Info EDUARD
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{"cz":"Info EDUARD"}
{"cz":"Měsíčník o historii a plastikovém modelářství.","en":"Monthly magazine about history and scale plastic modeling."}
07/2022
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INFO Eduard# 149e-magazine FREE Vol 21 July 2022Page 2
INFO Eduard# 149e-magazine FREE Vol 21 July 2022© Eduard - Model Accessories, 2022FREE FOR DOWNLOAD, FREE FOR DISTRIBUTION!This material may only be used for personal use. No part of the textor graphic presentations can be used in another publication in any other mediaform or otherwise distributed without the prior writtenpermission of Eduard - Model Accessories and authors involved.Editorial and Graphics - Marketing department, Eduard - Model Accessories, Ltd.Page 3
eduardeduardJULY 2022CONTENTSEDITORIALKITSBRASSINPHOTO-ETCHED SETSBIG EDBUILTON APROACH–August 2022TAIL END CHARLIEHISTORYBOXART STORYAvia S-199 ProfiPACK 1/72A6M2 Zero Type 11 ProfiPACK 1/48RED TAILS and Co. Limited 1/48Fw 190A-8 standard wings Weekend edition 1/72Z-526AFS Akrobat Weekend edition 1/48Albatros D.V ProfiPACK 1/48Bf 109G-10 Erla ProfiPACK 1/48Avia CS-199 1/72Fw 190F-8 1/48Avia S-99/C-10 1/48AH-1G 1/48RED TAILS & Co.The air war over Ukraine 4th monthBack Into the FireAir combatThe air battle over Pi-shanCatcher 1The South Bohemian DandyThe Albatros with starsThe last kill of Ugo Drago463238668494100108129Published by Eduard-Model Accessories, spol. s.r.o.Mírová 170, Obrnice 435 21support@eduard.com www.eduard.comPage 4
I am not entirely sure whether or not there’sany sense in describing July’s releases today,when they were made available on June 18.This occurred because we wanted them avai-lable at Prosek and the Panthers Cup show,as well as the subsequent Afterparty internetevent. After that, of course, we weren’t goingto pull them off the store. In any case, the in-formation regarding these has been availablefor your viewing pleasure, so these have beendescribed already and time has been allowedto formulate opinions and impressions. So-metimes, these can be quite surprising. Therewas a commentary made regarding the title ofthe Limited Edition kit “Red Tails & Co.”, whichdescribed it as disgraceful with respect to theother Fighter Groups that the kit deals with.I wouldn’t come up with that in my wildestdreams. For me, this item is an extrapolationof the Spitfire Limited Edition “Eagle’s Call”,which also honors several Fighter Groupsand the name of the release specifies but oneof them. In Red Tails, we include four FighterGroups of the 15th Air Force USAAF in Italy fly-ing the P-51D Mustang. These were the 31st,52nd, 325th and 332nd Fighter Groups, whilethe 31st and 52nd were also covered in the su-ccessful Eagle’s Call release. We did it in thisway because we were repeatedly requested torelease a kit named Red Tails, focused on thehistory of the 332nd Fighter Group. Althoughwe get that this is a theme dealing with Af-rican-American personnel, we weren’t certainwhether or not the single theme was too li-mited in scope for a larger release like this.Actually, this would have been an exception toour current rules, because the rule is to avoidtoo specific a theme in our releases. When thethemes, regardless of what they are, becometoo narrow, they increase in the sense of amonotony. This is contrary to our concept ofwhat these releases need to look like. Our aimis to inform and discuss, through the mediumof our kits, a wider theme from history. Thisconcept would not be fulfilled by focusing onone Fighter Group, but, would be satisfied ifwe focus on all Groups operating in one ope-rational sector at one point in history on onespecific type of aircraft. Then, it begins tomake more sense. That this history also inclu-des the history of our own nation is a bonus,naturally. All of the units that are covered bythe kit Red Tails operated over both pre andpostwar Czechoslovakia from the fall of 1944,often over our area of Most, which is very clo-se to a refinery (still in operation today) thatproduced synthetic fuels during the SecondWorld War and became the most targeted lo-cation in the country. It is also noteworthy howoften memoirs of people here included thebelief that most, if not all the American pilotsof Mustangs were African-American. We knownow how it was, but some people kept refusingthat simple explanation the pilot in full gearwith the gas mask and glasses looks from di-stance dark, so it might be confused with dar-ker appearance of the African-Americans justdue to that.The kit includes three marking options fromeach of the Fighter Groups mentioned. Theoriginal intent was that all fighter squadronswould be represented from these FighterGroups, but this didn’t quite work out, because,for one thing, the options include aircraft flownby commanders of three of the four FG, andalso because the 332nd FG had, as opposedto other units, four squadrons instead of thestandard three. But then again, it comes downto what was actually the standard. With the15th AF, this was more or less three FS in eachFG, while in the 8th AF, that standard was fourFS in each Group. Either way, this would throwa monkey wrench into our original concept of4 x 3 marking options for a total of twelve inthe kit. And this brings us onto some thin ice,doesn’t it? One Group would be represented byfour aircraft while the others by three. Wouldit be discriminatory against three Groups inone’s favor? Or does it become discriminationagainst the 332nd FG by way of taking away itsfourth option? I would say we should be prettypleased with the way this all worked out andI wouldn’t stir the pot anymore. Our ultimategoal is to introduce the modeler to anotherpiece of history and to show some respect toall that had a part in said history and fulfilledthe task at hand with honor. I hope that withthat, we have found success in your eyes.MORE KITSIn the ProfiPACK line, we have the A6M2 Mo-del 11 out, the first version of this legend tosee combat. The Zero Model 11 flew operati-onally through 1940-1941 in China. This wasintended to be land based aircraft and lackedthe folding wingtips and arrestor hear. This isa somewhat neglected member of the fami-ly, but nevertheless has interesting stories totell, and of its pilots. Noteworthy, and probablynowhere else documented on another aircraft,are the two shades of grey on the wings andfuselage, which apparently were the result ofdiffering saturation of the paint coat appliedcombined with the effects of the sun beatingdown on it. In short, this is a peripheral versi-on of the Zeke, and we think that most of youwill find this an interesting version to buildbecause the Zero is a line of aircraft that de-serves to be built in all its variants. We wantto make that a possibility. I hope I won’t getbusted upside the head and get told off thatmodels aren’t to be sold like this, when I co-mmented last time that the Camel Comic is aperipheral type and not all that interesting formost. It may be so, but I have been selling mo-dels for thirty years and I fear that I am set inmy ways. Modelers wouldn’t believe me any-way, if I were to tell them that the Camel Co-mic and Zero Model 11 are must haves.In 1:72 scale ProfiPACK editions, we are conti-nuing on with the Avia S-199, and in this casethe later version with the sliding hood. This isthe Mule of all Mules and is close to the he-arts of us Czech modelers for one reason oranother. Probably the main of these reasonsis that it represents our modeling youth – ourmodeling introductions. From today’s per-spective, it was far from the perfect kit, but wewere far from perfect modelers, so we were amatch made in heaven. It went together quick-ly. I had one built, painted and decaled in an af-ternoon. Our new kit could theoretically be puttogether in an afternoon, I guess, but no oneworks like that today. Still, the feeling and joyof a completed kit is unsurpassed. Today, weare a different standard of modeler, workingwith kits that are built to a much higher level,those quick-builds are a memory to be sharedwith friends suffering from similar nostalgiaover a beer. But the memories are nice. I mustconfess that the boxart is rendered in a way asto evoke some of those old emotions for thoseof us that have the experience with that old kit.Enough nostalgia already… There are two newWeekend Edition kits out. In 1:72 scale, we haveour tested and true Fw 190A-8 and a Z-526AFSin 1:48. Both kits share the characteristic ofcontaining striking marking options. It is alsointeresting to note that the Z-526AFS oftenplayed the role of German fighters in old Cze-choslovak and Soviet films. Or at least, mostlyGerman. At least once, they appeared on ca-mera in British markings, but whether theywere Spits or Mustangs, God only knows, tosay nothing of the film’s director. Of note wasthe crazy Czech film “Halt, or I’ll Miss!” wherea Z-526AFS played, believe it or not, a 52ndFG P-51 flown by a black pilot. No word of alie, when we were prepping July’s new items,we were completely oblivious to this fact. Themarkings used in the film were on a 4th Fi-ghter Squadron, 52nd FG yellow tail and hadpartial codes on the fuselage, if I am readingsomewhat blurry photographs from the filmcorrectly. The pilot, as we know, correspondsto the 332nd FG and the white nose is moreakin to the 8th AF. What’s up with the whitewingtips I am not sure, but it’s pretty cool tosee these period interpretations of Americanaircraft like this. I am almost thinking thata boxing of Trenér Movie Stars might not besuch a bad idea.EDITORIALINFO Eduard4July 2022Page 5
BRASSINThe majority of Brassins are by now 3D prin-ted and advantages are easy to spot. The mainsuch item for July is the engine for our A6M2Model 21 in 1:48. As you will recall, we havealready released one printed engine for theZero (648694). This is a simplified rendering ofthe engine, intended to be installed inside thebuttoned up cowl. The idea of this release isthat the 3D printed engine is a drop fit repla-cement for the kit engine. The difference isthat the 3D printed part is not limited by in-jection molding, so is better detailed. The 3Dprinted item has all the pistons and the blockprinted as one compact piece. And is an easierassembly than the kit engine. This concept isalso fueled by the market demand that acce-ssory items should be simple and easy to as-semble and install. This is an idea, however,not entirely supported by sales figures. Thetheory sounds logical and often on variousinternet forums is portrayed as a given, assomething that works without question. Butin reality, it doesn’t quite work like that. Oneof the results yielded by this premise is thephotoetched line Zoom, which has never beenable to match the popularity of its larger, clas-sic photoetched sets. The big sets still sellbetter than the simplified and cheaper Zoomsets. Another example would be the small,single aircraft decal sheets that Aeromasterput out back in the good ol’ days. It didn’t workout so well, and the firm itself followed suit. Iam curious to see how these two Engine setsfor the Zero will compare in terms of sales atthe end of the year. This new set, carrying thecatalog number 648749, is a complete enginewith all of its attached accessories at its backend and separate cowl sections are includedas well. The name of the set says it all: A6M2Engine Complete. It’s basically its own kit ofan engine out of the aircraft. It, naturally, iscomposed of more parts than its simplifiedcousin (648694), but thanks to the precisionafforded by 3D printing, it goes together well,and quickly. With the end result looking likeit does, I dare say that I suspect that the sa-les race will be won by this over its simplifiedversion.Seat for the Zvezda 1:48 scale Su-25 groundattack aircraft is also 3D printed, the samepays to seat and drop tanks for the F4F Wild-cat (1/72 Arma Hobby) and the very fine rudderpedals for Luftwaffe aircraft in 1:72. Someonerecently went on a rant on Facebook abouthow useless these latter items are. If theyare, in fact, useless, they are still gorgeous!It’s up to all of you, if they will catch on, orbe relegated to forgotten projects. Among thenew items for July is also a 1:32 scale JP233Runway Denial Bomb, and is well suited to,among others, the Revell Tornado GR.1. It’srelatively large and so it’s a little pricier, butit looks awesome on the Tornado. It’s one ofthose things that, from time to time, we do byrequest for modelers. We hope that all that putin their request for this item will be pleasedwith the outcome. Actually, I expect you all tobe very impressed!3D printed are also two sets for the ship mo-delers among you. These are of Carley Floats(life rafts) in 1:350. In each set, there are twen-ty rafts. There are some cast resin wheel sets,too, for which 3D printing hasn’t yet offeredany real advantage over. I remind everyonethat our 3D printed sets carry the word PRINTon the label and in the pricelists.EDDIE THE RIVETERIn May, we introduced a new line of decals inthe new Eddie the Riveter line, offering rea-listic raised riveting and other details on thesurface of models. The first set was designedfor the Mi-24V from Zvezda (1:48), and for July,we are offering a set for the Mi-24D. This set isaimed at modelers who have our Limited Edi-tion kit of this version that includes the Zvezdaplastic, or want to build this version with ourconversion set. I hope we can go forward withthis set without the complaints of the price wesaw earlier. As I have pointed out previously,the Eddie the Riveter sets are not cheap sets.The price point is arrived at by rational means.As always, they are tied to the production cost.These are 3D decals produced in the sameway as our Space sets, a quasi-3D system ona color printer that utilizes polymer printingpaints. The prints themselves are not cheap,and the most expensive component of produc-tion is time. One set takes around forty minu-tes to print. Of course, the size of the sheetalso plays a big role, combined with extremelylabor intensive preparatory work. When it allgets added up, I confess that the final pricetook my breath away, too. And the initial de-velopment version was much more difficult toproduce than the production items. In order toget down to at least what the cost is now, weneeded to do a lot of fine tuning and tweaking.We have done what we could, and now, onceagain, it will be up to the modeler to decidewhether or not this is a keeper or not. Of cour-se, we know that not every modeler will be inthe market for this line. Among other things,this is not an accessory item for the squea-mish. It’s designed more for people who knowwhat they are doing in modeling. Then, there isone other factor that needs to be consideredand may help future products of this line. TheMi-24 is rather large. There’s a lot of surfacearea. It’s got a lot of riveting across its sur-face. When we switch our attention to smalleritems, physically, then the price will comedown. It may still be up there when comparedto other accessory lines, but it will be better.LööK and SpaceIn July, the Space line offers some things upto ship people. We are offering lifebuoys innot only 1:350, but now in 1:700 as well. ICMreleased a 1:48 scale kit of the Gotha Go 242glider, which, given the current situation withRussia, is excellent news. We not only haveSpace set for it, but also a photoetched set,too. Space sets are also being released for theolder A-1H/J and Beaufighter from Tamiya in1:48. These complement other sets being re-leased for these kits. As always, Space setsinclude photoetching where photoetching isthe best option.In the LooK line, where the name of the gameis to replace original kit parts with simple, re-alistic ones, we have sets for the above notedA-1H/J and Beaufighter, and also for Zvezda’sSu-25, also in 1:48. The LookPlus line growswith the addition of a set for the Hawk 81-A2(P-40B) in 1:32 from GWH, and sets for the F--104A and C from Kinetic in 1:48.PHOTOETCHEDThe new Tempest Mk.V in 1:72 from Airfix is a kitthat is showing good market potential despitetaking a bit of a kicking from reviewers. Weare releasing a photoetched set for it with acertain amount of pleasure, because we feela certain sense of solidarity with every manu-facturer that has wound up in the crosshairsof unreasonably critical reviewers and forumvisitors. We find some solace in the fact thatwe are not alone. And even here, I would pointout that our goal is to add to the beauty of amodel, and not correct any mistakes, percei-ved, relevant or otherwise. In the same scale,we are also releasing sets for the Revell F-15Eand Arma Hobby’s Ki-84. We will continue tofocus on the latter as well, with at least a setof wheels and landing flaps. In 48th, we have aset for the Minibase Su-27K. Perhaps, you willrecall that we have already released a set fortheir Su-33. And if you don’t remember, I won’tbe too upset with you. For me, these RussianSukhois are all Greek to me.Turning our attention to AFVs, I would like topoint out sets of PE for two kits, the rereleasedM109 Aladin in 1:35 from Italeri and for the Sd.Kfz.247 Ausf B in the same scale, put out byRevell as their release of the ICM kit. The co-lor set for this kit will include, among otheritems, radio equipment and dashboard. In theship scale of 1:350, we are releasing anothertwo sets for the USS Constellation CV-64 fromTrumpeter. This will be followed by another setfor this kit in August.ARTICLESIn today’s Newsletter, there is an article onthe history of the S-199 by Michal Ovcacik. WeCzechs think we know everything there is toknow about this airplane, but everyone willfind out something new in this article. MiroBaric is here with the fourth installment of hisarticles on the war in the Ukraine. The historyof the Fighter Groups of the 15th AF USAAF Itook the liberty of summarizing myself, and inthis English version of the Newsletter you’llfind an article on Korea by Richard Plos. Thisis an article dealing with the F-51D flown byAmerican and South Korean pilots in the Ko-rean War.Besides the usual longer articles, we areinitiating a new format of articles for thismonth. These are called “BOXART STORY”. Asthe name implies, the goal of these shorter,typically single-page articles will be to shedlight on a historical reality and to describe theevent in question as depicted on our boxarts.We believe, and hope, that you will find theseto be a point of interest and a source of inspi-ration.I wish a pleasant read with our newsletter inthese complex times. I would say that the wor-sening economic situation is beginning to befelt in our industry. Sales are not as good asthey were at the beginning of the year, and theshows are not quite as lively. We will continueto garner you attention in the coming monthswith our new products. We are looking for-ward to the IPMS Nationals in Omaha, wherewe will have our brand spanking new Wildcat.You probably already know that it will be theF4F-3 version. In Omaha, we will also introdu-ce our first block of accessories for this newkit, including a printed cockpit. Those of younot able to go to Omaha, don’t fret. You willhave access to August’s new releases as soonas American modelers, because our internetAfterparty starts on the same day as the Natsbegin – July 20.Happy Modelling!Vladimir SulcINFO Eduard5July 2022Page 6
The group photograph of theMustangs from all four 15th AFfighter groups captured in May1945 over Dolomites. P-51D, ´00´,pilot Lt. Col. Ernest Beverly,CO of 325th FG; P-51D, ´7´, pilotCol. Benjamin Davis, CO of 332ndFG; P-51D-5, ´WD-Q´, Queen Mar-jorie, pilot Col. Marion Malcolm,CO of 52nd FG; P-51D-5, ´HL-A´,pilot Col. William A. Daniel,CO of 31st FG.RED TAILS & Co.The 15th Air Force was formed at theend of 1943 in Tunisia as the main partof the USAAF strategic component inthe Mediterranean (MTO-Mediterra-nean Theater of Operations). The first15th Air Force commander was MajorGeneral James Doolittle who untilthen commanded the 12th Air Force.The 15th Air Force resulted from the large reor-ganization of the Allied Air Forces part of whichwas the establishment of the Mediterranean AlliedAir Force (MAAF) on December 10, 1942, led by AirChief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder. In the middle ofFebruary 1944 Lieutenant General Ira Eaker wasnamed commander of MAAF because ACM Tedderwas commissioned to command the Allied Air For-ce earmarked for Operation Overlord. Three main15THAIR FORCEphoto: Fold3HISTORYphoto: Fold3Text: Vladimír ŠulcINFO Eduard6July 2022Page 7
