Rabaul and Sakai was supposed join his unit. In

  the end, however, the chief surgeon in Toyohashi

  intervened and in May 1943 instead of going to

  Rabaul, Sakai went to Ômura Kōkūtai, where he

  trained novices, like he was doing during the

  past few months.

  At the end of 1943 Ômura Kōkūtai received new

  reinforcement, the highly experienced Shō-ichi

  Sugita (80 v.), who was recovering from burns

  suffered with Kōkūtai 204 over Shortland. Sa-

  kai finally had some equal combat veteran for

  talks. Soon they became friends, but in the

  spring of 1944 their paths diverged. Sugita went

  to Kōkūtai 263 and Sakai was transferred to Yo-

  kosuka Kōkūtai in April 1944.

  IWO JIMA

  After the American landing at Saipan, the Ja-

  panese began to worry about their other stron-

  ghold - Iwo Jima. Yokosuka Kōkūtai next des-

  tination was right there. Twenty-seven pilots

  including Sakai and Hikōtaichō Lt.Cdr. Tadashi

  Nakajima had been trying to get to the island

  since June 16 despite the unfavorable weather.

  A6M2 Type 21, c/n 3647, Warrant Officer Tora-ichi Takatsuka, Tainan Kōkūtai, Lakunai airfield, Rabaul, September 1942

  This aircraft was produced by Mitsubishi on March 3, 1942. It was flown in legendary Tainan Kōkūtai by the also famous fighter aces Saburō Sakai

  and Hiroyoshi Nishizawa. It is believed that with this Zero, on September 13, 1942 over Guadalcanal, Shōtai leader W. O. Takatsuka was shot down

  in a dogfight with Wildcats from VF-5 and VMF-223. Three of his wingmen were also shot down in the same action. The wreckage of this Zero was

  found in 1993 in a swamp about five miles east of Henderson Field. Remnants of code and markings remained on some parts. Takatsuka had served

  in the IJN aviation since 1933. In the 12th Kōkūtai he was one of the fighter pilots who achieved the first victories with Zeros in aviation history on

  September 13, 1940. He was promoted to Warrant Officer in October 1941 and demobilized. However he was soon called back into service by the IJ

  Navy and from June 1942 was assigned to Tainan Kōkūtai in Rabaul. He mainly took part in the fighting over New Guinea. In total he was credited

  with 16 victories including three in China. Fighting with the Wildcats had already nearly proved fatal to him once. During the raid on Guadalcanal on

  August 7, 1942, although he claimed four victories, he flew in front of one of his opponents and immediately was hit. The victor was Thomas Rhodes

  of VF-6 (USS Enterprise). Takatsuka's Zero caught fire, but he managed to put it out and escape.

  A Grumman F4F Wildcat of VF-5 in 1942 near Guadalcanal. This squad

  -

  ron based on USS Saratoga clashed in heavy fight on August 7, 1942

  against Tainan Kōkūtai. Lt. J. J. Southerland surprised Sakai with his

  pilot skills as well as with solid design of Wildcat that could absorb

  amazing amount of damage.

  Photo: Wikimedia Commons

  Artifacts given to Capt. Dana “Smudge” Potts, USN on one of several visits to Mr. Sakai´s home. The metal artifact is a piece of Zero V-103 re-

  covered in Guadalcanal in 1993. The piece of cloth was part of the scarf Mr. Sakai used to stop the bleeding from his head wound August 7, 1942.

  Photo: D. Potts

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  HISTORY

  According to Sakai, they arrived only after the

  fifth attempt on June 20, 1944 (in reality on

  June 22).

  Two days later, in the morning of June 24, the

  Japanese radar identified an enemy formation

  approaching Iwo Jima. Yokosuka Kōkūtai made

  ready 25 machines, with Kōkūtai 252 and 301

  another 32 machines available. The fighters

  took-off at 6.20, climbing counterclockwise

  around the island. Japanese formation clashed

  at 06.30 with Hellcats of VF-1, VF-2 and VF-50.

  Without major problems Sakai shot down two

  Hellcats and then wanted to join a formation of

  fifteen fighters, which he identified as Zeroes.

  But it was his bad sight that betrayed him this

  time. The Zeroes were in fact Hellcats of VF-2.

  Before Sakai could do anything, he was in the

  middle of the gang of Hellcats, who tried to hit

  him without success, but fired more and more

  furiously.

  When Ens. Clarence E. Rich and Ens. William

  A. McCormick of VF-50 appeared on the scene,

  they saw how four Hellcats chased one Zero,

  which maneuvered so sharply that pursuing fi-

  ghters falled to a spin. McCormick did not want

  to get involved in such a confusing combat,

  where novices from VF-2 were fooling around.

  But Rich joined the fight and managed to pur-

  sue Sakai down to 5000 feet. As enemy tra-

  cers began to fly around him, he was forced to

  break and disengaged from the attack on Sakai.

  He got the Zero recognized as a damaged.

  Sakai had reached the sea level during the fight

  and tried to escape by flying low over the wa-

  ter. Not less than three times the waves hit the

  wing of his Zero. Near Iwo Jima the attackers

  were discouraged by anti-aircraft fire and Sa-

  kai safely landed at main airfield Motoyama.

  The amazed ground crewmen found out that his

  Zero did not have a single hit!

  According to Yokosuka Kōkūtai war diary, Sa-

  burō Sakai took part in an interception mission

  of US Naval aircraft in the morning of June 24,

  and in an escort mission for torpedo bombers

  on the same day in the afternoon. The report

  says victories of the fighter unit were seven-

  teen F6Fs including six probables in the mor-

  ning and one F6F in the afternoon. But individual

  victories were not recorded. One of Sakai´s co-

  lleagues participating in these combats was his

  friend Ens. Kaneyoshi Mutō (35 v.) who as well

  served as an instructor with the unit .

  Iwo Jima became the target of raids on July 3

  and 4. It was on the US Independence Day that

  Sakai shot down another US Navy Hellcat. Du-

  ring the three days of battles Yokosuka Kōkūtai

  lost 54 machines (not 71, as stated by Sakai)

  The final part of the duel between Sakai and Southerland, which took place on August 7, 1942 over Guadalcanal, was depicted by Piotr Forkasiewicz.

  Wounded Saburō Sakai walks away from airplanes after legendary re

  -

  turn flight from Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942. Next to him walks Bun-

  taichō Lt.jg. Jun-ichi Sasai (54 v.) with his personal Zero fighter (V-138)

  in the background.

  Back from deadly mission, Petty Officer Saburō Sakai with blood stre

  -

  aming down his face. He was hit in the head by two heavy fragments.

  Blinded in his right eye and temporarily in his left eye, having paralizing

  wounds in his left leg, arm and chest! His return flight from Guadalcanal

  took almost five hours. Everybody wanted to hear from Sakai his un-

  believable story. Immediately behind him stands Lt. jg. Jun-ichi Sasai,

  to the Sakai´s right in white shirt wearing a helmet is Petty Officer

  Toshio Ôta (34 v.). Behind Ôta wearing a helmet is Petty Officer Sadao

  Uehara (13 v.). Unusually in a middle of the excited crowd stands Cdr. Ya-

  suna Kozono the Executive Officer and Hikóchó of Tainan Kōkūtai, he can

  be seen in a white cap between Ota and Uehara. Famous Hiroyoshi Nishi-

  zawa (87 v.) can be seen in upper left part of the photo in flight helmet.

  VF-5 pilot Lt. James J. “Pug” Southerland that fought against Sakai over

  Guadalcanal on August 7, 1942 in one of best known dogfights of World

  War 2. His Wildcat F-12 (Bu.No. 5192) exploded at low altitude moments

  before impacting the ground. The wreckage landed in a ravine covered

  with dense jungle. Most parts have been well preserved by thick foliage

  protection. It was found in 1998.

  A war time photo of AO2c Harold L. Jones, Dauntless gunner of VB-6 who

  almost killed Saburō Sakai on August 7, 1942 over Guadalcanal. His pilot

  on the epic Flight 319 mission was Ens. Robert C. Shaw.

  Photo: Wikimedia CommonsPhoto: Honma via Wikimedia Commons.

  Photo: M: D. Harmer.

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  from the original 80. Commanding officer of Sa-

  kai´s unit Capt. Miura decided to order his pilots

  to find an American vessel and destroy it by

  a self destruction attack.

  On July 5 at 16.00, nine Zeroes and eight torpe-

  do bombers were launched against Task Group

  58.1 and 58.2. The Kamikaze mission, which was

  a personal initiative of commanding officer of

  Yokosuka Kōkūtai (i.e. not by higher command),

  was complicated by Miura´s orders to fighter pi-

  lots – they were not supposed to get involved

  in dogfights with the Americans! After passing

  through a storm the Japanese formation was

  attacked by 17 Hellcats and all the bombers

  were shot down.

  Sakai ignored orders and quickly sent down one

  American in flames. He did not find the target

  for self destruction attack, so he turned back

  with his wingmen. But he lost direction in the

  bad weather. It was again his mother's vision,

  which showed him the correct direction of his

  flight.

  7)

  The remaining members of the Yokosuka Kō-

  kūtai were transported from Iwo Jima back to

  Japan on 6. July on board of a transport plane.

  A month later Sakai was promoted to the Ensign

  rank .(Wasn't he already promoted to Ensign on

  November 1, 1942, while staying at the hospital?)

  JAPAN (END OF 1944 - 1945)

  On December 25, 1944, elite Kōkūtai 343 was re-

  -established at Matsuyama. Sakai was invited to

  join this famous unit, but due to his eye defect he

  was appointed to Hikótai 701 as training officer.

  He performed only two operational flights and

  did not participate in any combat encounter.

  On March 19, 1945, he witnessed the famous vic-

  tory of Kōkūtai 343 against US Navy pilots over

  Japan, but he was also present on the tragic

  death of his friend Shō-ichi Sugita on April 15.

  In March 1945, Sakai received “Commander's

  commendation” from Admiral Soemu Toyoda,

  the commander of the Combined Fleet (Rengō

  Kantai), and was transferred to the old Yokosuka

  Kōkūtai again on June 26 in exchange for Ens.

  Kaneyoshi Mutō.

  In Sakai´s book 'Samurai!' you will find a pa-

  ssage describing how on the night of August 14

  to 15 he participated, together with Lt. Kawachi

  and other pilots, in shooting down a Boeing B-29

  with their Zeroes. This episode is a fiction from

  beginning to end and was created by co-authors

  of Sakai without giving him chance to review the

  text of the book.

  Sakai says: ,,What was written in 'Samurai!'

  is absolutely a nonsense. I've never flown at

  night and no Jiro Kawachi ever existed!" So what

  was it like? Two days after the end of the hosti-

  lities, on August 17, 1945, four B- 32 Dominators

  from 386th BS/312nd BG performed a photo-re-

  connaissance mission to the area northeast of

  Tokyo. Around noon three of the bombers were

  attacked by anti aircraft fire and fighters. One

  of the Dominators was attacked by Sakai and

  his colleagues from Yokosuka Kōkūtai. After the

  war, Sakai was not sure if he piloted a Zero or a

  N1K “Shiden”, but according to his own words he

  believes he instinctively chose his beloved Zero.

  He claimed the Dominator as a damaged one.

  Another fighter ace Warrant Officer Ryōji Ohara

  (48 v.) also took part in this final battle. At least

  two of the flying giants were damaged. One of

  them was hit by fighters on the wing and fuse-

  lage and disengaged from the combat in a sha-

  llow but rapid descent. It was B-32-20-CF “Hobo

  Queen II” (42-108532) piloted by Captain James

  F. Klein. His crew had several members woun-

  ded, one of the men eventually died of injuries.

  American crews claimed four kills and three

  probables. One day later, on August 18, fifteen

  pilots led by Ensign Komachi (18 v.) intercepted

  two Dominators over Tokyo. Komachi damaged

  the machine of Lt. John R. Anderson of 386th BS.

  Shortly after the war Sakai was promoted to

  Lieutenant Junior Grade and was discharged

  from the Navy. American military occupation

  police started to focus on Sakai very soon. Sa-

  Part of Tainan Kōkūtai diary from August 7. The upper left part contains details of Tulagi as a target and Cdr. Nakajima as leader of the 18 Zero

  formation. The upper right part provides milestones of the mission between 7.50 and 15.30 of Japanese time including number of opponents

  in the engagement.

  Part of Tainan Kōkūtai diary from August 7. The bottom line shows details of Saburō Sakai including remark about three hits in his airplane

  and victories over one Grumman and two SBC bombers (sic.).

  Part of USS Saratoga war diary with entry about Lt. “Pug” Southerland on August 7, 1942. He came back to his unit several days later after getting

  help from Guadalcanal natives.

  Photo: JACARPhoto: JACAR

  Photo: Fold3

  INFO Eduard10

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  HISTORY

  kai assumed it must be due to the Dominator

  interception , Komachi was having the same

  worries and was even in hiding! But it turned

  out that the Americans were interested in Sa-

  kai´s battle experiences and his former ene-

  mies gave him a surprising warm welcome.

  However, difficult times were coming. He lost

  his pension, was not allowed to work in a go-

  vernment office, was not allowed to fly, his

  officer's sword was confiscated and he almost

  had to sell his Leica camera. In 1947 his beloved

  wife Hatsuyo passed away. They had married in

  February 1945.

  Sakai finally found a job in Nippon Tsuutransport

  company. In 1950 he had saved enough money to

  set up a printing company. In 1952 he remarried,

  and together with his wife Haruko brought up

  two daughters and a son. One of his daughters

  studied college in USA and her father wished

  she will also get familiar with political demo-

  cracy. In 1953 he wrote his memoirs “Ozorano

  Samurai'' (Samurai of the great sky ), it became

  a bestseller and in 1957 was published in Eng-

  lish as "Samurai !". There was also a Japanese

  movie done based on this book. In the following

  years he had many opportunities to meet with

  former enemies and open new relationships.

  He became a lay Buddhist acolyte as an act of

  atonement. He told in one interview that he had

  not killed any creature, ''not even a mosquito,''

  since last stepping from the cockpit of his Zero

  on a hot August day in 1945. Following a US Navy

  formal dinner on September 22, 2000, at Atsugi

  Naval Air Station where he had been an honored

  guest, Saburō Sakai died of a heart attack at the

  age of 84.

  Sakai was definitely not the usual Japanese

  pilot. He did not hesitate to challenge his su-

  periors, violate common Navy rules or lie to

  excuse his action that saved the lives of airli-

  ner passengers.

  After the war he even did not hesitate to cri-

  ticize the Emperor Hirohito: ''whose name was

  on the battle orders?'' he said in an interview in

  1994 with The Daily Telegraph of London. ''Over

  three million died fighting for the Emperor, but

  when the war was over he pretended it was not

  his responsibility. What kind of man does that?''

  Not only criticizing the Emperor, but also his

  frequent publicity, including Japanese edition

  of Playboy, and contacts with former enemies

  isolated him from many veterans including the

  whole Zero Fighter Pilots Association. His for-

  mer comrades did not like that Sakai used the

  legendary Zero for his own benefits.

  Probably most controversial was his meeting

  in 1983 in Alabama with B-29 pilot Paul Tibbets

  who dropped an atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Sa-

  kai assured Tibbets he fully understands he had

  to obey orders and fulfill his mission. Accor-

  ding to Sakai the full responsibility was on pre-

  sident Truman's shoulders.

  According to some authors Saburō Sakai made

  over 200 fights and achieved 64 victories. This

  victory figure was mentioned for the first time

  in book “Samurai!” and Sakai clearly stated

  that he did not know where this figure was co-

  ming from. In the early 90´s Sakai stated that

  the number of his victories could be around 28.

  Author of this article believes total number of

  his combat missions is in the range of 100.

  According to researcher “Sam” Tagaya, Mr. Sa-

  kai is one Japanese ace, whose record of vic-

  tories can be documented completely through

  surviving official documents including unit war

  diaries which continued to record individual

  victories throughout the period of his active

  combat career. He was credited with his first

  shoot down over Hankow, China on October 5,

  1938. That was the only official victory before

  the Pacific War. During his career with Tainan

  Kōkūtai, he was credited with 11 individual kills,

  8 shared ones and 4 probables. So if we would

  like to create one combined figure, we come to

  24 claims in total before service in Yokosuka

  Kōkūtai.

  What was the secret of his success? Here's an

  explanation that he gave to us: "The number

  of downed aircraft was not the most important

  to me. I knew that I could increase my score if

  I would not care about my wingmen. But how

  useless it would be to gain a victory for the loss

  of a wingman. Being honest and a good leader,

  a good trainer for more pilots, pay for them and

  VF-2 pilots on board of USS Hornet on the morning of June 19, the day known later as the Great Marianas Turkey Shoot. This unit claimed 51 victories

  out of 330 Japanese aircraft credited to US Navy pilots on that day. VF-2 was one of the American units inflicting heavy losses to Sakai´s Yokosuka

  Kōkūtai.

  B-32-20-CF Dominator “Hobo Queen II” (42-108532) at an airbase in Philippines in 1945. One of nine B-32s assigned to the 312th Bombardment

  Group, 386th Bombardment Squadron for combat tests. On August 17, 1945 over Japan although the war had ended, the bomber encountered anti

  -

  -aircraft fire from Miyakawa Airfield and was intercepted by fourteen Japanese fighters over Chosi, including Saburō Sakai. This was one of the

  last aerial combats between American and Japanese aircraft during World War II. There were several wounded crew members on board of Hobo

  Queen II including photographer Sergeant Anthony Marchione, who later died of his wounds and became last US airman to be killed by enemy action

  in world World War II.

  Photo: US Navy

  Photo: Fold 3

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  HISTORY

  Photos from the American air raids on Iwo Jima in the summer of 1944. Sakai served at this island

  base in late June and early July 1944. Photo: Fold3

  INFO Eduard12

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  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

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  HISTORY

  being careful not to lose them. My mind was a

  plan of such thoughts."

  I would like to thank for their cooperation: Ian

  Boudoulec, Dan Haladěj (†), Ota Jírovec, Zdeněk

  Novák, Jindřich Nepevný, Capt. Dana “Smudge”

  Potts, Yoji Sakaida, Shori Tanaka and J. Young.

  Notes:

  5) It was made for Sasai by his father. According

  to legend, during a hunt the tiger goes thousand

  miles, but returns home safely. Sasai was killed

  on August 26 over Guadalcanal in combat with

  Wildcats of VMF-223.

  6) Tainan Kōkūtai lost 20 pilots during the period

  from August 7 till October 25, 1942.

  7) It seems dating of this action by Sakai on July

  5 is wrong. According to his unit diary it pro-

  bably matches with afternoon mission of June

  24, 1944 which Sakai took part. The attacking

  Japanese formation was intercepted by VF-2

  Hellcats. All bombers and four Zeroes were shot

  down.

  SOURCES:

  Books and magazines:

  BOBEK Jan.: Saburō Sakai; HPM 7 & 8; 1995

  BOBEK, Jan: , Saburo Sakai, le rebelle volant de

  la marine impériale japonaise; ACES n. 10; Heim-

  dal, 2019

  McKELVEY CLEAVER, Thomas: F4F Wildcat and

  F6F Hellcat Acesof VF-2; Osprey Publishing;

  2015

  FRANK, Richard B.: Guadalcanal: The Definitive

  Account of the Landmark Battle; Penguin Books;

  Reprint edition; 1992

  HATA, Ikuhiko; IZAWA, Yasuho: Japanese Naval

  Aces and Fighter Units in World War II; Airlife;

  1989

  IZAWA, Yasuho: J2M Raiden and N1K1/2 Shiden /

  Shiden Kai aces; Osprey Publishing; 2016

  LUNDSTROM, John B.: First Team and the Gua-

  dalcanal Campaign: Naval Fighter Combat from

  August to November 1942; Naval Institute Press;

  2013

  MIKESH, Robert C.: Zero Warbird History; Motor-

  books Int.; 1994

  Model Art No. 439: Heroes of the Imperial Ja-

  panese Navy Air Force in 1937 – 1945; Model Art

  Co. Ltd., 1994

  NihonnoGunkan, parts 2 and 13

  ROHWER, Jürgen; HUMMELCHEN, Gerhard:

  Chronology of the War at Sea, 1939-1945: The

  Naval History of World War Two; Naval Institute

  Press; 1992

  RUFFATO, Luca; CLARINGBOULD, Michael J.: Ea-

  gles of the Southern Sky - Japanese Aircraft

  WW2, Tainan Air Group; Research & Publishing;

  2015

  SAKAI, Saburō: Samurai!; US Naval Institute;

  1991

  SAKAI, Saburō: Ozorano Samurai; Kojinsha;

  2008

  SAKAIDA, Henry: Winged Samurai; Champlin Fi-

  ghter Museum Press, 1985

  SAKAIDA, Henry: Winged Samurai; Air Classics

  magazine; Vol. 27, No. 8; 1991

  SAKAIDA, Henry: Pacific Air Combat World War

  II

  –

  Voices from the past; Phanalax Publishing

  Co. Ltd.; 1993

  SAKAIDA, Henry: Imperial Japanese Navy Aces

  1937 – 1945; Osprey Publishing; 1998

  SAKAIDA, Henry: Genda's Blade: Japan's Squad-

  ron of Aces: 343 Kōkūtai; Classic Publications;

  2003

  SHORES, Christopher; CULL, Brian; IZAWA, Ya-

  suho: Bloody Shambles, Vol. 1: The Drift to War

  to the fall of Singapore; Grub Street Publishing;

  1992

  SHORES, Christopher; CULL, Brian; IZAWA, Yasu-

  ho: Bloody Shambles, Vol. 2: From the Defence of

  Sumatra to the fall of Burma; Grub Street Pub-

  lishing; 1993

  TAYLOR, B.: Johnson versus Sakai; Air Classics

  magazine; Vol. 27, No. 4; 1991

  Archival documents and websites:

  Saratoga War Diary; Fold3.com

  Tactical operation records, Flying Squadron, Tai-

  nan Air Unit; jacar.archives.go.jp

  Detailed Combat Report, Fighter Squadron, Iwo

  Jima Detachment Unit, Yokosuka Air Unit; jacar.

  archives.go.jp

  www.airspacemag.com

  www.j-aircraft.com

  www.ozatwar.com

  nationalinterest.org

  www.pacificwrecks.com

  www.wikipedia.org

  www.ww2.dk

  surfcity.kund.dalnet.se

  INFO Eduard14

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  Meeting of former enemies – Saburō Sakai and Harold L. Jones in USA, 1983. Jones was surprised to see damage of Sakai´s helmet from his defence fire on August 7, 1942 over Guadalcanal.

  Jones himself was saved by armored plate, otherwise Sakai´s precise fire would probably cost his life. When Jones met Sakai he said: „I am glad to see you are alive and well!“

  Mr. Sakai also enjoyed meeting younger members of the allied armed forces. In this photo taken in Yokosuka in 1996 aboard the USS Independence (CV-62), he is pictured with Capt. Dana “Smudge”

  Potts, commanding officer of VF 154 Black Knights. On the calligraphy is written Mr. Sakai´s life motto “futō fukutsu” (never give up).

