BOXART STORY

#70151

Text: Richard Plos

Illustration: Adam Tooby

Air combat

“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 the

time I was in the active duty as a pilot at the

Pilsen-Bory airfield and the radio correspondence above is more less consistent with late

1980s rules of then Czechoslovak Air Force.

Whether it would also correspond to the rules

at the time the 18 Fighter Air Regiment was located at the oldest Czechoslovakian airfield I don't

know, but the radiocommunication phraseology

don't change too much. Likewise, I don't know

if the Bory airfield had the call sign ”Detector”

in the early 1950s. However, such a correspondence must have preceded the start of an air

combat training. The pursued pilot flew on a predetermined trajectory, the pursuer performed

a run on him and recorded everything on his gun

camera. After the first phase they usually switched roles, and at the end a standard dogfight

might open between them. All this after proper

pre-flight preparation, because there must be

order in everything done in the air...

From the very beginning, the Avia S-199 was

considered just a transitional and stop-gap

fighter aircraft. No one was going to pretend

that this new type, the heir to Messerschmitt's

in many ways ingenious design, was going to

replace Spitfires or Lavochkins because it was

better. 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, such

as stall turn or a roll-on-top were dangerous

with the S-199, according to the pilots' memories, but the basic ones, such as the looping or

32

INFO Eduard

the roll, were flown routinely and the pilots used

them, of course, in practicing aerial combat. One

such combat training is depicted on the boxart

of the kit Cat. no. 70151. The aircraft with fuselage code EX-57 is quite well documented photographically and an illustration of it can also be

found on the pages of Letectví & Kosmonautika

(Aeronautics & Cosmonautics) magazine in one

of their older volumes. On this illustration the

aircraft is portrayed wearing darker green color

and white-edged insignia, while in our kit it is

shown in a lighter shade and with blue-edged

emblems. Who is wrong? Neither of us, both

are correct! The aircraft crashed on landing on

August 14, 1952, and was damaged. So, it was

sent for repairs. The crash photo shows it in

light green-gray livery with blue-edged insignia.

Another later photo shows it already in dark

livery on an apron next to other aircraft. The new

coat was apparently given to it during repairs.

This was not unusual, as many Mules underwent

not only a change of color but also technical modifications during their service. These included

the position of the main gear wheels, the replacement of the oil cooler with a heat exchanger

or the change of the original Erla side-opening

canopy for a sliding one. The new semi-bubble

canopy improved the pilots' view and offered

more space inside the cabin.

Many modelers remember the boxart of the

Avia S-199 kit of Kovozávody Prostějov company,

showing the aerial duel of two Mules. This plastic model kit was released by the manufacturer

from Prostějov town in 1977. It was their tenth

release and the drawing by Jaroslav Velc continued the level of art quality of his previous boxarts. All of them could boldly compete with the

greatest masters in the field at that time. And

so, when we were thinking about the concept of

a boxart of our new Mule with a “bubble” canopy, we decided to freely follow Mr. Velc's work.

So, with our boxart, we are now looking at the

original scene, but this time from the other side.

However, to keep our own line as well, the aircraft in the picture are different. In the 1977 drawing, the one coded IF-01 is pursuing an aircraft

coded IF-02, while in our case the pursuer is the

EX-57 and the target is EX-58. What has been

retained is the optically tilted horizon and the

sharp maneuver of the escaping pursued aircraft. Both create the awesome dynamic scene

that was already so pleasing with the original.

So, it's very much our homage to the original

illustration, as well as a demonstration of how

we've developed in drawing technique over the

years. Old-timers will forgive...

“two-six-four, me three-two-eight, ending and

returning to base.”

“three-two-eight, two-six-four roger.”

“Detector, three-two-eight, request formation

return from air zone three.”

“three-two-eight, Detector, cleared to formation

return, base leg entry separately.”

“three-two-eight, roger...”

In 1953, aerobatics on the S-199 were banned

and so the fighter training was severely restricted. Even so, pilots could at least continue

to practice classic aerial attacks or live fire on

a tow target. All this until much more advanced

MiG-15s started to dominate the Czechoslovak

skies. But many pilots, even when flying these

jets, were still thinking well about these unreliable and pigheaded Mules...

July 2022