air components were put under MAAF command:MASAF (Mediterranean Allied Strategic Air Force)led by Major General Nathan Twining, MACAF (Me-diterranean Alliea Coastal Air Force) led by AirVice Marshal Hugh Lloyd and MATAF (Mediterrane-an Allied Tactical Air Force) led by Major GeneralJohn K. Cannon. At the same time MASAF was thesouthern component of the U.S. Strategic Air Force,Europe (USSTAF). As of January 4, 1944, the 15th AirForce was fully transferred under MAAF and MA-SAF command.The 15th Air Force was formed from the heavybombing groups equipped with four-engined B-24Liberator and B-17 Flying Fortress heavy bomberstransferred from 12th and 9th Air Forces. Duringthe first weeks of its existence however the 15th AFinventory comprised also several bombing groupsequipped with the B-25 Mitchell and B-26 Marau-der medium bombers which later returned underthe 12th AF command. At the time when the com-bat activities commenced in November 1943, therewere six bombing groups under 15th AF command.The fighter cover was provided by four fightergroups: 1st FG, 14th FG and 82nd FG equipped withthe twin-engined P-38 Lightning fighters and 325thFG equipped with P-47 Thunderbolt. As of Decem-ber 1, 1943, the 15th AF Headquarters was located inBari, southern Italy.The main goal of putting the 15th and 8th AF underUSSTAF command was the coordination of the bom-bing operations over Germany. The 8th AF operati-ons, conducted from the west out of Great Britainbases were to be coordinated with the 15th AF ope-rations led from the south, out of the Italian bases.The daylight missions of both American Air Forceswere supplemented by the RAF Bomber Commandnight operations.15THAIR FORCE IN COMBATThe first 15th AF mission was the raid of 28 B-25sfrom 321st BG on the railway station in Rimini onNovember 1, 1943. The first continuous bombingcampaign the 15th AF took part in was the supp-ort of the Anzio landing (Operation Shingle) whichcommenced on January 22, 1944. The first seriesof such coordinated raids, the operation Argument,was code-named “Big Week”. It was executed du-ring the week of April 20-25, 1944, and its goal wasto cripple the German aviation industry and hamperthe new aircraft supplies to the Luftwaffe. Withinthe operation Argument the 15th AF flew its firstraid on Germany when 183 bombers attacked theMesserschmitt factories in Oberstraubing nearRegensburg. 14 bombers were lost during this mi-ssion. The following day the 15th AF dispatched 102bombers to attack the ball bearing factory in Steyr,Austria. On February 24, 180 Liberators attackedthe factory in Gotha manufacturing MesserschmittBf 110s and lost 28 airplanes. On February 25, 114B-17 and B-24 were sent again to Steyr and lost 17bombers in the action.On April 5, the “Fifteen” joined the Allied bom-bing offensive against the German fuel industrydispatching 235 bombers on the targets aroundPloesti in Romania. In the opening stage of theoffensive the 15th AF attacked the oil refineries insouth-eastern Europe, primarily Romania but alsoin Austria, Bavaria, Hungary, northern Italy and theYugoslav territory. From the end of October 1944,it joined the intense bombing of the synthetic fuelfactories in Saxony, Czechoslovakia and Silesia.During this time the 15th AF took over from 8th AFthe task of bombing the synthetic fuel factoriesin Saxony and Czechoslovakia including the STWfactory in Most (Brux) which became the most fre-quently bombed target in the Czechoslovak territo-ry – 16 heavy American raids and two British nightattacks. The 15th AF continued with these raidspractically until the end of war.In June 1944 the 15th AF bombed the railway infra-structure throughout the south-eastern Europe insupport of the Soviet summer offensive in Romania.In the summer of 1944, the Austrian aviation facto-ries in Wiener Neustadt were bombed. On June 2 the“Fifteen” flew its first “shuttle” mission when 130B-17s escorted by P-51D landed on the Soviet-con-trolled territory having bombed the Hungarian tar-gets. After refueling and rearming they returnedto their home base in Italy. Altogether the 15th AFcompleted three of these shuttle missions. Star-ting in the summer of 1944 it also joined the supp-ort of the Yugoslav partisans and in August it fo-cused its efforts on supporting the Allied landingsin southern France (Operation Dragoon). The 15thAF bombers attacked Marseille, Lyon, Grenoble andToulon. In the fall the 15th AF resumed the raids onthe fuel and military facilities and the transporta-tion infrastructure in Central and Eastern Europe.On March 24, 1945, the “Fifteen” flew its only raidon Berlin when its 666 bombers attacked the ThirdReich’s capital as well as Munich and other targetsin Germany and Czechoslovakia. At the end of thewar, in April 1945, the attacks concentrated on therailway infrastructure were conducted not only bybombers but fighters as well. Actually, those flewthese missions even earlier on a regular basis.On April 25, the last large operation took placewhen 467 bombers hit the railway targets in Aus-tria and interrupted the communications to Cze-choslovakia. On May 1, the 15th AF flew its verylast bombing mission when 27 B-17s escorted by 51P-38s from 14th FG attacked the railway targets inthe vicinity of Salzburg.After the German surrender in Italy the 15th AF air-craft started to drop the supplies over Yugoslaviaand repatriate the Allied POWs and its last missi-P-51D-5 formation from 308th FS,31st FG, photographed in June 1944.photo: Fold3HISTORYINFO Eduard7July 2022Page 8
on took place on May 16, 1945. Altogether the 15thAF lost during its operations around 2110 bombersfrom its 15 B-24 and six B-17 groups while its sevenfighter groups claimed a total of 1836 enemy air-craft destroyed. On September 15, 1945, the 15th AFwas disbanded in Italy.FIGHTER UNITS OF THE 15TH AIR FORCEHaving reached its full inventory of the bomber andfighter groups in the beginning of 1944, the 15th AFincluded seven fighter groups. Three of them, 1st,14th and 82nd Fighter Group flew P-38 Lightning tillthe end of war. Two of them, 325th and 332nd FGoriginally flew P-47D Thunderbolt however during1944 they traded them for new P-51B/C and later Dversion. Another two units, 31st and 52nd FG flewP-51B/C from the beginning of their operations wi-thin the 15th AF. Later they were re-equipped withthe D version. This model kit is dedicated to the fi-ghter units flying P-51D Mustang within the 15th AFtherefore the further text focuses on the relevantfour fighter groups.31ST FIGHTER GROUPThe unit was formed from the pre-war 31st PursuitGroup USAAC. In January 1942 it was re-equippedwith P-39 Airacobra in New Orleans and in June theunit was transferred by sea to Great Britain whe-re it was equipped with the British Spitfire Mk.Vbfighters. On August 16, under the RAF operationalcommand, these units flew their first sortie, Circus204 over Lille and on August 19 another one in theoperation Jubilee, landing at Dieppe.On September 14, the 31st was ordered under theauthority of the XII Fighter Command USAAF, trans-ferred to Gibraltar and attached to the invasionforces ready for Operation Torch, landing in NorthAfrica, in which it took part from the first day, No-vember 8, 1942. In North Africa the unit flew fighterescorts and the air cover for the ground units un-til the surrender of the Italian and German troopsin Africa in May 1943. Afterwards, in June, the unittook part in the Sicily landing (Operation Husky)and in September the Operation Avalanche, landingat Salerno. Then it transferred to the airport in Ita-ly, continued flying combat missions within the 12thAF and in January 1944 provided the air cover forthe units which landed at Anzio in the unsuccessfuloperation Shingle.In the middle of March, at the Castel Volturno base,the unit commenced its conversion to P-51B/C Mus-tang and as of April 1 it was transferred under the15th AF command and flew the new Mustangs overto San Severo airbase on the Italian eastern coastfrom where it continued flying escorts of the 15thAF strategic bomber missions to Europe. During themonth of April, it sortied twice to Ploesti in Roma-nia, Sofia in Bulgaria, Wiener Neustadt in Austria,Piombino, Milan and Monfalcone in Italy and alsoToulon in France. During these missions the unitshot down 51 enemy aircraft. During the monthof May, the unit started its conversion to P-51Dwhich the 31st FG flew until the end of hostilities.31st FG was composed of three fighter squadrons:307th FS (code letters MX), 308th FS (code lettersHL) and 309th FS (code letters WZ). The unit mar-kings were the red oblique stripes on the tail sur-faces, red and yellow stripes on the wingtips andred nose and propeller spinner.52ND FIGHTER GROUPThis unit went through a similar process, formedon January 15, 1941, as 52nd Pursuit Group based on1st and 31st PG personnel. After the Pearl HarborThe group picture of the Mus-tangs from 52nd FG: P-51D-5,s/n 44-13287, WD-M Miss Ruth/Pendaja, pilot Lt. William Parent;P-51D-5, s/n 44-13289, WD-X;P-51D-5, s/n 44-13263, WD-DJo-Baby, pilot Lt. Robert McCam-pbell; P-51D-5, s/n 44-13485,WD-H Miss Rogers, pilot 1/Lt.James Daniel Callahan.photo: Fold3HISTORYINFO Eduard8July 2022Page 9
attack it was re-equipped with P-39 Airacobra withwhich, starting on January 1, 1942, it participated inthe War Games. In May, now 52nd FG was orderedto deploy to Great Britain and therefore on May 11it transferred to the North-East and started thepreparations for the cross-Atlantic flight. However,the same as the 31st FG, it ultimately sailed to Gre-at Britain. In June, at the RAF base in Eglington inNorthern Ireland, the unit received Spitfires Mk.Vband started with training.In September the 52nd FG was transferred underXII FC and on November 1 its flying personnel sailedto Gibraltar to accept the new tropicalized SpitfiresMk.Vb and participate in the Operation Torch andfurther combat in North Africa. After the fightingin North Africa ceased the 52nd FG was transferredunder the Mediterranean Allied Coastal Air Force,MACAF. The mission of this Allied command wasconvoy protection in the Mediterranean Sea, anti--submarine patrols, port patrols and attacks onthe enemy shipping in the Mediterranean. Perfor-ming these duties, the 52nd FG squadrons movedamong the airport in the Mediterranean. On July 23,the group was relocated to Sicily, Bocca di Falcoairport new Palermo where it flew night-fightingmissions.In November 1943 the unit transferred to Corsicawhere the 2nd and 5th FS flew out of Borgo air-port and the 4th FS out of Calvi airport. Durtingthis period the unit, among other duties, conduc-ted the dive bombing attacks on ships and ports.In the beginning of April 1944, the conversion to P--51B/C Mustang started and on May 1 the 52nd FGwas attached to the 15th AF formation. On May 10it flew its first mission escorting B-17 on their raidto Nice in France. The 52nd FG comprised the 2ndFS (code letters QP), 4th FS (code letters WD) and5th FS (code letters VF). The unit markings werethe yellow, black outlined band in front of the tailsurfaces or tail surfaces painted entirely yellow,black outlined wingtips and red nose and propellerspinner.325TH FIGHTER GROUP,“CHECKERTAIL CLAN”The 325th FG was formed on June 24, 1942,and activated on August 3, 1942. It was equippedwith P-40s. During January and February 1942,it was transferred to North Africa and ordered underthe 12th AF command. On April 17, 1943, it flew itsfirst combat mission. In September 1943 the 325thFG converted to P-47D Thunderbolt and in Decem-ber it relocated to Italy where it became the partof the newly-formed 15th AF. In May 1944 the unitwas re-equipped with the P-51B/C Mustang whichit flew until the second half of 1944 when it gra-dually converted to the new P-51D Mustang whichit flew until the end of war. 325th FG comprisedthe 317th FS (tactical markings by black numeralsfrom 10 to 30), 318th FS (tactical markings by blacknumerals from 40 to 69) and 319th FS (tacticalmarkings by black, yellow outlined numerals from70 to 99). The tactical numbers from 1 to 9 wereused by the staff flight. The unit markings wereyellow-black checkered tail surfaces or the wholeaircraft tail and red nose and red propeller spinner.The 319th FS had the red nose outlined with yellowstripes. 325th FS commanders’ aircraft carried thenumeral 100 on the fuselage.332ND FIGHTER GROUP, “RED TAILS”The African Americans who joined the air forcesare nowadays known as the Tuskegee Airmen. Thelaw which allowed them to undergo the military pi-lot training was passed in 1939, after twenty years’effort of the human rights activists. Their path tothe cockpits of the military airplanes was long anddifficult. During WWII the racial segregation ruleswere still in place in the USA and because of thatthe Tuskegee airmen were discriminated both whileon duty and in private. Altogether 922 African Ame-rican aviators went through the training at GrielField, Kennedy Field, Moton Field, Shorter Field andTuskegee. There was a total of 355 aviators fromTuskegee deployed in Africa and later in Europewithin the 12th and 15th AF USAAF, 68 of them werekilled in action.The first combat fighter unit with African Americanpersonnel was 99th Fighter Squadron flying P-40Fin the Mediterranean from April 1944. Later it wasattached to the 332nd Fighter Group which origina-lly comprised the 100th, 301st and 302nd FighterSquadrons and from the beginning of 1944 had itsbase in Italy. The 322nd FG therefore operated thenon-standard four squadron formation. The 322ndFG equipped with P-47D Thunderbolt was assignedthe escort missions already in June 1944. In JulyAirport Pyriatyn, Ukraine, June1, 1944. Lt. Col. Chester L. Slutter(first on right) chatting with thesoviet air force officers afterlanding at the Pyriatyn airport inUkraine having completed the first“shuttle” mission. Pyriatyn is loca-ted approximately 140 km east ofKiev. On this mission 42 membersof ground personnel flew on boardof the B-17s while one of the 325thFG mechanics replaced one B-17crew member. One of the bomberswas shot down over the target,marshalling yards in Debrecen,Hungary. 325th FG member, Sgt.Austin J. Cronin was on board.The 317th FG P-51B can be seen inthe background.photo: Fold3HISTORYINFO Eduard9July 2022Page 10
it was converted to P-51B/C Mustang. The other15th AF units were ahead with their air victoriesand combat experience therefore the 332nd FGscored less kills in comparison to the remaining15th AF fighter groups flying Mustangs. From June1944 till the end of war the 332nd FG scored 94kills. In comparison the 31st, 52nd and 325th FGeach scored over 200 enemy aircraft shot down.This difference was also caused by the way the in-dividual Fighter Groups were deployed. “Red Tails”usually flew close bomber escorts whose missionwas to intercept and strike back at the enemy figh-ter who had broken through the outer circle of thefighter defense. The mission of this defense wasto clear the bomber formation’s operational spaceof the enemy fighters before they reach their sho-oting range. The unit markings were tail surfaces,wingtips and propeller spinners painted in red. 99thFS featured blue painted noses, 100th FS red withthe triangle pointing back, 301st red noses and302nd FS light blue noses. The 100th, 301st and302nd FS used numerals for their fuselage codes,the same as 325th FS. 99th FS used the combinati-on of the letter A and numerals.15TH AIR FORCE IN EDUARD MODEL KITSBesides this boxing there are markings of the four15th AF fighter groups flying P-51D Mustang inclu-ded in other Eduard kits. In addition to severalboxings dedicated to various P-51D Mustang versi-ons the Limited Eagle’s Call issue for example co-vers the history of the 31st and 52nd FG. The boxartof the 1/72 Profipack Fw 190A-8/R2 issue depictsthe attack of the Focke-Wulf heavy fighters fromLuftwaffe’s IV.(Sturm)/JG 3 on the formation of theB-17Gs from 463rd BG bombing Memmingen on July18, 1944.A line of 310st FS, 332nd FGMustangs, Ramitelli airbase, Italy,March 1945. The P-51D sportingthe tactical number 42 was flownby Lt. Charles White who in April1945 shot down two enemy aircraft.photo: Library of CongressHISTORYINFO Eduard10July 2022Page 11
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On Monday May 16 the defenders of Azovstalsteelworks in Mariupol received the orderto cease the armed resistance. Till May 20gradually all of them surrendered. It meantthat Tu-22M3 strategic bombers, which fora month were carpeting the steelworks withthe heavy bombs, were released for othermissions – to launch the old (and vastlyinaccurate) Kh-22 rockets on the Ukrainiancities. During these missions the bombersenjoyed the safety of their own airspace.Other aircraft did not cross the frontlinesneither – on both sides. In the second partof this series, we mentioned the video cap-turing Mi-28 and Ka-52 helicopters opera-ting as the airborne rocket launchers for thecarpet bombing by the unguided missiles.Both Russian and Ukrainian Su-25s operatein the same manner. The employment of thefighter-bombers by both sides was capturedin videos. Su-25s are equipped either withfour B-8M1 rocket launchers for S-8 80 mmcaliber rocket or two B-13L rocket launch-ers for S-13 122 mm caliber rockets. Withthis ordnance load out they arrived at themaximum airspeed close to the ground thenthey start climbing and during this maneuverthey launch salvos of the unguided missilestowards the enemy’s positions on a ballisticcurve to maximize their range. At the sametime, they released chaff flares and right af-ter launching the rockets they turned aroundto fly back home. S-8 rockets deployedin this manner can reach as far as 5 km.Tom Cooper, author of many publicationson the modernair warfare,used the name“spray and pay”for this tactic.The pilots spraya target areaand pray thatthey hit some-thing. The sli-ghtest deviationin the courseand the climbingangle and therockets missthe intended target. On Thursday June 2 thiswas clearly demonstrated by a formation ofthe Russian Su-25s which launched theirS-8 unguided missiles during the fightingfor the village of Komyshuvakha near thecity of Popasna. They hit their own infantrycolumn resulting in 50 dead and woundedRussian soldiers. Now let’s make a little de-tour from the air war to the fighting on theground. Ukraine obviously possesses moreammunition than aircraft which can use it.The videos appeared that feature B-8M1 roc-ket launchers mounted on pickups or SUVsat an approximately 45 degrees angle. In thismanner the Ukrainians use them as the or-dinary ground rocket launchers.Peace has not arrived in Ukraine yet between May 16 and June16. The ground operations were conducted in Donbas in the eastand in Kherson in the south. The air operations on both sidescorresponded to these activities.Text: Miro BaričA Ukrainian Mi-8NSB-V named Orc Hunter.The B-8M1 air-launched rocket launcher in the role of an 80 mm caliber afterburner.The Ukrainian inscription on the side of the trailer stands for bees.The air warover Ukraine4th monthHISTORYINFO Eduard12July 2022Page 13
Losses are mountingDespite the efforts to minimize the risk ofbeing shot down the losses keep increasing.They however are well below the numbersthat both sides officially claim. For example,on June 13 the Russians claimed to have de-stroyed 201 Ukrainian airplanes, 130 helico-pters and 1196 drone since the conflict started.Needless to say, Ukraine has never posse-ssed such an inventory!And even though Russia since the beginningof war claimed several times that the Ukrai-nian air force was completely destroyed yetthey continued to announce more and moreclaims. During the last month only four Ukrai-nian airplanes and several drones can be con-firmed destroyed. This includes a UkrainianSu-24 from 7th Tactical Air Brigade shot downon May 19 near the village of Lypove in Done-tsk area. This village is located almost mid-way of Bakhmut and Severodonetsk wherethe intense fighting took place during the pastmonth. The crew of Lt. Col. Igor Khamar andMaj. Ilya Negar was killed. Before their demisethey had flown 14 missions mostly against thecolumns of the Russian vehicles. The Ukraini-an Su-24s were claimed to have been destro-yed long time ago. It does not seem to be true.On June 5, in Zaporozhe area the UkrainianSu-27 “blue 38” was shot down. It is possiblethat this time it was a case of a friendly fire.On June 16 a unique situation occurred whenthe Russian rockets hit the Ukrainian aircrafton the ground. Two Mig-29 fighters weredestroyed at the Voznesenski air base nearMykolaiv.During the period we write here about theRussians lost at least four helicopters andseveral Su-25 fighter bombers. Further twoKa-52 helicopters were destroyed (May 19 andJune 4) which brings the total number of thistype of helicopter destroyed to 16. A Mi-28 wasshot down as well (on June 12, the crew waskilled) and a Mi-35M. In this case, on June 16,these two helicopters came within the rangeof the portable rockets belonging to the 231stDnipropetrovsk Battalion of the TerritorialDefense. With the help of chaff flares the heli-copters managed to evade the first rocket ho-wever the second rocket hit a helicopter flyingclose to the ground and it exploded after thecrash.One Ka-52 was damaged in a peculiar way. Inthe first half of June, it flew a mission launch-ing unguided missiles in a “spray and pray”style. The pilot may have misidentified the safezone. The Ukrainians shot a portable missileon it. The Russian pilot launched chaff flaresand started to perform the evasive maneuversat the low altitude while he flew the clusterof trees. It was documented by the video shotfrom the cockpit as well as the photographstaken upon its landing at the base showing thedamaged fuselage with pieces of wood.Russians take a damaged Ka-52 helicopter in for repairs.This Ka-52 ran into the tops of trees while escaping a Ukrainian missile.HISTORYINFO Eduard13July 2022Page 14
Mercenaries in Su-25 cockpitThe losses of Russian Su-25 are high aswell and reached the number 14. Two ofthem were “only” damaged by the rockethitting the engine and the aircraft managedto return and land but the repair may notbe cost effective. One of these cases occu-rred during this reporting period, on June10. During the last month at least two Su-25were shot down and curiously belonged tothe Wagner Group i.e., the private mercenaryarmy which Russian hires to do a dirty work.This explains why some Su-25s seen in theUkrainian skies did not carry any nationalmarkings, just large letters Z painted in va-rious positions.One of the Su-25 confirmed as belongingto Wagner’s Group was flown by a retiredMajor General of the Russian AF. KanamatBotashev commander a squadron but duringthe unauthorized aerobatic flight in Su-27 helost control and crashed. In 2013 he was dis-missed from the AF because of this incident.He found a new career in the mercenarygroup. On May 22 new the city of Popas heconducted an attack with unguided rocketsfollowed by another raid with bombs. Whilerecovering from the attack his aircraft washit by a Stinger and Botashev was killed. Hewas 62 years old.Belorussian media confirmed the loss ofanother Wagner’s pilot. Nikolay Markov was66 years old and was a former Soviet, laterBelorussian AF pilot. He served in Kazakh-stan, East Germany and finally Belorussia.After his retirement he worked as a pilot inAfrica and ultimately became a mercenary.He was also shot down near Popasna andwas buried in Lido near Grodno, Belorussiaon May 17. According to the same mediaanother Belorussian pilot in Wagner’s servi-ce perished in Ukraine however the detailsare unknown.Besides, during this reporting period severalwrecks of the aircraft destroyed in previ-ous months were found. On June 5, in Kievarea the Russian Su-27 “red 12” marked RF-93027 was found. It was probably destroyedsometime in February or March. On June 2,in Kherson area the wreck of the UkrainianSu-25 “blue 45” was found which accordingto some sources had been lost already inthe end of February. On May 23 the Roma-nian Navy fished out from the Black Sea thewreck of Bayraktar TB2 drone. It carried thetail number “75” and belonged to the Ukrai-nian Navy. Most probably it was shot downduring the attack on the Snake Island some-time in the first half of May.Russian Su-25s usually carry two auxiliary tanks and two B-13L rocket launchers, each with five 122 mm calibermissiles. Ukrainian Su-25s usually carry four B-13L rocket launchers in addition to the tanks.A Russian Su-25SM with the designation “Red 03” and the matriculation RF-91917 from the 18th Guards Battalion was damaged on June 10.A Ukrainian Su-27 “blue 38” was destroyed on 5 June.HISTORYINFO Eduard14July 2022Page 15