  Photo: D. Potts

  Photo: Henry Sakaida

  INFO Eduard

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  HISTORY

  This was one of the great Belgian personali-

  ties in the RAF who thus introduced a line of

  Corps Commanders that for half a century

  would command this unit, becoming the 1st

  Fighter Wing on February 1, 1948.

  Daniel Le Roy du Vivier, familiarly known

  as “Boy” by his comrades in arms, was an

  unusual personality. Born in Amersfoort

  (NL) on January 13, 1915, he studied Greco-

  -Latin humanities at the Jesuit College of

  Mont-Godinne before taking a degree in co-

  mmercial and consular sciences at the Uni-

  versity of Louvain.

  Pilot in the “Aéronautique Militaire”

  His studies were interrupted by the call to

  arms: on August 1, 1935, he was drafted as

  a militia soldier into the 1st Regiment of Gui-

  des (army). Attracted by aviation, he asked

  to join the Aéronautique Militaire (military

  aeronautics/aviation) and on April 1, 1937,

  signed up as a student pilot. He was atta-

  ched to the 75th Class.

  He was commissioned on March 15, 1938,

  and was initially posted to the 1st Aeronauti-

  cal Regiment at Gossoncourt as an observa-

  tion pilot flying the Fairey Fox. On Septem-

  ber 14, 1938, he joined the 2nd Aeronautical

  Regiment at Nivelles as a fighter pilot on the

  Fairey Firefly.

  Having become a candidate second lieute-

  nant, 1939 and the first months of 1940 saw

  him in Evere (close to Brussels), undergoing

  his weapons training and completing the ob-

  server course. His training was somewhat

  disrupted because at the end of the decade,

  the international horizon was rapidly dar-

  kening. On September 1, 1939; German tro-

  ops invaded Poland They would only make

  mincemeat of it. France and England, the

  guarantor powers of Polish independen-

  ce, declared war on Nazi Germany, but did

  not react. The Phoney War, marked, only by

  sporadic air operations, set in. In Belgium,

  mobilisation was decreed. The eight-month

  period leading up to the invasion of the

  country was punctuated by several heighte-

  ned alerts.

  The Belgian authorities still wanted to be-

  lieve that the belligerents respected our

  neutrality, but our airspace was regular-

  ly violated by British and German aircraft.

  Our fighter squadrons policed the skies,

  attempted to intercept and force intruders

  to land at our airfields, rarely with success.

  1. On September 9, British Whitley bombers

  were reported over the Ardennes, and the

  pilots at Nivelles were alerted. A patrol

  consisting of a Fairey Fox piloted by captain

  Boussa and two Fairey Fireflies piloted by

  Daniel Le Roy du Vivier and Marcel Michotte,

  intercepted one of the English bombers in

  the vicinity of Gembloux. Our aircraft flanked

  the intruder. The leader fired a burst of tra-

  cer bullets in front of the bomber's nose to

  force it to land. It was in vain, and better yet,

  the tail gunner returned the favour and fired

  at our aircraft, hitting Daniel Le Roy du Vi-

  vier's Firefly. Fortunately, he was not woun-

  ded and was able to reach Nivelles safely...

  Daniel Le Roy du Vivier was promoted to

  warrant officer CSLA on March 1,1940. Still in

  training, he continued his flying duties on the

  Firefly while, in the meantime, his original

  unit, the 4/II/21), which with the 3/II/2 consti-

  tute the "Cocottes" Group, was re-equipped

  with the Fiat CR.42. On May 10, 1940, the “Co-

  cottes” under the command of Major Lamar-

  che took off at dawn and reached Brustem,

  the Group's home base.

  Although credited with a few victories, the

  Group saw almost all of its potential destro-

  yed on the ground during the first two days

  Daniel

  Le Roy

  du Vivier

  When No. 160 (Belgian) Wing was formed at Fassberg, Germany,

  during the first months of 1946, which re-grouped No. 350 and

  No. 349 (Belgian) fighter squadrons RAF, Wing Commander Da-

  niel Le Roy du Vivier (DFC) was summoned to take its command.

  January 13, 1915 — September 2, 1981

  “A man of character, he was modest in peace, as he was brave in battle.”

  Photo: collection Deman via A. Bar.

  TEXT: JEAN BUZIN

  www.vieillestiges.be

  TRANSLATED BY DIDIER WAELKENS

  INFO Eduard16

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  HISTORY

  Photo: AELR

  of hostilities. Of the 27 Fiat CR.42s in the

  squadron, only six aircraft remained intact.

  Completely overwhelmed by the events, Air

  Command decided to have the Group put

  back in service with 11 old Fairey Fireflies

  stored in a storage facility in Nivelles. Ma-

  jor Lamarche declared straight away that

  he would refuse to order pilots for missions

  using these machines for which he had no

  ammunition! If necessary, they would be

  carried out by volunteers. On May 14, the

  first mission was ordered. The goal was to

  raise the morale of ground troops dispersed

  around Antwerp by showing them our roun-

  dels. The Firefly, with a maximum speed at

  low altitude of 297 km/h, was just right for

  the mission!

  Major Lamarche led by example and volun-

  teered, as did 2nd Lieutenant Du Monceau

  de Bergendal and Warrant Officer Le Roy du

  Vivier. The three planes took off, flew over

  the outer line of the Antwerp forts and were

  met by heavy anti-aircraft fire! Daniel Le Roy

  du Vivier's plane was hit and forced to land

  in a field at Rijmenam. The plane overturned

  on landing! Fortunately, our hero escaped

  unscathed but was almost taken to task

  by the soldiers of the 6th de Ligne infantry

  unit who were happy with their “victory”. The

  other two planes returned safely to Brus-

  tem. As for “Dan”, after the apologies of the

  commander of the 6th Li, it was by road that

  he would return to his squadron.

  As a small consolation, the incident earned

  him a first citation in the Aéronautique Mili-

  taire Order of the Day: “A very spirited and

  brave non-commissioned officer, was shot

  down by anti-aircraft fire during a mission

  for which he volunteered...”

  On May16, after the Group had successively

  occupied the fields of Grimbergen, St Ni-

  colas and Aalter, the decision was made to

  withdraw to France. It was again on board

  a Firefly that Daniel Le Roy du Vivier made

  the move towards Amiens, Chartres and the

  South of France... It was in Montpellier that,

  on June24, the armistice (France-Germany)

  surprised the survivors of the “Cocottes”

  Group and that for many of them their de-

  stiny changed.

  The French Government's decision to sus-

  pend hostilities put an end to the last hopes

  of continuing the struggle on the continent.

  Orders and counter-orders followed one

  another. Should they comply and return

  home? The nightmare was over anyway!

  Should they go to the Congo (a Belgian co-

  lony at the time), to England, or to the Fly-

  ing School in Morocco? On June 27, 1940,

  Warrant Officer Daniel Le Roy du Vivier was

  declared a deserter by the 2nd Régiment

  d'Aéronautique.

  In the company of comrades, he went to

  Port-Vendres (in the south of France, not far

  away from the Spanish border). Under the

  direction of Captain A. Van den Hove d'Ert-

  senrijck who was leading the group, they

  boarded the SS Apala, which, via Gibraltar,

  headed for Liverpool where they disembar-

  ked on July 7, 1940.

  Pilot in the RAF

  Incorporated into the RAF Volunteer Re-

  serve with the rank of Pilot Officer, Daniel

  Le Roy du Vivier was, like several of his co-

  mrades, quickly sent to an OTU (Operational

  Training Unit) to be trained on the Hurrica-

  ne. In about ten hours of flight, he mastered

  the machine, trained in its weaponry and

  familiarized himself with tactical training

  and operational jargon. When the Battle of

  Britain entered its decisive phase on August

  12, 1940, that of the fight for air supremacy,

  Daniel Le Roy du Vivier was on the front line.

  From the 5th of August, in the company of

  A. Van den Hove d'Ertsenrijck, he joined

  No.43 Sqn at Tangmere, part of the 11th

  Group, whose units were deployed in the

  south-east of England around London. The

  Group's 21 squadrons were tasked with

  Daniel Le Roy du Vivier (left) at the flying school with instructor Gabriel Créteur (centre) who had made a name for

  himself as a refuelling pilot for the DH.9 flown by Warrant Officer Crooy and Sergeant Groenen, who broke the world

  endurance record from June 2 to 4, 1928.

  Fairey Firefly of 4/II/2 “Cocottes Blanches” at Nivelles around 1939.

  Photo: Guy Destrebecq/Belgian Wings

  INFO Eduard

  17

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  Hawker Hurricane Mk.IIc BN230, FT

  -

  A, No. 43 Sqn RAF, restored to Daniel Le Roy du Vivier's aircraft colors and displayed at the Spitfire & Hurricane Memorial Museum

  at RAF Manston.

  Photo: R.A. Scholefield/AirHistory.net

  Photo: Ccollection A. Bar

  Daniel Le Roy du Vivier fought in the Battle of Britain and was the very first non-

  -British pilot to be given command of an RAF squadron, No.43 Fighting Cocks, from

  January to September 1942. The panel under the cockpit shows the Belgian and Royal

  Air Force flags and No. 43 Squadron's checkered pattern emblem worn mainly by its

  aircraft before and after the Second World War.

  Departure for Dieppe during Operation Jubilee on August 19, 1942. Daniel Le Roy du Vivier

  would carry out four missions over Dieppe.

  Prior to departure for the mainland in January 1942, Dan Le Roy du Vivier briefs pilots

  of No. 43 Sqn at Acklington. From left to right: P/O Lister, S/Ldr Le Roy du Vivier, F/Lt May,

  F/Lt Hutchinson & P/O Daniels.

  Photo: Archives J

  -

  P. Decock, colorized photoDrawing by Yves Duwelz

  Photo: Prévot album via A. Bar

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard18

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  HISTORY

• Page 20

  breaking up repeated attacks by Luftwa-

  ffe bombers heavily escorted by Bf 109 and

  Bf 110 fighters.

  A total of 15 Belgian pilots took part in seven

  Fighter Command squadrons in one of the

  greatest air battles in history. It was a de-

  cisive battle because it destroyed the myth

  of the invincibility of the Luftwaffe.

  Belgian pilots will win 19 hard-won victories.

  Six of them will fall for the defense of their

  ideals. In No. 43 Sqn, A. Van den Hove d'Ert-

  senrijck won 3 victories but fell on Septem-

  ber15. D. Le Roy du Vivier scored his first vic-

  tory on August 16, a Junkers Ju 87 Stuka. On

  September 2, he was shot down in combat.

  Although wounded in the leg, he managed

  to bail out and take to his parachute, only to

  be greeted very coldly by English peasants

  (farmers?) who took him for a German pilot.

  The wound was deep, and D. Le Roy du Vivier

  remained in hospital until October 22, when

  he rejoined his squadron, which had mea-

  nwhile been redeployed to Usworth (New-

  castle) on the east coast of England. It was

  Photo: Via A. Bar

  Colorized photo with Daniel Le Roy du Vivier standing in the cockpit of a Hawker Hurricane of No. 43 Sqn RAF. The inscription URUNDI on the front of the fuselage suggests that this

  is probably a Presentation Hurricane, an aircraft paid for by donations collected in the colonies.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard20

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• Page 21

  now part of No.13 Group and is employed as

  a day and night fighter squadron.

  The extreme tension of the summer had

  subsided somewhat. The air war over the

  British Isles took a new turn. The determina-

  tion of the RAF had defeated Hitler's invasi-

  on plans and the Germans realized that they

  had failed. The offensive continued for a few

  more months with the sole aim of undermi-

  ning British morale. This would be the period

  of night bombing raids on London, Coventry

  and Birmingham.

  Gradually, the pressure of the Luftwaffe

  weakened. From the first months of 1941, the

  bulk of the bombing units were transferred

  to Central Europe to operate in the Balkans

  and Crete or in Poland to prepare for the

  invasion of Russia (Soviet Union?). Never-

  theless, the Germans would still regularly

  launch deadly attacks on Great Britain, as

  witnessed by the terrible night raid on the

  “City” on May 10, 1941.

  Within No. 13 Group, No. 43 Sqn was respon-

  sible for the Ouston Sector. Their vigilance

  remained intact, and the squadron was re-

  gularly among the units on alert. Daniel Le

  Roy du Vivier knew how to make himself

  appreciated and in April 1941, he was appo-

  inted A Flight Leader.

  In May 1941, the Luftwaffe launched a series

  of small raids on Glasgow and the Firth of

  Forth, which gave Daniel Le Roy du Vivier

  the opportunity to distinguish himself by

  achieving three victories. Three Junkers 88s

  did not return to their base.

  On January 3, 1942, he was awarded the Dis-

  tinguished Flying Cross with the citation:

  “Has displayed exceptional ability as a Flight

  Commander and has been responsible for

  the high standard of efficiency maintained

  by his flight in day and night operations. He

  has destroyed four enemy aircraft.” On the

  grounds for the recognition of his qualities

  as a fighter and leader of men, we also read:

  “When his Squadron Commander was com-

  pelled to ditch in the sea, he directed a de-

  stroyer to the spot from 30 miles away and

  enabled the officer to be rescued within two

  hours.”

  In November 1941, Daniel Le Roy du Vivier

  was appointed Squadron Leader, Comman-

  der of No. 43 Sqn. This was an outstanding

  honor, and he was the first foreign officer

  to be entrusted by the RAF with one of its

  oldest and most prestigious fighter squad-

  rons, the “Fighting Cocks”.

  But, obviously, at the beginning of 1942, Dani-

  el Le Roy du Vivier was eating his heart out.

  The proof is in the personal arrangement he

  had with the controllers at Ouston who in-

  form him of any enemy intrusion when 43

  Sqn is not at readiness. This was the case on

  April 25, when a threat was detected. Daniel

  Le Roy du Vivier took off in his Hurricane,

  alone. He listened to the instructions given to

  the Spitfire section in charge of the intercept

  and arranged to cut off the intruders' return

  route. Suddenly, at 30,000 feet and 40 miles

  out to sea, he saw a Junkers Ju 88, which he

  immediately engaged. But the rear gunner

  decided to put up a fight. A shell pierced the

  right front panel of the Hurricane's canopy,

  pierced the restraining straps and lodged in

  the armored seat plate. Unperturbed, Daniel

  Le Roy du Vivier continued his attack. The Ju

  88 went down in flames into the sea.

  In June 1942, No. 43 Sqn returned to Tang-

  mere. Operation Jubilee, the raid on Dieppe,

  was being prepared. To quote Henri Ber-

  nard: “The British had decided to mount

  a reconnaissance in force on the Continent,

  the purpose of which was not only to harass

  and worry the enemy and encourage him to

  keep large numbers of troops in the West,

  but also to test the defensive organizations

  on the coast, to estimate their value, to as-

  sess the density of troops occupying them,

  to assess the transport and landing facilities

  required for an invading force and to see

  how the equipment would perform on the

  beaches. The RAF on the other hand was se-

  eking informati-

  on on the num-

  ber of fighters

  held in the West

  for the defense

  of the continent

  and the Allied

  command hoped by this threat to draw frac-

  tions of the Luftwaffe from the East to the

  Atlantic at a time when the Germans were

  making a strong push into southern Russia.”

  A Canadian Division and British Commando

  units would be involved. Fifty squadrons of

  Fighter Command provided ground support

  and air cover for the operation. During the

  day of August 19, 1942, they carried out 2,399

  sorties. At the head of No. 43 Sqn, Daniel Le

  Roy du Vivier led the Tangmere Wing. The

  Hurricanes were tasked with attacking the

  coastal defenses at H-hour. During the first

  mission, a shell crossed the right wing of

  Daniel Le Roy du Vivier's plane, fortunate-

  ly without hitting any vital element. He was

  able to bring the plane back to Tangmere.

  Three times during that day, Daniel Le Roy

  du Vivier returned with his squadron into

  the fray. At the same time, another Belgian

  pilot led his squadron into battle: Squadron

  During the winter of 1941-42, Sqn Ldr Daniel Le Roy du Vivier and some pilots display the No. 43 Sqn RAF emblem,

  the Fighting Cocks.

  No. 43 Sqn badge.

  Photo: worldwarphotos.info

  HISTORY

  “Never in the field of human conflict was so much

  owed by so many to so few.”

  (W. Churchill).

  INFO Eduard

  21

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  Leader Désiré Guillaume, at the head of No.

  350 (Belgian) Sqn RAF, the first all-Belgian

  squadron, which would write one of the most

  beautiful pages of its history at Dieppe.2)

  Daniel Le Roy du Vivier's fighting spirit ear-

  ned him the honour of adding a bar to his

  DFC ribbon.

  “Since being awarded the DFC, this officer

  has continued to display skilful airmanship.

  He participated in 4 sorties in the combined

  operation at Dieppe on 19th August 1942 and

  the successes achieved by his squadron can

  be attributed largely to S/Ldr Le Roy du Vi

  -

  vier's masterly influence and outstanding

  leadership.”

  On the Mediterranean Theatre

  In September 1942, No. 43 Sqn was placed

  on Non-Ops status before being transferred

  to the Mediterranean theatre. Daniel Le Roy

  du Vivier, after 26 months with the squadron,

  including 9 months as its CO, was appointed

  Wing Commander and transferred to No. 13

  Group Staff, in charge of training. He took

  advantage of this new assignment to under-

  go the Pilot Instructor Course at the Central

  Gunnery School at Sutton Bridge, from De-

  cember 1942 to February 1943. He gradua-

  ted above average and returned to Group

  Headquarters. But other horizons would

  open for him: those of the Mediterranean,

  where the fortune of the tide would soon

  change sides.

  In May 1943, the Afrikakorps laid down its

  arms at Tunis, bringing the North African

  Campaign to an end, which had made the

  names of Tobruk, El Alamein, Rommel and

  Montgomery famous, and where the name

  of the small island of Malta, a key position

  between Sicily and Libya, had become sy-

  nonymous with tenacity and inflexible resi-

  stance.

  On April 13, 1943, Daniel Le Roy du Vivier was

  transferred to the Middle East Command

  staff and in May, he was appointed Wing Le-

  ader of No. 239 Wing of the Desert Air For-

  ce, the nucleus of the Mediterranean Allied

  Tactical Air Force set up in January 1943.

  Five squadrons made up the Wing (Nos. 112,

  250, 260, 450 Sqn RAF & 3 Sqn SAAF). Lea-

  ving Kairouan in Tunisia, they were redeplo-

  yed to Malta at Safi, Hal Far and Luqa Air-

  fields. Equipped with Kittyhawks, they were

  mainly engaged in ground attack missions.

  It was in Malta that Daniel Le Roy du Vivier

  took command of the Wing, which was im-

  mediately readied in preparation for the

  Allied landings in Sicily, the prelude to the

  Italian Campaign and the first stage in the

  assault on Fortress Europe. Interdiction

  and armed reconnaissance missions fo-

  llowed one another. From July 9, the day

  of the landing, direct support missions for

  ground troops were added. By July 13, the

  Wing redeployed to Pachino in the south of

  Sicily from where the Kittyhawks continued

  their missions, most of the time under the

  protection of Spitfires of No. 324 Wing, which

  The “Boy”. Wing Commander Le Roy du Vivier, D.F.C. & Bar.

  Photo of some of the pilots with Wing Commander Le Roy du Vivier.

  Phooto: album Prévot via A. BarPhoto: via A. Bar

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard22

  June 2022

• Page 23

  shared the same airfield. Daniel Le Roy du

  Vivier flew about fifty sorties with the Wing

  squadrons.

  On August 16, Sicily was conquered. Ho-

  wever, Daniel Le Roy du Vivier would not

  be with his pilots to celebrate the event. On

  July 31, he was the victim of an unfortunate

  accident, which resulted in multiple fractu-

  res to his right knee. This injury would keep

  him away from operations for a few mon-

  ths. However, he put this 'forced inactivity' to

  good use by attending the British Army and

  Air Force Staff College in Haifa (Palestine)

  during his convalescence. For four months,

  he was a trainee in Course No. 10, which he

  completed with flying colors. He also had

  the opportunity to do a short conversion on

  twin-engine aircraft in Egypt.

  In Italy

  By early 1944, his condition had improved

  sufficiently enough to request and obtain his

  return to operations. He was assigned as

  Wing Commander flying with No. 324 Wing,

  with which he had worked in Sicily. The Wing

  was equipped with the Spitfire Mk.IX, and

  was deployed to Lago, in Calabria. Daniel Le

  Roy du Vivier was reunited with his former

  No. 43 Sqn, alongside No. 72, 93 & 111 Squad-

  rons.

  During his absence from operations, the

  Italian Campaign took shape. In September

  1943, the Allies landed in various places:

  Reggio, Taranto and Salerno. However, the

  progress of the ground troops was difficult.

  At the end of 1943, it was blocked at Monte

  Cassino. On January 22, the Allies landed at

  Anzio, 50 km south of Rome, in an attempt to

  catch the Germans off guard.

  The missions entrusted to the Wing were

  essentially cover missions for the various

  bridgeheads, which, until May, were under

  constant threat from Luftwaffe aircraft. Da-

  niel Le Roy du Vivier led his Wing in combat

  during seventy hours of operations. In less

  than four months, the squadrons of No. 324

  Wing scored about sixty victories.

  On May 8, 1944, the Monte Cassino line fell.

  The 324th Wing redeployed to Nettuno (An-

  zio). On June 4, Rome, the Eternal City, was

  conquered and the German retreat to the

  north began. The Wing followed the move-

  ment occupying successively a series of

  airfields along the Tyrrhenian coast: Tre Ca-

  nelli, Tarquina, and Grossetto. For Daniel Le

  Roy du Vivier, however, there was a shadow

  over the picture. The injury sustained the

  previous year was causing him problems.

  His condition required care that conditions

  in the field did not allow. The chief medical

  officer of No. 211 Group, to which the Wing

  was attached, convinced him of the need to

  return to Great Britain, the only place where

  he could receive adequate orthopedic care.

  Wing Commander, Chief Flying

  Instructor

  On July 6, 1944, Daniel Le Roy du Vivier re-

  turned to the northern fog and quickly mo-

  ved heaven and earth to obtain a new opera-

  tional assignment. But from then on, it was

  his rich experience that the RAF wanted to

  exploit for the greater benefit of young pi-

  lots. On August 14, he moved to No. 53 OTU

  at Kirton-in-Lindsey as Wing Commander,

  Chief Flying Instructor. He remained there

  until June 26, 1945, when he was appointed

  command of No. 61 OTU at Keevil, Wiltshire.

  The war in Europe ended on May 8, 1945. The

  Belgian section of the RAF, with a view to

  reconstituting a national air force, wanted

  to “recuperate” Daniel Le Roy du Vivier. But

  at the time, he thought it more important to

  continue his involvement in the RAF. On July

  22, he requested a posting to the Far East

  Spitfire LF.Mk.IX MJ628, R-duV, of Wing Commander Le Roy du Vivier, No. 324 Wing, Italy,

  summer 1944.

  Spitfire LF.Mk.IX MJ628, R-duV, of Wing Commander Le Roy du Vivier, No. 324 Wing, Italy, summer 1944.

  Spitfire Mk.XVI, serial TB590, R

  -

  DV, is the personal aircraft of Wing Commander (Lieutenant-Colonel) Daniel Le Roy

  du Vivier as indicated by his initials painted on the fuselage in 1946 at Beauvechain.

  Photo: via A. Bar

  HISTORY

  Photo: archives J

  -

  P Decock

  INFO Eduard

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  HISTORY

• Page 25

  where the fight against Japan was still going

  on. Not for long, however, and the request

  was not granted. On August 15, the Empire

  of the Rising Sun capitulated. That same

  month, Daniel Le Roy du Vivier left No. 61

  OTU and moved to the Belgian Inspectorate

  in London. He was in charge of preparing the

  constitution of the first Belgian wing and its

  establishment on national territory.

  At the beginning of 1946, Daniel Le Roy du

  Vivier joined No. 135 Wing at Fassberg (Ger-

  many), which was under the command of

  the famous Johnny Johnson. No. 349 and

  350 (Belgian) Squadrons were brought to-

  gether there to form No. 160 (Belgian) Wing

  and Daniel Le Roy du Vivier was to take

  effective command of it as soon as the unit

  left the protective wing of the RAF. However,

  he would not have the satisfaction of leading

  the Wing on its return home. Indeed, the re-

  born Belgian military aviation needed expe-

  rienced men in all fields. No sooner had he

  brought No. 160 (Belgian) Wing to life that, on

  June 10, 1946, he was appointed command

  of the Belgian Training School at Bevingen,

  a post he would take up in early July.

  Daniel Le Roy du Vivier is 31 years old. He

  spent five intense years in the RAF during

  which there was little time to think about

  tomorrow. Now there were many questions

  about the future of Belgian military aviation.

  He needed to take a step back. On Septem-

  ber 1, he asked to be placed on leave of ab-

  sence for a period of 12 months, which was

  extended until December 1, 1947, when he

  left active service for a civilian career with

  Belgian Shell, and he was transferred to the

  reserve.

  The Auxiliary Squadron

  On December 1, 1949, the Auxiliary Squadron

  was created. Formed on the British model,

  it was made up of reserve personnel - at

  first mainly ex-RAF personnel wishing to

  maintain contact with the Air Force - and

  was soon completed by young pilots from

  universities and colleges. These pilots were

  trained during school holidays and through

  their military service, after which they could

  join the Auxiliary Squadron.

  The General Staff of the Air Force naturally

  thought of Daniel Le Roy du Vivier to take

  command of the squadron, a proposal he

  accepted with enthusiasm. A traineeship

  at No. 601 (Auxiliary) “County of London”

  Squadron at Tangmere to learn about the

  operating procedures of this type of squad-

  ron within the RAF, prepared him for this

  role. He assumed command of the Auxiliary

  Squadron as a Reserve Lieutenant Colonel

  and held it until 1952. He converted to the

  Meteor F.4 in 1951 and, regularly until 1953,

  especially during major exercises, he ful-

  filled operational command functions of the

  1st Fighter Wing and the Operations Staff.

  In July 1955, he left Belgium for the United

  States, where he took up the position of Di-

  rector for North America at SABENA.

  He was promoted to reserve Colonel Aviator

  on December 26, 1955. On April 1, 1971, having

  reached the age limit, he left the reserve

  cadre. Daniel Le Roy du Vivier was killed in

  a traffic accident in the United States on

  September 2, 1981.

  Notes

  1) The designation 4/II/2 is an abbreviation for 4th Squad-

  ron, 2nd Group, 2nd Aviation Regiment

  2) Several Belgian pilots attached to other RAF squad

  -

  rons also took part in the operation.

  Honorary distinctions (Medals)

  Commandeur de l’Ordre de Léopold (BE)

  Commandeur de l’Ordre de la Couronne (BE)

  Officier de l’Ordre de Léopold avec palme (BE)

  Croix de Guerre 1940 avec 3 palmes et 3 lions en

  bronze (BE)

  Distinguished Flying Cross & Bar (UK)

  Officier de la Légion d’Honneur française (FR)

  Croix de Guerre française avec palme (FR

  )

  At SABENA, Chief Executive Officer for

  North America.

  The grave of Daniel and Joan Le Roy

  du Vivier at St Andrew's Parish Church

  Cemetery, Tangmere (UK).

  Photo: SABENA album via A. Bar

  Photo: via A. Bar

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

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  One of the major surprises in the conflict are

  the Ukrainian, Turkish made drones Bayrak

  -

  tar TB2 and their efficiency and versatili-

  ty. A month ago, Russians claimed to have

  shot down 50 of them which is more than

  Ukrainian inventory. At that time only three

  Bayraktars were photographically confirmed

  destroyed. In a month, from April 16 to May 16

  another four confirmed losses of these dro

  -

  nes were claimed but in return they achieved

  several important successes.

  Bayraktar TB2 is a relatively small combat

  unmanned air vehicle 6.5 meters long with 12

  meters wingspan. On four hard points it can

  carry four bombs or rockets with total weight

  of 150 kg. If we consider bombing of the stra

  -

  tegically important targets behind enemy’s

  lines as a strategic bombing then these small

  drones became strategic bombers during the

  past month. The Russians have experienced

  a series of fires and explosions at their stra

  -

  tegic facilities. That many incidents cannot be

  described as haphazard. However Ukraine

  does not make any claims and Russian me

  -

  dia mention them very sporadically. From

  the pieces of information that are available

  though it is obvious that some of the attacks

  were executed by the Ukrainian rockets To

  -

  chka-U or by helicopters. The others could

  have been done by groups of saboteurs since

  they took place pretty far from the Ukrainian

  border. And of course, carelessness could

  have played a role as well.

  On Monday April 25 Bayraktar drones joined

  this campaign. On that day, at 2am local time

  the Russian city of Bryansk was shaken by

  a fuel storage explosion near Druzhba pi

  -

  peline. 15 minutes later this was followed by

  an explosion at a nearby base of the rocket

  and artillery units. Bryansk is located more

  than 110 km from the Ukrainian border and

  it's an important transit point for the Russian

  troops attacking Ukraine. The Druzhba pipe

  -

  line is the main supply line of Russian oil to

  Europe. Both targets were very important

  for Ukraine. The Russian AA defense in the

  Bryansk area shot down one drone carrying

  S49T tail marking however only after it was

  departing the area of the successful attack.

  Two days later the ammunition storage near

  the village of Staraya Nelidovka in Belgorod

  area burnt down. The Russian AA defense

  was more successful on that day and destro

  -

  yed two Bayraktars - again only after they

  released bombs on their targets. Pictures of

  these two drones destroyed in the Kursk area

  were immediately published on the Russian

  social networks. The following day (April 25)

  the Russians wanted to continue with their

  success and published the images of another

  shot down drone. In this case however the

  Russian propaganda shot themselves in the

  foot. They used the Bayraktar wreck which

  was destroyed on April 2 already and they

  only staged it at another location. They were

  betrayed by exactly the same damages and

  also some other sloppy details. For example,

  the tail was supported by bricks - most likely

  to hold it in the best angle for picture taking…

  On Sunday May 1 another Bayraktar was

  actually shot down in the Kursk area carry

  -

  ing S51T tail marking and this time it was de-

  stroyed together with its bombs still attached

  under its wings. It is the seventh confirmed

  Bayraktar kill. After this date the drones’

  activity in the Russian border zone dropped.

  The attention was shifted from the north to

  the other side of Ukraine.

  At the time of this article, it has already been 80 days since the out-

  break of war in Ukraine. The last month can hardly be described by

  paraphrasing the classic quotation “All quiet on the Eastern Front''.

  On the contrary, there is an intense fighting going on in Ukraine with

  many unexpected twists and turns. We came to see some surprises in

  the air warfare as well.

  The air war

  over Ukraine

  The third month

  TEXT: MIRO BARIČ

  A satellite image of Snake Island courtesy of Maxar company.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard26

  June 2022

• Page 27

  Battle for the strategic island

  Snake Island is located approximately 145

  km south of Odessa and only 40 km east

  of Danube delta which separates Romania

  and Ukraine. Its location has a strategic va

  -

  lue because the radars positioned there can

  monitor the whole southern coast of Ukraine

  but also part of Romania, a NATO member.

  Had they installed the AA missiles there

  they would have controlled the whole area.

  The Russians captured it on the first day of

  war on February 24. The Ukrainian defenders

  became famous when they sent “the Russi

  -

  an military ship to hell”. It was the cruiser

  Moskva which ultimately ended up where it

  had been sent. She was hit by the Ukrainian

  rockets on April 13 and sank on the next day.

  On Saturday April 30 Snake Island became

  a target of Ukrainian payback. The rocket sal-

  vos destroyed the electronic reconnaissance

  station and AA defense positions.

  Of course, the Russians did not give up and

  tried to get the reinforcements to the island.

  In the process, on May 2 two Raptor class

  patrol boats were destroyed by Bayraktars.

  Raptors are 17 meters long with three crew

  members, armored cabin and can trans

  -

  port 20 marines. The armament consists of

  three machine guns. In the following days

  more Raptor class boats were destroyed.

  The Ukrainian attacks on Snake Island cul

  -

  minated on Saturday, May 7 when Bayrak-

  tars eliminated two attempts for getting the

  reinforcements both by sea and the air. The

  Serna class landing craft carrying the Tor

  AA system on board was hit and sunk at the

  pier. The fire from Bayraktar also destroyed

  a Russian Mi-8 shortly after it landed on the

  island.

  And then the attack of a pair of Ukrainian

  aircraft came - from that air force which

  according to the official Russian statements

  was completely destroyed a long time ago.

  The raid was recorded by a Bayraktar dro

  -

  ne. The images however were taken from

  rather far distance so the aircraft shapes

  cannot be precisely recognized. According

  to some sources there where Su-27 figh

  -

  ters attacking with bombs but the attack by

  fighter-bomber Su-25 is more probable. The

  pair arrived at high speed and very low alti

  -

  tude and each of them dropped two bombs.

  According to some observers they did not act

  prudently, and the second pilot almost flew

  into the blast of the bombs dropped by his

  leader. He supposedly lost focus due to this

  and missed the target. In reality both attac

  -

  king pilots hit their targets. There are two

  groups of buildings on Snake Island - or be

  -

  tter said there were. One was in the center of

  the island and the second one on the shore

  at a pier. Each of the attacking pilots aimed

  at a different building therefore they did not

  fly in a line but at a side distance. After the

  raid the massive secondary explosions of the

  stored ammunition took place in both groups

  of the buildings. On the next day the satellite

  images showed a large devastation of these

  sites.

  Bayraktar TB2 shot down in the Kursk area on April 27.

  A pair of Su-25 during the attack on Snake Island.

  A Russian Mi-8 on Snake Island shortly before its destruction.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  27

  June 2022

• Page 28

  During the following week however, the Ru-

  ssians managed to bring the reinforcements

  to Snake Island. The pontoon with a floating

  crane for heavy cargo offloading anchored at

  a pier and the landing crafts were able to off

  load the self-propelled Tor and Pantsir AA

  systems. The satellite images show traces

  of smoke near these boats which indicates

  that the Ukrainians attempted to stop the

  landing by a rocket attack which missed this

  time. Snake Island's strategic value means

  however that the battle for it will continue.

  Fighting in Donbas

  In the meantime, the drones were needed el-

  sewhere. During the first third of May the Ru-

  ssian troops repeatedly attempted to cross

  the river Siversky Donets near Bilohorivka

  west of the North-Donetsk. That would ena

  -

  ble them to surround not only North-Donetsk

  but Lysychansk and other cities as well. They

  built several pontoon bridges on the river

  and established some beachheads. All of

  it however was destroyed by Ukrainians. The

  Russians lost approximately 500 soldiers

  and almost hundred armored vehicles. The

  drone's primary role however was to guide

  the artillery fire.The bridges and beachheads

  at Bilohorivka however came under the

  attack of the Ukrainian aircraft. According to

  some estimates the Ukrainian air force total

  inventory was approximately 30 Su-27 and

  Mig-29 fighters and ten Su-25 fighter-bom

  -

  bers. During the period in question (April 16-

  May 16) these aircraft were primarily deploy

  -

  ed in Donbas fighting.

  First shots in 60 years

  The Russian air force continues its operati-

  ons with an increased number of missions.

  There are as many as 250 missions flown

  daily. It also continues with the habit to rare

  -

  ly cross the front lines and concentrates on

  launching guided missiles from the safety of

  its own airspace. The indication that the Ru

  -

  ssian sources are being depleted is the more

  frequent deployment of the older and lower

  quality ordnance.

  The biggest surprise was the deployment of

  Kh-22 missiles (NATO code AS-4 Kitchen)

  during the first third of May. A video shows

  A class Serna landing craft after receiving a hit from Bayraktar. A pontoon with floating crane is visible at Snake Island’s pier. In front of it a silhouette

  of the sunken landing boat and further before another landing boat at the anchor.

  The buildings in the center of Snake Island were destroyed by Su-25s’ raid.

  Bayraktars destroyed four of the Raptor class boats at Snake Island.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard28

  June 2022

• Page 29

  The Ukrainian 40th Tactical Air Brigade got a new logo featuring Ghost of Kiev – an urban legend

  created to boost the morale.

  Mi-28N registration RF-13628 shot down near Kharkov on May 16.

  Mi-28 registration RF-13654 from 549th Independent Heli-

  copter Squadron shot down north of Kharkov on May 6.

  Su-34 shortly before the

  take off for another missi

  -

  on. Russia has already lost

  9 aircraft of this type

  in Ukraine.

  The wreck of the Russian

  Su-25 registration RF-91961

  was displayed in Kiev.

  Kamov Ka-52 getting ready for another mission. Russia has already lost 13 helicopters of this type

  in the war in Ukraine.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  29

  June 2022

• Page 30

  as they are fired from Tu-22M bombers. The

  missiles were developed in the beginning of

  1960s primarily for anti-ship attacks. These

  Kh-22 were guided by radar. They can also be

  launched against the ground targets, but they

  are vastly inaccurate in this role therefore

  the nuclear warhead was considered. Kh-22

  weighs almost 6 tons out of which 1 ton is for

  the warhead.

  The range is 600 km and at the diving attack

  from the high altitude (as high as 27 km)

  the missile’s speed can reach M=4.6. Kh-22

  deployment in Ukraine is the very first com

  -

  bat use of these 60 years old rockets. In the

  past the guidance system modernization,

  same as with Kh-32, was considered it is

  questionable if this can be achieved under

  the current conditions in Russia. Rather poor

  results in Ukraine indicate that probably not.

  Kh-59 missiles, dating back to the 1980s, are

  being used more frequently. The long-term

  storage impacted their accuracy negatively

  and as much as 60 % of them fail and miss

  the target. Either the engine does not even

  start or the data transmission system, a key

  factor of its application, does not work. In its

  final flight stage, the Kh-59 missile is guided

  by a television system operated from the

  aircraft. This Russian tactic means that the

  air combat and shooting down of the aircraft

  takes place very sporadically.

  From April 16 to May 16 the Ukrainian air de

  -

  fense mostly destroyed the cruise missiles

  and reconnaissance drones. Only two Ka-52

  and two Mi-28 were shot down. In addition,

  on April 25 and 26 two Su-34 fighter-bom

  -

  bers were shot down. And as mentioned ear-

  lier one Mi-8 helicopter was destroyed on

  Snake Island.

  During this period, in addition to the drones

  the Ukrainians, lost three aircraft. An-26

  crashed in the Zaporozhye area. The cause

  was a dense fog. Out of three crew mem

  -

  bers one aviator was killed and the other two

  were wounded. On May 7, during the combat

  mission a Ukrainian Navy Mi-14 helicopter

  was shot down by a Russian fighter. The Co

  -

  lonel of the Ukrainian Naval Air Force, Igor

  Bedzay was killed. He was buried in Mykolaiv

  on May 15. On May 14, in Zaporozhye area Su-

  25 from 299th Tactical Ai Brigade was shot

  down. Its pilot, Captain Serhiy Parkhomenko

  was killed. He was buried in Vinnytsia in the

  west of Ukraine. Despite the considerable

  cloudiness a pair of Su-27 circled above the

  burial ceremony. It is interesting that in Ru

  -

  ssia, a day before on May 9, the Red Square

  parade’s air show was canceled. The official

  reason was bad weather. As opposed to Vin

  -

  nytsia there was a clear and blue sky above

  Moscow. The real reason was most probably

  something else.

  War crimes trial

  In the meantime, on Friday May 13 the first

  trial with a Russian armed forces soldier

  started in Ukraine for committing the war cri

  -

  me. Sergeant Vadim Shishimarin is accused

  of shooting to death a 62-year old civilian in

  Suma area in the end of February. In the end

  of April the Ukrainian General Prosecutor’s

  Office indicted Su-34 pilot, Major Alexander

  Krasnoyartsev of the war crimes. We spoke

  about his shooting down and capture in the

  first part of this series.

  Previously Major Krasnoyartsev served in

  Syria. On March 5 he took off from the Se

  -

  shscha base in the Bryansk area for his third

  mission in the Ukrainian conflict. On his first

  two sorties he attacked a military airport in

  the Kiev area and the roads south of Cherni

  -

  hiv. On his third sortie he carried six FAB-500

  unguided bombs to attack the living quarters

  in Chernihiv. That's why he is suspected of

  committing war crimes. He is also suspected

  of a deliberate murder. His Su-34 was hit by

  an AA defense. Both crew members ejected

  but Captain Konstantin Krivolapov did not

  survive. Major Krasnoyartsev parachuted

  on the roof of a house. There were people

  standing behind the fence yelling at him: “Ru

  -

  ssian, come out!” However, he attempted to

  escape through a neighboring backyard. The

  Ukrainian civilian, Vitaly Serhiyenko, pursued

  to apprehend him. The Russian pilot shot se

  -

  veral rounds at him from his Makarov pistol.

  Serhiyanko died on the spot. Later on Kras

  -

  noyartsev was captured by the Ukrainian

  soldiers. Now he’s facing a life sentence.

  The wreck of Krasnoyartsev’s Su-34 shot down near

  Chernihiv on March 5.

  Major Alexander Krasnoyartsev is officially suspected

  of war crimes.

  A parachute on the roof of the house where

  Krasnoyartsev landed after he was shot down.

  Major Krasnoyartsev (on the right) with Putin and Assad in Syria.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard30

  June 2022

• Page 31

  No, it’s not an access code or a military operation codename. Araxos is an air base on the Peloponnese penninsula,

  located at its most northwestern point, some two hours´ drive from Athens. It is home to the 116th Combat Wing of the

  Greek Air Force, specifically the 335th Mira “Aegean Tigers” and the 336th Mira “Olympus” units. Both are equipped with

  the F-16C/D Block 52+. This year, the base hosted NATO’s Tiger Meet between May 8 and 20. What these tigers are is well

  known to everyone, so we will focus on points of interest with respect to the modeler.

  The 335th Mira is the oldest unit in the

  Greek Air Force, having been formed on

  October 10, 1941, at the Palestinian field

  Aquir, equipped with the Hawker Hurri-

  cane Mk.IIC. With the passage of time,

  the unit would go on to operate many

  different types. This is well documen-

  ted in a small Hall of Fame located on

  the premises. In front of its building, an

  F-104G Starfighter proudly stands gu-

  ard, and a little bit past it sits an A-7H

  Corsair II. Araxos is the base where

  both types served out their careers

  with the 335th. The last SLUFs were re-

  tired in March 2008, and survivors can

  be spotted strewn throughout the field

  in various states. These were replaced

  by thirty modern F-16C/D Block 52+

  aircraft, and the Flight was activated in

  February 2010. Although these are mo-

  dern machines delivered relatively re-

  cently, they are significantly weathered,

  and subscribers to the Spanish school

  of modelling certainly find them attrac-

  tive subjects.

  The only F-16s here were Belgian natio-

  nals, and over the course of the training

  sessions, only the standard grey mice

  took to the air. Sunday’s air show and

  the subsequent flying week saw last

  year’s “X

  -

  Fighter” from Belgium. One

  of the CAS (Close Air Support) flights

  saw it fly together with our Mi-24 “Alien

  2”. The number 2 was added because

  over its last general overhaul at LOM

  PRAHA s.p. (state-owned company) the

  chopper received, again, the attractive

  tiger motif, but it is different this time

  around, and on the left side of the fu-

  selage, behind the wing, the head of its

  film counterpart, Predator, has been

  added.

  The most oft seen items were French

  Rafales. Examples of three Squadrons

  were represented. The naval Flotille

  11F with the M version, and both units

  Title photo: The Belgian “X

  -

  Fighter” (the aircraft having received this scheme last year for

  the XTM, or X-traordinary Tiger Meet, hosted by the 31st Qgn in Kleine Brogel in September,

  2021 on the 60th Anniversary of the first Tiger Meet) being escorted back from a Close Air

  Support (CAS) Mission by the Alien 2 Mi-24 of the Czech Air Force.

  View of two F-16s, a C and D model on the apron of the 335th Mira home field, illustrating

  well maintained surfaces of the aircraft.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  31

  June 2022

• Page 32

  from Mont-de-Marsanu brought their

  mounts, to include the test unit EC 1/30

  “Côte d‘Argent” and the combat unit EC

  3/30 “Lorraine”. The naval unit aircraft

  looked awesome, carrying a blue tiger

  on the left tail surface, and a red one

  on the right. The pilots carried a consi-

  stent color scheme, that is blue on the

  left and red on the right, in their sho-

  elaces. The test unit had their “Steel

  Tiger” on their two-seat Rafale B. The

  Free French dressed up their Rafale in

  a red-black scheme that won them the

  best-looking tiger aircraft of the event.

  Perhaps a small footnote worth inser-

  ting here: This airplane collided with

  a colleague on the Sunday during their

  display in Cognac.

  And while on the topic of the French

  contingent, Flotille 4F out of Lann Bi-

  houe flew their E-2C Hawkeye and

  makes it no secret that they desire to

  be made official members of the Tiger

  Meet organization. To that end, the left

  side of the vertical tail was adorned with

  a striking tiger artwork for the first

  week of the event. For technical rea-

  sons, it had to be changed for another

  aircraft in standard colors for the se-

  cond week. In any case, an emblem in-

  volving a tiger, or any other feline for

  that matter, has so far escaped the

  unit...

  Recently, noteworthy schemes have

  been carried by Italian Eurofighters

  of the 12°Gruppo, stationed in the ex-

  treme south of Italy at Gioia del Colle.

  This base is slated to host the next NTM

  event from October 2 to the 13, 2023. The

  Italians fly not only a beautiful aircraft,

  A French two-seat Rafale B ‚ “Steeltiger” from

  the test unit EC 1/30 immediately after the

  touch with one of runways of Araxos Air Base.

  A Greek F-16C carrying appropriate artwork for the occasion on its fin. Unfor-

  tunately, the quality of the decal was not great, and its flaking off is evident

  even here. A significant amount of peeling occurred over the course of a sin-

  gle flight. It’s a shame, because the design itself was excellent.

  A Spanish EF-18M with Tiger artwork in front of

  a hardened shelter. The art depicts a night hunting

  tiger, explaining the black background of the fin.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard32

  June 2022

• Page 33

  but they themselves wear overalls in

  black and white striping. These are not

  just normal tigers, they are Tigers Bi-

  anchi, i.e., White Tigers.