Risky evacuation missionsAmong the older losses, about which welearn details only now, belong the Ukraini-an helicopters destroyed during the supplyflight into Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.Previously the Ukrainians obviously tried tokeep them secret as much as possible butafter Azovstal’s surrender the reason va-nished. From April to mid-May there were intotal seven such missions flown by 16 Mi-8and Mi-17 helicopters.The plan was a brainchild of Major GeneralBudanov, chief of the Defense Intelligence.Helicopter pilots were to fly 100 km over theenemy held territory at night and 5 metersabove ground to deliver the medicine andammunition to Mariupol defenders and eva-cuate those seriously wounded. Several pi-lots refused to fly the mission but then thefirst volunteer showed up. He had a perso-nal reason – his wifewas a nurse tending tothe wounded in the ste-elworks underground,so she was to be eva-cuated together withthem.The first flight was po-stponed several timesfrom the fear of beingdiscovered by the ene-my. Finally, two heli-copters delivered tothe defenders the AAStingers and anti-tankNLAW as well as thesatellite system Star-link enabling the internet connection.The majority of these seven missions wereflown by a pair of helicopters. Only one mi-ssion was flown by four Mi-8 together evenaccompanied by a Mi-24 in the case they ne-eded the fire support. On this mission theyevacuated around 40 wounded defenders.The flights took place mostly at night withthe help of night vision instruments. On theway to the destination, right before crossingthe frontline the helicopters landed to refuel.At steelworks they always picked the lan-ding spot with the least debris. They stayed15-20 min on the ground with engines androtors ready for an immediate take off. Theydid not deliver only food supplies, medicineand ammunition to Azovstal but also severaltens of soldiers who volunteered as a rein-forcement.Each flight took a different route in order toavoid detection. Some missions were flownpartially over the sea. On the fifth missionthe Russians will have already learned thesituation and shot down one helicopter. Onthe last, seventh mission one helicoptercrashed. It was decided to send a SAR he-licopter, but the Russians were expecting itwith the portable missiles and shot it down.It crashed right next to the helicopter wreckit had tried to help.Supplies from AlliesUkraine manages to replenish the airplanelosses, at least partially, with the help of theAllies. In the beginning of war Kiev reques-ted the aircraft supplies from the West. Thetransfer of Mig-29 fighters from Poland, Bul-garia and Slovakia was considered but Wa-shington was afraid of the conflict escalationand these initiatives faded away. Ultimatelythe aircraft supplies were gradually startedincluding Mig-29s, even though in a differentform. Approximately twenty of them rea-ched Ukraine but not airworthy, they will be asource of spare parts to repair the UkrainianAF fighters. Thanks to it Ukraine could inc-rease the number or their combat aircraft.The supplied aircraft originate in Moldaviawhere in 1997 the USA bought 21 Mig-29s.There were single seaters of the Izdeliye9-13 version and two-seaters of the Izdeliye9-51 version. The reason for this purchasewas to prevent the sales to unwanted custo-mers. For example, Iran or North Korea arevery interested to obtain the spare parts fortheir aircraft. After these ex-Moldavian Migswere transferred to the USA couple of themwere restored to the airworthy condition andserved as the adversary during the militaryexercises.Also, 14 dismantled Su-25 fighter-bombersreached Ukraine. They may have been deli-vered in April, but the information was madepublic only in the end of May. The country oforigin was not officially published but Bulga-ria, who had exactly 14 Su-25s, was mentio-ned. Due to the political reasons, they werenot delivered directly but via USA. Once putRussian OFAB-250 bomb with a cynical message about help for Mariupol.A Ukrainian Mi-8MSB shot down during an evacuation flight fromthe Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol.The Romanian Navy has recovered the wreckage of the Bayraktar drone number 75 from the sea.HISTORYINFO Eduard15July 2022Page 16
together again the Ukrainian AF could deploythem just in time when they were needed themost, in Donbas and Kherson fighting.Besides the fighters the numerous helico-pter deliveries are headed for Ukraine. Star-ting in April in total 20 Mi-17V5 helicopterswere delivered from the USA. The Ukrai-nians deploy them together with their Mi-8s.In case of the “American” helicopters thesewere the airplanes originally destined forAfghanistan.In the end of May Czech Republic confirmeddelivery of 12 Mi-24 combat helicopters toUkraine. The media informed about Mi-24Dversion, but such a thing is not possible, be-cause Mi-24D helicopters were scrappedseveral years ago in the Czech Republic andthey can be found there only as museumexhibits. The information about what was infact delivered is classified of course, but itis not difficult to guess that, given the num-ber, these were some Mi-24V or even Mi-35sthat were probably intended for sale prior tothe delivery of the H-1 helicopters, which theCzech Republic ordered as a replacement forthe Hinds in the number of 12 units. Accor-ding to some reports, these Hinds have alsoundergone a partial modernization and may-be an overhaul, but official sources are silenton the subject... Thirdly, Slovakia announceddelivery of their helicopters. On WednesdayJune 15, Slovak Minister of Defense JaroslavNaď made an announcement also sayingthat the helicopters already safely arrived inUkraine. There were four Mi-17 and one Mi-2supplied. Slovakia stuck these of charge af-ter receiving UH-60M Black Hawks.Drones from auctions and fund raisingUkrajinské ozbrojené sily získali netradičTheUkrainian armed forces obtained severaldrones in rather unorthodox way. For exam-ple, the Ukrainian group Kalush Orchestra,who on May 14 won the Eurovision compe-tition with the song Stefania, contributed totheir purchase. On the following day the pho-tographs appeared on the social networksshowing the messages ridiculing the groupwhich Russians inscribed on the bombsconsequently dropped on the Ukrainian ci-ties. Kalush Orchestra reacted in a way thatultimately will freeze the smile on the Ru-ssian soldiers‘ faces. As a winning price thegroup received a crystal microphone whichthey in the end of May listed on the internetauction. The trophy was sold for 900,000USD. The pink hat, worn by the singer OlehPsiuk during the Eurovision performance,was sold in auction for another 370,000 USD.Altogether the band raised 1.27 million USD.These money will be used to purchase theUkraine-made PD-2 drones. The Ukrainianarmy uses them for reconnaissance, locali-zing the targets and artillery fire guidance.In the end of May a fund raising took place inLithuania to purchase TB2 Bayraktar drone.In couple of day almost 6 million EUR wasraised. Shortly after the rumors from Russiaspread stating that this particular drone wasshot down 3.5 minutes after its take off. TheLithuanians calmly reacted that this dronewas still being manufactured and deliverywould take another three weeks at least.Turkish manufacturer Baykar however re-fused to accept the fund-raising money fromthe Lithuanian representatives and offeredthe drone free of charge.“Turkey was highly impressed by the deter-mination of the Lithuanian citizens to helpUkraine and that the funds were raised soquickly, and the name Bayraktar was spo-ken around the world”, said the fund-raisingorganizer Andrius Tapinas. Due to that, 1.5million EUR raised was transferred to theLithuanian Ministry of Defense who usethese money to purchase the ammunitionfor Bayraktar. The remaining 4.4 million EUR,This MiG-29, which was originally used by the Ukrainian aerobaticgroup Falcons, has been put back into service thanks to thedelivery of spare parts.From the Davis-Monthan base in Tucson, a US C-17 transporteda Mi-8MTV V5 helicopter that was originally destined forAfghanistan but has now been donated to Ukraine.Lithuanians raised almost 6 million euros to purchase Bayraktar for Ukraine.HISTORYINFO Eduard16July 2022Page 17
as per Turkey’s wish, will be used for the humanitarian help and re-construction of the Ukraine.Ukraine continues deploying the Bayraktar drones successfullyeven though the Russians claim they keep destroying one after ano-ther. The latest example is the successful attack on the Russian tugVassily Bekh which, during the night of June 16-17, was delivering thesupplies and reinforcements to the Snake Island. On her voyage shewas hit by two Harpoon anti-shipping missiles. It was the very firstsuccessful deployment of this rocket by Ukrainians. What was theBayraktar role during this mission? It recorded the whole action andexplosions of both rockets. It is of interest that it was able to shootthe videos uninterrupted even though the tug carried the AA Tor onboard. Vassily Bekh was commissioned in January 2017. The tug was57 meters long with the full displacement of 1670 tons. 26 sailorsformed its crew, and it could carry another 36 persons. The crew fateis currently unknown.Most recently the Ukrainian attacks by long-range artillery were onthe way to the ammunition depots and railway marshalling stationsin Donetsk used by Russians to supply the front units. Destroyingseveral of these large ammunition depots had a potential to signi-ficantly weaken the Russian supremacy in the artillery and curtailthe Donbas offensive. The Ukrainian AF took part in at least one ofthese attacks successfully. The depot in the city of Khrustalnyi (Kras-nyi Luch in Russian) in Luhansk area is located too far, around 80km from the frontlines. Despite this fact on Thursday June 16, it wasdestroyed.For this mission the Ukrainians employed the Tochka-U ballistic roc-ket and at the same time launched a pair of Su-25 which flying closeto the ground evaded the Russian AA defense. It’s the proof how muchimportance Ukrainians attributed to this target. They made sure tohave the backup if the first attack failed for some reason. In the endthe ammunition depot was hit by both the rocket and fighter-bomberaircraft. It resulted in an enormous explosion followed by number ofsecondary explosions of the artillery grenades which destroyed tensof houses and cars in the vicinity of the depot. The similar situationoccurred after the ammunition depots were hit in Donetsk. The sepa-ratists claim that the Ukrainian shelling killed civilians but the mostdamage comes from the secondary explosions of the depots locatedin the stadiums or city industrial halls.The Russian tugboat Vasily Bech was sunk by two Harpoon missiles while attempting to deliver supplies to Snake Island.A Serna-class landing craft recovered after sinking off the Snake Island.The Bayraktar drone left quite a hole in it.HISTORYINFO Eduard17July 2022Page 18
HISTORYphoto: Author’s Collectionon the Republic of Korea (RoK). Until recently,the country that had just thrown off the shac-kles of a vicious 35-year Japanese occupationfell into a third bloody conflict that, accordingto the North’s leader, Kim, was to have reunifiedthe country and placed firmly into the grip of theSoviet Block. Calculations based on Americanlethargy, almost ignorance, turned out to be fla-wed, and they had pulled their forces out of thearea a year earlier. The eight-month old UnitedNations organization reacted, and thanks in partto a boycott by the Soviets of discussions. Twen-ty-one nations to varying degrees ensured thatat least areas south of the 38th Parallel on theKorean Peninsula would remain a part of the freeworld. This would be the basis of the first majorarmed conflict since the end of the Second WorldWar.text: Richard PlosBack Into the FireThe Mustangs in KoreaINFO Eduard18July 2022Page 19
photo: U.S. Air ForceHISTORYColonel´s ParallellThe allied victory over Japan bestows the lion’sshare of credit to the United States. But also to bepointed out is that the Soviet Union, who acqui-red a free hand after the German capitulation inEurope, declared war on virtually beaten Japanon August 8, 1945, and the 1st Far East Front, inco-operation with the Baikal assets supportedby Mongolian and Chinese communist LiberationArmies quickly moved through Manchuria. Whatemerged was a threat that the communists,under the leadership of Marshal A. M. Vasilev-skiy, would gain control of the entire Korean pe-ninsula with minimal effort. For the Americans,it was a longer walk to Korea, and they couldonly hope that the Soviet Union would accepta proposal put forth by Colonels Dean Rusk(1andCharles H. Bonesteel III(2to create two admi-nistering parts divided by the 38th Parallel. Thehopes were justified. Practically no sooner hadthe Koreans rid themselves of Japanese tyran-ny, the country was torn in two. The Soviet Unionwasted no time in exporting communist ideologythrough its protégé and former Red Army MajorKim Sung-Ghua, better known as Kim ir-sen. Thedemarcation line, intended originally only as anadministrative separation of zones under Sovietand American control following the Japanesecapitulation, and to administer items such asthe movement of material and prisoners, soonbecame a regular border. As the situation de-teriorated between the former allies, so did thesituation on the peninsula.The two Koreas also found themselves in a dete-riorating relationship. As a result, on November14, 1947, the United Nations General Assemblyadopted Resolution 112/II establishing the UNCommission on Korea (UNTCK). This was to pro-vide for free elections, but ultimately, only SouthKorea set the conditions for these to take place.From the May elections that followed, under thesupervision of the UN Commission, a parliamentemerged, which then elected a president on July20, 1948. His name was I Sung-man (generallyreferred to as Syngman Rhee in English lan-guage transcripts). He was forced to flee Koreain 1912 in the face of Japanese aggression, andafter moving to the United States, he studied atHarvard and Princeton Universities. After hisappointment, he declared the Republic of Korea,and made no secrets about his desire for reu-nification. In the North, of course, there arose“Peoples’ Committees” to purge North Korea ofall “reactionaries” and “enemies of the state andpeople”. Under these conditions, local electi-ons were held on August 25. However, in kee-ping with communist ideals of democracy, the-re was only one candidate, namely Kim Ir-sen.He immediately proclaimed the Democratic Pe-oples’ Republic of Korea, finalizing the divisionof the Korean peninsula. While the Soviet Unionfully armed and, through advisors, trained theNorth Korean army, the United States generallyregarded South Korea as outside of its realm ofinterest in the geographical area. As expressedon January 12, 1950, US Secretary of State DeanAcheson, the United States was willing to extendprotection only to Japan, Okinawa and the Phili-ppines. The same sentiment was echoed earlierby General Douglas MacArthur, the top alliedmilitary official in postwar Japan. This all led toNorth Korean officials to the interpretation thatthe door to occupying the southern part of thepeninsula was wide open, and that the UnitedStates wouldn’t lift a finger to stop them.The South Korean army was an essentially li-ghtly armed force, ill-equipped to resist the for-ce of ten divisions, two mechanized regimentsand an independent tank brigade with 258T-34/85s and Su-76 self propelled howitzers.The air force, under the leadership of Major Ge-neral Wang Yon, had 239 aircraft, out of whichat least 122 were combat. These assets werespread out over a fighter, ground attack andtraining regiment. The inventory sported theYak-9P and Il-10, with the older Yak-7s and La-7shaving been retired by the time the attack tookplace. In some Il-10s on captured airfields, flightmanuals were found which had notes writtenin them in Russian right up to June 27, and sowere delivered before the invasion. In all, some190,000 men at arms were massed, along witha huge number of Chinese ‘Peoples’ volunteers’that were ready to deploy in aid of their ideolo-gically sympathetic neighbor.The AttackNorth Korea took its southern neighbor comple-tely by surprise. Not so much by the attack it-self, because many experts and observers weremore or less expecting it, but by the overall sco-pe of the entire operation. Very early morning onSunday, June 25, 1950, virtually the entire NorthKorean army went into swift action, supportedby artillery and eventually, the air force as well.The lightly armed South Koreans could do littlein the face of such a force, lacking a tank force,artillery and air assets. It was nothing short ofa miracle that what South Korea could musterin defense bravely held a line for three days thatprevented the taking of Seoul. However, NorthINFO Eduard19July 2022Page 20
Korean forces quickly advanced south down theleft flank. Which begs the question, why werethe South Koreans so weak compared to theNorth?The last American units left the Republic ofKorea on June 29, 1949, and only 482 militaryadvisors remained under the command of Ge-neral W. L. Roberts. Contrary to the massive ar-ming of North Korea by the Soviets, the UnitedStates was significantly stingier towards theSouth. The American view stipulated that theSouth Korean army should only be as large asnecessary to maintain order in country, and notso large as to put stress on a devastated econo-my or present a perceived threat to its northernneighbor. It was decided that the South Koreanarmy would have 65,000 men to maintain orderand patrol the border, 4,000 patrolling the coast,and 35,000 policemen would be providing inter-nal support.After their departure, the Americans left behindmilitary supplies that were to last the South Ko-rean army a minimum of six months, and furthersupplies of equipment and light weapons werepromised. The request by South Korea’s Ministerof Defense, Sin Sung-Mo, in 1949 for the supp-ly of 188 M-26 Pershing tanks was denied, andrepeated requests by the county’s presidentI Sung-Man for the F-51 Mustang were as well.The heaviest weapon that the United States waswilling to supply the South Korean Army withwas the 81mm M1 Mortar.Although the South Korean Air Force came intoexistence on October 10, 1949, in April 1950,it only had 1,859 personnel, and at least so-mewhat qualified pilots numbered just 39.All they had at their disposal were light courierand training aircraft. Specifically, there wereeight L-4 Grasshoppers, five Stinson L-5 Senti-nels and three T-6 Texans. These were based atKimpo (K-14) and at Seoul’s airport (K-16). Otherbases used included Suwon (K-13), Taegu (K-2),Kwangju (K-7), Kunsan (K-8) and Chej-do (K-39).Pilots of these light aircraft bravely went intocombat after the attack began. In all, after thefirst three days, they flew 123 combat sorties,during which they dropped some 500 hand gre-nades on the enemy, along with 274 15kg bombsof Korean manufacture, either dropped by handor from improvised bomb racks. Besides that,165 reconnaissance and liaison flights weremade. By July 27, 1953, when the armistice wassigned, the ROKAF had 118 aircraft including 78F-51D Mustangs and 11,500 personnel. Some 39South Korean pilots had over one hundred mi-ssions flown each, while seventeen would bekilled in action.Retired Major General Claire L. Chennault, le-gendary commander of the Flying Tigers anda big supporter of anything opposing the expan-sion of communism in Asia, recommended de-livering 25 Mustangs to the ROKAF before thewar, but General MacArthur , Supreme AlliedCommander in the Far East dismissed the ideaon the basis that such equipment would not berequired for maintaining domestic peace andwould only serve to promote a war betweenNorth and South Korea…The only thing that the South Korean presi-dent was able to secure was a promise to traina number of selected pilots on the F-51D. Thesearrived in Japan in early 1950 and fell under thetutelage of Captain James P. Becket, member ofthe 36th FBS from Itazuke Air Base. For this pur-pose, ten Mustangs retired from USAF servicewere gifted to the ROKAF. It was necessary tobasically start from square one, because it hadbeen a long time since the South Korean pilotshad flown combat aircraft, not even taking intoaccount the differences in flight characteristicsfrom lighter Japanese equipment. The trainingof these pilots was far from complete at the timeof the attack…Immediately following the North Korean attackon South Korea, the United States requesteda United Nations Security Council meeting. Thisled to a proclamation that labeled the attackHISTORYphoto: Author’s Collectionphoto: U.S. Air ForceINFO Eduard20July 2022Page 21
as illegal according to Resolution S/1501 andcalled for an immediate ceasefire. Neverthele-ss, North Korean forces advanced quickly, re-sulting in the UN’s declaration of North Korea asthe aggressor state and subsequently issuingResolution No.83, calling on member states tooffer military aid to the nation attacked. Directmilitary support was offered by sixteen nations,and four air forces. Three of these committedMustangs to the fight – the United States, Aus-tralia and South Africa.The FEAF: Too far awayThe Far East segment of the USAF was labeledas the FEAF (Far East Air Force) and its nearestassets suitable for the war in Korea were lo-cated in Japan and on Okinawa. The term“nearest”, though, needs some qualification.For example, the base at Itazuke, which housedthe 8th FBG, was some 700 km (almost 450 mi-les), giving a round trip of 1,400 km (900 miles).For American Shooting Stars, this was not justaround the corner. This distance was achieva-ble, but would only allow an average of somefour minutes over the target.FEAF Commander, Lt. General George E. Stra-temeyer was on vacation in Nagoya with hisfamily at the time of the attack. His deputy,Major General Earle E. Partridge (CO of the5th AF and at the time holding the temporaryrank of Lieutenant General) on learning of theattack, immediately called for the initiation ofPreparatory Operational Plan No. 4, callingfor the evacuation of American citizens fromKorea. The first aircraft that would see servi-ce directly associated with the war were C-54Skymasters and C-47 Skytrains of the 374thTCW (Troop Carrier Wing) out of Itazuke. In theafternoon hours of June 25, 8th FBW CO Col.John M. Price, under whose jurisdiction the374th TCW fell, proclaimed that his units wereready and able to fulfill all tasks assigned to itas of the following morning. But the followingmorning held out hope that the South Koreansmight be able to stall the North Korean advan-ce. As a result, the plan for a rapid evacuationby air from Seoul was replaced by one trans-porting the evacuees to leave on a Norwegianmerchant ship. Strictly in the name of caution,68th and 399th F(AW)S (all-weather squad-HISTORY5th AIR FORCEItazuke, Kyushu8th Fighter-Bomber Wing8th Fighter-Bomber Group (F-80)35th Fighter-Bomber Squadron36th Fighter-Bomber Squadron80th Fighter-Bomber SquadronJohnson AB, Honshu3rd Bombardment Wing (L)3rd Bombardment Group (B-26)8th Bombardment Squadron13th Bombardment SquadronNagoya AB, Honshu347th Fighter AW Wing347th Fighter AW GroupTachikawa AB, Honshu347th Troop Carrier Wing347th Troop Carrier Group (C-54)6th Troop Carrier Squadron22nd Troop Carrier SquadronYokota AB, Honshu35th Fighter-Interceptor Wing35th Fighter-Interceptor Group (F-80)39th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron40th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron41st Fighter-Interceptor Squadron339 Fighter AW Squadron (F-82)8th Tactical Reconnaisance Squadron, photo (RF-80)Misawa AB, Honshu49th Fighter-Bomber Wing49th Fighter-Bomber Group (F-80)7th Fighter-Bomber Squadron8th Fighter-Bomber Squadron9th Fighter-Bomber Squadron12th AIR FORCENaha AB, Okinawa51st Fighter-Interceptor Wing51st Fighter-Interceptor Group (F-80)16th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron25th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron26th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron4th Fighter AW Squadron (F-82)Kadena AB, Okinawa31st Photo Reconnaissance Squadron, VLR (RB-29)Anderson AFB, Guam19th Bombardment Wing (M)19th Bombardment Group (B-29)28th Bombardment Squadron30th Bombardment Squadron93rd Bombardment Squadron13th AIR FORCEClark AFB, Luzon18th Fighter-Bomber Wing18th Fighter-Bomber Group (F-80)12th Fighter-Bomber Squadron44th Fighter-Bomber Squadron67th Fighter-Bomber Squadron21st Troop Carrier Squadron (C-54)6204th Photo Mapping Flight (RB-17)Note: As of May 31, 1950, FEAF possessed 1,172 aircraft, as follows:73 B-2627 B-2947 F-51504 F-80 (of which 423 were F-80C)42 F-82179 Transport Aircraft48 Reconnaissance Aircraft252 Othersphoto: U.S. Air ForceINFO Eduard21July 2022Page 22