  F-18s failed to dazzle this year, re-

  ally. There were Hornets from two

  users. Staffel 11 came from Switzer-

  land, and these carried some relevant

  accessories on their drop tanks. Spani-

  ards came from ALA 15 carrying theme

  painted drop tanks on three of the six

  aircraft committed to the event, one of

  which did have attractively painted out-

  board surfaces of the vertical tails.

  Over the weekend, all the Tiger Meet

  aircraft were on static display at a mini

  air show, so all visitors had an oppor-

  tunity to have a good, closeup look at

  them. Added to this was a Portuguese

  F-16B from Escuadra 301 with panther

  tanks and a German EF-2000 Taifun

  from TaktLwG 74. Even it had a tiger

  painted on the vertical tail, even thou-

  gh it had been seen previously. The

  Sunday show was a small affair. It was

  composed of just six performances:

  Greek T-6A Texan IIs, F-16 and Spitfi-

  re, a French Rafale and a Czech Mi-24

  plus an F-16 with which new Belgian

  display pilot showed off his stuff during

  his premiere. The static display was li-

  vened up with the addition of an ever

  increasingly difficult aircraft to see, the

  F-4E Phantom II. This drew the attenti-

  on of modelers, among other things, for

  its banged-up drop tank.

  Details of the right side of the fin of an Italian Typhoon.

  The 351st Sqn. was originally a component unit of the

  21°Gruppo, equipped with the F-104S and the Tornado F.3.

  After the 21°Gruppo was disbanded and re-equipped

  with AB-212 helicopters, the 351st was incorpo-

  rated into 12°Gruppo newly equipped with the

  modern Typhoon. And with that, this unit

  became a full-fledged member of the

  NTA (NATO Tiger Association)

  A Flotille 4F E-2C Early Warning, Command and

  Control aircraft that took part in the first week’s

  exercises was adorned with an attractive depic-

  tion of a tiger and a Spartan soldier on the outer

  surface of the right tail. Regrettably, this aircraft

  had to be changed for another in the standard

  grey coloring after the first week due to techni-

  cal reasons.

  Detail of the vertical tails of a Spanish

  EF-18M depicting a night hunting tiger, also

  used to commemorate the 35th Anniversa-

  ry of the formation of the 15th ALA (a Wing

  composed of two squadrons), which was

  established in 1986.

  from Mont-de-Marsanu brought their

  mounts, to include the test unit EC 1/30

  “Côte d‘Argent” and the combat unit EC

  3/30 “Lorraine”. The naval unit aircraft

  looked awesome, carrying a blue tiger

  on the left tail surface, and a red one

  on the right. The pilots carried a consi-

  stent color scheme, that is blue on the

  left and red on the right, in their sho-

  elaces. The test unit had their “Steel

  Tiger” on their two-seat Rafale B. The

  Free French dressed up their Rafale in

  a red-black scheme that won them the

  best-looking tiger aircraft of the event.

  Perhaps a small footnote worth inser-

  ting here: This airplane collided with

  a colleague on the Sunday during their

  display in Cognac.

  And while on the topic of the French

  contingent, Flotille 4F out of Lann Bi-

  houe flew their E-2C Hawkeye and

  makes it no secret that they desire to

  be made official members of the Tiger

  Meet organization. To that end, the left

  side of the vertical tail was adorned with

  a striking tiger artwork for the first

  week of the event. For technical rea-

  sons, it had to be changed for another

  aircraft in standard colors for the se-

  cond week. In any case, an emblem in-

  volving a tiger, or any other feline for

  that matter, has so far escaped the

  unit...

  Recently, noteworthy schemes have

  been carried by Italian Eurofighters

  of the 12°Gruppo, stationed in the ex-

  treme south of Italy at Gioia del Colle.

  This base is slated to host the next NTM

  event from October 2 to the 13, 2023. The

  Italians fly not only a beautiful aircraft,

  A French two-seat Rafale B ‚ “Steeltiger” from

  the test unit EC 1/30 immediately after the

  touch with one of runways of Araxos Air Base.

  A Greek F-16C carrying appropriate artwork for the occasion on its fin. Unfor-

  tunately, the quality of the decal was not great, and its flaking off is evident

  even here. A significant amount of peeling occurred over the course of a sin-

  gle flight. It’s a shame, because the design itself was excellent.

  A Spanish EF-18M with Tiger artwork in front of

  a hardened shelter. The art depicts a night hunting

  tiger, explaining the black background of the fin.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  33

  June 2022

• Page 34

  Participants

  Unit Country Base Aircraft Notes

  335. Mira Greece Araxos F-16C/D Bl./5052

  31. Sqn Belgium Kleine Brogel F-16AM/BM

  EC 1/30 France Mont-de-Marsan Rafale C

  EC 3/30 France Mont-de-Marsan Rafale C/B

  Flotille 11 France Landivisiau Rafale M

  12 Gruppo Italy Gioia del Colle EF Typhoon

  221. vrlt Czech Republic Náměšť n.O. Mi-24/35

  15. ALA Spain Zaragoza F-18AM/BM

  11 Staffel Switzerland Meiringen F-18C/D One week only

  Flotille 4 France Lann Bihoué E-2C 2000 Observer

  313 Sqn Netherlands Volkel F-35A Weekend, no plane

  2 Staffel Austria Zeltweg EF Typhoon Weekend, no plane

  JG 74 Germany Neuburg EF Typhoon Weekend

  Esc 301 Portugal Beja F-16AM/BM Weekend

  211. TL Czech Republic Čáslav JAS-39C/D Weekend

  An Italian EF-2000 setting down on a runway. The 351st Squadron emblem is also visible on the left side of the tail and note the tiger eyes

  on the canards. They can be seen close-up bottom left. The bottom right photograph illustrates the 12° Gruppo ground crew’s black and

  white tiger garb, a constant fixture.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard34

  June 2022

• Page 35

  Upper left is another photo of the Spanish EF-18M 15-08 with an anniversary Tiger scheme. Upper right is the French naval Rafale M, that

  carried on its left side the blue version of the Tiger motif. Bottom left is the local F-16C Block 52+ with a nicely weathered surface. Nearly

  all the aircraft carried staining around their cannon muzzles, indicative of frequent live-fire exercises. The Italian Typhoons (bottom right)

  carried the IRIS

  -

  T rounds, and this European weapon is used by Germany, Italy, Greece, Norway, Spain and Sweden.

  Beautiful shot of the winning Rafale C of EC 3/30 snapped by the to-

  day’s best air photographer Katsuhiko Tokunaga. The same photo-

  grapher is responsible for the F-16 and Mi-24 shot on the first page.

  Top, another shot of the French Steeltiger, and bottom, a Portugue-

  se F-16AM of the 301st Squadron, the “Jaguars”, which attended only

  through the weekend.

  Photos:

  Uli Metternich, Remo Guidi, Hugo de Groote, Katsuhiko Tokunaga

  Participants

  Unit Country Base Aircraft Notes

  335. Mira Greece Araxos F-16C/D Bl./5052

  31. Sqn Belgium Kleine Brogel F-16AM/BM

  EC 1/30 France Mont-de-Marsan Rafale C

  EC 3/30 France Mont-de-Marsan Rafale C/B

  Flotille 11 France Landivisiau Rafale M

  12 Gruppo Italy Gioia del Colle EF Typhoon

  221. vrlt Czech Republic Náměšť n.O. Mi-24/35

  15. ALA Spain Zaragoza F-18AM/BM

  11 Staffel Switzerland Meiringen F-18C/D One week only

  Flotille 4 France Lann Bihoué E-2C 2000 Observer

  313 Sqn Netherlands Volkel F-35A Weekend, no plane

  2 Staffel Austria Zeltweg EF Typhoon Weekend, no plane

  JG 74 Germany Neuburg EF Typhoon Weekend

  Esc 301 Portugal Beja F-16AM/BM Weekend

  211. TL Czech Republic Čáslav JAS-39C/D Weekend

  An Italian EF-2000 setting down on a runway. The 351st Squadron emblem is also visible on the left side of the tail and note the tiger eyes

  on the canards. They can be seen close-up bottom left. The bottom right photograph illustrates the 12° Gruppo ground crew’s black and

  white tiger garb, a constant fixture.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  35

  June 2022

• Page 36

  Vladimir Putin’s “imperialistic appetite”, cy-

  nically camouflaged by a “special military

  operation” designation, started to show in

  vee hours on Thursday February 24 when

  3M14 Kalibr (SS

  -

  N-30) cruise missiles and

  9M723 tactical ballistic missiles from 9K720

  Iskander-M (SS-26 Stone) launchers star-

  ted to literally rain on various military and

  strategic targets, mainly the air bases and

  air defense locations including the area ra-

  dars throughout the whole Ukrainian terri-

  tory. The mission of these ground and also

  naval rocket forces was suppression and

  paralysis of the Ukrainian air defense sys-

  tem and loss of the situational awareness

  in their own airspace to disable the efficient

  guidance of their own fighter aircraft and

  AA missiles against the Russian attackers.

  Based on the currently available sources

  it seems that the VKS RF role in their ini-

  tial attacks was minimal and its activity

  was mainly in the form of guided cruise

  missiles Ch-101 (AS-23 Kodiak), Ch-555

  (AS-22 Kluge) launched at high altitudes

  and long distance from Tu-95 and Tu-160

  bombers to avoid Ukrainian PLRK S-300

  (SA-10 Grumble) and 9K37M1 Buk-M1 (SA-11

  Gadfly) which were in the beginning of the

  conflict available to the defenders in fairly

  large numbers. VKS RF strategic bombers

  therefore operated in the safe zone of the

  Russian own territory without exposure

  to the possible strike by the Ukrainians.

  For the tactical attack missions right over

  Ukraine the units flying the Su-34 tactical

  bombers were designated. The aircraft has

  been glorified as not having any western

  equivalent. The VKS RF Headquarters and

  possibly some BAP personnel may have

  believed the myth. However, they faced the

  harsh reality of the losses accumulated

  in the coming weeks. On the other hand,

  Su-34 fully replaced Su-24M in the role of

  a bombing platform. Until the end of April

  this type was not spotted in the VKS RF mi-

  ssions in Ukraine except for the special re-

  connaissance version REB Su-24MR which

  was observed in Belarus.

  TEXT: RADIM ŠPALEK

  February 24, 2022, will fore-

  ver go down in history as a day

  when the Russian Federation

  breached all the valid agree-

  ments and international laws,

  including the UN Charter, esta-

  blishing inviolability and terri-

  torial integrity of a sovereign

  state, when they launched an

  unprecedented war against

  Ukraine.

  The air war over Ukraine

  Trident against a bear

  The harsh awakening

  The view of the permanent radar base near Mariupol uncovers the widespread damages after the initial Russian attack in the morning of February 24, 2022. Burnt out identification

  system 1L22 Parol can be seen in the foreground while in the background there is 1Rl130 PRV-13 Nadezhnost altimeter, still being consumed by flames, which worked together with

  the area radar 1RL139 P-37 Dyshina missing from the picture but had been present.

  www.czechairforce.com

  Part 1

  Photo: author’s archive

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard36

  June 2022

• Page 37

  The map of Ukraine depicts the locations of the confirmed Russian strikes by 3M14 Kalibr

  (SS

  -

  N-30), Kh-101 (AS-23 Kodiak), Kh-555 (AS-22 Kluge) cruise missiles launched from VKS RF

  Tu-95 and Tu-160 bombers and short range tactical ballistic rockets from 9K720 Iskander-M

  system. The target of this massive initial strike in vee hours on February 24, 2022 were primarily

  air bases, radar and AA systems locations, ammunition depots, important objects of the military

  infrastructure and lastly, of course, the Ukrainian Army command posts. The mission was clear

  - eliminate the ability to organize any serious opposition to the invasion forces which shortly

  afterwards crossed the Ukrainian border in eight main columns. See below, chapter “Invasion

  troops markings”.

  The projectile fired from the VMF RF Black Sea Fleet rocket corvette “609” Vyshny Volochyok

  (project 21631, Bujan-M class).

  3M14 Kalibr (SS

  -

  N-30) anti-ground cruise missile launched from the Russian

  Navy ships and submarines. It flies at the subsonic airspeed of 0.6-0.8M with

  maximum range of 300 km (officially for the export versions, Russian Navy

  Kalibers have supposedly 2,000 km range). The missile has a two-stage

  design with launching rocket engine and subsonic flight module powered by

  the jet engine. The guidance system comprises the radio altimeter for terrain

  -

  -copying regime, inertial navigation system with the flight correction capability

  according to the data from the global satellite positioning system GLONASS

  and terrain mapping system. Flight level is 20 m above sea surface or 50-150

  m above ground. The target is identified according to the digital mag or the co

  -

  ordinates. Thus, the missile can attack the hidden targets which are destroyed

  by the classic or container-type 400 kg warhead.

  Photo: author’s archive via ACIG Tom Cooper

  Photo: author’s archive

  The 9K720 Iskander-M (SS-26 Stone) is a mobile tactical missile system of Russian origin able to launch 9M723 short range ballistic rockets (the launching vehicle can carry two

  9M723 rockets). Range of the system, which is designated to destroy AA systems or heavily defended important ground targets (airports, command posts, communication centers

  etc.) is approximately 500 km (9M720 export version has the range limited to 280 km). There is also a version carrying cruise missiles and the ballistic rocket of the Iskander

  system was developed into the air ballistic rocket CKh-47M2 “Kinjal” which is especially by Russians heavily promoted as a “gamechanger”. The 9M723 ballistic rocket is 7.3 m long

  and 0.92 diameter. It’s propelled by the single-stage solid fuel rocket engine. Its takeoff weight is 3,800 kg and it can deliver 480 to 700 kg payload to the target (export version is

  limited to 480 kg). The rocket flies on the flattened ballistic curve so it does not leave the atmosphere. In the final flight stage, it can perform maneuvers with a load up to 30 G. The

  rocket guidance systems utilize the inertial navigation, global satellite position system Glonass and radar. According to the Russian sources 9M723 missile accuracy is two to five

  meters within the target (5-10 m for export version) and can carry several types of warheads including the nuclear, cassette and thermobaric ones. Both cassette and thermobaric

  warheads were deployed in the attack on Ukraine

  Photo: author’s archive Photo: author’s archive

  Photo: author’s archive

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  37

  June 2022

• Page 38

  Kh-101 (AS-23 Kodiak) is a long range, air-to-ground guided cruise missile designed to destroy the well protected ground targets and can be carried by

  Tu-95MS/MSM and Tu-160 strategic bombers. In comparison to its predecessor, Kh-55 the Kh-101 missiles je larger, it’s 7450 mm long and its diameter

  is 742 mm. There are folded wings under the fuselage which extend after the launch and their wingspan is 4.4 m. The power is provided by the

  RD-95TM-300 two-stage jet engine with the maximum thrust of 3.6 kN. The missile carries 1250 kg of fuel in the internal tank and its total weight is

  220-2400 kg. According to the Russian sources Kh-101 range is 5000-5500 km with the 5-20m circular accuracy within the target. This missile gave

  the Russian strategic bombers the advantage of executing the strikes against the key military targets from the zone where they are not threatened by

  the opponent’s air defenses. Kh-101 is difficult to be detected by radar, its effective reflection area is only 0.01m. The missile’s flight profile is variable, it

  can vary within 30 to 10 000 m. The cruising speed is 680-720 kph but the maximum speed can reach 900-970 kph. The missile is guided to the target

  by electro-optical flight correction system Sprut, global satellite positioning system Glonass and in the final flight stage utilizes the television came

  -

  ra system. It is manufactured in two variants: Kh-101 with conventional 400 kg warhead and Kh-102 with 250 kt nuclear warhead. Kh-101 features two

  separate 150 kg warheads, one fixed and one removable. This removable part can be released at a certain stage of flight and descend on the parachute

  on the desired target. The missile with a fixed warhead continues on its course and therefore one rocket can simultaneously attack two targets up to 100

  km apart. Tu-95MS/MSM bomber features four hard points under its wings and each of them can carry a pair of Kh-101 missiles. In total the aircraft can

  deliver during a single mission up to eight of these winged rockets to the various targets. As opposed to its Kh-55 predecessor Kh-101 will not fit into the

  Tu-95MS/MSM internal bomb bay due to its length. In the more modern strategic bomber Tu-160 however up to 12 pieces of Kh-101 can be hoisted.

  The first actual Kh-

  101 missile combat

  deployment took place

  on November 17, 2015,

  in Syria. The Russian

  strategic bombers

  Tu-160 fired 12 of these

  missiles on the Islamic

  State terrorist group

  positions. Main targets

  became the ammunition

  depots, the military

  camps and command

  bases in Idlib and

  Aleppo.

  Kh-555 (AS-22 Kluge) emerged from the modernization program of the strategic air anti-ground guided cruise missile Kh-55/55SM (AS-15A/B Kent)

  which was the main weapon of the strategic missile carrying bomber aircraft Tu-95MS-6 and Tu-160. Kh-555 design originates in model Kh-55SM (

  AS-15B Kent) which features the droppable conforming additional fuel tanks installed on the sides of the missile body. Unlike its predecessor the Kh-555

  type missile is equipped with the conventional warhead rather than nuclear one. The guidance system was modified as well. While the missile type

  Kh-55SM guidance was provided by the inertial system (autopilot) with correction system TERCOM, Kh-555 received the inertial system with electro-opti-

  cal correction system and passive TV self-guided assembly which provides the guidance in the final flight stage. The new feature was also the introduc-

  tion of the small trapezoid horizontal stabilizing surfaces installed on the sides of the rocket nose.

  The firing tests of the Kh-555 type missile started in 2002. In 2004 the weapon passed the government tests. On November 17, 2015, Kh-555 type missile

  was, together with the more advanced missile Kh-101, deployed for the first time in combat in support of Bashar al- Assad in Syria.

  According to the Russian sources Kh-555 is capable of striking the target in 1,500 – 2,000 km distance depending on the auxiliary fuel tanks application.

  Similar to Kh-101 the flight profile is variable and varies within the range of 50 to 5000m at the 720-830 kph airspeed. The missile is guided to the target

  by electro-optical flight correction system, global satellite positioning system Glonass and during the final flight stage it utilizes the TV camera. Kh-555 is

  6040 mm long and its diameter is 514 – 770 mm. There are folded wings under the fuselage which deploy after the launch and their wingspan is 3.1 m. The

  power plant is an R-95-300 two stage jet engine with 3.5 kN maximum thrust. Kh-555 total weight varies based on the carried fuel quantity between 1280

  and 1500 kg while the warhead weighs 400 kg. Tu-95MS/MSM bomber can carry six pieces of these winged rockets and Tu-160 is capable of carrying up to

  12 pieces of Kh-555 in its internal bomb bay.

  The Kh-555 type missile

  was from the beginning

  intended as a stop

  -

  -gap solution until the

  development of the new

  high quality air anti

  -

  -ground guided cruise

  missile Kh-101/Kh-102

  (AS-23 Kodiak) can be

  completed. Thanks to

  its smaller effective

  reflecting area this

  missile features stealth

  characteristics.

  Photo: author’s archive Photo: author’s archive

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard38

  June 2022

• Page 39

  The Ukrainian Army, alternatively the Air

  Force, has a great advantage in receiving

  a lot of intelligence information from NATO

  countries. It is a complex aerial reconnai-

  ssance in the form of ISR missions (In-

  telligence/Surveillance/Reconnaissance)

  flown by E-3A Sentry (AWACS

  –

  Airborne

  Warning and Control System), RC-135U

  Combat Sent (ELINT

  –

  Electronic intelli-

  gence), RC-135V/W Rivet Joint (SIGINT –

  Signals intelligence), RQ-4B/D Global Hawk

  (remotely controlled unmanned aircraft for

  visual reconnaissance including SAR/GMTI

  – Synthetic aperture radar / ground mo-

  ving target indication; it’s also used for the

  electronic reconnaissance), E-8C J

  -

  STARS

  (ground targets reconnaissance – Joint

  Surveillance Target Attack Radar System),

  legendary and aging but still indispensable

  U-2S Dragon Lady (equipped with ASARS

  – Advanced Synthetic Aperture Radar Sys-

  tem), RC-12X Guardrail (these twin engined

  aircraft from the US Army inventory origi-

  nating in the civilian Beechcraft King Air

  fly reconnaissance missions out of the Li-

  thuanian base Siauliai on the regular basis

  since 2019). The other platforms are used

  not only from USAF or RAF inventories but

  also from other NATO countries. In the vi-

  cinity of Belorussian border operated for

  example the reconnaissance aircraft of the

  Swedish air force S-102B Korpen origina-

  ting in Gulfstream IV and performing ELINT

  missions, S-100D Argus a.k.a. Saab 340 fly-

  ing as AWACS, Italian military Gulfstream

  G550 CAEW and the trials were flown out

  of the Romanian base in Constanta even

  by Challenger 650 featuring ARTEMIS sys-

  tem (Airborne Reconnaissance Targeting

  and Exploitation Multi-Mission Intelligence

  System) which is operated by the civilian

  company Leidos (formerly Science Appli-

  cations International Corporation) based on

  the US Army contract.

  Bunch of colored lines seemingly bundled haphazardly is not a sample of the modern art but depicts the NATO aircraft

  reconnaissance flights near Russian, Belorussian and Ukrainian borders during March 13-31, 2022. The intensity and

  variety of aircraft types which collected the information is well visible.

  This drawing traces the reconnaissance flights performed on March 31, 2022 only. The operational range of the specific

  platforms are indicated as well.

  Call signs of the NATO reconnaissance aircraft operating in the vicinity of Kaliningrad, Belarus and Ukraine on March 31, 2022.

  Photo: author’s archive via ORION_INTPhoto: author’s archive via ameliaairheartPhoto: author’s archive

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  39

  June 2022

• Page 40

  Challenger 650 carrying ARTEMIS reconnaissance system operated by civilian company Leidos based on the US Army contract.

  The map depicts the reconnaissance flights of the unmanned RQ-4 Global Hawk and RC-135W Rivet

  Joint on April 10, 2022. It is well visible that the unmanned Global Hawks operate in the international

  airspace above the Black Sea and thanks to it they are able to “see” further. Nevertheless the “blind

  area” in north-western Ukraine can be seen where in the end of April the Russian army is attempting

  to break the Ukrainian lines near Izyum and other cities in LOC. ISR flights performed around Ukraine

  borders are performed by USAF RQ-48 as well as five RQ-4D belonging to the joint NATO

  -

  AGS unit

  (Alliance Ground Surveillance) flying out of Sigonella base in Sicily.

  In the ADS

  -

  B screenshot we can clearly see the “tactical retreat” of the USAF RQ-4B 2039 call sign

  “Forte 12” which at 3:24 am on February 24, 2022, left the Ukrainian airspace in Donbas area which

  begun to transform into the “hot zone” due to the commencing Russian attack. Until the war outbreak

  thanks to these reconnaissance flights NATO certainly had a good picture about the Russian units’

  movements and locations on their territory bordering with Ukraine.

  Photo: author’s archive via US ArmyPhoto: author’s archive via ameliaairheart

  Photo: author’s archive

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard40

  June 2022

• Page 41

  Besides this tactical intelligence the Ukrai-

  nians were obviously very well informed by

  the western intelligence services in strate-

  gic matters. That consequently enabled the

  Ukrainians to react in time to the Russian

  attack which came in the morning of Febru-

  ary 24. It looks that some central ammuniti-

  on and fuel depots and other military equi-

  pment were quietly moved to new locations

  and the Ukrainian Air Force had a chance

  to send all of their airworthy aircraft to

  detached airports throughout the country.

  Thus, on February 23 evening a number of

  airplanes and helicopters left their perma-

  nent bases and in this way escaped the Ru-

  ssian first strike and almost from the first

  moments could be deployed in the battle

  against the occupiers flying out of their de-

  tached bases. There are a huge number of

  airports on the Ukrainian territory and even

  though the majority of them don’t feature

  sufficiently long and sturdy runway suita-

  ble for the supersonic types such as Su-24,

  Su-27 or Mig-29, it cannot be ruled out that

  The map illustrating the combat range of NATO's F-16, F-15E, EF-2000 Typhoon and F-35 confirms the deployment of NATO refueling aircraft. Those together with the reconnaissan-

  ce aircraft sortie daily to provide support to NATO combat aircraft which fly constant preventive CAP near the border of the NATO eastern member countries with Russia and Bela-

  rus. Their mission is to defend against any violation of the NATO airspace and at the same time preventively protect the reconnaissance airplanes from deliberate act and possible

  attack by VKS RF. Shortly after the commencement of the Russian invasion to Ukraine NATO stated to have more than 100 combat aircraft on operational readiness and even this

  complement includes the planes outside of the alliance eastern flank it represents considerable boost of NATO combat potential in the area of possible threat to the member states

  - particularly in Baltics, Poland and Romania. For example, from April 1, 2022, the Czech squadron 211 has been deployed with five JAS-39C Gripen to the Lithuanian base Shiauliai

  as a part of EAP (Enhanced Air Policing) rotation. The refueling aircraft employed in the action are USAF KC-10A and KC-135R out of Mildenhall in Great Britain and Rammstein in

  Germany, furthermore the British Voyager KC.2 which fly out of the home bases as well as out of the Cyprus airport RAF Akrotiri. Integral part of the refueling fleet are French

  C-135FR, A-330 MRTT, Italian KC-767A but also A-330 MRTT from NATO international unit MMU (Multinational MRTT Unit) out of Eindhoven in the Netherlands.

  Probably the first Ukrainian airplane lost in the air was this transport An-26 (supposedly “blue 59” from the 15. ObrTrA

  transport air brigade based on Kiev-Boryspil). With the port engine in flames it was noted flying at the low altitude

  followed by a hard landing on the field between Zhukyvtsy and Trypillya in Obukhiv area south of Kiev while five out

  of 14 people on board were supposedly killed. With a certain level of probability, we can assume that it was a victim of

  one of the VKS RF fighters when flying from south it attempted to reach its base at Boryspil which is located north

  of the crash site.

  Photo: author’s archive via ameliaairheartPhoto: author’s archive

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  41

  June 2022

• Page 42

  some of the Ukrainian military airplanes

  such as Su-25 or L-39 could have opera-

  ted from the grass airfields (some sources

  speculated that even Mig-29 partially ope-

  rated from the grass airfield nevertheless

  the truth is again that these claim cannot

  be verified). Namely the helicopters could

  have flown directly out of the improvised

  camouflaged heliports almost anywhere

  with the sufficient surface sturdiness for

  example the earth strengthened with the

  steel plates etc. So far there is not suffici-

  ent proof available as the Ukrainians them-

  selves keep the “vow of silence” in order not

  to offer any clues to the Russian attackers

  as far as the exact locations are concerned

  as it will result in the strikes against them.

  Thanks to the aforementioned equip-

  ment relocation the expensive 3M14 Kalibr

  (SS

  -

  N-30) cruise missiles and even more

  expensive 9M723 tactical ballistic missiles

  from the 9K720 Iskander-M (SS-26 Sto-

  ne) system or airplane-launched winged

  Kh-101 (AS-23 Kodiak) and Kh-555 (AS-22

  Kluge) missiles were destroying on Ukrai-

  nian airports mostly the old and no longer

  operational equipment which in fact was

  set there on purpose as a dummy target.

  Panoramic photographs composed from the shots of the apron at Ivano-Frankivsk base with non-operational Mig-29s

  (9-13) which were hit by the Russian morning strike on February 24, 2022. After this strike, supposedly executed by

  the cruise missiles, six Mig-29 were hit. Ivano-Frankivsk is home of 114. BrTA (Tactical aviation brigade) equipped with

  “twenty nines”.

  Photo: author’s archive Photo: author’s archive

  Il-76MD 76322 was the first of a pair of the transport Ilyushins which were supposedly destroyed already on February 24 by the Russian attack on their base Melitopol in southern

  Ukraine. Here as well the 25. OBrTrA (Transport air brigade) probably evacuated on time the remaining airworthy airplanes. In the case of Il-76, An-26 and An-32 the Ukrainian air

  force chose very pragmatically to fly them to safety into western Europe where they successfully joined the effort to transport all necessary equipment for their own armed forces.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard42

  June 2022

• Page 43

  CZECH AIR FORCE

  CZECH AIR FORCE

  www.czechairforce.com

  www.czechairforce.com

  News, in-depth analysis, interviews and

  News, in-depth analysis, interviews and

  historical articles not only about Czech

  historical articles not only about Czech

  and Czechoslovak Air Forces.

  and Czechoslovak Air Forces.

  News, in-depth analysis, interviews and

  News, in-depth analysis, interviews and

  historical articles not only about Czech

  historical articles not only about Czech

  and Czechoslovak Air Forces.

  and Czechoslovak Air Forces.

  pages about Czech Air Force and the history of Czech and Czechoslovak military aviation

  pages about Czech Air Force and the history of Czech and Czechoslovak military aviation

• Page 44

  Besides the photographic evidence pre-

  sented earlier, during the morning attack

  at least one Su-27 from 39. BrTA parking

  at Ozerne base near Zhytomyr was de-

  stroyed and the picture posted on internet

  showed the group of Su-24M bombers hit

  at the unspecified base and the planes lo-

  oked decommissioned for a long time. It is

  certainly not a complete overview of the

  destroyed equipment and at least offers

  a basic idea. In general, by the early maneu-

  ver the Ukrainian AF prevented the heavier

  damage to its inventory and in the following

  days could commence the attacks against

  the invading troops. It suffered many losses

  in the process on the other side many ti-

  mes managed to slow down the attacker’s

  advance and the great benefit was to boost

  the morale of the defenders who could see

  that VKS RF does not have air superiority

  even though the Russian army representa-

  tives declared it many times since the con-

  flict started.

  While the previous Il-76MD 76322 at Melitopol was inoperative for a long time and did not fly, the second destroyed Il-76MD from 25. OBrTrA (Transport aviation brigade) inventory

  was probably the airframe 76696 which, sporting the gray overall paintwork, was observed in flight shortly before February 24, 2022.

  Chuhuyiv airport is the

  home of 203. NABr

  (Training aviation

  brigade) dedicated to

  educating the young

  aviation candidates for

  the University of the

  Aviation in the nearby

  second largest Ukrai

  -

  nian city of Kharkov.

  The primary training

  aircraft is L-39C

  Albatros. Neither this

  airport, very close to

  the border with Russia,

  escaped the attack

  on February 24, 2022

  resulting in hitting the

  apron with L-39C. It is

  questionable though

  if these Albatrosses

  were airworthy at the

  moment of the attack

  or had been decommi

  -

  ssioned for a long time.

  Photo: author’s archive Photo: author’s archive

  Photo: author’s

  archive

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard44

  June 2022

• Page 45

  The scramble flight with no return

  Interesting episode of the morning Russian

  attack and at the same time the confirmation

  that Ukrainian Air Force did not at all give up

  on their own country's defense was a surpri-

  sing landing of Su-27 “blue 23” in Romanian

  Bacau at the military base Baza 95 Aeriana.

  A pair of Romanian pilots in F-16AM from the

  system QRA NATINAMDS were dispatched

  before 7 am for a morning “Alpha scramble”

  and after intercepting an unknown target

  were very surprised seeing “up to the teeth

  armed Sukhoi” carrying the full complement

  of 4xR-73 short range missiles, 3xR-27R and

  1xR-27T medium range missiles. The Ukrai-

  nian pilot landed at Bacau at 7:05 am and as

  a reason for flying over to Romania stated

  the complete loss of the communication with

  the home base.It seems that Su-27 “blue 23”

  could have belonged to 39. BrTA based on

  Ozerne near Zhytomyr (note nr.1). Question

  is if it really took off from this airport or du-

  ring the night headed to one of the detached

  bases. Based on its ordnance configurations

  it was a scramble aircraft, but we can only

  speculate about its flight profile after the take

  off in Ukraine. It is probable that the pilot was

  dispatched against the identified targets, but

  the question is how the scramble system

  could have worked including guiding their

  own fighters from the ground when it has

  been under attack from the early hours. The

  morning Russian attack on Ozerne (proba-

  bly with the cruise missiles) caused a hit on

  at least one, photographically documented,

  Su-27 right on the apron.

  Tactics of the Ukrainian fighters during these

  days relied on reaching the Russian airplane-

  sat very low level flight to first avoid as long

  as possible the attention of the attackers and

  second to be able to use their R-27T missiles

  with the passive infra-red guided warhead

  which was capable of guiding this anti-air-

  craft rocket without the aid of its own aircraft

  airborne radar and thus avoid its identifica-

  tion by the enemy (another R-27T feature is

  the possibility of the deployment under the

  strong electronic jamming while it’s more

  than probable that the attacking Russian

  aircraft were protected for REB either in the

  form of S-24MR or Su-35S or other platforms

  capable of performing this duty).

  The Ukrainian air force seems to have less

  of these anti-aircraft missiles in comparison

  to R-27R which is semi-active and has to be

  guided during the whole flight by the airborne

  locator which lowered the chances of the de-

  fenders and increase the risk to be revealed,

  attacked and shot down by the Russian figh-

  ters who mostly had numerical advantage

  and were equipped with the more modern

  medium range anti-aircraft missiles R-77

  with the active guidance by its own head (so

  called “fire and forget”). Su-27 “blue23” ord-

  nance pattern indicates this since it carried

  three semi-active guided missiles R-27R and

  only single infra-red guided R-27T.

  In any case the Ukrainian pilot must have

  known that the return to the airport where he

  had taken off was not possible regardless of

  the fact he stated for the diversion (total loss

  of communication) was true or not. Conside-

  ring the unused rockets, it also seems that

  he did not engage in the combat with VKS RF

  aircraft and focused on saving the valuable

  Su-27 in the spirit of “we can fight another

  day” in which he succeeded.

  The Romanians, who from the beginning of

  the conflict took the Ukrainian side, same as

  the other NATO countries, on March 1 allowed

  the return of the “demilitarized” Su-27 back

  to Ukraine. Sukhoi lacking the anti-aircraft

  guided missiles took off from the Baza 95 Ae-

  riana in Bacau escorted by a pair of Mig-21MF

  Lancer C numbers 6840 and 5834 from

  Escadrila 711 Aviatie Lupta/Baza 71 Aeriana

  “General Emanoil Ionescu” in Campia Turziii

  which escorted the Ukrainian Su-27 to Ro-

  manian-Ukrainian border. It remains unclear

  if the flyover was piloted by the same pilot

  who had landed the Sukhoi at Bacau.

  HISTORIE

  Su-27 “blue 23” already parked on the apron of the Baza 95 Aeriana base in Bacau after its arrival on February 24,

  2022. The scramble aircraft, probably from the 39. BrTA, located at the peace time base Ozerne at Zhytomyr, is fully

  armed with air-to-air guided missiles. There are three R-27R middle range missiles with semi-active radar guidance

  attached on the fuselage and left inner wing hardpoint, a single middle range R-27T missile with infra-red guidance is

  attached to the left inner hardpoint and four short range R-73 infra-red guided missiles can be seen on the four inner

  hardpoints.

  Su-27 “blue 23” lacking the anti-aircraft missiles is taxiing to the takeoff from the Baza 95 Aeriana base in Bacau

  on March 1, 2022 to return back to Ukraine where the defense against the Russian invasion was going for six days

  already.

  The last “goodbye” and Su-27 “blue 23” is headed back home.

  Photo: author’s archive Photo: author’s archive Photo: author’s archive via Dan Stefan -

  Plane Spotters Bacau

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  45

  June 2022

• Page 46

  Markings of the invasion troops

  Allow me a little detour to the marking

  system of the Russian military equipment

  used in the invasion of Ukraine which will

  accompany us, directly or indirectly, throu-

  ghout this series of articles. For this purpo-

  se, the Russian Army created the markings

  in the form of the combination of the geo-

  metric shapes and letters. In the first case

  the intention was to distinguish the own

  units from the Ukrainian one and in the se-

  cond case to create the auxiliary

  identification in case the units on their

  advance through Ukraine got mixed. The

  vehicles and airplanes attacking Kiev from

  Belarus were marked with a well visible

  white letter “V”. The helicopters participa-

  ting in the attack on Hostomel on February

  24 had mostly all their markings overpain-

  ted including the red outlined stars, nose

  number or the identification code in the

  format RF-xxxx (numerals 0-9 in place of

  x). Instead of all these markings only the

  white letter “V” was painted on the helico-

  pters. During the later operations and lo-

  sses of the VKS RF equipment this effort

  to completely obliterate the markings was

  not observed since the helicopters carried

  national markings, nose numbers and

  RF-xxxx identification.

  Map of Ukraine depicting the advance directions of the individual occupational units of the Russian army and their se-

  paratists’ satellites DNR and LNR (in the eastern Donbas). The markings used by these units are also illustrated. The

  primary purpose of using these markings was mainly identification and recognition of the individual units in case they

  got mixed up during their advance (which was supposedly factored in as well as the rapid advance through the Ukrai

  -

  nian territory). If we look at the air force so far the application of the white letter “V” on the helicopters was recorded

  in the north and north east. The white letter “Z” was recorded on both the helicopters and fighter-bombers Su-25, The

  Russian “Ravens” operating in the north from the Belarussian bases almost certainly flew without this quick recogniti

  -

  on marking so it it possible that its ultimate application could have depended on the commanders’ consideration.

  The most modern and frequently used VKS RF combat heli-

  copter during the attack on Ukraine was Kamov Ka-52. The

  helicopter in the picture, probably “blue 08” nose number,

  carries on the fuselage visible markings in the form of the

  white letter “V” which attaches it to the unit attacking from

  Belarus towards Kiev. In this case however besides the

  nose number it also carries the red stars on the vertical

  tail surfaces and white marking RF-xxxx on the fuselage

  tail. Kamovs which on February 24 took part in the attack

  on Hostomel carried only the white letter “V” and all other

  markings were hastily overpainted by different shades of

  the camouflage paint which was supposedly available to

  the ground personnel at the time of ordering the markings’

  removal. Ka-52 in the picture is equipped with a pair of

  PTB-450 drop tanks, a standard equipment of this type

  at least at the beginning of the conflict. Then it carries

  the asymmetrical ordnance in the form of the B-8V20

  rocket launcher for 80 mm unguided missiles S-8 on the

  starboard wing and at least a pair of the 9K121 Vikhr (AT-16

  Scallion) anti-aircraft missiles.

  Photo: author’s archive via OSINTuaPhoto: author’s archive Photo: author’s archive

  A group of attack Mi-35 and transport Mi-8AMTSh captured on the improvised apron which is probably a road. All helicopters carry the identification markings in the form of the white

  letter “Z” whose execution varies widely and must have been hand-painted. At least the attack Hinds do not have their nose numbers overpainted (the first Mi-35 shows the nose num

  -

  ber which is more likely dirty than overpainted) neither the stars nor the identification codes RF-xxx. The first Hind carries four 9K120 Ataka (AT-9 Spiral 2) anti-aircraft guided missiles

  on the starboard wing and the notorious B-8V20 rocket launcher for 80 mm unguided missiles S-8. Of interest is the first Hinds’ “Z” triple painting on this visible starboard fuselage.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard46

  June 2022

• Page 47

  Photo: author’s archive

  Photo: author’s archive

  Notes

  1 - According to scramble.nl Su-27 “blue 23” attached in August

  2021 to 39. BrTA at Ozerne air base near Zhytomyr. This initial So-

  viet-made Su-27 version is designated as Su-27S on this website

  as well as all other “western” sources. We will stick to the original

  owner’s designation i.e., without a letter S.

  Abbreviations

  BAP

  –

  Bombardirovochnyi Aviacionnyi Polk VKS RF (Aviation Bombardment Squadron of

  the Air-Cosmic forces of the Russian Federation)

  BrTA

  –

  Bryhada Taktychnoyi Aviatsiyi (Tactical Aviation Brigade of the Ukrainian Air For-

  ce)

  CAP

  –

  Combat Air Patrol

  “Raven” – Russian nickname for Su-25

  LOC

  –

  Line of Control, front line in the Luhansk and Donetsk areas created after the

  Ukrainian army fighting with the separatists and Russian troops during 2014-15.

  REB

  –

  ECM (Electronic Countermeasures)

  NABr – Navchalna Aviatsiyna Bryhada (Aviation Training Brigade of the Ukrainian Air

  Force)

  OBrTrA

  –

  Bryhada Transportnoyi Aviatsiyi (Aviation Transport Brigade of the Ukrainian

  Air Force)

  QRA NATINAMDS

  –

  Quick Reaction Alert NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defense Sys-

  tem

  VDV

  –

  Vozdushno-desantnye voyska (Airborne Units)

  VKS RF

  –

  Vozdushno-kosmicheskye sily Rossijskoj Federacii (Air-cosmic forces of the

  Russian Federation)

  VMF RF

  –

  Vojenno-morskoj flot Rossijskoj Federacii (Navy of the Russian Federation

  VVS

  -

  SA

  –

  Vojenno vozdushnye sily Sovetskoy armii (Military Air Force of the Soviet

  Army)

  Sources

  James Marson – Putin thought Ukraine will fall quickly. The battle at

  the airport terminal showed he was wrong. The Wall Street Journal,

  March 3, 2022

  Sebastien Roblin – Pictures: In Battle for Hostomel, Ukraine Drove

  Back Russia’s Attack Helicopters and Elite Paratroopers. 19Forty-

  Five, 25. února 2022

  Stijn Mitzer a Joost Oliemans (Oryx) – Destination Disaster: Russi-

  a’s Failure At Hostomel Airport

  Tom Cooper – Russian Heliborne Assault on Antonov / Hostomel

  Airport seems to have failed. Theaviationgeekclub.com, 25. února

  2022

  Tomáš Soušek – Letectva NATO air forces in the Eastern Europe,

  L+K 4/2022

  ACIG

  –

  Tom Cooper (1 2)

  Oryx (documentation of the destroyed military hardware based on

  the pictures and videos) (1 2)

  Russian losses of the military equipment (1)

  Ukrainian losses of the military equipment (1)

  Russian and Ukrainian aircraft losses (1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14)

  The article is takeover from www.czechairforce.com

  Mi-24P is taking off from the detached airport equipped with four B-8V20 rocket launchers for 80 mm unguided missiles S-8 and there are possibly four older anti-aircraft guided

  missiles attached on wing tip hard points. Note that these missiles have been used, and still are, as the only guided ordinance for the Czech AF i-24v/Mi-35. Mi-24P sports the

  white identification markings in two forms. Letter “Z” was attempted on the fuselage and there are three white stripes on the boom. This type of marking was probably intended to

  confuse the Ukrainian troops who from a distance could recognize the Russian Hinds painted in the way as their own because The Ukrainian army air force since 2014 has been

  using a marking in the form of a pair of white stripes painted on the tail boom. The stars next to “Z” were left intact but the nose number and the identification number RF-xxxx were

  overpainted most likely with the white stripes.

  HISTORY

  INFO Eduard

  47

  June 2022

• Page 48

  #70153

  Avia CS-199

  1/72

  ProfiPACK edition kit of Czechoslovak single engine

  two-seat training fighter Avia CS-199 in 1/72 scale.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  marking options: 6

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: yes, pre-painted

  painting mask: yes

  resin parts: no

  Product page

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard48

  June 2022

• Page 49

  CS-199.565, trainee Miloš Krč and ppor. Jaroslav Havránek, 4 Air Training Regiment,

  Prostějov, 1951

  CS-199.574, svob. Karel Tománek and por. František Hamršmíd, 5 Air Training Regiment,

  Zvolen, 1952

  CS-199.554, svob. Jindřich Flégr and por. Jiří Bůžek, 4 Air Training Regiment,

  Prostějov, 1952

  Avia CS-199.565 served in 1951 with the 4 lšp (Air

  Training Regiment) Prostějov. On July 31, 1951, the

  crew made up of trainee Miloš Krč and instructor

  ppor. Jaroslav Havránek were forced into an emer

  -

  gency landing at Tovačov due to engine failure. The

  aircraft was subsequently repaired and served on

  as a trainer. At the time of the incident, the aircraft

  carried no yellow bands on the fuselage or wings.

  Currently, this aircraft is on display at the aviation

  museum in Kbely, outside of Prague, but its appea

  -

  rance at the museum differs from that of the original

  as offered in the kit.

  Avia CS-199.574 served with the 5 lšp (Air Training

  Regiment) in 1952, based at Zvolen. On September

  12, 1952, svob. Karel Tománek and por. František Ha

  -

  mršmíd were landing at Zvolen, and a brake failure

  prevented them from maintaining a straight course

  down the length of the runway, resulting in a collap

  -

  sed right landing gear. Avia CS-199.574 carried the

  yellow fuselage and wing bands, which were used on

  training aircraft.

  This CS-199 served with the 4 lšp (Air Training Re

  -

  giment) in Prostějov in 1952. On September 2 of that

  year, the crew consisting of svob. Jindřich Flégr and

  por. Jiří Bůžek set down in a field near Čechovice. The

  reason for the mishap was engine failure. Further

  details on the fate of this aircraft remain unknown.

  This aircraft also carried the typical trainer bands

  in yellow.

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard

  49

  June 2022

• Page 50

  CS-199.571, Flight 1, 4 Air Regiment, Plzeň-Bory, 1952

  CS-199.559, por. Drahoslav Bartes and rt. Zdeněk Durčák, Kunovice,

  September 1951

  CS-199.548, kpt. Miloslav Šmíd and civil employee Vladimír Slušný, Aerospace Research Centre,

  Praha-Letňany, February 1953

  Photographs of this aircraft do not reveal its serial

  number, but regimental logs record CS-199s serialled

  571, 573 and 542. The decal sheet offers all of these

  numbers, and it is currently up to each modeler to

  decide which to use. The 4 lp (Air Regiment) was not

  a training entity, and as such, the aircraft did not

  carry the yellow bands on the fuselage or on the

  wings.

  On September 14, 1951, the crew consisting of por.