rons) F-82 Twin Mustangs were dispatched forpatrol flights over Seoul and Inchon. They wereattacked by pairs of North Korean fighters (ei-ther La-7s or Jak-9Us), but not authorized tofire, they were able to take advantage of theirperformance to refuse the combat.Eleven C-47s and two C-54s were able to take--off in the face of a worsening situation fromItazuke on the morning of June 27. Their pro-tection was the job of Twin Mustangs, whiletop cover was also provided by F-80 ShootingStars. The air evacuation was carried out fromthe bases at Kimpo and Suwon, and by the timethe sun came down, 851 personnel had beenevacuated.Seoul became a point of North Korean attenti-on on June 28, and at that point, so far hesitantAmerican president Harry S. Truman orderedthe 5th AF to gain air superiority and to providedirect air support to ground forces. With that,he opened the door to the use of American airpower in the Korean War. The same day, Gene-ral Partridge and his deputy Edward J. Timber-lake came to the conclusion that further ope-rations would require aircraft with long rangeabilities capable of taking off from unprepa-red airfields in Korea and would be capableof conducting attacks against ground targetswith high levels of precision and effectiveness.This led to the first instance of suggesting thedeployment of Mustangs and all units in the5th AF were that same day asked to securevolunteers to finish training of the Korean pi-lots and ultimately train more ROKAF pilots incountry. At the same time, they were to providesome limited air support to UN ground forces.The request for these pilots came to Col. VirgilL. Zoller, Commanding Officer of the 35th FIW.The FEAF specified that they were looking forten qualified Mustang pilots, four security offi-cers and a hundred groundcrew to begin theproject named Bout one, which fell to the com-mand of major Dean Hess.(3Urgent: looking for Mustangs!With the exception of Twin Mustang all weatherunits, all combat units at the time of the invasi-on were stationed in Japan and were alreadyequipped with jets. Some Mustangs in Japanstill could be found, but they were gradually be-ing scrapped or sent back to the United States.About thirty examples were at the TachikawaAB, while others were found at Johnson AB (to-day Iruma), and some units used them as targettugs or for pilots to maintain a level of profici-ency, who did not want to part with the aircraftdespite flaying jets already.(4These aircraft were hurriedly prepared fortheir final service call due to the given circu-mstances. In some cases, they needed to gothrough a major overhaul with their enginesand airframes “nulled” (receiving new log-books that included zero flight hours logged),because in many cases, there were no longeravailable any records of individual aircraft.Many of the aircraft lack parts of their radioequipment, and other items. There were casesHISTORYNorth Korean Air Assets at theBeginning of the War:Yonpo (K-27) Sinmak (K-20) Pyongyang (K-23) Note: these figures were supplied by a North Koreanpilot who defected just prior to the war.photo: U.S. Air ForceINFO Eduard22July 2022Page 23
HISTORYwhere in a formation of two flying aircraft, onehad radio equipment but lacked a compass,while the other was in the exact opposite situa-tion. To top it off, there were not nearly enoughrequired Mustangs in Japan, so FEAF requestedthe transfer of more aircraft from the UnitedStates.Although Mustangs had been withdrawn fromuse within USAF units, they did form the bulk ofequipment with the National Guard units, whichmade it one of two main sources of Mustangsfor the war in Korea. The other source was thestorage facility at McClelland AB. Selectedunits of the National Guard were immediatelyordered to transfer 79 F-51Ds to the naval yardat NAS Alameda and storage facilities “turnedup” another 66 pieces. All 145 Mustangs werecrated in protective black “cocoons”, and pla-ced on board the Essex Class carrier USS Boxer(CV-21). The Boxer had returned to San Diegoafter its third postwar cruise in the Pacific onthe same day that war erupted in Korea, June25, 1950. Instead of planned maintenance andneeded repairs, she left immediately after be-ing loaded up on July 14. The cruise was atta-ched to the previous operation, Task 500717. Theship’s commander was Capt. John B. Moss, whowas supposed to hand the reigns of the Boxerover to his successor, Cameron Briggs, but wasrequired to extend his service for the durationof this transport mission. The 9,000km (5,600mile) journey was made in record time, lastingsome eight days and seven hours. Besides theMustangs, she also carried seventy NationalGuard pilots, five L-5 observation planes and 19US Navy aircraft.First BloodThe first Mustangs left Japan for Korea on theafternoon of June 29. These fell under Bout Oneand were ones from these donated to the RO-KAF. General MacArthur the same day set outfor Suwon (Base K-13) in his personal C-54Bataan, in order to familiarize himself with thetactical situation at an operational briefing.High cover for his flight was provided by F-80sfrom the 8th FBW while F-82s stuck close to hisplane. American pilots in four F-51Ds bearingKorean markings followed independently, butonly with a small time offset.Immediately after landing, MacArthur met withAmerican Ambassador John Mucci and Presi-dent I Sung-man. During the meeting, the basewas attacked by North Korean Il-10s. Their ti-ming coincided with the arrival of the four afo-photo: U.S. Air Forcephoto: U.S. Air ForceINFO Eduard23July 2022Page 24
HISTORYrementioned F-51s, and two of the Il-10s wentdown in short order, courtesy of 2nd Lt. Orrin E.Fox while 1st Lt. Harry T. Sandlin shot down one.Both of these pilots hailed from the 80th FBS, anda fourth Il-10 was downed by 1st Lt. Richard Burnsof the 35th FBS. Some sources identify Fox’s andSandlin’s victims as either Jak-9s or La-7s in-stead of Il-10s. One probable kill was attributed to1st lt. Eugene R. Hanson (36th FBS), and this waslikely a Yak-9. Sadly, three of these volunteersdidn’t live to see the end of 1950. Burns, Sand-lin and Hanson all were killed after returning totheir units and to flying the F-80s. In fact, duringthe first year of the war, seven of the original tenAmerican Bout One pilots perished…The Korean Peninsula was under the control of the Japanese as of 1905, something supp-orted by an agreement with Great Britain whereby Britain agreed to recognize Japaneseinterests in the area in exchange for Japanese recognition of British interests in China.Under this umbrella of agreements reminiscent in some ways of other shameful Britishacts of diplomacy (such as the Munich Agreement that betrayed Czechoslovakia in 1938),was followed by the Treaty of Portsmouth which secured similar such recognition fromthe Russian Empire, and the Taft-Kacur Memorandum that ensured more or less thesame from the Americans. This developed into there being nothing stopping the Japane-se from establishing a protectorate over Korea in 1910, who’s first Japanese Governor--General was Terauchi Masatake. The Japanese removed Korean Emperor Sunjong andgradually took over all the major posts in the country. Japanese rule brought with it hun-ger, torture and slavery. Korean Christians were crucified and burned. Peaceful protestsfor freedom in 1919 were brutally put down and around 550 people were murdered. TheJapanese did what they could to basically eradicate the Korean identity. Schools weretaught exclusively in Japanese, publishing in Korean was outlawed, it was forbidden tostudy Korean history and there were Korean book burnings. Hundreds of thousands ofKoreans were sent to Japan or her occupied territories for forced labor and many Ko-rean women were forced into sexual slavery for the benefit Japanese soldiers. Koreanmen were forced to fight in the ranks of the Japanese, and at times, the Chinese, army.The end of the Second World War signaled the end of thirty-five years of the tyranny.Already in November, 1943, the Cairo Conference declared the independence of Korea asone of its objectives in the war against Japan, and Koreans could thus hope for peace andprosperity immediately after the end of hostilities. However, the situation would traveldown a different road…photo: US Defense Imageryphoto: U.S. Air ForceINFO Eduard24July 2022Page 25
POSTAVENOHISTORYThe F-51D became the only single engine piston poweredfighter bomber used by the USAF in the Korean War andfulfilled similar missions to that of the Navy or Mari-nes Corsairs (in the F4U-4, F4U-4B, F4U-5N, F4U-5NL,F4U-5P and AU-1 versions). Also, among the initial su-ggestions was the use of the F-47 Thunderbolt, but thatwas never realized. There were several reasons for this,despite the robust and high-performing “Jug” seeminglike the perfect candidate for such an operations in Ko-rea. One reason was that throughout the entire Air Force,there was only a single training unit still flying this type,and there was uncertainty surrounding the ability to puttogether enough aircraft for the required service. To topit off, there were no sources of spare parts for the Thun-derbolts in Japan, contrary to the situation surroundingthe Mustang. FEAF commander General Stratemeyerpushed stubbornly and persistently for the F-47. USAFChief of Staff General Hoyt Vandenberg didn’t definitelyturn down the requests until May 4, 1951, almost a yearlater! The reasons that Stratemeyer so yearned for theF-47 stems from the fact that, as was confirmed, theMustang was first a fighter. That was its role in the Se-cond World War. Mustangs certainly played the part ofa strafing machine without question, but they were notthe ideal weapon for that role. The cooling system and thelength of its coolant system piping meant that the Mus-tang was more vulnerable to small arms ground fire. TheThunderbolt, with its air-cooled radial, would be moresuited to the types of conditions that low level ops gene-rated, even with its complex turbocharger. Stratemeyer’sopinion was certainly not a case of mere theorizing. Thevulnerability of the Mustang did extract a heavy toll onits numbers. Some monthly losses of F-51Ds amountedto over a half of aircraft lost. As an example, April, 1951,anti-aircraft batteries brought down thirteen F-80s, twoThunderjets and 25 Mustangs…After his return to Japan, MacArthur learnedthat Australian Prime Minister Robert G. Men-zies offered the services of No. 77 Squadron,which fell under FEAF. This was good news, be-cause it meant another thirty Mustangs readyfor action and transfer to the area within a fewshort days.Bout One: First Out of the Panand Into the FireThe remaining six Mustangs from the trainingprogram of South Korean pilots with freshlyapplied ROKAF markings left for Korea on July2. In their cockpits this time were six Koreanpilots. As the originally trained Korean pilotswere not ready for combat, the most experi-enced ones arrived from Korea and hurriedlymade themselves familiarized with Mustangwithin just a couple of days. It was far from ide-al, as they flew just one or two training flightswith the aircraft they have never flown before.The ability of these pilots to reach their desti-nation safely raised some concerns. Also theiraircraft were not in the best shape as they wereserving as a tugs for the tow targets, whichwas hard duty and also their maintenance wassomehow compromised… Anyway, the thingswent well and all the Mustangs ladned safely atTaegu, completing the Bout One gathering of tenMustangs. Ten American pilots of the unit wereready to fly them in combat, while sixt Koreanpilots were to be gradually trained with someready to get into action immediately. (5Combat missions were initiated next day alrea-dy, where first and foremost, the unit CO, MajorHess, excelled. He tirelessly flew several mi-ssions per day. Despite having combat experi-ence gained in the Second World War, the sixKoreans didn’t possess full control of the reig-ns over their Mustangs. The biggest issues forthem were caused by the aircraft’s high wingload, which tended to extract a certain tax fromits pilots. Colonel Lee Gun Suk, experiencedwartime pilot, who is even credited with up to23 kills in some Korean sources (although thisis unlikely), couldn’t pull out of his dive afterattacking a North Korean tank. He crashed andwas killed…The lack of proper training of the Korean pilotsalso somewhat complicated their operations.Taegu was crowded with transport aircraft,and the Koreans usually flew out of Chinhaephoto: U.S. Air ForceINFO Eduard25July 2022Page 26
HISTORY(K-10) and landed at Pusan-West (K-1). Fromthere, they would be flown back by transportand Americans flew the Mustangs back to K-10.There were concerns that the South Koreanswould have some difficulty utilizing the shortrunway at K-10.Probably, the most well known event to comeout of Bout One occurred on July 11, 1950, whena pair of aircraft led by CO Dean Hess (the otherpilot being Lt. Timberlake) took off under rainyconditions fully armed and loaded with rocketsand bombs to attack a North Korean armoredcolumn on a narrow mountain road that, inturn, had its sights set on the American 25thInfantry Division. Hess ordered Timberlake toattack the rear of the convoy while Hess fo-cused on its front. “We plugged up both of theends of the convoy with bomb craters and truckwrecks so that they couldn’t move”, remarkedHess later. They then circled above the convoyuntil more Mustangs from Taegu and F-80s andB-26s from Japan arrived. The pair then headedback to Taegu, was refueled and rearmed, andconducted another attack. And then once moreafter that. When Hess turned for home that lasttime, they left the wrecks of 117 trucks, 38 tanksand a high number of dead North Korean troopsbehind. General Partridge proclaimed this to bea key point in the war a day later.Dallas SquadronWhile Mustangs were being gathered in the Uni-ted States in preparation for transport to Korea,it was also necessary to prepare pilots fromunits that had by now flown mainly jet poweredaircraft. Although the USS Boxer had broughtsome seventy National Guard pilots for its tripto Japan, and many of these were experiencedvets, the plan was to have three pilots for eachaircraft to stay true to the adopted system andcharacter of the entire operation. It was anti-cipated that each aircraft would fly severalmissions per day. Therefore, on July 3, GeneralStratemeyer ordered that the 13th AF, at ClarkField in the Philippines , choose 18th FBG pi-lots to commit that had until recently flown theF-51D. Out of this came a unit that was dubbed‘Dallas Squadron’. The bulk of its personnelcame from the 12th FBS, and all remaining ai-rworthy Mustangs in Japan were reserved forit, being readied for transfer to Korea at John-son Air Base. This unit was to absorb Bout Oneat Taegu and thus form the 51st FBS(P), a unitwith ‘provisional’ status. Because the situationhad brought about more airworthy Mustangs onthe Japanese islands, conversions of pilots andpersonnel from the 40th FIS of the 35th FIG wasalso initiated. During this process, F-80 Shoo-ting Star flights continued over Korea, and weremoved there without the interruption of actionon July 14. They began to fly out of Pchohang(K-3) at the beginning of August. It didn’t takelong for the Mustangs to get some respect. Ge-neral Timberlake, with significant acknowled-gement, proclaimed one Mustang flying out ofTaegu was worth four F-80s out of Japan. Theusefulness of the Mustang was echoed in a me-moir by Major Harry Moreland, CO of the 51stFS(P): “I was in a two-ship flight and we weregoing to run the road between Seoul and Taejonand hit anything we could find. Our first targetwas a couple of North Korean trucks that wephoto: U.S. National Archives and Records AdministrationINFO Eduard26July 2022Page 27
POSTAVENOHISTORYDean Hess, at the time of the attack on PearlHarbor, was a priest and preached to his parishi-oners in Cleveland. After the attack, he came tothe realization that he couldn’t ask them to fightfor their homeland without leading by example.Since he had been fascinated by aviation froman early age, he signed up for the Aviation Cadetprogram and became a pilot. In 1944, he was as-signed to go to France, where he flew 63 combatmissions in a P-47D. After the war, Hess returnedto the priesthood and also started his postgra-duate studies. In July, 1948, he was recalled foractive duty and at the time of the North Koreanattack on South Korea, he was serving in Japan.He voluntarily accepted the command functionfor Bout One, which became the first USAF aircombat formation in Korea, at Taegu. By June,1951, it had flown 250 combat missions. Duringthis period, they also launched an unofficial pro-gram to evacuate orphaned Korean children andescort them to safety ahead of advancing Chine-se troops. Among the reasons for this initiativewas the unhappy event that occurred in Decem-ber, 1944 during a raid on Kaiserslautern, whenhe and Bill Myers attacked a railroad station withtheir P-47s. While dropping their two 1,000 poundbombs each, one of Hess’s failed to separatefrom the rack, and only did so a few momentslater. Hess learned a day later that the bomb hita nearby building that was an orphanage, and 37children were killed. His guilt then followed himfor the rest of his life. His Thunderbolt carried theLatin inscription “Per Firem Volo” meaning “WithFaith I Fly”, and in Korea, his Mustang carried thesame slogan in Korean. From out of the numberof his bold actions, we will mention a solo acthe performed that rescued an eighteen-strongAmerican patrol from a North Korean siege withsome “extreme” close air support. He repeated-ly attacked in a manner that would open up anescape route to safety for the soldiers. For thisaction, he received the Silver Star. But perhapsan even bigger praise came from the communistradio propagandists called “Seoul City Sue”, whodubbed him the Barbarian from Chinhae (fromthe time when Bout One flew from this base).Dean Hess published his memoirs in 1957 underthe title “Battle Hymn”, and on its basis, a filmwas shot with Rock Hudson in the starring role.The royalties from the book and the movie wereused to build a new orphanage near Seoul in 1961.Hess ended his active service career in 1969 asa Colonel and passed away at the age of 97 onMarch 2, 2015, and two years later, the SouthKoreans built a monument to him on the islandof Jeju, where the orphans had been evacuatedto. Next to his name on the monument are thewords:Hero of the Korean WarGodfather of the R.O.K Air ForceFather of War Orphansphoto: U.S. Air Forcephoto: U.S. Air ForceINFO Eduard27July 2022Page 28
HISTORYstrafed and then hit with napalm. There wasmuch activity on the roads, and right after wehad headed back to the south I spotted a hugehaystack in the middle of a field that had treadmarks leading up to it. I made a low-level passand could see that it was a tank that had beenhastily covered with hay. Since we had usedup our napalm, we decided to see what our0.50-cal machine guns could do to it. We could-n’t get through to the tank, but our rounds setthe hay on fire. We made a few low passes righton top of the haystack in order to fan the flameswith our prop wash. The flames literally cookedthe tank as we circled and then there wasa large explosion. We had destroyed the tankwith our machine guns”.5)Tough ServiceThe biggest burden to befall the Mustang pi-lots ended up being tactical air support at lowaltitude. Their weaponry, besides the machi-ne guns, included 2.5 and 5-inch rockets, 500pound incendiary or fragmentation bombs andnapalm tanks. Targets were tanks, artillery po-sitions, troop concentrations, and storage faci-lities. Mustang pilots had to overcome severaldifficulties over the course of those first opera-tional days. They flew over unfamiliar territory,lacked proper navigation charts (although, asit turned out, more detailed army maps werewell suited to the rough, local terrain) and mostimportantly, there was a lack of qualified TACP(Tactical Air Control Party) that would haveaided greatly in vectoring to targets. Personnelselected for the task lacked experience and theknowledge needed about aerial tactics, resul-ting in their efforts usually causing confusi-on amongst the pilots. This brought about theformation of the 6147th TCS (Tactical ControlSquadron), known as “the Mosquitoes” whichflew out of Taegu in L-5, L-17 and T-6 aircraftto mark targets. Some pilots were attached toground units at the same time to ensure grea-ter accuracy in guiding aircraft to their targets.For pilots, this was an unexpected rough bit ofservice…Many credit the Mustang for saving UN for-ces at the most critical time, when they werepushed into the Pusan pocket. They were ableto effectively turn the tide against the North Ko-reans with especially their napalm tanks, oftendelivered with unnerving precision.photo: Imperial War Museumphoto: U.S. Air ForceINFO Eduard28July 2022Page 29
A Fighter Once MoreAlthough the Mustang was used primarily asa mud mover, it could, of course, handle anypiston engine aircraft that the enemy posse-ssed. For example, on August 3, 1950, two 67thFBS pilots shot down (one each) North KoreanYaks, and the unit got another a week later.On November 1, 1950 pilots from the 67thFBS/18th FBW two North Korean Yaks south ofSinuij. That day, though, something more signi-ficant transpired. A six ship formation of F-51sescorted Invaders attacking the airfield at Si-nuiju (K-30). They encountered six jet poweredaircraft with swept wings. This gave the Mus-tang the honor of being the first to go into com-bat against the Soviet MiG-15, probably fromthe 28th GIAP/151st GIAD. The pilots flying theMustangs managed to come through withouta loss, but this was the day the allies lost com-plete air superiority over the Korean peninsula.The next such encounter occurred November 7,when a quartet of the 36th FBS was bounced bya like number of MiGs, whose pilots apparent-ly anticipated an easy time of it. However, theexperienced F-51 pilots were able to maneuverthe MiGs into a position where Captain HowardTanner damaged one. Hits were administered toanother pair of MiGs sporting Chinese markingsand these chose to break off the engagement.In contrast, the Mustangs returned to base wi-thout a scratch! In a bit of an ironic twist, ele-ven 8th FBG Mustangs were damaged beyondrepair as the result of a night raid on the baseat Pchjongjang by Po-2 biplanes on the night ofNovember 28.South African pilots of No. 112 Squadron alsohad “the pleasure” of encountering the MiG-15s.On July 8, 1951, the “Flying Cheetahs” were am-bushed by twenty Chinese aircraft. Thanks tosome wild maneuvering at low level, they wereable to hold on until the Sabre cavalry arrivedto save the day. Among them was an aircraft pi-loted by Francis Gabreski, who on this occasiongot his first kill of the Korean War and addedto his 28 total tally from World War Two. WhenSouth African Mustangs tangled with MiG-15son March 20, 1952, they failed to repeat theirearlier no-loss result. During an attack ona rail line between Guangdong and Sunjong,they were attacked by six MiG-15s. Lt. DaveTaylor, flying an F-51, disengaged from thebattle after being hit and was not seen again.Lt. Henslin, however, was credited with one MiGdamaged. There were several similar engage-ments, of course, but there were no cases thatan F-51 could be without a doubt credited witha MiG-15 kill.The fighting morale on the part of the Mustangpilots is evidenced in the death of 67th FBS Co-mmanding Officer Major Louis J. Sebille, who’sMustang (44-74394) was hit several times in anattack on an artillery position on August 5, 1950.To top it off, one of his bombs failed to release.POSTAVENOHISTORYMajor Louis Joseph “Lou” Sebillephoto: U.S. Air Forcephoto: U.S. Air ForceINFO Eduard29July 2022Page 30
HISTORYAlthough another pilot, Captain Martin Johnson,warned him against another attack, Sebille pro-claimed: “I'll never be able to make it back. I'mgoing back to get that bastard.” He then reallydid return to the enemy concentration insteadof returning to base and in a suicidal attack, andabsorbing more hits in the process, he fired atthe communist troops with his machine guns,ending the attack by impacting the artillery po-sition. For this act, he was the first American inKorea to be awarded the Congressional Medal ofHonor, the highest of American medals.Similar acts of heroism by American Mustangpilots in Korea are many. Many of them didn’ttake the loss of fighter status in comparisonto modern jets, nor being relegated to groundattack duties in obsolete World War Two aircraft,very well. But their determination to fulfill thetasks asked of them was in no way degraded,nor did any technical issues with the equipment.One such problem was the lack of A-2 GroundPower Sources, essential for starting the engi-nes. There was also a shortage of A-13A oxygensystems, or P-1 helmets. Some pilots even flewwith football helmets and headsets!Mustangs flew direct air support missions allthe way to February, 1953, when the last unitfinally converted onto the Sabre. This was theSouth African No. 2 Squadron, under the 18thFBS. Up to the end of hostilities, both the 10thAir Combat Squadron and the 1st Fighter WingROKAF flew them, and they were used for re-connaissance by the 45th TRS in the USAF.Notes:1) Dean Rusk became U.S. Secretary of State in the JohnF. Kennedy and subsequently Lyndon B. Johnson cabi-nets. He was instrumental in the diplomatic resolving ofthe Cuban Missile Crisis.2) After the end of hostilities, Charles H. Boneste-el III served as a Special Assistant to the Secretaryof State. It was his idea to split Korea along the 38thParallel. During the Korean War, he commanded Ame-rican Armed Forces in Korea and between 1966 and1969 he commanded the 8th Army stationed in Korea,a function he fulfilled during several smaller conflictsknown as “the Second Korean War” that occurred in thedemilitarized zone (Korean DMZ Conflict).3) Interest in the command over Bout One was shownby Major Charles Bowers and Major Dean Hess. The de-cision was finally made basically a coin toss, in Hess’sfavor.4) Determining the exact number of available F-51DMustangs in Japan at the beginning of the Korean Warwas difficult. Sources differ considerably. The officialfigure is placed at 47 and comes from official USAF do-cumentation.5) Several articles have claimed that the-re were ten Mustangs in Korea when thewar began, there to train Korean pilots.In fact, on June 25, 1950, no Mustangs in Korea couldbe found.6) F-51 Mustang Units of the Korean War, WarrenThompson, Osprey Publishing, Bloomsbury PublishingPlc, 2015Bout OneJuly 3 – 15, 1950Then to December 1, 1950Special Group operating with ROKAF markings, commanded by Major Hess. In connection with Project DallasSquadron formed the 51st FBS(P). After being divided, the unit continued to serve as a ROKAF unit right up to thebeginning of December, and after that, a portion of its personnel formed the combined Korean-American unitBaekgu (April 3 – May 31, 1951Dallas SquadronJuly 10-15, 1950The unit was formed using mostly pilots and personnel from the 12th FBS. After uniting with Bout One, they formedthe 51st FBS(P). After the disbanding of Bout One, the unit returned to the 18th FBG as the 12th FBS.51st FBS(P)July 15 – August 5, 1950The merger of Bout One and the Dallas Project created the 51st FBS(P), a provisional unit, from which aircraft anda portion of the personnel of the original Bout One returned to service in the ROKAF. Subsequently, the entire unitwas disbanded on August 5, and again became the 12th FBS, falling under the 18th FBG.8th FBGAugust – December, 1950All five units, the 35th FBS, 36th FBS and the 80th FBS, re-converted onto the F-51D and moved to Korea in Octo-ber. By December, they were returned to Japan where their pilots moved onto Shooting Stars.18th FBGAugust 1950 – January, 1953This unit held on to their Mustangs the longest in the USAF (with the exception of the reconnaissance unit 45thTRS). It was made up of the 12th FBS, 67th FBS, and No. 2 Squadron, SAAF, the latter being integrated into the uniton November 18, 1950. In February, 1953, it was the last 18th FBG unit to exchange its Mustangs for Sabres. As ofMay, 1951, the 39th FIS from the 35th FIG also operated under its jurisdiction.35th FIGJuly 27, 1950 – October 6, 1952This was the first unit to be moved to Korea to begin operations. The 39th FIS and the 40th FIS converted to theMustang, while the 41st FIS remained in Japan with their F-80s, and their duties within the Group were handled byNo. 77 Squadron, RAAF (remaining until July 30, 1951, when it rearmed with the Meteor and was integrated into the4th FIW). From May 7, 1951, the 39th FIS fell under the command of the 18th FBG. Remaining units of the 35th FIGwere withdrawn to Japan on May 25, where these was a recycling of personnel and equipment and the F-51D onlyremained with the 40th FIS, serving as an Operational Training Unit (OTU).49th FBGJuly – September, 1950The Mustang saw only a short service career with this unit. Its component units were the 7th FBS, 8th FBS and 9thFBS. Although operations were initiated by July, by the end of September, their pilots were again flying F-80s.45th TRS/67th TRW3. 12. 1950 – 10. 1. 1953This reconnaissance unit, falling under the 67th Tactical Reconnaissance Wing, was activated as early as Sep-tember 3, but didn’t receive its Mustangs until December 3. It flew with standard F-51Ds, as well as the cameraequipped RF-51D. On July 1, 1951, the 67th TRG lost its Commanding Officer in action, Karl F. Polifka, a renownedUSAF expert on aerial reconnaissance.photo: Republic of Korea Armed ForcesINFO Eduard30July 2022Page 31
POSTAVENOHISTORYReferencesBooksDOWN IN THE WEEDS–CLOSE AIR SUPPORT IN KOREA,William Y´Blood, PICKLE PARTNERS PUBLISHING, 2002F-51 MUSTANG UNITS OF THE KOREAN WAR, WarrenThompson, Osprey Publishing, Bloomsbury PublishingPlc, 2015MUSTANGS OVER KOREA, THE NORTH AMERICAN F-51AT WAR 1950-1953, David R. McLaren, Schiffer MilitaryHistory, 1999KOREA–THE AIR WAR 1950-1953, Jack C. Nicholls& Warren Thompson, Osprey Publishing Ltd, 1991Publications, Articles and Documents:NATIONAL MUSEUM OF THE UNITED STATES AIR FORCE –Korean War 1950–1953, Teacher Resource GuideThe Korean War, National Archives and Records Admini-stration, Reference Information Paper No. 103, compiledby Rebecca L. Collier, 2003United States Air Force Operations in the Korean Con-flict (declassified), Department of the Air ForceThe Flying Parson by Don Bedwellinternetwww.nationalmuseum.af.milwww.historynet.comwww.142wg.ang.af.milwww.usa.govwww.saairforce.co.zawww.koreanwaronline.comwww.7af.pacaf.af.milAlthough No. 77 Squadron RAAF served withinthe FEAF, the unit did not fall directly underAmerican command. The unit was based at Iwa-kumi and when the war began in Korea, the unitwas winding down its tour of duty and preparingto head home. The situation was changed whenthe Australian government offered the unit’sservices to the war effort on June 30, divertingAustralian Mustangs to fight in Korea. Already onJuly 2 at 0500h, they took off for their first task,an escort mission for C-47s carrying woundedsoldiers. This was followed a day later by a com-bat mission. During this mission, though, therecame an unfortunate circumstance, whereby theAustralians were vectored to a transport traincarrying South Korean and American troops.The subsequent attack killed 28 Koreans and anAmerican, and many other soldiers were injured.The first combat loss suffered by the Australianscame on July 7, which claimed the life of Squad-ron Leader Graham Strout. His Mustang tooka direct hit during an attack on a railroad stati-on in Sanchok and exploded. Just two days later,No. 77 Squadron also lost its CO, W/Cdr. LouiseT. Spence, in a napalm attack on Angang. He wasunable to pull out of a dive and impacted in thecentre of the town. The Australians moved ontoKorean soil on October 12. Among their notableactions is an attack on the Chinese commandcentre in Pyongyang on January 19, 1951. Theattack was carried out by two nine-ship forma-tions the first of which delivered a pair of 1,000pound bombs each and four HVAR rockets, andthe second wave carried napalm tanks and therockets. The multi-storey building was leveled,but the Australians lost one aircraft. Its pilot,Lt. Harvey, survived and was taken prisoner.The intensity of the fighting at the time can besummed up by the destruction of 1,282 enemytrucks that fell victim to Australian Mustangsjust through January, 1951. On February 21, No.77Squadron received its first Meteor F.8s. Beforethe conversion to the jet was complete, the Aus-tralians flew 3,800 sorties with their Mustangs,with the loss of eight pilots and eighteen aircraft.photo: National War MuseumINFO Eduard31July 2022Page 32
“Detector, three-two-eight, air zone three,requesting air combat training.”“three-two-eight, Detector, You are cleared!”“three-two-eight, roger and entering attack”I remember the callsign “Detector” from thetime I was in the active duty as a pilot at thePilsen-Bory airfield and the radio correspon-dence above is more less consistent with late1980s rules of then Czechoslovak Air Force.Whether it would also correspond to the rulesat the time the 18 Fighter Air Regiment was loca-ted at the oldest Czechoslovakian airfield I don'tknow, but the radiocommunication phraseologydon't change too much. Likewise, I don't knowif the Bory airfield had the call sign ”Detector”in the early 1950s. However, such a correspon-dence must have preceded the start of an aircombat training. The pursued pilot flew on a pre-determined trajectory, the pursuer performeda run on him and recorded everything on his guncamera. After the first phase they usually swit-ched roles, and at the end a standard dogfightmight open between them. All this after properpre-flight preparation, because there must beorder in everything done in the air...From the very beginning, the Avia S-199 wasconsidered just a transitional and stop-gapfighter aircraft. No one was going to pretendthat this new type, the heir to Messerschmitt'sin many ways ingenious design, was going toreplace Spitfires or Lavochkins because it wasbetter. It was neither faster, nor more reliable,nor more agile. Full aerobatics with the Mule,as it was called, was not for the faint hearted,some of the more demanding maneuvers, suchas stall turn or a roll-on-top were dangerouswith the S-199, according to the pilots' memo-ries, but the basic ones, such as the looping orthe roll, were flown routinely and the pilots usedthem, of course, in practicing aerial combat. Onesuch combat training is depicted on the boxartof the kit Cat. no. 70151. The aircraft with fuse-lage code EX-57 is quite well documented pho-tographically and an illustration of it can also befound on the pages of Letectví & Kosmonautika(Aeronautics & Cosmonautics) magazine in oneof their older volumes. On this illustration theaircraft is portrayed wearing darker green colorand white-edged insignia, while in our kit it isshown in a lighter shade and with blue-edgedemblems. Who is wrong? Neither of us, bothare correct! The aircraft crashed on landing onAugust 14, 1952, and was damaged. So, it wassent for repairs. The crash photo shows it inlight green-gray livery with blue-edged insignia.Another later photo shows it already in darklivery on an apron next to other aircraft. The newcoat was apparently given to it during repairs.This was not unusual, as many Mules underwentnot only a change of color but also technical mo-difications during their service. These includedthe position of the main gear wheels, the repla-cement of the oil cooler with a heat exchangeror the change of the original Erla side-openingcanopy for a sliding one. The new semi-bubblecanopy improved the pilots' view and offeredmore space inside the cabin.Many modelers remember the boxart of theAvia S-199 kit of Kovozávody Prostějov company,showing the aerial duel of two Mules. This plas-tic model kit was released by the manufacturerfrom Prostějov town in 1977. It was their tenthrelease and the drawing by Jaroslav Velc conti-nued the level of art quality of his previous bo-xarts. All of them could boldly compete with thegreatest masters in the field at that time. Andso, when we were thinking about the concept ofa boxart of our new Mule with a “bubble” cano-py, we decided to freely follow Mr. Velc's work.So, with our boxart, we are now looking at theoriginal scene, but this time from the other side.However, to keep our own line as well, the air-craft in the picture are different. In the 1977 dra-wing, the one coded IF-01 is pursuing an aircraftcoded IF-02, while in our case the pursuer is theEX-57 and the target is EX-58. What has beenretained is the optically tilted horizon and thesharp maneuver of the escaping pursued air-craft. Both create the awesome dynamic scenethat was already so pleasing with the original.So, it's very much our homage to the originalillustration, as well as a demonstration of howwe've developed in drawing technique over theyears. Old-timers will forgive...“two-six-four, me three-two-eight, ending andreturning to base.”“three-two-eight, two-six-four roger.”“Detector, three-two-eight, request formationreturn from air zone three.”“three-two-eight, Detector, cleared to formationreturn, base leg entry separately.”“three-two-eight, roger...”In 1953, aerobatics on the S-199 were bannedand so the fighter training was severely re-stricted. Even so, pilots could at least continueto practice classic aerial attacks or live fire ona tow target. All this until much more advancedMiG-15s started to dominate the Czechoslovakskies. But many pilots, even when flying thesejets, were still thinking well about these unrelia-ble and pigheaded Mules...BOXART STORYText: Richard PlosIllustration: Adam ToobyAir combAt#70151INFO Eduard32July 2022Page 33
BOXART STORYThe first combat-deployed version ofthe legendary Zero was the A6M2 Type11. It was a fighter aircraft designed forground-based operations. Therefore,it did not sport the folding wingtips, anarresting hook, nor was it equipped witha DF antenna and associated radio equi-pment. Mitsubishi produced a total of 65examples of these between December1939 and November 1940.The Zero Type 11 was successfully deplo-yed on the Chinese front beginning inthe summer of 1940 as a part of the 12thKōkūtai from airfields in China and fromautumn 1940 with the 14th Kōkūtai frombases in French Indochina. By Septem-ber 1941, fighters from both units had shotdown a total of 103 aircraft and destroyedanother 163 on the ground. Three Zeroswere lost in combat, but they were all shotdown by anti-aircraft fire. The Zero funda-mentally changed the balance of power inthe air war on the Chinese battlefield. Butthe Allies downplayed the news from Chi-na until December 7, 1941.The first Zeros of the 12th Kōkūtai arrivedat Hankow Air Base in occupied China onJuly 21, 1940. Six aircraft under the com-mand of Lt. Tamotsu Yokoyama were soonfollowed by nine Zeros under Lt. SaburōShindō. The airmen were busy with trai-ning and operational tests under field con-ditions. One of the main problems was toimprove engine cooling.It seems that the Chinese had some infor-mation that the Japanese Navy engageda new type of fighter. The Chinese had sofar been effective in attacking Japanesebomber formations if they got out of rangeof escorting fighters. This problem wasone of the reasons why the Japanese Navyrushed to introduce the Zero into service.On their first combat mission, on August19, 1940, the Zeros escorted a formation of54 G3M bombers to Chungking. The Chi-nese fighters avoided combat due to theground observer warnings and subse-quent radio communications. During thenext two escort flights, the Chinese adver-saries were equally cautious.For the fourth mission scheduled on Sep-tember 13, 1940, the Japanese decided tochange tactics. The raid was again direc-ted at the Chungking area. The formationof 13 Zeros was led by Lt. Shindō, who wasalso leader of the 1st Chūtai. Lieutenant(jg) Aya-o Shirane was the leader of the2nd Chūtai. The Chinese sent 19 PolikarpovI-15s from the 4th Pursuit Group, sixI-15bis from the 3rd PG, and nine I-16s fromthe 24th Pursuit Squadron.The Japanese bombers dropped their loadwithout being attacked by enemy fighters,and the Zeros escorted them back to safe-ty. A reconnaissance plane reported thatChinese fighters were spotted betweenPi-shan and Chungking. The Zero pilotshad been waiting for this moment for se-veral weeks and immediately turned tomeet the enemy. They made an attack fromthe sun, the first to be hit were the I-16sthat provided top cover. The machine oftheir commander, Capt. Yang caught fire.The Zeros immediately attacked the bi-planes flying below and in the first run thecommander of the entire Chinese fighterformation, Col. Cheng was wounded.The fight lasted 30 minutes and the Japa-nese claimed 27 victories. This was not farfrom the truth, as the Chinese lost 13 air-craft and 11 others returned with damage.Ten pilots were killed and eight sufferedinjuries. After this battle the Chinese co-mmand temporarily suspended combatoperations of its fighter units.The Japanese recorded damage to onlythree Zeros. One of them was hit by Lie-utenant Kao, You-hsin of the 21st PS, asa Japanese pilot was about to open fire onanother I-15bis. Kao later flew I-16, P-43,P-40 and P-51 fighters. He scored hiseighth and final victory in May 1945.All the Japanese pilots who took part inthis legendary battle scored at least onevictory each. CPO Koshirō Yamashita de-stroyed five fighters and four were clai-med by PO2c Yoshio Ôki.The illustration by Piotr Forkasiewiczshows one of the moments of the air battleover Pi-shan. The Zero, designated 3-165,was Yamashita's personal machine, but onSeptember 13, it was flown by his wingman,PO2c Toshiyuki Yoneda, who scored onevictory in the battle. This airman, whoselast name is also transliterated as Sueda,was a veteran of combat in China, wherehe flew A5M fighters. He earned a total ofnine victories and was killed on October 6,1943, at Kōkūtai 252 while fighting US Navyaviators off Wake Atoll.Text: Jan BobekIllustration: Piotr ForkasiewiczThe air battle over Pi-shan#82211INFO Eduard33July 2022Page 34
The aircraft of the fighter ace Hans Dorten-mann have already appeared in our kits se-veral times. The first one was the Fw 190 A-6“Black 7” of 2./JG 54. It was in this plane thatin February 1944 he crossed path with thefighter ace Capt. I. M. Astakov of the 49th IAP.Later it was his famous Fw 190 D-9 “Black1” from IV./JG 26 (formerly III./JG 54) whichwas probably the longest serving Dora in theJagdwaffe.Hans-Joachim Dortenmann was born onDecember 11, 1921, in Weingarten, Württem-berg. He joined the armed forces in Decem-ber 1939. In early 1940 he was assigned asa machine gunner to the 1st Kompanie, In-fanterie-Regiment 390. This regiment sawheavy fighting on the Maginot Line and Dor-tenmann's 1st Kompanie was the only part ofit to complete the entire French campaign.At the beginning of June, he received theIron Cross 2nd Class.In 1941 Dortenmann received pilot trainingfrom A/B Schule 2 and in 1942 from A/BSchule 116. The latter unit recommended hisfurther specialization in single-engine ortwin-engine fighters. He therefore under-went fighter training with JG 103 and finallywas transferred to the operational trainingunit of EJGr. Ost, which specialized in Eas-tern Front battlefield.In mid-October 1943 he was finally as-signed to a combat unit. He reported to3./JG 54 “Grünherz”. In early December hewas transferred to 2./JG 54 and on February6, 1944 he managed to achieve the first vic-tory mentioned in the introduction. By April1944 he had gained fourteen confirmed vic-tories.On June 5, 1944, his 2nd Staffel was assignedto III./JG 54, which fought in Western Euro-pe and fought in Normandy after the Alliedlandings. The move to the western battle-field from the Eastern Front took the livesof many German fighters before they couldadapt to the different conditions and com-bat tactics. But Dortenmann succeeded, andwhen his Staffel commander fell, he him-self took over command on June 17. Underthe cockpit of his Red 1 was the inscriptionHascherl 1, which in Swabian dialect means“catcher”.He achieved his first success on the so--called Invasion Front in the evening of June22, 1944, shooting down a P-47 near Rouen.Two days later, on June 24 in the morning,Dortenmann was in another battle nearÉvreux. Three squadrons of Mustangs IIIfrom the No. 122 Wing were flying at 2,000meters when a formation of Fw 190s fromIII/JG 54 and II./JG 26 plus Bf 109s fromIII/JG 26 attacked them from above. The RAFpilots claimed seven Fw 190s destroyed andone damaged plus one Bf 109 destroyed. Oneor possibly two Bf 109s were shot down inthis fight and one bailed out pilot was shotat by a Mustang. Fw 190 pilots from II/JG 26reported three kills, but only two were con-firmed. Dortenmann's III./JG 54 reported sixkills, of which Hptm. Emil Lang rather op-timistically claimed four, while at least twoFw 190s were shot down.In this battle Hans Dortenmann was the firstairman to achieve a victory. He attackeda Mustang at an altitude of 1,800 meters.First he hit the enemy in a left turn froma distance of 80 meters and some bits of theBritish machine fell off. Then he attacked thesame plane again, some 30 meters from therear and below. As a result of his fire, largepieces fell off the lower fuselage. The Mus-tang crashed in a field at 7.15 and exploded.Dortenmann and Uffz. Schleef, who confir-med his victory, stated that the pilot stayedin the cockpit.No. 19, 65 and 122 Squadron RAF took partin the fight, but only No. 65 Sqn. sufferedlosses. Four Mustangs did not return fromthe fight. Three pilots managed to surviveand make it to the unit, these were F/Lt B.W. Clapin, F/Sgt E. T. Williams and Sgt. D. C.Webb. Dortenmann's probable victim wastwenty-three-year-old F/Sgt William ArthurSummer, who did not survive the fight.He is buried in the Dreux Communal Ceme-tery.Dortenmann was shot down two days laterwith his Red 1 in a dogfight near Paris butbailed out. At the end of December 1944 hebecame commander of III./JG 54 and on NewYear's Day 1945 led it in Operation Bodenpla-tte. He achieved a total of 38 victories, com-pleted 150 combat sorties and was awardedthe Knight's Cross in April 1945. With eigh-teen kills on the Fw 190 D-9, he was probablythe most successful fighter pilot of this type.BOXART STORYText: Jan BobekIllustration: Piotr ForkasiewiczCatcher 1#7463INFO Eduard34July 2022Page 35