  Drahoslav Bartes and rt. Zdeněk Durčák accepted

  Avia CS-199.559 at the Central Aviation Storage fa

  -

  cility in Kunovice. An engine failure was suffered

  shortly after takeoff, resulting in an emergency lan

  -

  ding. The aircraft was stricken from service. Since

  the aircraft had not entered service, the fuselage

  only carried the temporary black code ‘305‘.

  On February 5, 1953, the crew made up of kpt. Mi

  -

  loslav Šmíd (Deputy Inspector for the Military Admi-

  nistration for Repairs, Kbely - ZVSLOK) and civilian

  employee Vladimír Slušný, left the landing strip af

  -

  ter touching down at Letňany, and the left landing

  gear broke through the crusted surface of a service

  trench, causing damage to the propeller. The aircraft

  was subsequently repaired. At the time, Avia CS-

  199.548 was with the Aviation Research Centre, and

  carried the black number 80 on the fuselage.

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard50

  June 2022

• Page 51

  OVERTREES

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  Product page

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  Recommended:

  for Avia CS-199 1/72

  672284 S-199 exhaust stacks PRINT (Brassin)

  672285 S-199 wheels PRINT (Brassin)

  D72042 CS-199 Czechoslovak national insignia (Decal)

  D72043 CS-199 stencils (Decal)

  #70153-LEPT

  Avia CS-199 LEPT 1/72

  KITS 06/2022

  Cat. No. 672284

  Cat. No. 672285

  INFO Eduard

  51

  June 2022

• Page 52

  #82175

  Sopwith Camel Comic

  1/48

  ProfiPACK edition kit of British WWI fighter aircraft Sopwith Camel Comic in 1/48 scale.

  The Comic was a Camel variant designed specifically for night-fighting duties.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  marking options: 6

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: yes, pre-painted

  painting mask: yes

  resin parts: no

  Product page

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard52

  June 2022

• Page 53

  B9287, No. 78 (HD) Squadron, Sutton´s Farm, United Kingdom, spring 1918

  B2402 No. 44 (HD) Squadron, B flight, Hainault Farm, United Kingdom, January 1918

  No. 44 (HD) Squadron, C flight, Hainault Farm, United Kingdom, October 1918

  Produced by Boulton & Paul as a standard Camel

  F.1 according to an order placed on August 2, 1917.

  Aircraft in this series were mostly equipped with

  the LeRhône 9J 110 hp engine, but some were given

  the Clerget 9B 130 hp, which seems to be this case.

  B9287 was subsequently converted to F. 1/3 Comic

  and entered service with No. 78 Squadron operating

  from Sutton's Farm airfield. Like some other aircraft

  of this unit (e.g., Capt. Luxmoore’s one) it received

  a light blue livery, but also white stripes. It is not

  known from the available photographs whether the

  undersurfaces were also painted in such a way, we

  tend to leave them in the canvas color. However,

  painting them blue, white or both cannot be ruled

  out. The middle part of the fuselage, the back behind

  the cockpit and the upper surface of the lower wing

  up to the third rib were painted in a uniform dark co

  -

  lour, probably red, another possibility could be black.

  The purpose of painting the part of the lower wing

  with this color remains unclear. The cockades on the

  wings had a slightly darkened white field at least on

  the upper wing. The color used remains unclear, mi

  -

  ght be green or light blue. With this bright coloring,

  the B9287 was probably used for training flights only;

  for combat use the aircraft received a green paint

  job later. However, this probably did not occur until

  the plane was handed over to No. 44 (HD) Sqn. There,

  Lt. Taylor crashed it on take-off in May. The pilot was

  seriously injured and the aircraft was written off.

  Originally a Camel F.1 from the Ruston Proctor factory,

  it was soon converted to the F.1/3 Comic and served

  with No. 44 (HD) Squadron, formed on July 24, 1917

  at Hainault Farm airfield as a unit dedicated for the

  defence of London. B2402 was flown by Capt. George

  Henry Hackwill, who had two kills to his credit from

  his time with No. 22 Sqn where he was flying FE2b.

  After a period as an instructor, he was assigned to No.

  44 (HD) Sqn as a Flight Commander. On the night of

  28–29 January, he shot down Gotha G.V serial number

  938/16 near Wickford (Essex) in conjunction with Lt.

  Charles Chaplin Banks (him flying B3827). Hackwill,

  who was from Langtree, Devon, later flew conventi

  -

  onal Camels in France as a Flight Commander with

  No. 54 Squadron. There, he increased his number of

  victories to nine and received the Military Cross. His

  aircraft had heavily modified cockades on the fuse

  -

  lage. The blue field was completely overpainted, the

  red centre had an enlarged diameter and darkened

  but still visible white field. The upper cockades were

  probably modified in the same way. The form of the

  cockades on the wings is a reconstruction based on

  other known machines. The metal part of the nose

  was slightly darkened with patches of green paint.

  Comic of unknown serial number served with No. 44

  Squadron, specifically with its C flight. Originally,

  No. 44 (HD) Squadron aircraft were sporting white

  number markings, but these were repainted after

  assignment to night fighter units. Also, the insignias

  were modified. This aircraft was given a non-stan

  -

  dard small cockade on the rudder while instead of

  fuselage cockades, an emblem was painted on both

  sides in the form of a knight’s head in a helmet with

  a crest. A total of 13 Camel Comics served with

  No. 44 (HD) Squadron (B2402, B2517, B3815, B3816,

  B3827, B3852, B4614, B5192, B5206, B5411, B5412,

  B9287, C6712). The drawing of the knight was the em

  -

  blem of C Swarm.

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard

  53

  June 2022

• Page 54

  E5165 No. 8 (Training) Squadron AFC, Leighterton, United Kingdom, September 1918

  E5165, Lt. L. C. Sheffield, No. 151 Squadron RAF, Vignacourt, France, September 1918

  B4614, No. 44 (HD) Squadron, B flight, Hainault Farm, United Kingdom, February 1918

  This Camel was produced as a standard F.1 versi-

  on with LeRhône engine by Portholme Aereodrome.

  It was subsequently converted and assigned to

  No. 8 (Training) Squadron Australian Flying Corps

  based at Leighterton. This was one of four Austra

  -

  lian training squadrons (Nos. 5; 6; 7; 8) and service

  with them was not as easy and safe as it might seem.

  According to statistics, on average each student

  pilot destroyed six landing gear and two complete

  aircraft. At the end of the war, 25 Australian pilots

  died during the training. All of them are buried in

  a cemetery near Leighterton.

  Comic E5165 was transferred from No. 8 (Training)

  Squadron AFC to No. 151 Squadron, which was only

  formed on June 12, 1918, as the first offensive night

  fighter unit. It was made up of three flights, one each

  from No. 44, No. 78 and No. 112 Sqn, with Maj Murlis

  -

  -Green taking command. Its mission was to attack

  German night bombers when they were still above

  France territory. E5165 also served there from Sep

  -

  tember 13, along with E5164, to the trials of a new

  night color NIVO (Night Invisible Varnish Oxfordness)

  paint. An emergency landing on September 19 en

  -

  ded the trials in this case, the pilot Lt. L. C. Sheffield

  escaped uninjured. The damaged aircraft was taken

  to the Aircraft Service Depot on September 20 for

  repair but was scrapped on October 2. At the time of

  testing, the fuselage and probably the wing cockades

  were preserved, but their edges bore signs of irregu

  -

  larity due to careless repainting of the aircraft. The

  dark nose was either black or also in NIVO color. This

  color was eventually not used operationally during

  the war but became the standard coloring for post

  -

  -war RAF night bomber aircraft. Its use was disconti-

  nued in the mid-1930s.

  This Comic was manufactured as a standard Camel

  F.1 by Portholme Aerodrome and subsequently con

  -

  verted. It served with No. 44 (HD) Squadron from

  February 16, 1918, the very next day it took part in

  a night Anti-Gotha patrol with Lt. R. G. H. Adams at

  controls. Another operational flight with this aircraft

  is documented from May 19, 1918, when the aircraft

  was flown by Lt. W. E. Nicholson. Although this Comic

  was used for night operational flights, it retained, at

  least according to available photographs, the stan

  -

  dard cockades on the fuselage as well as the serial

  number, which appears in the photograph to be blue

  rather than the standard black. The appearance of

  the wings cockades remains unknown, they might be

  standard, as the fuselage ones, or toned down so

  -

  mehow.

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard54

  June 2022

• Page 55

  OVERTREES

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  Recommended:

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  FE1215 Sopwith Camel seatbelts STEEL (PE

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  Set)

  644116 Sopwith Camel LööK (Brassin)

  648657 Sopwith Camel wheels type 1 (Brassin)

  648658 Sopwith Camel wheels type 2 (Brassin)

  648659 Sopwith Camel seat (Brassin)

  648660 Sopwith Camel Vickers Mk.I gun (Brassin)

  648661 Sopwith Camel US Colt Vickers gun (Brassin)

  648662 Sopwith Camel 20lb bomb carrier (Brassin)

  648674 Sopwith Camel Rotherham air pumps (Brassin)

  648676 Sopwith Camel Clerget engine (Brassin)

  648677 Sopwith Camel Bentley engine (Brassin)

  648726 Sopwith Camel Comic Lewis guns PRINT (Brassin)

  3DL48038 Sopwith Camel SPACE (3D Decal Set)

  #82175-LEPT

  Sopwith Camel Comic LEPT 1/48

  Cat. No. 648726

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard

  55

  June 2022

• Page 56

  SPITFIRE STORY:

  Per Aspera ad Astra

  DUAL COMBO

  1/48

  Limited edition kit of British WWII fighter aircraft Spitfire

  Mk.Vc in 1/48 scale. From the kit you can build Spitfires

  fighting over Europe, North Africa, the Mediterranean,

  Adriatic Sea, Asia and the Pacific.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  marking options: 12

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: yes, pre-painted

  painting mask: yes

  resin parts: no

  Product page

  #11162

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard56

  June 2022

• Page 57

  AB509, W/Cdr John M. Checketts, No. 142 Wing, RAF Horne,

  Surrey, Great Britain, June 1944

  AR511, S/Ldr Tomáš Vybíral, No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron,

  RAF Churchstanton, Somerset, Great Britain,

  November 1942 - June 1943

  AB174, P/O Antoni Glowacki, No. 303 (Polish) Squadron,

  RAF Northolt, Great Britain, August 1942

  John Milne "Johnny" Checketts was one of the most

  successful New Zealand pilots in WWII. He was born

  in Invercargill on February 20, 1912. In October 1940,

  twenty eight years old, he started the pilot training

  with RNZAF. In November 1941 he was attached to No.

  485 (RNZAF) Squadron. In January 1943 he was sent

  to No. 611 Squadron at Biggin Hill airport where, as an

  "A" flight leader, he scored his first two kills. In July

  Johnny assumed the command of the whole No. 485

  (RNZAF) Squadron. During May-September 1943, in

  the cockpit of Spitfire Mk.IXc EN572, Checketts sco

  -

  red 12 victories in total. On September 6, 1943 he was

  shot down by a Fw 190, burnt and wounded he bai

  -

  led out. The French Resistance fighters hid him and

  treated his wounds. Checketts was evacuated by the

  resistance with a group of 12 pilots and on October 21,

  1943 crossed La Manche on board the fishing boat. In

  May 1944 he was promoted to Wing Commander and

  assumed the command of No. 142 Wing equipped with

  Spitfires Mk.Vc and located at Horne airport.

  With this unit he took part in the Allied landing in

  Normandy. Soon after the D-day Germans started

  to launch V-1 flying bombs and in the middle of the

  month Checketts destroyed two of them. His last mi

  -

  ssion in September 1944 brought him over Arnhem

  where he scored his last kill. Shortly after he met the

  rocket Me 163 in combat. Checketts total score during

  his combat career was 14 kills, 3 probables, 8 da

  -

  maged and two V-1 flying bombs destroyed. The Spit-

  fire Johnny Checketts flew with No. 142 Wing during

  Allied landing in Normandy was LF Mk.Vc, s/n AB509.

  His aircraft was modified with the later version of

  elevators, cannons without the second protrusion

  and the upper cannon covers featuring the narrow

  bulge. It carried the standard Day Fighters Scheme

  camouflage with sloppily applied invasion stripes.

  The code letters were overpainted and the fuselage

  black invasion stripe sports the hand painted initials

  JMC.

  Spitfire AR511 served with No. 312 Squadron from Au

  -

  gust 23, 1942 to July 4, 1943 and most of this time it

  was flown by the unit commander S/Ldr Tomáš Vybí

  -

  ral as his personal aircraft. At the end of its service

  with No. 312 (Czechoslovak) Squadron AR511 flew with

  a shortened wingspan and a smaller serial number

  painted inside the Sky band. Tomáš Vybíral was one

  of the most successful and popular Czechoslovak

  pilots of WWII. Within RAF he logged 625.5 operati

  -

  onal hours (his combat flying in France included the

  number goes up to 684.15 operational hours) and flew

  196 sweeps over the enemy held territories in France,

  Belgium, the Netherlands and Germany. He scored

  seven aerial victories, all of them during the Battle

  of France in the cockpit of an American Curtiss Hawk

  H-75.

  On March 15, 1942 AB174 was assigned to No. 303

  (Polish) Squadron as the very first Mk.Vc version of

  Spitfire. At the unit level the aircraft received the

  code letter "Q" and was named "owca" (sheep in

  Polish). Such nicknamed aircraft was flown by well

  known Polish pilot and fighter ace P/O Antoni Glo

  -

  wacki who decorated it with the symbols of his kills

  under the portside of the windshield. On August 19,

  during the fighting at Dieppe, at the controls of this

  aircraft, Glowacki shot down a He 111 in cooperation

  and probably a Fw 190. During his wartime career he

  scored 8+1 kills, 3 probables and 5 damaged enemy

  airplanes.

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard

  57

  June 2022

• Page 58

  Lt. John Anderson, 5th FS, 52nd FG, 12th AF, La Sabala,

  Tunisia, February 1944

  F/O James H. Montgomery, 4th FS, 52nd FG,

  12th AF, Corsica, August 1943

  JK448, No. 352 (Yugoslav) Squadron, Vis,

  Yugoslavia, September 1944

  The 52nd FG Spitfires flew within 12th AF until April

  1944 when the unit became part of 15th AF fighting in

  the Mediterranean till the end of WWII. John Ander

  -

  son's Spitfire sported a non-standard camouflage on

  the upper surfaces in three colors - Dark Earth, Mi

  -

  ddle Stone and Dark Green. The similar camouflage

  scheme was applied to several other Spitfires from

  this group as well as the field-installed desert filter.

  On February 14, 1944 Anderson scored two kills flying

  this aircraft.

  F/O James Henry Montgomery was one of many Ame

  -

  rican Spitfire pilots fighting in the Mediterranean wi-

  thin 12th AF. On August 6, 1943 he was shot down over

  the Mediterranean Sea near Palermo by a German

  Messerschmitt and spent a whole day in a lifeboat

  using his knife to debone fish to eat. The story of his

  shot down and survival made it to the nationwide

  news in the United States and he was nicknamed

  "Robinson Crusoe from Heavens". He was not that

  lucky next time. On February 9, 1944 near the port

  of Nice four Spitfires were jumped by a pack of Fw

  190s. A pair of Fw 190s targeted Montgomery's Spitfi

  -

  re which received the direct hit and burst in flames.

  F/O Montgomery flew Spitfires named "The Impatient

  Virgin" sporting pinup girl nose art.

  No. 352 (Yugoslav) Squadron was the first Yugoslav

  fighter unit formed in the Mediterranean within Royal

  Air Force during WWII. This unit was also known as

  Prva eskadrila NOVJ. In June it was re-equipped with

  Spitfires Mk.Vb/Vc and in August it was transferred

  to Italy to join No. 281 Wing RAF and provide escorts

  to the fighter-bomber squadrons. From January 25,

  1945 it operated from the forward air base on Vis Is

  -

  land. Due to the Luftwaffe absence Yugoslav Spitfires

  had little opportunities for the air combat and for the

  rest of the war they flew anti ground attack missi

  -

  ons. Spitfire JK448 carried the type "A" Day Fighter

  Scheme on the upper surfaces with a non-standard,

  reversed color pattern. The propeller spinner and fu

  -

  selage band in front of the tail surfaces were in Sky

  color. The Vokes filter starboard side carried the red

  inscription "OSVETNIK 5. OFANZIVE.

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard58

  June 2022

• Page 59

  JK891, No. 335 (Greek) Squadron, Hassani,

  Greece, February 1945

  BR349, P/O John L. Boyd, No. 185 Squadron,

  Takali, Malta, May 1942

  BR294, P/O Donald G. Reid, No. 185 Squadron,

  Hal Far, Malta, May-June 1942

  No. 335 (Greek) Squadron was a Greek fighter squad-

  ron deployed in the Mediterranean, Balkans and over

  Aegean Sea from 1941 till the end of WWII. While the

  Allied armies advanced to the West No. 335 (Greek)

  Squadron remained in the East and flew reconnai

  -

  ssance missions off the coast of Libya. In the fall of

  1944 the squadron was re-equipped with Spitfires

  and in September was transferred to the bases in

  Italy. The Spitfires were flown in the offensive attack

  missions over Albania and Yugoslavia. In November

  1944 the unit was transferred to the homeland and

  from September 1945 was based at Hassani. The

  squadron flew reconnaissance missions over Crete

  and remaining German bases in the Aegean Sea. In

  September 1945 the unit was transferred to Thessa

  -

  loniki in north-eastern Greece and remained there

  until its dispersal on July 31, 1946. Spitfire JK891 flew

  with No. 335 (Greek) Squadron from November 16,

  1944 till February 27, 1945 when it was destroyed in

  an emergency landing. This Spitfire carried the type

  "A" British camouflage with non-standard, reversed

  color pattern. The British national insignia on the fu

  -

  selage were repainted with Greek ones. The standard

  British type C1 roundels on the wings were retained.

  "Tony" Boyd was born on May 20, 1919 in Brynestown,

  Queensland. Before he joined RAAF in 1940 he had

  worked as a yackeroo on the sheep ranch. After the

  basic training on Tiger Moth airplanes he was sent to

  Canada for the advanced training at Camp Borden.

  After his arrival in the United Kingdom in July 1941

  he was enlisted into the completion training at No. 59

  OTU and in September, with the rank of Sgt. attached

  to No. 135 Squadron. In October he was transferred

  to No. 242 Squadron which trained for the overseas

  deployment. Upon arrival in Malta off the HMS Ark

  Royal carrier in November 1941 Sgt. John Livingstone

  Boyd was credited with his early victories (four and

  two shared) flying Hurricanes with No. 242 and 185

  Squadrons. After the No. 185 was re-equipped with

  Spitfires on May 14, 1942, Boyd, flying Spitfire Mk.Vc

  BR349/3-C, scored his only confirmed kill in this type

  of aircraft shooting down Bf 109F piloted by Lt. Alfred

  Hammer from 4./JG 53. Several hours later, flying the

  very same aircraft, Boyd was killed in the dogfight

  with C.202 and Re.2001. BR349 camouflage was one

  of the typical schemes sported by the aircraft par

  -

  ticipating in the operation Bowery flown off the USS

  Wasp air carrier on May 14, 1942 - the upper surfaces

  in the Navy colors of Dark Slate Grey/Extra Dark Sea

  Grey and lower surfaces in Sky.

  Don "Shorty" Reid was born in Lacombe, Alberta on

  June 6, 1922 as a twin in the family with eight chil

  -

  dren. In October 1940 he enlisted in RCAF and in July

  1941 he finished his pilot training. Upon arrival in the

  United Kingdom at the end of August he served in

  quick succession with several units, No. 152, No. 412,

  No. 616 and No. 19 Squadrons. He remained at the last

  unit until the end of April 1942. On May 9, 1942 he was

  dispatched to Malta to take part in the operation Bo

  -

  wery. During the summer weeks he flew combat mi-

  ssions with No. 185 Squadron defending this small but

  importantly located island. On June 22 while circling

  above the sea where the Spitfire from his unit was

  shot down he was jumped by several Bf 109. During

  the dogfight he shot down one of the opponents but

  was overwhelmed by I./JG 77 aircraft, shot down and

  his Spitfire crashed into the sea. During seven weeks

  of fighting for Malta "Shorty" Reid scored 6+1 kills,

  3 probables and 4+1 damaged enemy airplanes.

  BR294 camouflage was one of the typical schemes

  sported by the aircraft participating in the operation

  Bowery flown off the USS Wasp air carrier. The upper

  surfaces in the original desert scheme of Dark Earth/

  Middle Stone were on board of USS Wasp overpainted

  in US Navy Non-specular Blue Gray, the lower sur

  -

  faces remained in Sky color.

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard

  59

  June 2022

• Page 60

  MA654, F/Lt Kevin F. Gannon, No. 615 Squadron,

  Palel, India, July 1944

  BS295 (A58-20), W/Cdr Clive R. Caldwell,

  No. 1 Wing RAAF, Strauss Airstrip,

  Australia, March-June 1943

  A58-145 (EE852), F/Lt Llewellyn Wettenhall,

  No. 79 Squadron RAAF, Kiriwina,

  Trobriand Islands, December 1943

  Kevin Francis Gannon was born on February 10, 1920

  in Mareeba, Queensland. Before the war he served in

  police as a cadet. On October 11, 1940 he enlisted in

  the RAAF and after he finished his training he was

  dispatched to No. 615 Squadron in Burma. From No

  -

  vember 1943 till June 1944 he scored two confirmed

  kills of the Japanese aircraft, one probable and three

  damaged. He achieved his last success flying Spit

  -

  fire MA654 destroying Ki-43 Oscar fighter. Spitfires

  supplied to India sported Day Fighter Scheme ca

  -

  mouflage. Upon their arrival in India the Ocean Grey

  pattern was oversprayed in Earth Brown.

  Clive "Killer" Caldwell was the most successful Aus

  -

  tralian pilot of WWII (28.5 kills). After his promotion

  to command No. 1 Fighter Wing based in Darwin he

  followed the RAF custom of the personal aircraft

  identification. He flew three Spitfires Mk.Vc (BS295,

  BS234 and JL394). Most of his seven victories over

  Japanese aircraft were scored in BS295. The aircraft

  carried the camouflage of Foliage Green/Dark Earth/

  Azure Blue and the code letters were replaced with

  pilot's name initials CR

  -

  C. Wing Commander flag was

  painted under the canopy.

  Spitfire flown by F/Lt Llewellyn Wettenhall within

  No. 79 Squadron RAAF in the fall of 1943 carried the

  name "Nipponese" and girl's nose art on the port side.

  On December 31, 1943 the pilot's fate was sealed in

  this aircraft when it was lost crossing the south co

  -

  ast of New Britain during the scouting mission of six

  Spitfires near this island. After crossing the coast

  the formation entered the dense clouds and the unit

  lost contact with its leader. F/Lt Wettenhall has never

  been seen again.