BOXART STORYAerobatics is an attractive discipline bothfor pilots and spectators, although not flownwith full-blooded aerobatic special aircraft.Even a Z 126 Trenér can put on a very niceshow. And when the Z 226, the first versi-on of the Trenér powered by a six-cylinderengine proved how good it is at aerobatics,a line of single-seater aerobatic specialswas started alongside the two-seater versi-ons. The Z 226 A changes were minor com-pared to the two-seater , it had just frontcockpit covered and new shortened canopyfor rear one. Its successors, the Z 226 AS,Z 326 A or Z 526 A were also just slightlymodified versions of their two-seater count-erparts. Then the Z 526 AS “Akrobat Special”brought in some more significant changes.For example, the deletion of the flaps. Andwhen the M 137A aerobatic engine was de-veloped, the Z 526 AF version with a shor-tened fuselage was introduced, followed bythe Z 526 AFS, which in addition receiveda shortened wingspan with twin differenti-ated ailerons. It was the last of a breed of theaerobatic specials based on the Z 26 series.The next step was the brand-new Z 50L.Among the 45 examples of Z 526 AFSs pro-duced, the aircraft with serial number 1219,was produced in 1972 and allocated for theneeds of the aerobatic national team. It re-ceived the OK-CXB registration and waspainted with a specific golden-brown shade,which was, to be honest, more brown thangolden. That's why the aircraft came to becalled the “Brownie”. In the late 1970s, theaircraft was stripped of this not-so-flatte-ring nickname thanks to the new livery itreceived during an overhaul. It then flew inthe red and white livery typical of most Z 526AFS and continued to serve with the nationalteam. In the second half of the 1980s, it ranoff its aerobatic flight hours and, althoughthese aircraft were later given extendedaerobatic life, the new owner decided not to“torment” his aircraft and kept it registeredas the Normal category aircraft, which me-ans no reversed flying or no turns exceedingbank of 60°. It's a bit like having a thorou-ghbred racehorse used to run the most de-manding steeplechases and just letting himto ramble around the meadow. But, in otherhand, older thoroughbreds often need sucha treatment… The aerobatic Z 526 AFS, ho-wever, has mostly met a different fate – be-ing harnessed “to the plough”, i.e., convertedto the tow version Z-526AFS-V, which wasalso the case with OK-CXB.In 1993, this aircraft was assigned to the Ho-lešov Aero Club and 15 years later it under-went an overhaul, during which it receiveda completely new silver-red livery in whichit still flies today. However, just a year laterit was sold to a private owner and its newhome became the airfield Frýdlant nadOstravicí. The aircraft was then often usedas a tug during sailplane races. Three yearsago, the then owner decided to sell it off.At that time, Stanislav Jirmus and his sonTomáš Jirmus made an air trip from theirhome Tábor Aero Club, as they were invitedto a barbecue party at another Aero Club.And there Stanislav Jirmus heard that therewas a nice Akrobat for sale in Frýdlant fora decent price. That was on Saturday.On Sunday Tomáš was on the phone, onMonday he went to Frýdlant and on Thursdaythe plane was in Tábor. It was just love atfirst sight!The drawing by Antonis Karydis on the boxof the kit Cat. No. 84185 shows OK-CXB so-mewhere over the South Bohemian land-scape. It shows it in the company of Blaníksailplane and with a tow rope attached, butit is true that Tomáš Jirmus rarely makesa tow with his “darling”. Rather, he enjoysflying it for pleasure. And something moreabout the owner of OK-CXB: Tomáš is thenephew of two-time world champion PetrJirmus, he is a commercial airline pilot, andhe is a senior instructor at AK Tábor. He isalso called “Stanislavovich” in his circle offriends – after his father, also an active pilot,who is Deputy Head of Flight Operations atTábor Aero Club. Tomáš Jirmus is also acti-vely involved in one very charitable activity,namely the organization of annual air me-etings called the Czechoslovak Aircraft Ga-thering. Here, within the organizational teamled by Michal Masař, Tomáš carries on theduty of Flight Director. This year's event tookplace at the airport in Rakovník, next year itwill be somewhere else. If you would like tocome and see, for example, the largest civi-lian group flypast that can be seen in CzechRepublic, keep an eye on their website www.scsl.cz. There you will find out about the dateand place of the 2023 event at the earliest.And maybe you will see OK-CXB live there!Text: Richard PlosIllustration: Antonis KarydisThe South The SouthBohemian DandyBohemian Dandy#84185INFO Eduard35July 2022Page 36
The artwork featuring the duel between theblack and white striped German aircraftand the French Spad appeared on the co-ver of the Albatros D.V kit in the ProfiPACKedition in 2002 and became one of the mosticonic illustrations in Eduard's history.It was created by our friend Martin Novotný,who tragically died on June 12, 2009. Martincreated a series of beautiful illustrationsfor Eduard, characterized by his distinctivestyle and flair for history and aviation de-sign.When the kit was first released, the blackand white striped machine was attributedto Oblt. Bruno Loerzer, commander of Jas-ta 26. This pilot achieved 44 victories duringWorld War I and became commander of Ja-gdgeschwader III and holder of the presti-gious Pour le Mérite order. Before WorldWar II he was Kommodore of JG 53, shortlyafter the outbreak of the war he becamecommander of the II. Fliegerkorps andin 1940 was awarded the Knight's Cross.In recent years, the interpretation of thepattern of this Albatros has shifted. It ishighly probable that its pilot was not Loer-zer, but the Bavarian officer Lt. Dannhuber.He is sometimes listed as Xavier Dann-huber, but in contemporary documentshis real name is recorded as Franz Xa-ver Dannhuber. Sometimes his first nameis even written in the archaic form Haverinstead of Xaver. When he died in Hamburgin 1960, his name was listed on the funeralnotice as Franz Danhuber. The family didnot forget to mention that he was a Knightof the Royal House Order of Hohenzollernwith Crown and Swords.Dannhuber was born on January 27, 1891,in Gars am Inn, Bavaria. Before WW I heserved in the Königlich Bayerisches 1.Infanterie-Regiment “König” and Kgl. Bay-er. 3. IR “Prinz Karl von Bayern”. After thestart of the fighting, he was assigned withthe rank of Unteroffizier to the newly esta-blished Ersatz-Bataillon in Munich withinthe Kgl. Bayer. 1. Reserve IR. He went to thefront with this unit as soon as August 1914,but soon fell ill and did not get to the frontagain until September of the following year.In July 1916 he began his flying trainingand at the end of October he was as-signed to Kampfstaffel 35b within Kagohl 6.In February 1917 he was promoted to therank of Leutnant and began fighter trainingon 8th May. After its completion on 25thMay he was assigned to Jasta 26, whosecommander at the time was Oblt. BrunoLoerzer.Since June, Jasta 26 fought in Belgiummainly against British and Belgian air-men. But there were also clashes with theFrench. An example of this was Loerzer'ssuccessful engagement on August 16, 1917,near Langemarck, when he managed toshoot down a Spad from Escadrille SPA3 “Cigognes”. Just a few days earlier, onAugust 12, 1917, Dannhuber had scored hisfirst kill, claiming the destruction of a Bri-tish balloon at Vlamertinghe. On the mor-ning of August 17, he than achieved his firstaerial victory over enemy airplane as hemanaged to shoot down an FE.2d of No. 20Sqn. RFC near St. Julien. The Canadian pi-lot Lt. W. H. Joslyn and his Scottish gunnerwere killed. Joslyn had seven victoriesto his credit, including the five-victory aceLt. Alfred Ulmer of Jasta 8.A second enemy ace fell victim to Dannhu-ber on October 1, 1917. South African Lt. Ro-bert Hugh Sloley of No. 56. Sqn. RFC fell ina dogfight between twenty German fightersand a group of SE.5 and Bristol Fighters.The legendary James McCudden watchedSloley's SE.5 circling amidst four Albatrosscouts with the black and white markingsof Jasta 26. One of them was Dannhuber,who got 25 yards behind the British machi-ne and shot off its tail surfaces. The hel-pless Sloley spinned to the ground nearWestroosebeke, Belgium.A week later, on October 9, Dannhubermanaged to shoot down yet another ace.In an afternoon engagement at Zonnebeke,he claimed a Spad, in fact a Nieuport XXVIIof No. 1 Sqn RFC piloted by Capt. W. T. V. Ro-oper, who had eight victories to his credit.Dannhuber brought his tally up to ten killsin October 1917 but had to be hospitalizedat the end of the month and was assignedto Jasta 76b in mid-November. In mid-Ja-nuary 1918 he took command of Jasta 79b,but a month later he was injured in a crashand did not enter combat with this unit un-til early October 1918, when he achieved hiseleventh and last victory.BOXART STORYText: Jan BobekIllustration: Martin NovotnýThe TheAlbatros Albatroswith starswith stars#8113INFO Eduard36July 2022Page 37
BOXART STORYOne of the most successful Italian figh-ter pilots of World War II, Ugo Drago, wasborn on March 3, 1915, in Arborio in Vercelliprovince. He studied physics and obtainedhis civilian pilot's license in the summer of1938. In the autumn he joined the air force,became a military pilot in March 1939. Twomonths later he joined 363aSquadriglia,150oGruppo C.T.He took part in the attack against France inthe spring of 1940 and during the autumnwas involved in the fighting against the Gre-ek airmen. He entered the war in the cockpitof a Fiat CR.42, but in the spring of 1941 be-gan flying a Macchi C.200. By the end of theyear, he had four victories and 150 combatsorties.At the end of 1941 he began flying in NorthAfrica and in June 1942 he would be appo-inted commander of 363aSquadriglia andheld this post until the summer of 1943, du-ring the defense of Sicily and Pantelleria.At that time 363aSquadriglia re-equippedwith Bf 109 G fighters and Drago shot downtwo American Spitfires.After the Armistice, Drago refused to jointhe Luftwaffe, was captured, imprisonedand headed in a transport to a German pri-son camp. However, he managed to escapeand went into hiding for a period of time.After the formation of the Aeronautica Nazi-onale Repubblicana, Drago volunteered forservice and was appointed commander of 1aSquadriglia in the newly formed IIo GruppoCaccia. The unit was initially armed with FiatG.55s, but later re-equipped with Bf 109 Gsand was redesignated as 4aSquadriglia “GigiTre Osei”. Drago scored additional 11 victo-ries including two four-engined bombers.He achieved his last victory on March 23,1945, while covering the take-off of the Ara-do Ar 234 from Kommando Sommer. SevenBf 109s from 4aSq. took off from Aviano baseat 8.50. The formation split into a trio and afoursome. The top cover of the three Bf 109swas led by s. ten. Felice Squassoni, but hesoon had to return due to technical pro-blems and his role was taken over by ten.Amedeo Fagiano. The lower flying foursomewas led by Drago and one of his wingmenwas serg. m. Loris Baldi. Over Campoforidoat 9.25, Fagiano spotted a large formation ofThunderbolts with bombs from the 85th FS,79th FG, he alerted the commander, beganto gain altitude and got into a brief fight withtwo Americans.Meanwhile, Drago hit P-47D-28 s/n42-29310; its pilot bailed out near Tarcen-to. Local farmers hid him from the Germanpatrol and later secured medical treatment.A doctor removed shrapnel from his thigh,leg and arm. According to Italian sources,he evaded capture, but American sourcessuggest he ended up in a prison camp inGermany.The Americans were caught by surprise bythe attack of the six Bf 109s. They saw theircolleague try to escape by split S. Therewas white smoke coming from his machi-ne. When he leveled off, he dropped bombs,rolled the machine onto its back and bailedout.The American pilot was 2.Lt. Jack Faires andhe was born on February 19, 1922, in FortMorgan, Morgan County, Colorado. Aftercompleting three years of high school, hejoined the Air Force in March 1943. He flewa total of 26 combat sorties and received theAir Medal and Purple Heart for his actionsand combat injuries. He was released fromcaptivity in the summer of 1945 and returnedto the United States the following year.He and his wife Esther, whom he marriedin 1944, brought five children into the world.Jack Faires died on March 12, 2011, six yearsafter the death of his wife. He is buriedin Westminster, Adams County, Colorado.However, the shooting down of his Thun-derbolt resulted in a dispute at the “GigiTre Osei” unit. Baldi was convinced that hehad shot down the American and refusedto sign a witness report to his comman-der. The Thunderbolt was initially listed asa probable kill, but after a few days its statuswas changed to two certain kills. Baldi thusscored his fifth victory and Drago scoredhis last, seventeenth. Ugo Drago flew a totalof 385 combat sorties during World War IIand received the Medaglia d'argento fourtimes.When his unit laid down arms on April 26,Drago agreed to work with local partisansto keep the area safe for the local populati-on. After the war he went to Argentina whe-re he worked as an instructor on Fiat G.55and G.59 aircraft and from 1953 he flew forAlitalia. He died in Rome on 22 April 2007.Text: Jan BobekIllustration: Adam ToobyThe last kill of Ugo Drago The last kill of Ugo Drago#82164INFO Eduard37July 2022Page 38
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S-199.389, por. Jaroslav Plecitý, 3rd Squadron, 18 Fighter Air Regiment,Pilsen-Bory, August 1952S-199.253, rtn. Jiljí Horák, Air Regiment No. 5, Plzeň-Bory, February 1950S-199.182, Police Air Patrol, vrch. stržm. Josef Sobota,Praha-Ruzyně, December 1949The aircraft was assigned to the Air RegimentNo. 8 located in Brno on March 28, 1949. There, rtn.(sergeant) František Bauer collided with another air-craft (S-199.97) during taxiing, but the aircraft suffe-red no damage. But the aircraft did not avoid damagefinally, as it was crashed on September 15, 1949, byrtn. Josef Jiroušek. The causation of the crash re-mains unclear. The airframe was repaired, and theengine overhauled. After that, the aircraft was as-signed to the 18 Fighter Air Regiment, where it wasassigned to the 3rd Squadron and received the fuse-lage code EX-57. On August 14, 1952, it was damagedon landing. After the crash, it was painted a darkergreen color as part of the repairs, but the fuselagecode remained the same.This aircraft was flown by rtn. (sergeant) Jiljí Horákwhen it was forced to an emergency landing nearČervený Hrádek town on February 25, 1950. At thetime of the incident, the aircraft bore numerous sig-ns of wear and tear and repairs, the most visible ofwhich were the replacements of some metal partsof the fuselage left in bare-metal. There were alsoseveral areas of peeling paint on the aircraft. Afterthe emergency landing, the airframe went in for re-pairs and the engine for inspection. However, in Ku-novice factory, where the repair was carried out, theaircraft suffered another unspecified crash and hadto be repaired again. It was then handed over to thenext user, the 4 Air Training Regiment.The Police Air Patrol unit operated this aircraft atPraha-Ruzyně airport, where it was damaged duringtaxiing on December 6, 1949. The pilot, vrch. Stržm.(Chief Constable) Josef Sobota, collided with a fueltruck during taxiing. After December 23, 1950, pro-bably in March 1951, the aircraft was handed over tothe Air Force. By the time it had just 78 flight hoursrecorded during service with the Police Air Patrol.It was marked in typical coloring of this aviationcomponent of Czechoslovak Police, i.e., two-tonegrey paint scheme, complemented by a scarlet nose,wing leading edge and with scarlet horizontal tailsurfaces.KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard39July 2022Page 40
S-199.183, 1 Air Training Regiment, Olomouc, 1953S-199.334, ak. Milan Pohlodek, Air Military Academy, Hradec Králové, March 1950S-199.235, por. Jan Šurák, 2nd Squadron, 8 Fighter Air Regiment,Klecany, May 17, 1951This aircraft was taken over by the military admi-nistration on May 2, 1949, after being factory test--flown on December 9, 1948. It was subsequentlyhanded over to the Police Air Patrol, where it servedwith the OK-BYH matriculation. It stayed with thisaviation component until December 23, 1950, whenit was returned to the Air Force for a transfer priceof 364,000 CZK. During nineteen-months long servicewith Police Air Patrol, the aircraft had only 47 flighthours logged. Subsequently, the aircraft served withthe Air Force and was one of the few equipped withAFP 32.5/7×9 or AFP 12.5/7×9 cameras in the rearfuselage. These were protected on the ground andduring the flight, when not in use, by sliding covers.The aircraft served for an unspecified period withthe 1 Air Training Regiment in Olomouc, but trainingof the pilots was not conducted there on S-199s. Theaircraft served there as a teaching aid only, althoughit was airworthy. During February-April 1954 period itwas still in service with the 6 Fighter Air Regiment,based at Mladá airfield. The red spinner was proba-bly a remnant of the aircraft's service with the PoliceAir Patrol, so it was painted in scarlet color.Not much is known about the history of this “Mule”,but its service at the Air Military Academy in Hra-dec Králové, where it made an emergency landing onMarch 16, 1950, is certain. The pilot was a pilot-stu-dent, ac. (trainee) Milan Pohlodek. The airframe ofthe aircraft was cancelled after the accident, engineNo. 105 went for inspection. The damage cost wasestimated at nearly two million of Czech crowns. Aninteresting feature of the aircraft is the drawing of acrayfish on the bonnet of the engine, most probablypainted in red. It is not clear who the author was andon what occasion it appeared on the aircraft. Fromthe photographs of the crashed aircraft, it seemsthat the spinner was painted in white and blue, asthese were usual spinner colors of the Academy.Aircraft No. 235 was assigned to Air Regiment No. 7on May 17, 1949, where it was given the fuselage codeIV-4. In August of the same year, the aircraft under-went radiator repair and in January 1950 undercarri-age repair followed. Subsequently, the aircraft wastransferred to the 8 Air Fighter Regiment where itwas assigned to the 2nd Squadron and redesignatedMR-43. On May 17, 1951, it was destroyed in a crashcaused by engine jam due to insufficient oil level. Thepilot, por. (Lieutenant) Šurák, bailed out and savedhimself on a parachute. He suffered just minor arminjury. The aircraft crashed near Černíkovice villagein the Benešov district. The lack of oil was caused bythe fact that the aircraft's technicians were called toguard and so forgot to refill the oil tank.KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard40July 2022Page 41
OVERTREESOVERLEPT#70151X Avia S-199bubble canopy 1/72Product pageProduct pageRecommended:for Avia S-199 1/72672284 S-199 exhaust stacks PRINT (Brassin)672285 S-199 wheels PRINT (Brassin)672289 S-199 cockpit bubble canopy PRINT (Brassin)D72038 S-199 Czechoslovak national insignia (Decal Set)D72040 S-199 Czechoslovak stencils (Decal Set)#70151-LEPTAvia S-199bubble canopyLEPT 1/72Cat. No. 672289Cat. No. 672284Cat. No. 672285KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard41July 2022Page 42
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CPO Koshirō Yamashita, 12th Kōkūtai, Hankow airfield, China, September 1940Lt. Mitsugu Kofukuda, 14th Kōkūtai, Hanoi airfield, French Indochina, October 1940PO2c Hideo Ôishi, 12th Kōkūtai, Hankow airfield, China, March 1941This is an early production A6M2 Zero Type 11 withlonger rear canopy glazing, curved air intake underthe engine cowling and higher mounted exhausts.It was Koshirō Yamashita's personal plane. At thetime he flew with the Zeros at 12th Kōkūtai he wasalready thirty years old, yet he became the mostsuccessful ace of that unit. From 1927 he served asa fireman at the Yokosuka Naval Barracks. He be-came a fighter pilot in 1932. During the war againstChina, he served aboard the aircraft carriers Akagiand Ryūjō. In May 1940, he was assigned to the 12thKōkūtai and scored five victories on September 13during the first engagement of Zeroes against theenemy. His personal aircraft, 3-165, was piloted inthis action by PO2c Toshiyuki Yoneda and Yamashitaflew the 3-171. During the fighting in China, Yama-shita scored a total of ten victories. He later servedas an instructor with Kasumigaura, Tainan and TsuikiKōkūtai. In January 1944, he was assigned to Kōkūtai201 on the island of Palau and was killed on March 30in combat with US Navy aircraft.This is a late production A6M2 Zero Type 11 with shor-ter rear canopy glazing, standard air intake under theengine cowling and lower mounted exhausts. MitsuguKofukuda graduated from the Naval Academy in 1931.After fighter training, he served in several units, inclu-ding the aircraft carriers Kaga and Ryūjō. From June1938 until the end of the year, he served in China withthe 12th Kōkūtai. A year later he was assigned to the14th Kōkūtai, which received Zero fighters in the fall of1940. After moving to the Hanoi base in French Indo-china, Kofukuda's unit was able to engage in combatover southern China with new fighters. Lt. Kofukudawith his Zero 9-182 led a fighter escort in a raid onKunming on October 7, and his six-man formation ma-naged to shoot down 13 enemy aircraft. In June 1942he held the position of Hikōtaichō with the 6th Kōkūtai,which was to be based at Midway. The unit participatedin the fighting for Guadalcanal from August 1942 andwas redesignated Kōkūtai 204. From the spring of 1943until the end of the war, Kofukuda served mostly withthe Yokosuka Kōkūtai. He participated in the testingof the Heinkel He 100 and in the development of theMitsubishi J2M Raiden and A7M Reppu fighters. At theend of the war he was promoted to the rank of Com-mander. After the war he changed his name to Terufu-mi Kofukuda and worked for the police. He joined theJASDF in 1954 and retired in 1967 with the rank of Lie-utenant General. He died in July 1995 at the age of 86.This is an early production A6M2 Zero Type 11 withlonger rear canopy glazing, curved air intake underthe engine cowling and higher mounted exhausts. Hi-deo Ôishi, after serving on the aircraft carrier Hōshō,began his combat activities in 1938 aboard the air-craft carrier Sōryū. He was then assigned to the 12thKōkūtai and was among the pilots who delivered thenew Zero fighters to the Chinese battlefield in the su-mmer of 1940. During the famous battle of September13, 1940, Zero 3-173 was piloted by PO3c HatsumasaYamaya who scored two victories. Ôishi became fa-mous on October 4, 1940, when, during aerial combatsouth of Chengdu, he landed with three other pilotsat an enemy base and attempted to set fire to theparked aircraft. The 3-173 is marked with 14 victoriesachieved by various pilots. Ôishi shot down two pla-nes with it on March 14, 1941. After the disbandmentof the 12th Kōkūtai, Ôishi served with several unitsas an instructor and returned to combat in June 1944with Kōkūtai 201 in the Philippines. He was killed inaction over Cebu on September 12, 1944. He achieveda total of six victories.KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard43July 2022Page 44
PO3c Kunimori Nakakariya, 12th Kōkūtai, Hankow airfield, China, May 1941PO3c Masayuki Nakase, 12th Kōkūtai, Hankow airfield, China, May 1941This is a mid-production A6M2 Zero Type 11 with lon-ger rear canopy glazing, curved air intake under theengine cowling and lower mounted exhausts. Na-kakariya became a fighter pilot in March 1940 andthen within a year underwent further training andservice with Ôita, Ômura and Kanoya Kōkūtai. In April1941, he was assigned to the 12th Kōkūtai in China asa twenty-year-old but talented aviator. With 3-138,he achieved two victories over I-15 biplanes duringa long-range flight over Tiansu on May 26, 1941.In September 1941 he was assigned to the newlyformed 3rd Kōkūtai and, after fighting over the Phi-lippines and the Dutch East Indies, he was involvedin aerial combat over Australia until May 1943. Hethen served for a year as an instructor in the ÔmuraKōkūtai. In May 1944, he was assigned with the rankof Warrant Officer to Kōkūtai 653, which participatedin the Battle of the Philippine Sea with the carriersChitose, Chiyoda, and Zuihō. With this unit he tookpart also in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and then foughtfrom land bases in the Philippines. After returning toJapan, he was assigned to Kōkūtai 601. He achieveda total of 16 victories.This is a late production A6M2 Zero Type 11 with shor-ter rear canopy glazing, standard air intake underthe engine cowling and lower mounted exhausts. Na-kase underwent training with the Yokosuka Kōkūtaiand after completing fighter training in March 1938was assigned to the Ômura Kōkūtai. He then servedin China for six months with the 14th Kōtūtai but didnot come into contact with the enemy. In the summerof 1940, he was assigned to the 12th Kōkūtai as a Zeropilot. During an air battle south of Chengdu on Octo-ber 4, 1940, he landed with three other pilots at anenemy base and set fire to a command post. In ano-ther raid on Chengdu, this time on March 14, 1941, heshot down five I-15 biplanes and claimed as probable.He achieved three more victories over Nanzheng onMay 26 with the machine 3-143. From September 1941Nakase served with the newly formed 3rd Kōkūtai.He was killed on February 9, 1942, during an attackon a Dutch Army vehicle. He was posthumously pro-moted two ranks to the rank of Ensign and his namewas cited in the All Units Bulletin. He is credited with18 victories.KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard44July 2022Page 45
OVERTREESOVERLEPT#82211X A6M2 1/48Product pageProduct pageRecommended:for A6M2 Zero Type 11 1/48481076 A6M2 landing flaps (PE-Set)481077 A6M2 Zero (PE-Set)FE1238 A6M2 seatbelts STEEL (PE-Set)644128 A6M2 LööK (Brassin)644134 A6M2 LööKplus (Brassin)648693 A6M2 wheels (Brassin)648694 A6M2 engine PRINT (Brassin)648695 A6M undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)648698 A6M2 seat PRINT (Brassin)648721 A6M2 Model 11 exhausts early PRINT (Brassin)648723 A6M2 cannon barrels & cockpit guns PRINT (Brassin)648724 A6M2 landing flaps PRINT (Brassin)648763 A6M2 engine complete PRINT (Brassin)3DL48050 A6M2 SPACE (3D Decal Set)D48098 A6M2 stencils (Decal Set)D48100 A6M2 national insignia (Decal Set)EX821 A6M2 TFace (Mask)#82211-LEPTA6M2 Zero model 11 LEPT 1/48Cat. No. 648763Cat. No. 648698KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard45July 2022Page 46
RED TAILS & Co. DUAL COMBO1/48Limited edition kit of US WWII fighter aircraft P-51D Mustang in 1/48 scale.From the kit you can build Mustangs with or without dorsal fin assembly,flying with the four Groups (31st FG, 52nd FG, 325th FG and 332nd FG) fromthe 15th AF during WWII from Italy.plastic parts: Eduardmarking options: 12decals: EduardPE parts: yes, pre-paintedpainting mask: yesresin parts: noProduct page#11159KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard46July 2022Page 47
P-51D-20, 44-63237, Col. William A. Daniel, CO of 31st FG, 15th AF, Mondolfo,Italy, April 1945P-51D-5, 44-13382, Lt. James L. Brooks, 307th FS, 31st FG, 15th AF,San Severo, Italy, summer 1944P-51D-5, 44-13494, Lt. Walter J. Goehausen Jr., 308th FS, 31st FG, 15th AF,San Severo, Italy, summer 1944Even though 31st FG did not receive much publicityduring WWII the unit scored several unique achie-vements. Not only it was the first American fightergroup which went to combat in ETO, in addition it wasthe first American FG which landed in Algeria du-ring the Operation Torch (invasion to North Africa).Also, its pilots were selected to be the first Americangroup to land on Malta and Sicily later. William AllenDaniel while flying with 31st FG scored five confir-med kills of the enemy aircraft, last one was a Me262 shot down on March 24, 1945, during the escortof bombers to Berlin. By this deed he ranked among33 air aces who flew with this group.James Lynn Brooks, Binton, Virginia native, under-went the pilot training in 1942. After graduation hewas ordered to 307th Fighter Squadron operating inMTO. While he was with this unit, at that time flyingthe phenomenal Mustangs, he was credited with 13.5victories which made him a pilot with the highestkill score in this unit. He also flew in the Korean Warand after that he took a job as a test pilot. Same asthe other 31st FG Mustangs, also Brooks’ airplane,nicknamed February, sported the red stripes on itstail surfaces that helped the bomber crews to reco-gnize friendly fighters.After the previous deployment with VIII Fighter Co-mmand in Great Britain the 308th Fighter Squadronwas sent to Africa within the 31st FG under the 12thAF command. Here this unit took part in the supp-ort of the landings in Sicily, Salerno and at Anzio.In Great Britain its pilots flew Spitfires Mk.V but du-ring the Africa fighting they converted to the modernSpitfires Mk.VIII and Mk.IX. In April 1944 the 308th FS(together with the other 31st FG squadrons) was re--equipped with Mustangs which they flew within the15th AF escorting the four-engined bombers over thetargets in the occupied Europe and Germany as well.Walter John Goehausen was born on June 20, 1921,in St. Louis, Missouri. After his pilot training he wasordered to the 308th FS and while flying combat withit he scored ten kills of the enemy aircraft. Besidesthe oblique red stripes, the markings of the 31st FGaircraft, his Mustang, nicknamed Miss Mimi II, alsocarried the yellow stripes on the wings and the tailsurfaces which was the marking of the Americanfighters operating in the Mediterranean introducedin March 1943.KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard47July 2022Page 48
P-51D-5, 44-13261, Col. Marion Malcolm, CO of 52nd FG, 15th AF,Madna, Italy, April 1945P-51D-5, 44-13428, Lt. John B. Lawler, 2nd FS, 52nd FG, 15th AF,Madna, Italy, July 1944P-51D-5, 44-13287, Lt. William Parent, 4th FS, 52nd FG, 15th AF,Madna, Italy, August 1944The 52nd FG path to the Mediterranean battlefieldswas similar to the path of its sister 31st FG. Also, thepilots’ training was conducted on P-39 and P-40 air-craft followed by the transfer to Great Britain wherethe pilots flew Spitfires Mk.V. They fought with thistype during the landings in Africa, Sicily and Italy.In April 1944 the re-equipment to the Mustangs tookplace and the unit was transferred under the 15th AFcommand. The type of missions changed as well. The52nd FG pilots were to continue flying escorts for thefour engine bombers on their raids over the occupiedterritories, Germany and her Allies. Marion Malcolmassumed command of the 52nd FG on August 27,1944, and led the unit until the end of WWII. At theend of his tenure with 52nd FG, until his return tothe USA in August 1945 he flew his personal aircraftnicknamed Queen Marjorie.Because during the escort missions of the four--engined bombers the friendly fire on the escortingfighters took place often, the 52nd Fighter GroupMustangs carried for easier friend-foe recognitionthe yellow band around the fuselage in front of thetail surfaces. Later the whole tail was painted ye-llow. Sporting the yellow band at the end of July, thephotographer captured the aircraft of Norfolk, Virgi-nia native Lt. Lawler who on July 25, 1944, scored his10th and 11th kill as documented by the kill marksunder the canopy. John Barry Lawler christened hisMustang Candy II. His previous Mustang P-51C carriedthe name Candy. There is an Albert Vargas’ pin-upgirl drawing glued next to the vertical surface codeletter.On September 1, 1944, a flight by Maj. Wyatt P. Exummade this aircraft famous. Returning from the missi-on to Hungary this pilot landed near Lt. Charles Wil-son’s Mustang who had to make the emergency lan-ding due to the damage sustained during the attackon the train. He took the unhurt pilot into the cockpitand together they flew 400 miles back to the Madnaairport. William Parents’ Mustang sported the wholetailplanes painted in yellow, on the port it carried theinscription Pendaja and Miss Ruth on the starboard.KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard48July 2022Page 49
P-51D-5, 44-15284, Lt. Col. Felix L. Vidal, CO of 325th FG, 15th AF,Lesina, Italy, spring 1945P-51D-5, 44-13440, Lt. William R. Hinton, 317th FS, 325th FG, 15th AF,Lesina, Italy, September 1944P-51D-20, Maj. Norman L. McDonald, CO of 318th FS, 325th FG, 15th AF,Mondolfo, Italy, April 1945Felix Louis Vidal was born on July 22, 1912, in Ma-dison, South Dakota. After graduation from MadisonHigh School, he enlisted in the military academy inWest Point. After the graduation, he went through pi-lot training and when the USA entered WWII he heldthe staff and command posts. On March 2, 1945, heassumed command of the 325th Fighter Group andon June 6, 1945, Lt. Col. Wyatt P. Exum replaced himin this role. Felix Vidal's further career was associa-ted with the aviation and army and he retired in 1963with the rank of Brigadier General. He passed awayon July 16, 1983, in Brevard, Florida. During his tenurewith the 325th FG, nicknamed Checkertails due totheir recognition markings, Felix Vidal flew Mustangchristened Dusty Butt. On May 31, 1945, this airplanewas damaged during the crash.The 317th FS was activated on July 1, 1942, on RhodeIsland and after six months of the intense trainingon P-40, together with its sister squadrons from the325th FG it was transferred to North Africa. Whilethere it was put under the 12th AF command and fou-ght in Algeria and Tunisia. In the beginning of Sep-tember 1943, the unit started its conversion to P-47after which the whole group was ordered to bom-bers’ escorting missions under the 15th AF command.In May 1944 the unit started to fly Mustangs whichthey operated until the end of war. William “Billy”Hinton, the ace with five kills, christened his aircraftBALLZOUT II (the name BALLZOUT was also carried byhis first Mustang P-51C). The inscription was pain-ted together with his personal insignia in the form ofa spittin´ tiger.Norman Leroy McDonald was born on January 21,1918, in Framingham, Massachusetts and in the se-cond half of 1930s underwent civilian pilot training.He continued training with the Army Air Force whichhe completed in December 1941. In May 1942 he wasordered to the 52nd FG, namely the 2nd FS. With thisunit he flew in the North African campaign and af-ter he finished his tour of duty from October 1943he went through the conversion to P-47 in the USA.After that, he was sent to Checkertails on his ownrequest in August 1944. He assumed the command ofthe 318th Fighter Squadron and held this post untilJanuary 5, 1945. While he flew with the 318th FS headded four kills of the enemy aircraft to his 7.5 airvictories scored with the 2nd FS.KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard49July 2022Page 50
P-51D, Flt. Off. Charles A. Lane, 99th FS, 332nd FG, 15th AF, Ramitelli, Italy, March 1945P-51D-15, 44-15569, Capt. Roscoe C. Brown, CO of 100th FS, 332nd FG,15th AF, Ramitelli, Italy, 1945P-51D, Lt. Frederick E. Hutchins, 302nd FS, 332nd FG, 15th AF,Ramitelli, Italy, October 1944Charles Lane, St. Louis, Missouri native started hispilot training in 1943 in Tuskegee, Alabama. After itscompletion he was ordered to 99th FS where, untilthe end of war he completed 26 missions on P-47 andP-51. He continued in the military career after thewar and spent altogether 27 years flying fighters,transports and even B-52 bombers. In 1970 he reti-red with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. He passedaway in 2016. Same as the other sister squadronsof the 332nd Fighter Group, the 99th Fighter Squad-ron aircraft’ marking was the rear fuselage and tailsurfaces painted in eye-catching overall red whichhelped the crews of the escorted bombers to reco-gnize their own fighters. The marking gave the unitthe nickname Red Tails.Roscoe Conkling Brown was born on March 9, 1922, inWashington, DC. In 1943 he completed his bachelor’sstudies at the university in Springfield. The sameyear he enlisted in the USAAF, completed the trainingat the aviation school in Tuskegee after which he wasordered to the 100th FS where he flew combat mi-ssions until August 1944. During WWII he flew 68 mi-ssions and in June 1945 he was given the commandof the 100th FS. In 1945 he retired from the army airforce with the rank of Captain. Later he obtained hisPhD at the New York university and set on the aca-demic career path. For more than 25 years he wasa university of New York professor. He remainedactive in the field of education even after his reti-rement. He passed away on July 2, 2016. Brown’sMustang carried a numeral 7 on the fuselage nose,the inscription Bunnie of the port and Miss KentuckyState on the starboard. The last three digits of theserial number were painted above the fuselage na-tional marking.Frederick Emmanuel Hutchins was born on Sep-tember 16, 1920, in Donaldsonville, Georgia. On April29, 1943, he completed his pilot’s training in Tuske-gee and from December was deployed in Italy withthe 302nd Fighter Squadron. On February 5, 1944,Hutchins flew his first combat mission. On October6, 1944, his unit participated in strafing the targetsin Greece. During the attack on the airport MegaraHutchins’ Mustang was shot down and its pilot crashlanded on the Greek territory where he was saved bythe local population. He returned to his home base inRamitelli on October 23. His final score in WWII wasfour kills. He continued in the service including theKorean and Vietnam wars. All Mustangs flown byHutchins were christened Little Freddie and sameas all 332nd Fighter Group Mustangs sported the tailsurfaces painted red. The 302nd Fighter Squadronmarking within the group was yellow nose and twodigits numeral on the fuselage.KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard50July 2022Page 51
OVERTREESOVERTREESOVERLEPT#82101X P-51D-5 Mustang1/48#82102X P-51D Mustang1/48#11159-LEPTRED TAILS & Co.1/48Product pageProduct pageProduct pageRecommended:for P-51D Mustang 1/48FE1021 P-51D seatbelts STEEL (PE-Set)FE1141 P-51D-5 Weekend (PE-Set)644021 P-51D-5 LööK (Brassin)644030 P-51D-10 LööK (Brassin)644031 P-51D-15+ LööK (Brassin)644051 P-51D-5 LööKplus (Brassin)644052 P-51D-10 LööKplus (Brassin)644053 P-51D-15+ 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)3DL48003 P-51D-10 SPACE (3D Decal Set)3DL48004 P-51D-15+ SPACE (3D Decal Set)D48033 P-51D national insignia (Decal Set)D48034 P-51D stencils (Decal Set)EX663 P-51D TFace (Mask)KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard51July 2022Page 52
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Lt. Hans Dortenmann, 2./JG 54, Villacoublay, France, June 1944Ofhr. Walter Köhne, 3./JG 1, Bad Lippspringe, Germany, May 1944WNr. 172733, Uffz. Ernst Schröder, 5./JG 300, Löbnitz, Germany, October 1944On June 10, 1944, 2./JG 54 was withdrawn from theEastern Front and deployed to France to join III./JG54. On June 20, 1944, Hans Dortenmann assumedcommand of 2. Staffel JG 54. At that time, he flewa FW-190A-8 marked “Red 1” which sported the greenheart with the emblem of III. Gruppe under the coc-kpit on both sides of the fuselage. Vertical band be-hind the fuselage cross was marking of III. Gruppe,while there was also emblem of 2. Staffel painted onthe nose. A blue band on the tail was JG 54 Defenseof the Reich marking. On June 24, 1944, Dortenmannshot down a P-51 near Evreux but two days later hehimself was shot down near Paris. The aircraft wasdestroyed but the pilot bailed out and survived.Shortly after the attack on the Soviet Union, Wal-ter Kohne was seriously wounded. On June 4, 1943,following a long period of recuperation, he was as-signed to 2./JG 1, at the time based at Deelen in theNetherlands. He flew combat missions over the Wes-tern Europe up to the end of the war, scoring thirtykills in total, the majority of which were B-17 andB-24 heavy bombers. The standard camouflage sche-me of this Fw 190A-8 is supplemented by Defense ofthe Reich JG 1 markings – 900 mm wide red fuselageband, the JG 1 unit marking, and a personal mar-king in the form of the name of the dog that was the3. Staffel mascot.In October 1944, the aircraft flown by Ernst Schrödercarried II. Gruppe markings in the form of a horizon-tal bar in the Staffel color behind the fuselage cross.The slogan Kölle alaaf with the Cologne Coat of Armswas carried on the port side of the fuselage, while thename of Schröder’s girlfriend Edelgard was painted onthe starboard. In November, the II. Gruppe marking di-sappeared under the 900 mm wide red fuselage bandon the rear fuselage. At the same time the shadowswere added to the coat of arms and the second part ofthe inscription and the exclamation mark was addedas well. The name of the girlfriend was modified toa fancier appearance.KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard53July 2022Page 54
W.Nr. 350185, Oblt. Karl-Heinz Koch, CO of 12./JG 5, Herdla, Norway, April 1945In the end of 1944, Oblt. Karl-Heinz Koch flew with13./JG 5. In the beginning of 1945, he was transfe-rred to 12./JG 5 where he was flying Fw 190A-8 (WNr.737070) marked “Blue 9”. On February 9, 1945, thisaircraft was lost in the dogfight with No. 65 SquadronRAF Mustangs Mk.III near Førdefjord. Oblt. Karl-HeinzKoch obtained another Fw 190A-8 (WNr. 350185) andit was again marked “Blue 9” and also carried JG 5insignia on the nose portside. There were five killmarks painted on its white rudder. On April 5, 1945,Oblt. Koch was shot down in this plane which washeavily damaged during the emergency landing.Recommended:for Fw 190A-8 standard wings 1/7272611 Fw 190A-8 (PE-Set)72612 Fw 190A-8 landing flaps (PE-Set)672080 Fw 190A wheels late (Brassin)672081 Fw 190A-8 cockpit (Brassin)672082 Fw 190A-8 engine (Brassin)672085 Fw 190A exhaust stacks (Brassin)672086 Fw 190A propeller (Brassin)672088 Fw 190A-8 engine & fuselage guns (Brassin)D72009 Fw 190A stencils (Decal Set)D72012 Fw 190A Balkenkreuze (Decal Set)D72016 Fw 190A-8 national insignia (Decal Set)Cat. No. 672082Cat. No. 672086Cat. No. 672080Cat. No.672081KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard54July 2022Page 55
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Z-526AFS-V, No. 1219, OK-CXB, Tábor, Czech Republic, 2022Z-526AFS, No. 1220, OK-CXC, Svazarm, Czechoslovakia, 1972–1975Z-526AFS, No. 1327, SP-WER, Katowice, Poland, 2010–2018Zlin Z-526AFS OK-CXB serial number 1219 was manu-factured in 1972 and assigned to the national aeroba-tic team. It was painted in a golden-brown color, thesame as OK-CXC. In the end of 1970s, the airplane wasrepainted in the typical red-white livery. It was keptas an aircraft of the national team until the secondhalf of 1980s when it run out of the aerobatic life li-mit and the aircraft was rebuilt to a glider-towingversion Z-526AFS-V. After Czechoslovakia split in1993 it was assigned to the Aeroclub Holešov. In 2008,it underwent the general overhaul after which it wasrepainted in red-silver livery and has been flyingin this coloring until now. Around 2009 the airpla-ne was acquired by a private owner and was basedat the Frýdlant nad Ostravicí aifield. It was severaltimes loaned by Aeroclub Krnov and frequently flewas towing aircraft in sailplane competitions. In 2019it was bought by Tomáš “Stanislavovič” Jirmus whooperates it at the Tabor airport nowadays.Zlin Z-526AFS OK-CXC serial number 1220 was manu-factured in 1972 and assigned to Václav Šmíd, mem-ber of the national aerobatic team based at Kladnoairfield. It received the golden-brown livery andsince the paint work was not very well executed theaircraft was nicknamed a “brownie”. It flew in thispaintwork until 1975 when Václav Šmíd had to stopflying aerobatics. In the end of 1970s, the aircraft wasrepainted in blue-white livery which became typicalfor “Shorty” (Z-526AFS nickname in translation).In the end of 1980, the aerobatic life of the aircraftwas at its end, so the aircraft was rebuilt into AFS--V tow version and kept on flying as a glider-towingairplane. After the split of Czechoslovakia, the planewas assigned to the Aero Club Olomouc where it isflying today.Zlin Z-526AFS SP-WER serial number 1327 was ma-nufactured in 1974 and exported to Poland whereit flew with the registration SP-ELB for a nationalaerobatic team. Later it was flown by Aero ClubKatowice and around 2010 it underwent the gene-ral overhaul with the associated re-registration toSP-WER. The aircraft was painted in yellow-black--silver livery and kept on flying in this scheme inKatowice until 2018 when it was bought by a Czechprivate owner. Another general overhaul was per-formed after which this “Shorty” was repainted inyellow-black-silver combination again. In this livery,registered as OK-ERB, it still flies today and still hasits quota of aerobatic flight hours. Its home base isthe Skuteč airfield.KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard56July 2022Page 57