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard60

  June 2022

• Page 61

  OVERTREES

  OVERLEPT

  #82158X Spitfire Mk.Vc/Vc Trop

  OVERTREES 1/48

  #11162-LEPT

  SPITFIRE STORY:

  Per Aspera ad Astra 1/48

  Product page

  Product page

  RECOMMENDED:

  FOR SPITFIRE MK.VC/VC TROP 1/48

  481065 Spitfire Mk.V landing flaps (PE

  -

  Set)

  FE1207 Spitfire Mk.V seatbelts STEEL (PE

  -

  Set)

  644113 Spitfire Mk.V LööK (Brassin)

  648098 Spitfire wheels - 5 spoke (Brassin)

  648119 Spitfire wheels - 5 spoke, smooth tire (Brassin)

  648640 Spitfire Mk.V engine (Brassin)

  648663 Spitfire Mk.V cockpit (Brassin)

  648664 Spitfire Mk.V wheels (Brassin)

  648666 Spitfire Mk.Vc gun bays (Brassin)

  648667 Spitfire Mk.V three-stacks exhausts rounded (Brassin)

  648668 Spitfire Mk.V three-stacks exhausts fishtail (Brassin)

  648669 Spitfire Mk.V six-stacks exhausts fishtail (Brassin

  648671 Spitfire Mk.Vc undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)

  648738 Spitfire Mk.V landing flaps PRINT (Brassin)

  D48088 Spitfire Mk.V stencils (Decal)

  Cat. No. 644113

  Cat. No. 648738

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard

  61

  June 2022

• Page 62

  Spitfire Mk.VIII 1/72

  Weekend edition kit of British WWII fighter

  aircraft Spitfre Mk.VIII in 1/72 scale.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  No. of decal options: 4

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: no

  painting mask: no

  resin parts: no

  Product page

  #7462

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard62

  June 2022

• Page 63

  MT648, S/Ldr John E. Gasson, CO of No. 92 Squadron, Bellaria, Italy, April-May 1945

  1Lt. Leland P. Molland, 308th FS, 31st FG, Castel Volturno,

  Italy, December 1943 - February 1944

  A58-606, S/Ldr Bruce Watson, CO of No. 457 squadron,

  Labuan, Borneo, August 1945

  Spitfire in this profile was flown by No. 92 Squad-

  ron commander John Edward Gasson for the last

  two months of the conflict. During his whole combat

  career, spent exclusively with this unit, Gasson shot

  down three enemy airplanes, two in cooperation, one

  probably and damaged seven of them. During the last

  months of the war No. 92 Squadron Spitfires carried

  the squadron code letters in Light Mediterranean

  Blue color trimmed in white, individual code letters

  were white. The tip of the vertical tail surface was

  also painted white.

  Leland Phillips "Tommy" Molland was born on May 7,

  1919, in Chaffie, North Dakota. He completed his pi

  -

  lot training at Moore Field in Texas. On July 5, 1943,

  he joined 31st FG. On January 16, 1944, he scored his

  first victory when he managed to shoot down a Bf

  109 in cooperation. Other victories followed rapidly.

  On February 22, 1944, having shot down two Bf 109,

  he became a fighter ace and at the same time the

  most successful Spitfire Mk.VIII pilot. After the 31st

  FG was re-equipped with the P-51 Mustang at the end

  of March 1944 he continued flying combat missions

  and shot down another six enemy airplanes. Molland

  remained in the air force service after the war, was

  promoted to Lt. Colonel rank but on May 16, 1951, tra

  -

  gically lost his life in T-33 when he hit the mountain

  on his return from a meteorological reconnaissance

  mission over the enemy territory during the Korean

  War.

  When this aircraft was flown to the Philippines at the

  end of March 1945, (for trials against captured Japa

  -

  nese aircraft), it had the shark mouth removed as well

  as the “Grey Nurse” name on the fuel tank cover. It also

  acquired a 12” Sky Blue band around the rear fuselage.

  The Sky Blue band was painted over the RAAF serial.

  When it returned to No. 457 Squadron at Morotai at the

  end of April, the shark mouth was painted on again,

  but it appears that the “Grey Nurse” name was not. This

  aircraft has been fitted with a new lower cowl. It can

  be seen that the shark mouth on the engine side cowls

  is different to that on the lower cowl. The serial on the

  starboard side was re-painted, in Black, over the Sky

  Blue band, but the Medium Sea Grey serial in the port

  side was not. At this time, shortly before it deployed

  to Labuan in June 1945, many aircraft were also fitted

  with new rudders, as the fabric deteriorated badly in

  the hot and humid conditions. The ‘Ace of Spades’, wing

  emblem, was not re-applied to these aircraft and was

  over painted on those that did not receive new rudders.

  The inner cannon barrel fairings were Foliage Green.

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard

  63

  June 2022

• Page 64

  A58-379, F/Lt Ernest D. Glaser, No. 549 Squadron,

  Strauss Airstrip, Australia, September 1944

  Son of a former RFC pilot, Ernest Derek Glaser was

  born on April 20, 1921. After meeting the test pilot

  Jeffrey Quill Glasser junior wanted to become a pi

  -

  lot as well. In June 1939 he joined RAF and after he

  finished his pilot training on July 13, 1940, he was

  assigned to No. 65 Squadron in Hornchurch. He took

  part in the Battle of Britain during which he scored

  three probable kills. In August 1941 he was attached

  to No. 234 Squadron in Warmwell and participated in

  the sweeps over France during which he shot down

  two enemy aircraft in cooperation. In 1943 Glaser

  was dispatched to Australia to lead "B" Flight of the

  No. 549 Squadron where he flew Spitfires in defense

  of Darwin. In February 1943 Glasser assumed com

  -

  mand of the No. 548 Squadron and held this post

  until the unit was disbanded on October 9, 1945. Then

  he returned to Great Britain. In 1946 he joined No. 64

  Squadron in Linton-on-Ouse as a flight leader. On

  June 26, 1953, he resigned from RAF and joined Vicker

  Armstrong in Hurn where he later became the chief

  test pilot. He participated in the intense and exhaus

  -

  ting manufacturer's tests of the Valiant bomber. He

  also test flew BAC 1-11 one of the best-selling British

  airliners. Spitfire flown by Glasser in 1944 had the

  camouflage stripped and the fabric covered surfaces

  were painted in aluminum dope. Glasser's ground

  crew maintained the surfaces highly polished. The

  cannon covers may have lacked the paint as well.

  Recommended:

  for Spitfire Mk.VIII 1/72

  72645 Spitfire Mk.VIII (PE

  -

  Set)

  72646 Spitfire Mk.VIII landing flaps (PE

  -

  Set)

  672110 Spitfire exhaust stacks - fishtail (Brassin)

  672111 Spitfire exhaust stacks - rounded (Brassin)

  672155 Spitfire Mk.VIII top cowl (Brassin)

  672156 Spitfire Mk.VIII cockpit (Brassin)

  SIN67214 Spitfire Mk.VIII (Brassin)

  D72010 Spitfire - British WWII roundels late (Decal)

  D72013 Spitfire Mk.VIII stencils (Decal)

  CX478 Spitfire Mk.VIII (Mask)

  Cat. No. 672156

  Cat. No. 672155

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard64

  June 2022

• Page 65

  www.eduard.com/bfc

  BUNNY BUNNY FIGHTERFIGHTER

  CLUB

  Eduard's special membership club for all modeling enthusiasts!

  15% Permanent Club discount at Eduard Store – you will receive permanent 15% discount on all Eduard

  products 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 sold

  products, specially made for BFC members.

  Even better prices at Eduard events stand – do you know that Eduard usually has huge discounts on

  their products at fairs and events all over the world? BFC members will have even higher discount at

  these 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 available

  to 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 Championship

  BOX CONTENT:

  Plastic parts, Marking options 6, Decal Set, PE parts, Maska, Brassin

  parts (two different types of wheels, landing flaps, dust filter with

  eyelid, intake ring and RP-3 60lb rockets), 3D decals for main and si

  -

  dewalk instrument and control panels with photo-etched details and

  seat belts.

  BOX CONTENT:

  Plastic parts, Marking options 4, Decal Set, PE parts, Maska, Brassin

  parts (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 Eduard

  product in your shopping cart. To apply this discount, the Activation product has to be in your shopping

  cart. Activation product is excluded from this calculation.

  Activation products:Activation products:

  Tempest Mk. V + T-shirt 1/48MiG-21MF + T-shirt 1/72

• Page 66

  #8227

  Bf 108

  1/32

  ProfiPACK edition kit of German WWII

  liasion aircraft Bf 108 in 1/32 scale.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  marking options: 5

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: yes, pre-painted

  painting mask: yes

  resin parts: wooden propeller

  Product page

  Re-release

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard66

  June 2022

• Page 67

  Sonderkommando Blaich, Tripoli, Libya, January 1942

  Hungary, 1942–1944

  Stab I./JG51, Soviet Union, Winter 1942 - 1943

  Sonderkommando Blaich, named after its Comman-

  der Hptm. Theo Blaich, utilised the He 111 in Libya du-

  ring 1942. This liaison aircraft was part of their fleet

  as well. Taifun KG+EM was modified for service in

  a tropical climate and also received a desert ca-

  mouflage scheme comprising of sand color with

  green spots on the upper surfaces. The most interes

  -

  ting mission flown by this unit was successful bom-

  bing raid on an Allied fuel storage facility on January

  22, 1942. This Taifun played minor role in the mission

  as well.

  This aircraft carried a very unusual camouflage

  scheme, made up of RLM 74, 75 and 76 shades, re

  -

  served for fighters. This aircraft probably served in

  Hungary on the Eastern front. The code letters ZS

  were either oversprayed or scraped off.

  This camouflage scheme of Bf 108 consisted of RLM

  70 and 71 on upper surfaces and RLM 65 on bottom

  of the aircraft. The upper surfaces were overpainted

  with white splotches, and white color was sprayed

  over the outer sections of the national insignia.

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard

  67

  June 2022

• Page 68

  4.(H)/Aufkl. Gr. 13, Romania, April 1940

  I./JG 54, France, June/July 1940

  A liaison plane belonging to 4.(H)/Aufkl. Gr. 13 is

  shown as it looked when based on one of the Luft

  -

  waffe’s airfields in Romania in the fall of 1940. The

  plane carried fresh theatre markings designated for

  the Balkan campaign – a yellow nose and tail control

  surfaces. The camouflage was standard one consis

  -

  ting of fields of RLM 70/71 on the upper surfaces and

  RLM 65 on the undersides. The 4.(H)/Aufkl. Gr. 13 mar

  -

  king was painted on the nose of the plane, which also

  sported somewhat non-standard shape of the letters

  in the codes.

  This Taifun, flown by I. Gruppe JG 54 during summer

  of 1940 from occupied France, was sprayed RLM 02 on

  all surfaces. The unit marking was carried under the

  windscreen and was a derivative of the Nuremburg

  Coat of Arms, as the fighter Gruppe was based near

  to the city before the war.

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard68

  June 2022

• Page 69

  OVERTREES

  OVERLEPT

  #3006X Bf 108 1/32

  #3006-LEPT

  Bf 108 LEPT 1/32

  Product page

  Product page

  Recommended:

  for Bf 108 1/32

  32452 Bf 108 Taifun (PE

  -

  Set)

  32971 Bf 108 Weekend (PE

  -

  Set)

  33260 Bf 108 seatbelts STEEL (PE

  -

  Set)

  634017 Bf 108 LööK (Brassin)

  632150 Bf 108 wheels (Brassin)

  632155 Bf 108 wheels spoked (Brassin)

  632157 Bf 108 oil cooler (Brassin)

  D32001 Bf 108 national insignia (Decal)

  D32002 Bf 108 Taifun (Decal)

  JX253 Bf 108 TFace (Mask)

  Cat. No. 634017

  Kat. č. 632155

  Cat. No. 632150

  Kat. č. 632157

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard

  69

  June 2022

• Page 70

  #82101

  P-51D-5 Mustang

  1/48

  ProfiPACK edition kit of US WWII fighter aircraft P-51D-5 in 1/48 scale.

  The kit is focused on aircraft without the dorsal fin assembly.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  marking options: 6

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: yes, pre-painted

  painting mask: yes

  resin parts: no

  Product page

  Re-release

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard70

  June 2022

• Page 71

  s/n 44-13318, Lt.Col. Thomas L. Hayes Jr., CO of 364th FS,

  357th FG, 8th AF, Leiston, United Kingdom, August 1944

  s/n 44-13321, Maj. George Preddy Jr., 487th FS, 352nd FG,

  8th AF, Bodney, United Kingdom, July 1944

  s/n 44-13321, Maj. George Preddy, 487th FS, 352nd FG, 8th AF,

  Bodney, United Kingdom, June 1944

  Thomas L. Hayes was born on March 31, 1917, in Port-

  land, Oregon and after his studies at the Oregon Sta-

  te College he enlisted in the USAAF. After the training

  he was assigned to 35th PG where he was flying P-40

  defending Java against Japanese forces. After being

  wounded in combat with Zeros of 3 Kōkūtai on Fe

  -

  bruary 20, 1942, he was dispatched to New Guinea.

  There, he was assigned to 41st PS flying Airacobras.

  In the fall of 1942, Thomas Hayes was sent back to

  the USA where, in May 1943, he was assigned to 357th

  FG with which he completed the advanced training.

  Already in command of 364th FS, he was sent to Great

  Britain where he flew combat missions until August

  11, 1944, when he was sent back to the United Sta

  -

  tes. During the World War II he was credited with 8.5

  aerial kills. After the World War II he remained in the

  service with the USAF and retired in February 1970 in

  the rank of Brigadier General. Lt. Col. Hayes’ aircraft

  carried inscription Frenesi on the nose port side after

  the then popular song Free ’n Easy. Number of missi

  -

  ons was depicted in form of 85 little bombs painted

  above the exhaust stacks. It remains unclear which

  camouflage paint were used on the 357th FG aircraft.

  Some veterans speak of the British colors Dark Green

  and Medium Sea Gray, surviving color photographs

  indicate American Olive Drab and Neutral Grey colors

  theory. Noses of the 357th FG aircraft were decora

  -

  ted with yellow-red checkerboard, propeller spinner

  was painted in the same colors.

  In the photography taken at the end of July, there are

  already 23 kill marks painted on Preddy’s aircraft

  nose. The plane was already missing invasion iden

  -

  tifying stripes on the upper side of the wing, they re-

  mained on the bottom of the wing and fuselage. While

  removing these, the European theater markings of

  15-inch wide stripes on the upper side of the wing

  and horizontal tail surfaces, as well as 12 inch stri

  -

  pe on the vertical tail surface were deleted as well.

  The pilot’s name tag was added to the canopy frame.

  In August 1944, Maj. Preddy was sent back to United

  States for a rest. After his return in October the same

  year he took command of 328th FS, part of 352nd FG.

  On December 25, in vee hours when chasing Fw 190

  over the front line was Preddy’s Mustang hit by the

  American anti-aircraft fire. He attempted the emer

  -

  gency landing nearby the anti-aircraft battery but he

  was fatally wounded and crashed in its vicinity.

  The future fighter ace with the highest score among

  all the pilots achieved on Mustang was born on Fe

  -

  bruary 5, 1919, in Greensboro, North Carolina. He had

  completed the pilot training before the War and tried

  three times to enlist in the US Navy in 1940. But he

  was refused every time. Fourth time he tried to enlist

  in the USAAC and was accepted in 1940. He completed

  the fighter training consequently and, assigned to

  49th PS, was dispatched to Australia. Flying P-40E

  in the defense of Darwin he was credited with two

  Japanese airplanes damaged. In July 1942, after

  the mid-air collision during the training flight, he

  was wounded and sent back to the United States.

  As of September 1943, his next combat assignment

  awaited him in Europe with 352nd FG, where he was

  flying P-47 Thunderbolts providing cover for heavy

  bombers of the 8th AF. In April, the unit converted to

  P-51 Mustangs. In June, the war photographer sna

  -

  pped Maj. Preddy’s aircraft sporting seventeen kills

  painted on the aircraft nose in the form of the whi

  -

  te crosses. The aircraft lacked any camouflage and

  sported the blue-painted nose, same as other 352nd

  FG aircraft. The fuselage and wings were still carry

  -

  ing so-called invasion stripes.

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard

  71

  June 2022

• Page 72

  s/n 44-13321, Capt. John M. Simmons Jr., 317th FS, 325th FG,

  15th AF, Lesina, Italy, August 1944

  s/n 44-13606, Capt. Claude J. Crenshaw, 369th FS, 359th FG, 8th AF,

  East Wretham, United Kingdom, September 1944

  s/n 44-13859, Lt. Walter Mullins, 55th FS, 20th FG, 8th AF, Kings Cliffe,

  United Kingdom, September 1944

  John Mack Simmons, native of Gadsden in Alabama,

  joined army reserves in June 1942 and in January

  1943 started his pilot’s training. After the graduation

  he was dispatched to 317th FS in the Italian theater.

  From the second half of April, he flew P-47s with this

  unit, in May, the whole 325th FG was re-equipped with

  superior Mustangs. While flying combats during the

  World War II, John Simmons shot down seven enemy

  aircraft and after it he remained in the USAF service.

  On January 18, 1961, he perished in the T-33 crash

  during the final approach. Since their African assig

  -

  nment the 325th FG aircraft were marked with ye-

  llow-black checkerboard painted on the tail surfaces

  to distinguish them from the bombers they covered

  and which gave them the nickname “Checkertails”.

  The checkers’ dimensions were 10 by 10 inches. The

  plane marked with number 27 carried the inscription

  “Devastating Dottie” on the port side of the nose, the

  starboard side sported the name “Lady Janie VII” as

  all the aircraft of crew chief Ebert.

  Twenty-four years old native of Monroe in Louisia

  -

  na, Claude James Crenshaw, joined the ranks of the

  Army Air Corps in December 1942. After his training

  he was assigned to 359th FG based on East Wretham

  in Great Britain. He completed nine-months long tour

  of duty there, during which he shot down seven ene

  -

  mies. After that, he was ordered back to the United

  States where he was flying as instructor. He also flew

  combat in Korea and Vietnam retiring in 1965 with the

  rank of Lieutenant Colonel. The aircraft flew in its

  original factory finish. The green-painted nose was

  359th FG marking the plane’s so-called invasion stri

  -

  pes on the fuselage and wings were already removed

  as well as the black stripe painted on the vertical tail

  surface and the rudder.

  Besides decorating the aircraft with girlfriend’s,

  children’s or wife’s names, drawings of the sparsely

  clad ladies decorated some aircraft noses as well.

  Its artistic appearance depended on the ground per

  -

  sonnel skills, if any could be found at the unit level.

  One of the Mustangs that sported the “pin up girl”

  artwork was the aircraft belonging to 55th FS flown

  by Lt. Mullins. Factory finish was supplemented with

  the olive color coat on the fuselage and wings upper

  surfaces. 55th FS affiliation is further confirmed by

  the fuselage code KI as well as the black triangle on

  the vertical tail surface and the rudder carrying the

  plane’s individual letter in white color.

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard72

  June 2022

• Page 73

  OVERTREES

  OVERLEPT

  #82101X P-51D-5 Mustang 1/48

  #82101-LEPT

  P-51D-5 Mustang 1/48

  Product page

  Product page

  Recommended:

  for P-51D-5 Mustang 1/48

  644021 P-51D-5 LööK (Brassin)

  644051 P-51D-5 LööKplus (Brassin)

  648485 P-51D exhaust stacks (Brassin)

  648486 P-51D exhaust stacks w/ fairing (Brassin)

  648487 P-51D Hamilton Standard propeller (Brassin)

  648489 P-51D-5 cockpit (Brassin)

  648494 P-51D wheels diamond tread (Brassin)

  648495 P-51D undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)

  648503 P-51D wheels oval tread (Brassin)

  648504 P-51D wheels cross tread (Brassin)

  648505 P-51D wheels block tread (Brassin)

  648511 P-51D wheels diamond tread 2 (Brassin)

  648512 P-51D wheels rhomboid treat (Brassin)

  648513 P-51D wheels pointed cross tread (Brassin)

  648514 P-51D wheels grooved (Brassin)

  648517 P-51D gun bays (Brassin)

  648522 P-51D cockpit (Brassin)

  648555 P-51D engine (Brassin)

  648570 P-51D gun sights (Brassin)

  648571 P-51D 75gal drop tanks (Brassin)

  648572 P-51D 108gal drop tanks (Brassin)

  SIN64864 P-51D-5 ESSENTIAL (Brassin)

  SIN64869 P-51D ADVANCED (Brassin)

  3DL48002 P-51D-5 SPACE (3D Decal Set)

  D48033 P-51D national insignia (Decal Set)

  D48034 P-51D stencils (Decal Set)

  D48077 P-51D-5 “357th FG“ (Decal Set)

  D48080 P-51D-5 "15th AF" (Decal Set)

  D48085 P-51D-5 "8th AF" (Decal Set)

  EX663 P-51D TFace (Mask)

  Cat. No. 644021 Cat. No. 648555

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard

  73

  June 2022

• Page 74

  #82145

  Fw 190A-8/R2

  1/48

  ProfiPACK edition kit of German WWII fighter aircraft Focke-Wulf

  Fw 190A-8/R2 in 1/48 scale.

  plastic parts: Eduard

  marking options: 5

  decals: Eduard

  PE parts: yes, pre-painted

  painting mask: yes

  resin parts: no

  Product page

  Re-release

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard74

  June 2022

• Page 75

  WNr. 680747, Oblt. Hans Weik, CO of 10.(Sturm)/JG 3,

  Memmingen, Germany, June 1944

  Hptm. Gerhard Schröder, CO of II.(Sturm)/JG 4, Welzow,

  Germany, September 1944

  Lt. Karl Spenst, 8./JG 300, Löbnitz, Germany, January 1945

  Hans Weik was born on July 6, 1922, in Heilbronn and

  joined the Luftwaffe in October 1941. After comple

  -

  ting training, he was assigned to JG 3 on February

  21, 1943, and sent to the Eastern front where he

  would shoot down ten Soviet aircraft. From May to

  November he served as an instructor at 4./JGr Ost

  and there he gained his first kill of a B-17 bomber.

  He was subsequently transferred to 9./ JG 3 and on

  February 10, 1944, he was promoted to Commanding

  Officer position of 10. Staffel JG 3, where he achie

  -

  ved 23 kills. Twenty of them were four-engined hea-

  vy bombers. He was awarded the Knight's Cross for

  his achievements on July 27, 1944. In April 1945 he

  was assigned to III./EJG 2, where he was retrained

  for Me 262. After the war, Hans Weik studied archi

  -

  tecture and was responsible for the design of many

  structures. In his retirement years he dedicated his

  time to ship modelling and died on June 5, 2001 in

  Heidenheim an der Brenz. The aircraft flown by Weik

  carried the markings that were worn by IV. Gruppe

  JG 3, i.e., a black engine cowl and a stylized Adler

  -

  flügel on the sides of the fuselage. The rear fuselage

  sports a white fuselage band that was common to JG

  3 aircraft within the structure of the Defence of the

  Reich units. On these aircraft, the wave sign denoted

  the IV. Gruppe. The rudder carries victory markings

  up to June 1944.

  The death of Obstlt. Hans-Günther von Kornatzki

  allowed 8. Staffel CO Hptm. Gerhard Schröder to take

  command of II./JG 4 on September 12, 1944. Kornatzki

  died in a failed emergency landing attempt that en

  -

  ded in high voltage transmission lines. Schröder was

  thirty-two years old at the time and remained Gruppe

  commander until the beginning of March 1945, when

  he was replaced by the cured Maj. Wilhelm Moritz.

  He held the post until the end of the World War II.

  Historians generally assert that the reason for the

  change of the II. Gruppe command was the poor

  showing of the unit during Operation Bodenplatte.

  The aircraft was camouflaged in the standard colors

  of RLM 74/75/76 and carried the JG 4 emblem on the

  nose and JG 4’s Defense of the Reich identifier in the

  form of black-white-black fuselage bands ahead of

  the tail surfaces.

  This is a reconstruction of Fw 190A-8/R2 "Black 10"

  flown by CO of 8./JG 300, Lt. Karl Spenst in January

  1945. This aircraft was photographed on November

  27, 1944, at Löbnitz while still carrying the brick red

  fuselage band. The identifier for JG 300 was chan

  -

  ged to blue-white-blue bands in January 1945. The

  drawing pictures the aircraft in this state. The em

  -

  blem of the Berlin Bear on the left side is a personal

  marking of the pilot. Karl Spenst achieved at least

  one kill.

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard

  75

  June 2022

• Page 76

  Fw. Adalbert Koch, 6./JG 300, Löbnitz, Germany, fall 1944

  WNr. 682989, 5./JG 301, Germany, May 1945

  JG 300 was initially tasked with nighttime intercep-

  tion of Allied bombers headed to targets in occupied

  Europe as was the case with her sister unit JG 301

  as well. However, at the beginning of 1944, atten

  -

  tion shifted to daylight operations. The II. Gruppe

  of the unit was formed in July 1943 and equipped

  with heavily armed and armored Fw 190A-8/R2s or

  R8s in the summer of 1944. It was also designated

  as a Sturmgruppe. One of the unit’s pilots was Fw.

  Adalbert Koch, who in the fall of 1944 flew an aircraft

  with the “yellow 15” code. The armor plating on the

  sides of the fuselage carried the inscription “Titi Wau

  Wau”. The Defense of the Reich marking for JG 300

  consisted of a red fuselage band. By this time, very

  few of these aircraft retained their armored glass on

  the sliding portion of the canopy. The pilots generally

  had these removed because of condensation, which

  formed between the glass surfaces at high altitude,

  compromising visibility of the pilot.

  The order for the formation of Jagdgeschwader 301

  was issued on September 26, 1943, and the unit was

  to be equipped with single-engined fighters tasked

  with night fighting duties. In March 1944, this role

  was changed to day-fighting within the framework

  of the Defense of the Reich. The unit was initially

  equipped with Bf 109G-6 fighters, but over time, re

  -

  -equipped with the Fw 190A-8s and A-9s, followed

  by Fw 190D-9s. JG 301 went on to become the first

  unit to be given the Ta 152s at the beginning of March

  1945. This Sturmbock was found by Allied troops in

  May 1945. The yellow-red fuselage band identified JG

  301 aircraft within the Defense of the Reich network.

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard76

  June 2022

• Page 77

  OVERTREES

  OVERLEPT

  #82145X Fw 190A-8/R2 1/48

  #82145-LEPT

  Fw 190A-8/R2 1/48

  Product page

  Product page

  Recommended:

  for Fw 190A-8/R2 1/48

  48973 Fw 190A-8/R2 (PE

  -

  Set)

  48974 Fw 190A-8/R2 landing flaps (PE

  -

  Set)

  FE863 Fw 190A seatbelts STEEL (PE

  -

  Set)

  644005 Fw 190A-8/R2 LööK (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)

  648426 Fw 190A-8/R2 cockpit (Brassin)

  648437 Fw 190A-8/R2 undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)

  648440 Fw 190A-8/R2 engine & fuselage guns (Brassin)

  648482 Fw 190A-8/R2 engine (Brassin)

  SIN64852 Fw 190A-8/R2 ESSENTIAL (Brassin)

  SIN64860 Fw 190A-8/R2 ADVANCED (Brassin)

  D48036 Fw 190A-8/R2 national insignia (Decal Set)

  EX587 Fw 190A TFace (Mask)

  Cat. No. 644005

  Cat. No. 648426

  Cat. No. 648437

  Cat. No. 648482

  KITS 06/2022

  INFO Eduard

  77

  June 2022

• Page 78

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for Hawk 81-A2

  in 1/32 scale. The set consists of the main wheels

  and a tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic

  parts. Recommended kit: Great Wall Hobby

  Set contains:

  - resin: 5 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard

  and STEEL seatbelts for F-104A in 1/48 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Kinetic

  Set contains:

  - resin: 1 part

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details:

  yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  634027

  Hawk 81-A2 LööK

  1/48 Great Wall Hobby

  644157

  F-104A LööK

  1/48 Kinetic

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard78

  June 2022

• Page 79

  LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard

  and STEEL seatbelts for F-104C in 1/48 scale.

  Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Recommended kit: Kinetic

  Set contains:

  - resin: 1 part

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details:

  yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  Collection of 3 sets for Vampire F.3 in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Airfix

  - LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboard & Steelbelts)

  - TFace painting mask

  - undercarriage wheels

  644158

  F-104C LööK

  1/48 ICM

  644159

  Vampire F.3 LööKplus

  1/48 Airfix

  Product page

  Product page

  BRASSIN 02/2022

  BRASSIN

  INFO Eduard

  79

  June 2022

• Page 80

  BRASSIN

  Collection of 3 sets for SR-71A in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Revell

  - LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)

  - TFace painting mask

  - undercarriage wheels

  Brassin set - the upper wing mounted guns

  for Sopwith Camel Comic in 1/48 scale.

  The set consists of the main two guns

  and Foster mounting. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 15 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  644160

  SR-71A LööKplus

  1/48 Revell

  648726

  Sopwith Camel Comic Lewis guns PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard80

  June 2022

• Page 81

  BRASSIN 02/2022

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for F-15C/D/J/N

  in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels

  and a nose wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic

  parts. Recommended kit: GWH

  Set contains:

  - resin: 3 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  Brassin set - the MICA RF missiles in 1/48 scale.

  The set consists of 8 missiles. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Compatible with Rafale, Mirage F.1, Mirage 2000,

  Su-30MKI.

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 24 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  648744

  F-15C/D/J/N wheels

  1/48 Great Wall Hobby

  648749

  MICA RF PRINT

  1/48

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  81

  June 2022

• Page 82

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - the MICA IR missiles in 1/48 scale.

  The set consists of 8 missiles. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Compatible with Rafale, Mirage F.1, Mirage 2000,

  Su-30MKI.

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 24 parts

  - resin: 8 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  648750

  MICA IR PRINT

  1/48

  648752

  Z-126/226 landing gear skis PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  Product page

  Brassin set - the landing gear skis for Z-126/226

  in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 4 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  INFO Eduard82

  June 2022

• Page 83

  BRASSIN 02/2022

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - the seat for Vampire F.3 in 1/48 scale.

  Made by direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble, replaces

  plastic parts. Recommended kit: Airfix

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 1 part

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - the undercarriage wheels for Beaufighter

  Mk.VI in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels

  and a tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic

  parts. Recommended kit: Tamiya

  Set contains:

  - resin: 4 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: yes

  648753

  Vampire F.3 seat PRINT

  1/48 Airfix

  648754

  Beaufighter Mk.VI wheels

  1/48 Tamiya

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  83

  June 2022

• Page 84

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - the landing flaps for Fw 190D

  in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 6 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - ejection seats for SR-71A in 1/48 scale.

  Made by direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble,

  replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: Revell

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 2 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes, pre-apinted

  - painting mask: no

  648757

  Fw 190D landing flaps wooden PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  648758

  SR-71A ejection seats PRINT

  1/48 Revell

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard84

  June 2022

• Page 85

  BRASSIN 02/2022

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - the landing flaps for Spitfire Mk.VIII

  in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 6 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: yes

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - M2 Browning watercooled AA guns

  in 1/350 scale. The set consists of 12 guns.

  Made by direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble,

  replaces plastic parts.

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 12 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  648759

  Spitfire Mk.VIII landing flaps PRINT

  1/48 Eduard

  653002

  M2 Browning water cooled PRINT

  1/350

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  85

  June 2022

• Page 86

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - USN 24´ searchlights in 1/350 scale.

  The set consists of 10 searchlights. Made by direct 3D

  printing. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 10 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details: no

  - painting mask: no

  Brassin set - the cockpit for S-199 in 1/72 scale.

  Designed for a/c with Erla canopy. Made by direct

  3D printing. Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 10 parts

  - decals: yes

  - photo-etched details:

  yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: no

  653004

  USN searchlights 24 inch PRINT

  1/350

  672288

  S-199 cockpit Erla canopy PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard86

  June 2022

• Page 87

  BRASSIN 02/2022

  BRASSIN

  Brassin set - the cockpit for S-199 in 1/72 scale.

  Designed for a/c with bubble canopy.

  Made by direct 3D printing.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  Set contains:

  - 3D print: 10 parts

  - decals: no

  - photo-etched details:

  yes, pre-painted

  - painting mask: yes

  672289

  S-199 cockpit bubble canopy PRINT

  1/72 Eduard

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  87

  June 2022

• Page 88

  BRASSIN

  Collection of 4 sets for Z-126 Trener in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Eduard

  - cockpit

  - undercarriage wheels

  - engine

  - photo-etched landing flaps

  All sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,

  but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.

  SIN64884

  Z-126 Trener

  1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  INFO Eduard88

  June 2022

• Page 89

  BRASSIN 02/2022

  BRASSIN

  Collection of 4 sets for F-14A late in 1/48 scale.

  Recommended kit: Tamiya

  - cockpit

  - undecarriage wheels

  - photo-etched pre-painted Remove Before Flight tags STEEL

  - exhaust nozzles

  All sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,

  but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.

  SIN64885

  F-14A late

  1/48 Tamiya

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  89

  June 2022

• Page 90

  3DL32007 Bf 108 SPACE 1/32 Eduard

  3DL48065

  Il-2 mod. 1943 SPACE 1/48 Zvezda

  Product page

  Product page

  Easy

  appliacation

  3DL32007 Bf 108 SPACE 1/32

  3DL48065 Il-2 mod. 1943 SPACE 1/48

  3DL48066 OH-13 SPACE 1/48

  3DL48067 AH-1G SPACE 1/48

  3DL48068 F6F-3 SPACE 1/48

  3DL48069 F6F-5 SPACE 1/48

  3DL48070 Su-25 SPACE 1/48

  3DL53008

  IJN watertight doors WWII SPACE 1/350

  3DL53009 German watertight doors WWII SPACE 1/350

  INFO Eduard90

  June 2022

• Page 91

  3DL48066 OH-13 SPACE 1/48 Italeri

  3DL48067

  AH-1G SPACE 1/48 Special Hobby

  3DL48068

  F6F-3 SPACE 1/48 Eduard

  Product page

  Product page

  Product page

  SPACE

  INFO Eduard

  91

  June 2022

• Page 92

  3DL48069 F6F-5 SPACE 1/48 Eduard

  3DL48070

  Su-25 SPACE 1/48 Zvezda

  Product page

  Product page

  SPACE

  INFO Eduard92

  June 2022

• Page 93

  SPACE

  3DL53008 IJN watertight door WWII SPACE 1/350

  3DL53009

  German watertight doors WWII SPACE 1/350

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  93

  June 2022

• Page 94

  StuG III Ausf. G

  1/35 MINIART

  36480

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  JUNE 2022

  INFO Eduard94

  June 2022

• Page 95

  36481

  KV-2

  1/35 Tamiya

  BRASSIN 02/2022BRASSIN 02/2022

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  INFO Eduard

  95

  June 2022

• Page 96

  T-15 Armata w/ 57mm cannon

  1/35 ZVEZDA

  36482

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  INFO Eduard96

  June 2022

• Page 97

  491275

  FE1275 OH-13 1/48

  FE1276 OH-13 seatbelts STEEL 1/48

  OH-13

  1/48 Italeri

  FE1275

  FE1276

  BRASSIN 02/2022BRASSIN 02/2022

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  INFO Eduard

  97

  June 2022

• Page 98

  Su-25

  1/48 Zvezda

  491277

  FE1277 Su-25 1/48

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  INFO Eduard98

  June 2022

• Page 99

  FE1278 Su-25

  seatbelts 1/48

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  INFO Eduard

  99

  June 2022

• Page 100

  D3A1 Val

  1/48 Hasegawa

  491281

  FE1281

  D3A1 Val 1/48

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  INFO Eduard100

  June 2022

• Page 101

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  491279

  AH-1G

  1/48 Special Hobby

  INFO Eduard

  101

  June 2022

• Page 102

  Tirpitz part 1

  1/350 Trumpeter

  53279

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  INFO Eduard102

  June 2022

• Page 103

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  INFO Eduard

  103

  June 2022

• Page 104

  Tirpitz part 2

  1/350 Trumpeter

  53280

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  INFO Eduard104

  June 2022

• Page 105

  PHOTO

  -

  ETCHED

  INFO Eduard

  105

  June 2022

• Page 106

  DECAL SETS

  D72042

  CS-199 Czechoslovak

  national insignia

  1/72 Eduard

  D720403

  CS-199 Czechoslovak

  stencils

  1/72 Eduard

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard106

  June 2022

• Page 107

• Page 108

  BIG ED

  All sets included in this BIG ED are available separately,

  but with every BIG ED set you save up to 30%.

  BIG49326 B-26K Invader 1/48 ICM

  BIG49327

  OV-10D+ 1/48 ICM

  481079 B-26K Invader bomb bay 1/48

  481080 B-26K Invader exterior & undercarriage 1/48

  491262 B-26K Invader 1/48

  FE1263 B-26K Invader seatbelts STEEL 1/48

  EX844 B-26K Invader 1/48

  49103 Remove Before Flight STEEL 1/48

  491264 OV-10D+ 1/48

  FE1265 OV-10D+ seatbelts STEEL 1/48

  EX846 OV-10D+ 1/48

  Product page

  Product page

  BIG49328 Vampire F.3 1/48 Airfix

  491258 Vampire F.3 1/48

  FE1259 Vampire F.3 seatbelts STEEL 1/48

  EX834 Vampire F.3 1/48

  Product page

  INFO Eduard108

  June 2022

• Page 109

  All sets included in this BIG ED are available separately,

  but with every BIG ED set you save up to 30%.

  BRASSIN 02/2022BRASSIN 02/2022

  BIG ED

  BIG49329 SR-71A 1/48 Revell

  BIG49330

  F/A-18F 1/48 Hobby Boss

  481081 SR-71A undercarriage 1/48

  481082 SR-71A engines 1/48

  481083 SR-71A grilles 1/48

  491251 SR-71A interior 1/48

  FE1252 SR-71A seatbelts STEEL 1/48

  EX836 SR-71A 1/48

  49103 Remove Before Flight STEEL 1/48

  491260 F/A-18F 1/48

  FE1261 F/A-18F seatbelts STEEL 1/48

  EX848 F/A-18F 1/48

  Product page

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  109

  June 2022

• Page 110

  MASKS

  IT FITS!

  EX858 Su-25

  1/48 Zvezda

  EX859 Su-25 TFace

  1/48 Zvezda

  EX860 OH-13

  1/48 Italeri

  EX861 OH-13 TFace

  1/48 Italeri

  EX862 AH-1G

  1/48 Special Hobby

  EX863 AH-1G TFace

  1/48 Special Hobby

  EX864 D3A1 Val TFace

  1/48 Hasegawa

  EX865 F6F-3 TFace

  1/48 Eduard

  EX866 F6F-5 TFace

  1/48 Eduard

  EX858

  EX858

  EX859

  Su-25

  Su-25

  Su-25

  Su-25

  Su-25 Su-25

  EX859

  EX859 EX8589

  EX858

  EX859EX859

  EX862

  EX863

  EX863 EX863 EX863

  EX862

  EX863

  EX862

  EX863

  Su-25

  Su-25

  AH-1G

  AH-1G AH-1G

  AH-1G

  AH-1G AH-1G AH-1G

  AH-1G AH-1G

  Su-25

  INFO Eduard110

  June 2022

• Page 111

  EX864

  EX864 EX864

  EX864

  EX866

  EX866 EX866

  EX866 EX866 EX866

  EX866

  EX866 EX866

  EX864

  EX864

  MASKS

  D3A1 Val

  D3A1 Val

  D3A1 Val

  D3A1 Val

  D3A1 Val

  F6F-5

  F6F-5

  F6F-5 F6F-5 F6F-5

  F6F-5

  F6F-5

  F6F-5

  F6F-5

  D3A1 Val

  INFO Eduard

  111

  June 2022

• Page 112

  RELEASES

  JUNE 2022

  KITS

  PE

  -

  SETS

  ZOOMS

  MASKS

  70153 Avia CS-199 1/72 ProfiPack

  82175 Sopwith Camel Comic 1/48 ProfiPack

  11162 SPITFIRE STORY: Per Aspera ad Astra 1/48 Limited DUAL COMBO

  7462 Spitfire Mk.VIII 1/72 Weekend

  3006 Bf 108 Re-release 1/32 ProfiPack

  82101 P-51D-5 Re-release 1/48 ProfiPack

  82145 Fw 190A-8R/2 Re-release 1/48 ProfiPack

  53281 USS Constellation CV-64 part 1 - lifeboats 1/350 Trumpeter

  53282 USS Constellation CV-64 part 2 - aircraft 1/350 Trumpeter

  36480 StuG III Ausf. G 1/35 Miniart

  36481 KV-2 1/35 Tamiya

  36482 T-15 Armata w/ 57mm cannon 1/35 Zvezda

  491275 OH-13 1/48 Italeri

  491277 Su-25 1/48 Zvezda

  491279 AH-1G 1/48 Special Hobby

  491281 D3A1 Val 1/48 Hasegawa

  FE1275 OH-13 1/48 Italeri

  FE1276 OH-13 seatbelts STEEL 1/48 Italeri

  FE1277 Su-25 1/48 Zvezda

  FE1278 Su-25 seatbelts STEEL 1/48 Zvezda

  FE1279 AH-1G 1/48 Special Hobby

  FE1280 AH-1G seatbelts STEEL 1/48 Special Hobby

  FE1281 D3A1 Val 1/48 Hasegawa

  FE1282 D3A1 Val seatbelts STEEL 1/48 Hasegawa

  EX858 Su-25 1/48 Zvezda

  EX859 Su-25 TFace 1/48 Zvezda

  EX860 OH-13 1/48 Italeri

  EX861 OH-13 TFace 1/48 Italeri

  EX862 AH-1G 1/48 Special Hobby

  EX863 AH-1G TFace 1/48 Special Hobby

  EX864 D3A1 Val TFace 1/48 Hasegawa

  EX865 F6F-3 TFace 1/48 Eduard

  EX866 F6F-5 TFace 1/48 Eduard

  DECAL SETS

  D72042 CS-199 Czechoslovak national insignia 1/72 Eduard

  D72043 CS-199 stencils 1/72 Eduard

  INFO Eduard112

  June 2022

• Page 113

  RELEASES

  JUNE 2022

  BIG-EDBIG-ED

  BIG ED

  BRASSIN

  LöökPLUS

  BIG SIN

  SPACE

  BIG49326 B-26K Invader 1/48 ICM

  BIG49327 OV-10D+ 1/48 ICM

  BIG49328 Vampire F.3 1/48 Airfix

  BIG49329 SR-71A 1/48 Revell

  BIG49330 F/A-18F 1/48 Hobby Boss

  634027 Hawk 81-A2 LööK 1/32 Great Wall Hobby

  644157 F-104A LööK 1/48 Kinetic

  644158 F-104C LööK 1/48 Kinetic

  632180 Hawk 81-A2 wheels 1/32 Great Wall Hobby

  648726 Sopwith Camel Comic Lewis guns PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  648744 F-15C/D/J/N wheels 1/48 Great Wall Hobby

  648749 MICA RF PRINT 1/48

  648750 MICA IR PRINT 1/48

  648752 Z-126/226 landing gear skis PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  648753 Vampire F.3 seat PRINT 1/48 Airfix

  648754 Beaufighter Mk.VI wheels 1/48 Tamiya

  648757 Fw 190D landing flaps wooden PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  648758 SR-71A ejection seats PRINT 1/48 Revell

  648759 Spitfire Mk.VIII landing flaps PRINT 1/48 Eduard

  653002 M2 Browning water cooled PRINT 1/350

  653004 USN searchlights 24 inch PRINT 1/350

  672288 S-199 cockpit Erla canopy PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  672289 S-199 cockpit bubble canopy PRINT 1/72 Eduard

  644159 Vampire F.3 LööKplus 1/48 Airfix

  644160 SR-71A LööKplus 1/48 Revell

  SIN64884 Z-126 Trener 1/48 Eduard

  SIN64885 F-14A late 1/48 Tamiya

  3DL32007 Bf 108 SPACE 1/32 Eduard

  3DL48065 Il-2 mod. 1943 SPACE 1/48 Zvezda

  3DL48066 OH-13 SPACE 1/48 Italeri

  3DL48067 AH-1G SPACE 1/48 Special Hobby

  3DL48068 F6F-3 SPACE 1/48 Eduard

  3DL48069 F6F-5 SPACE 1/48 Eduard

  3DL48070 Su-25 SPACE 1/48 Zvezda

  3DL53008 IJN watertight doors WWII 1/350

  3DL53009 German watertight doors WWII 1/350

  INFO Eduard

  113

  June 2022

• Page 114

  BUILT

  1/72

  Cat. No. 70153

  marking A

  built by Patrik Pěcha

  Avia CS-199

  INFO Eduard114

  June 2022

• Page 115

  BUILT

  CS-199.565, trainee Miloš Krč and ppor. Jaroslav Havránek, 4 Air Training Regiment, Prostějov, 1951

  Avia CS-199.565 served in 1951 with the 4 lšp (Air

  Training Regiment) Prostějov. On July 31, 1951, the

  crew made up of trainee Miloš Krč and instruc-

  tor ppor. Jaroslav Havránek were forced into an

  emergency landing at Tovačov due to engine fai-

  lure. The aircraft was subsequently repaired and

  served on as a trainer. At the time of the incident,

  the aircraft carried no yellow bands on the fuse-

  lage or wings. Currently, this aircraft is on display

  at the aviation museum in Kbely, outside of Prague,

  but its appearance at the museum differs from that

  of the original as offered in the kit.

  Product page

  INFO Eduard

  115

  June 2022

• Page 116

  1/72

  Dual Combo

  Cat. No. 2141

  marking H

  built by Jan Novotný

  MEZEK

  BUILT

  INFO Eduard116

  June 2022

• Page 117

  BUILT

  S-199.531 Lt. Václav Dvořák, No. 2 Squadron, Aviation Regiment 3, Brno-Černovice,

  Czechoslovakia, April 5, 1953

  This “Mezek” was test flown on April 19, 1950 and

  was one of the last of this type produced. From

  June 12, 1950 it was assigned to the Air Reserve (LZ

  8) at Zvolen Air Base with assignment to the VLT

  (Air Force Headquarters) in