Z-526AFS, No. 1301, D-EWBA, Rumbach, Germany, 2009–2016Zlin Z-526AFS serial 1301 was manufactured specifi-cally for the Polish aerobatic national team carryingSP-ENA registration. It flew intensely for the firstten years, but a bit less afterwards. Then it flewin the Aero Club Nowy Targ until the end of 1990s.Around 2000 it was repainted and carried a LOT ad-vertisement. In 2009 it was sold into private handsin Germany and was re-registered as D-EWBA. Theowner, Mr. Adacci, had the smoke generator installedon the aircraft and flew with it in the airshows. In2016 it was bought by David Sýkora and transferredfrom Rumbach airport to Panenský Týnec where this“Shorty” flew for another five years and during thistime received a new paintwork in metallic-red winecolor. Shortly after it was acquired by another priva-te owner and now flies out of the Hodkovice airfield.It still has a quota of the aerobatic flight hours.Recommended:for Z-526AFS Akrobat 1/48644143 Z-526AFS LööK (Brassin)644150 Z-526AFS LööKplus (Brassin)648729 Z-326/526 wheels (Brassin)648733 Z-526AFS cockpit PRINT (Brassin)3DL48060 Z-526AFS Akrobat SPACE (3D Decal Set)D48097 Z-126/226/326/526 cockpit placards (Decal Set)EX833 Z-526AFS Akrobat TFace (Decal Set)Cat. No. 648733Cat. No. 644143Cat. No. 648729KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard57July 2022Page 58
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Albatros D.V 2299/17, Lt. Xaver Danhuber, Jasta 26, Abeele, Belgium, 1917Albatros D.V, Ltn. Kurt Monnington, Jasta 18, early 1918Albatros D.V, 2263/17, Ltn. Otto Kissenberth, Jasta 23b, summer 1917Although this Albatros D.V is usually assigned toBruno Loerzer, it is very probable, it was in fact themount of Xavier Danhuber, the winner in 11 aerialcombats. Apart of other indications, he was photo-graphed himself standing by the plane or sitting inthe cockpit. Danhuber first saw action with Kagohl 6(Kampfgeschwader der Obsten Heeresleitung - Com-bat squadron of the Supreme Commander), later wastransferred to Schutzstalfel 25, before he was as-signed to Jasta 26 on July 1, 1917. Danhuber got woun-ded upper arm in an air fight on October 18 and afterhis return on November 7, he moved to Jasta 79b ashe was appointed the CO of the unit. He was injured ina crash when test-flying a Pfalz Dllla at the Thugnyairfield on February 11, 1918. After several months ofmedical treatment and convalescence Danhuber hadreturned to his unit and reassumed command on Oc-tober 9. Five days later he achieved his 11th and lastvictory, shooting down Sopwith Dolphin near Bohain.His Albatros was painted in black and white bandsscheme typical for Jasta 26 aircraft. It also sportedthe six-pointed star on both sides of the fuselage andfive-colour Flugzeugstoff on the wings.This aircraft is a bit of mystery, as it is not clear,which pilot was flying it. It was assigned to Georgvon Hantelmann for some time due to one mistake ina famous publication. Legendary German historian,late Alex Imrie believed this was the personal mountof Ltn. Otto Brandes, some other sources insist onLtn. Kurt Monnington as the pilot of this one. Both arepossible, as they both served with Jasta 18 at aroundthe same time. Kurt Monnington, after his transferfrom German army (Deutsches Heer) to air force(Luftstreitkräfte), served with FA62 before he wasposted to Jasta 15 in 1917. After the „great swap“ ofthe personnell with Jasta 15 orchestrated by RudolfBerthold in March 1918, he became member of Jasta18. There he scored his first victory on May 18, 1918,downing an SE.5a. He added six more to his fighterpilot account. The aircraft was painted in typicalcolours of the „new“ Jasta 18, i.e. red nose and bluefuselage. The aircraft had probably the upper wingchanged from another aircraft, which was painted incamouflage colors instead of the printed Flugzeugs-toff (so called Lozenge). Also, the rudder was chan-ged after some damage.Otto Kissenberth was born on February 26, 1893, inthe Bavarian town of Landshut and volunteered forthe German air force (Luftstreitkräfte) after theoutbreak of the war. Following his pilot training heserved with several units and found himself pickedfor duty with the fighter unit KEK Ensisheim at thebeginning of 1916. The small, specialized unit was re-designated Jasta 16 in November of the same year. OnAugust 4, 1917, Kissenberth was named CommandingOfficer of Jasta 23b. On May 29, 1918, he crashed ina captured Sopwith Camel, and the resulting injuriesprecluded a return to a combat unit. Over the courseof the First World War, he shot down a total of twentyenemy aircraft and was awarded the Pour le Méri-te on June 30, 1918. Otto Kissenberth died on August2, 1919, in a mountain climbing mishap in the Alps.The wings of Kissenberth's aircraft were covered inFlugzeugstoff with five-color pattern (so-called Lo-zenge) while the entire fuselage and tail surfaceswere painted black. As a tribute to his passion,mountain climbing, Kissenberth's aircraft carriedpaintings of flowering Edelweises.KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard59July 2022Page 60
Albatros D.V 2065/17, Oblt. Richard Flashar, Jasta 5, Boistrancourt, France, July 1917Albatros D.Va, 7161/17, Uffz. Erich Gürgenz, Jasta 46, early 1918Richard Flashar is proof that a good Jasta comman-ding officer does not need a long list of kills to hiscredit necessarily. Flashar achieved only two vic-tories, but due to his leadership and organizationalskills he commanded the elite Jasta 5 unit from June1917 to May 1918. Finally, he became commander ofthe parent Jagdgruppe 2. The end of Flashar's air-craft was rather unceremonious. It was borrowedby Hans Joachim von Hippel, who entered a fightwith three or four Sopwith Camels and lost left lo-wer wing during combat on February 18, 1918. Moreto it the engine stopped, but von Hippel miraculouslymanaged to descent from some 13,000 ft (4,000 m)and crash-land the Albatros. The aircraft flipped, butpilot escaped unhurt. Aircraft of Jasta 5 had theirtails painted in green at the time and the fuselageof Flashar's Albatros was painted in light grey, whilethe wings were camouflaged in green and purple. Themost distinctive feature of the marking, the red dra-gon either differed on port and starboard in shape, orthe second known photo of Albatros with this pain-ting shows different aircraft decorated in such a ma-nner. It is hard to say, as the evidence is deficient...This aircraft was probably flown by Erich Gurgenz,a native of Berlin who served with Jasta 46 fromFebruary 10, 1918. This airplane fell into the hands ofthe Allies after being shot down and was displayedon several occasions. It was restored in 1979 and isdisplayed at the Smithsonian National Air and SpaceMuseum in Washington DC today. Gürgenz died nextday in captivity after being shot down. The writing“Stropp“ means small or little boy in German. Thiscould either mean that Gürgenzwas not too tall or he was a bit of a tomboy. The air-craft had its fuselage in natural wood finish. Thereare some indications that the wings were paintedgreen and mauve at the factory actually, and thefive-color pattern printed Flugzeugstoff wings werereplaced by French or Americans after the capture.So it is possible to paint the wings similarly to themarking D scheme, if someone feels so…KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard60July 2022Page 61
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#82164Bf 109G-10 Erla1/48ProfiPACK edition kit of German WWII fighter aircraft Bf 109G-10 in 1/48 scale.The kit is focused on 109s produced by Erla Werke in Leipzig.plastic parts: EduardNo. of decal options: 5decals: EduardPE parts: yes, colorpainting mask: yesresin parts: noProduct pageKITS 07/2022Re-releaseINFO Eduard62July 2022Page 63
WNr. 491353, Cap. Ugo Drago, CO of 4aSquadriglia,2oGruppo Caccia, Aeronautica Nazionale Repubblicana,Aviano, Italy, February 1945Oblt. Alfred Seidl, CO of I./JG 3, Paderborn, Germany, late December 1944WNr. 490655, Lt. Antonius Wöffen, CO of 6./JG 27,Rheine-Hopsten, Germany, early March 1945After the declaration of Italian Social Republic onSeptember 18, 1943, a puppet state on the territoryof Italy occupied by German military under the co-mmand of Benito Mussolini, Germany allowed thisRepublic to establish its own military force of fourdivisions. Its air force component called AeronauticaNazionale Repubblicana consisted of two fighter pla-ne groups (Gruppo Caccia), torpedo groups (GruppoAerosiluranti Buscaglia) and several transportationsquadrons. In 1945, both fighter plane squadrons flewMesserschmitts Bf 109G-6/G-10/G-14. The Comman-ding Officer of 4aSquadriglia, carrying the title ofGigi Tre Osei, was in this time Capitano Ugo Drago, anace with seventeen kills to his credit. In April 1945,he was awarded the German Knight's Cross. After thewar, he emigrated to Argentina, where he made a li-ving as a flight instructor. He returned to Italy in 1953and took up a post with Alitalia with which he flewuntil 1973. He died in Rome on April 22, 2007.Towards the end of the war, the majority of markingson ANR aircraft in the form of fuselage and wing cro-sses were no longer removed, with only the swasti-ka being oversprayed and replaced by markings ofItalian aircraft. This marking, an Italian flag edgedin yellow, was also added to the fuselage sides.In December 1944, the CO of I. Gruppe, Oblt. Seidl re-ceived a new Bf 109G-10 off the production line at Erlain Leipzig. At the time, the Gruppe was operating outof Paderborn, from where they conducted missionsagainst American and British units. In all probabili-ty, Oblt. Seidl led the unit with this aircraft duringOperation Bodenplatte on January 1, 1945. The targetwas the air base at Eindhoven. The markings of theaircraft were supplemented by a white band aheadof the tail, which identified aircraft of JG 3 within theframework of the Defense of the Reich. Ahead of thefuselage cross was the Gruppe leader marking, andbelow the opening part of the canopy, the pilot hada personal marking applied in the form of the nu-meral 8. This marking was applied to aircraft flownby Seidl during his service with JG 53, during whichhe would acquire all of his 31 victories. An oddity onthis aircraft is the absence of the lower wing crosses.The aircraft was equipped with a gun camera.Antonius Wöffen took part in combat missions withJG 27 from May 1943, when it was deployed on thesouthern front, until March 11, 1945, when he wasshot down with this aircraft by anti-aircraft fire andafter a successful belly landing was taken prisonerby American GIs. During the Second World War, heachieved five confirmed kills. In photographs takenjust after the landing, it is clear that under the yellownumeral 24 there was an older marking in the formof a numeral 5. The paint scheme of the aircraft wassupplemented by a green fuselage band, the identi-fier for JG 27 within the framework of the Defense ofthe Reich.KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard63July 2022Page 64
Hptm. Erich Hartmann, CO of I./JG 52, Görlitz, Germany, April 1945Lt. Friedrich-Wilhelm Schenk, CO of 2./JG 300, Borkheide, Germany, February 1945Erich Hartmann, the most successful fighter pilot ofall times, first joined the 7. Staffel of JG 52 on Octo-ber 10, 1942. He stayed with Jagdgeschwader 52 tillthe end of the World War Two; in fact he became thecommander of its I. Gruppe. The total count of his vic-tories was 352. For his exceptional success he wasawarded the Knight’s Cross of the Iron Cross with OakLeaves, Swords and Diamonds. After WWII he wastransferred to the POW camp in the Ural Mountains inSoviet Union and was not released until 1955. The fo-llowing year he joined the ranks of Western GermanLuftwaffe. He became commander of JG 71, the firstLuftwaffe squadron equipped with jet-powered figh-ter aircraft. He retired in 1970 and died on September20, 1993. Hartmann's aircraft carried a black tulipmarking outlined in white on the nose. Below thecockpit on the left side there was a heart markingbearing the name of Hartmann's wife. The Gruppe le-ader marking took the shape of a double wedge, butonly as a white outline.Friends and colleagues of Friedrich-Wilhelm Schenkcame up with a nickname Timo-Schenko for him.It was a joke that took advantage of the name ofSoviet Marshall Semyon Konstantinovich Timoshen-ko, and it quickly caught on to the point where theground crew painted the name on the fuselage ofSchenk's aircraft. Friedrich-Wilhelm Schenk flewwith JG 300 from July 1944 up to March 1945, whenhe was reassigned to JG 7 and flew Me 262 jet figh-ters there. During the Second World War, he achievedseven kills and after the war became Lufthansa pilot.KITS 07/2022INFO Eduard64July 2022Page 65
OVERTREESOVERLEPT#82164X Bf 109G-10 Erla 1/48#82164-LEPTBf 109G-10 Erla 1/48Product pageProduct pageRecommended:for Bf 109G-10 Erla 1/48481006 Bf 109G-10 Erla (PE-Set)FE910 Bf 109G seatbelts STEEL (PE-Set)FE1191 Bf 109G-10 ERLA Weekend (PE-Set)644004 Bf 109G-10 LööK (Brassin)644045 Bf 109G-10 w/ early wheels LööKplus (Brassin)644046 Bf 109G-10 w/ late wheels LööKplus (Brassin)648158 Bf 109G-10 wheels (Brassin)648239 Bf 109G-6 radio compartment (Brassin)648247 Bf 109G exhaust stacks (Brassin)648261 Bf 109G-6 wheels (Brassin)648265 Bf 109G external fuel tanks (Brassin)648309 Bf 109G undercarriage legs BRONZE (Brassin)648310 Bf 109G control surfaces (Brassin)648422 Bf 109G-10 cockpit (Brassin)648441 Bf 109G-10 engine (Brassin)D48042 Bf 109G-10 Erla national insignia (Decal Set)D48025 Bf 109G stencils (Decal Set)D48027 Bf 109G Balkenkreuze (Decal Set)D48028 Bf 109G svastikas (Decal Set)EX512 Bf 109G spinner spirals (Mask)EX608 Bf 109G-10 (Mask)EX609 Bf 109G-10 TFace (Mask)Cat. No. 648441KITS 07/2022Cat. No. 648422INFO Eduard65July 2022Page 66
BRASSINLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for A-1H in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: TamiyaSet contains:- resin: 1 part- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard and STEELseatbelts for Beaufigher Mk.VI in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: TamiyaSet contains:- resin: 1 part- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no644161A-1H Löök1/48 Tamiya644162Beaufighter Mk.VI LööK1/48 TamiyaProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard66July 2022Page 67
LööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboardand STEEL seatbelts for Beaufigher Mk.X in 1/48 scale.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: TamiyaSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details:yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noLööK set - Brassin pre-painted dashboard and STEELseatbelts for Su-25 in 1/48 scale. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: ZvezdaSet contains:- resin: 1 part- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no644163Beaufighter Mk.X LööK1/48 Tamiya644166Su-25 LööK1/48 ZvezdaProduct pageProduct pageBRASSIN 02/2022BRASSININFO Eduard67July 2022Page 68
BRASSINCollection of 3 sets for Hawk 81-A2 in 1/32 scale.Recommended kit: Great Wall Hobby- LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)- TFace painting mask- undercarriage wheelsCollection of 3 sets for F-104A in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Kinetic- LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)- TFace painting mask- undercarriage wheels634028Hawk 81-A2 LööKplus1/32 Great Wall Hobby644167F-104A LööKplus1/48 KineticProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard68July 2022Page 69
BRASSIN 02/2022BRASSINCollection of 3 sets for F-104C in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Kinetic- LööK set (pre-painted Brassin dashboards & Steelbelts)- TFace painting mask- undercarriage wheelsBrassin set - a British submunition delivery system JP233in 1/32 scale. Recommended for British Tornado GR.1/4 a/c.The set consists of 2 pods. Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 6 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no644168F-104C LööKplus1/48 Kinetic632181JP 233 dispenser PRINT1/32Product pageProduct pageINFO Eduard69July 2022Page 70
BRASSINBrassin set - the exhaust pipes for A6M2 Model 11in 1/48 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no648721A6M2 Model 11 exhausts early PRINT1/48 Eduard648745F-15E/I/K wheels1/48 Great Wall HobbyProduct pageProduct pageBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for F-15E/I/Kin 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels anda nose wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: GWHSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yesINFO Eduard70July 2022Page 71
BRASSIN 02/2022BRASSINBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for BeaufighterMk.X in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheelsand a tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plasticparts. Recommended kit: TamiyaSet contains:- resin: 4 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yesBrassin set - the undercarriage wheels for AH-1in 1/48 scale. The set consists of the main wheels anda tail wheel. Easy to assemble, replaces plastic parts.Recommended kit: TamiyaSet contains:- resin: 3 parts- 3D print: 1 part- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: yes648755Beaufighter Mk.X wheels1/48 Tamiya648760A-1H wheels1/48 TamiyaProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard71July 2022Page 72
BRASSINBrassin set - the exhausts for Beaufighter in 1/48 scale.Made by direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble, replacesplastic parts. Recommended kit: TamiyaSet contains:- 3D print: 8 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: noBrassin set - the engine for A6M2 Zero in 1/48 scale.The set consists of the complete engine and separatecowlings. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- 3D print: 25 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no648762Beaufighter exhausts PRINT1/48 Tamiya648763A6M2 engine complete PRINT1/48 EduardProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard72July 2022Page 73
BRASSIN 02/2022BRASSINBrassin set - ejection seat for Su-25 in 1/48 scale.Made by direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: ZvezdaSet contains:- 3D print: 2 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: noBrassin set - Carley type lifeboats for 10 peoplein 1/350 scale. The set consists of 20 floats.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 20 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: no648764Su-25 ejection seat PRINT1/48 Eduard653005Carley float for 10 people – Type 1 PRINT1/350Product pageProduct pageINFO Eduard73July 2022Page 74
BRASSINBrassin set - Carley type lifeboats for 10 peoplein 1/350 scale. The set consists of 20 floats.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 20 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes- painting mask: noBrassin set - the 42gal ventral drop fuel tankfor F4F in 1/72 scale. Made by direct 3D printing.Recommended kit: Arma HobbySet contains:- 3D print: 2 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no653006Carley float for 10 people – Type 2 PRINT1/350672290F4F 42gal ventral drop tank PRINT1/72 Arma HobbyProduct pageProduct pageINFO Eduard74July 2022Page 75
Brassin set - the rudder pedals for Luftwaffe WW2a/c in 1/72 scale. The set consists of 3 pairs of pedals.Made by direct 3D printing.Set contains:- 3D print: 6 parts- decals: no- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no672292Luftwaffe rudder pedals PRINT1/72Product pageBRASSIN 02/2022BRASSINBrassin set - the seat for F4F in 1/72 scale.Made by direct 3D printing. Easy to assemble,replaces plastic parts. Recommended kit: Arma HobbySet contains:- 3D print: 1 part- decals: no- photo-etched details: yes, pre-painted- painting mask: no672291F4F seat PRINT1/72 Arma HobbyProduct pageINFO Eduard75July 2022Page 76
BRASSINE-BUNNYSQUATBrassin set - the 4xETC 50 bomb rack for S-199in 1/72 scale. The set consist of the rack and 4 bombs.Recommended kit: EduardSet contains:- resin: 21 parts- decals: yes- photo-etched details: no- painting mask: no672293S-199 4xETC 50 rack w/bombs1/72 EduardProduct pageINFO Eduard76July 2022Page 77
www.eduard.com/bfcBUNNY BUNNY FIGHTERFIGHTERCLUBEduard's special membership club for all modeling enthusiasts!15% Permanent Club discount at Eduard Store – you will receive permanent 15% discount on all Eduardproducts and also discount on various other non-Eduard products. Fixed, permanent, forever!Unique valuable Club kits and accessories – you will gain access to unique and nowhere else to be soldproducts, specially made for BFC members.Even better prices at Eduard events stand – do you know that Eduard usually has huge discounts ontheir products at fairs and events all over the world? BFC members will have even higher discount atthese events.Club T-shirt – you will receive fancy BFC T-shirt with unique design and special barcode(used for event discounts). This exclusive T-shirt will be only availableto the members of BFC.Free entry fee on E-day – you will not have to pay a penny to visit Eduard's E-day.That means lot of fun at E-day for two days and entry kit, absolutely free!* E-day - INTERNATIONAL SCALE KIT EXHIBITION - IPMS Czech Republic ChampionshipBOX CONTENT:Plastic parts, Marking options 6, Decal Set, PE parts, Maska, Brassinparts (two different types of wheels, landing flaps, dust filter witheyelid, intake ring and RP-3 60lb rockets), 3D decals for main and si-dewalk instrument and control panels with photo-etched details andseat belts.BOX CONTENT:Plastic parts, Marking options 4, Decal Set, PE parts, Maska, Brassinparts (undercarriage wheels, cockpit, exhaust nozzle, FOD).How to become a member of BFC?How to become a member of BFC?Simply by purchasing the Activation product. You will be given 15% discount on (almost) every Eduardproduct in your shopping cart. To apply this discount, the Activation product has to be in your shoppingcart. Activation product is excluded from this calculation.Activation products:Activation products:Tempest Mk. V + T-shirt 1/48MiG-21MF + T-shirt 1/72Page 78
BRASSINCollection of 3 sets for Spitfire Mk.Vb in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Eduard- engine- gun bays- landing flaps PRINTAll sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.SIN64886Spitfire Mk.Vb ADVANCED1/48 EduardProduct pageINFO Eduard78July 2022Page 79
BRASSIN 02/2022BRASSINCollection of 3 sets for Spitfire Mk.Vc in 1/48 scale.Recommended kit: Eduard- engine- gun bays- landing flaps PRINTAll sets included in this BIG SIN are available separately,but with every BIG SIN set you save up to 30 %.SIN64887Spitfire Mk.Vc ADVANCED1/48 EduardProduct pageINFO Eduard79July 2022Page 80
3DL48071 A-1H SPACE 1/48 Tamiya3DL48072Go 242B SPACE 1/48 ICMProduct pageProduct page3DL48071 A-1H SPACE 1/48 Tamiya3DL48072 Go 242B SPACE 1/48 ICM3DL48073 A-1J SPACE 1/48 Tamiya3DL48074 Beaufighter Mk.VI SPACE 1/48 Tamiya3DL48075 Beaufighter Mk.X SPACE 1/48 Tamiya3DL53010 Life buoy SPACE 1/3503DL17001 Life buoy SPACE 1/700EASYAPPLICATIONINFO Eduard80July 2022Page 81
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36483Sd.Kfz.247 Ausf.B1/35 Revell/ICMB