[mh09ad5578]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

My extra marital love affair with Russian
The An-225 is an ‘ever’ aircraft - the longest aircraft ever, aircraft with the heaviest take-off weight ever, the largest payload lifted ever, most powerful engine thrust ever, highest number of wheels ever……
In some ways it was the pinnacle of aircraft designing under the USSR.

Lovely posts sir! The info and the details are incredible. Keep them coming and thanks for sharing. I don't know why the thanks button is disabled on this thread. I'd have clicked on every post of yours!

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by mh09ad5578

Lovely posts! The info and the details are incredible. Keep them coming and thanks for sharing. I don't know why the thanks button is disabled on this thread. I'd have clicked on every post of yours!

Thank you for your kind words. It makes the effort worth it for all those who post their models here. Attaching a few photos not seen on this thread earlier.


Bereiv A-50 AWACS; currentlt in service with the IAF in a modified form with Israeli electronics


Boeing B-17, Bomber WW-II


Dassault Mystere, first aircraft from Europe to achieve supersonic speeds in level flight


Consolidated Vultee B-24 Liberator, Bomber WW-II


MiG-21 forever, the famed tailed delta


MiG-25 Foxbat, highest sustained speed other than the SR-71


Shorts Sunderland, Maritime Patrol & ASW Aircraft of WW-II


F-4EJ of Japan

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

My extra marital love affair with Russian aircraft continues....

Antonov An-225 Mriya, World’s heaviest commercial aircraft :: Herpa :: 1:400 scale, diecast

Simply Wow!!!! Must be one of the proudest ones in your collection. Congratulations. Just imagine how big would a 1:200 model would be!!!

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Airbus A380, world largest commercial airliner :: 1:400 scale, Herpa :: diecast

Congratulations!!! The First Airbus in your collection? Pity that none of the Indian carriers ever bought one. Did Kingfisher have a few on orders?

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Dear Fellow Aircraft Enthusiasts,

Need help. I am trying to complete the Antonov collection. So an An-22 1:500 has been ordered. As funds permit I'll find the right An-2 and An-24/26. The one I cant spot is our very own An-32. In case any of you know of one please do point me to it. Many thanks in advance.

Best wishes,
Narayan

No manufacturer has ever manufactured an An-32 model. An-12,24 & 26 models exist - made by Herpa I think. May be you could try asking your friends at FDM for a custom made IAF An-32?

[FrozeninTime]

No. 28 squadron IAF Mig 21 FL 1/72
Export variant of MiG 21 which was locally produced by HAL


Trident HS 121 1/400
World's First T tailed Jet and first aircraft with facility to land blindly in all weather automatically.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by FrozeninTime

No. 28 squadron IAF Mig 21 FL 1/72
Export variant of MiG 21 which was locally produced by HAL


Trident HS 121 1/400
World's First T tailed Jet and first aircraft with facility to land blindly in all weather automatically.
]

Wow. That IAF MiG-21 is something that is very rare. Congratulations. Tail no. C746 is a famous as it took part in the bombing operations in then East Pakistan with No.28 Sqdn.

Corgi actually messed up that model. If you look at the tail fin, it is that of a MiG-21PF and not an FL. The FL had a larger tail fin that also contained a brake parachute. It would have been better if corgi had used a BC8XX tail number, used plain silver paint and made minor adjustment to roundel placement on the fuselage - it would have accurately represented an IAF Type 76 MiG-21PF that flew with 28 Sqdn in the1965 war.

Nevertheless this model is something any Indian model enthusiast would love to have in his collection purely because of the History of MiG-21s with the IAF.

[FrozeninTime]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

Wow. That IAF MiG-21 is something that is very rare. Congratulations.
this model is something any Indian model enthusiast would love to have in his collection purely because of the History of MiG-21s with the IAF.

Thanks Sandesh. I am always amazed with in-depth knowledge you posses.

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by FrozeninTime

No. 28 squadron IAF Mig 21 FL 1/72
Export variant of MiG 21 which was locally produced by HAL

Thats a great and very rare Mig-21 in Indian Air Force livery

Where was it procured from and did it come with any missiles ?

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

Congratulations!!! The First Airbus in your collection? Pity that none of the Indian carriers ever bought one. Did Kingfisher have a few on orders?

The 5th Airbus in my fleet. Photos below. A A340-600 of Lufthansa not featured in the line-up. I cant find its photos.

No manufacturer has ever manufactured an An-32 model. An-12,24 & 26 models exist - made by Herpa I think

. I'll wait patiently.

May be you could try asking your friends at FDM for a custom made IAF An-32?

They cost a BOMB and with retirement I need to parcel out my budgets thoughtfully. But a HAL Ajeet and eventually a Tejas will be made even if I have to live on only bread and water :-)

Originally Posted by FrozeninTime

No. 28 squadron IAF Mig 21 FL 1/72
Export variant of MiG 21 which was locally produced by HAL

What a find. By jove. This is an all time rarity. Please tell us the make and post more photos - don't be lazy. Tomorrow is a Sunday

skanchan95 your powers of observation deserve a medal. I felt something did not quite sit right when I viewed the MiG-21's picture but could not tell what. And you are absolutely right - the tail!

Trident HS 121 1/400
World's First T tailed Jet and first aircraft with facility to land blindly in all weather automatically.

Another aircraft I loved for its uniqueness. BOAC/BEAs shortsightedness forced Hawker to design a ~110 seater 1600 kms range airliner when Hawker wanted to build a much larger aircraft closer in size of the Boeing 727 - 160 pax/3200 kms full payload range. This restricted the market for the Trident. Meantime the 727 came in and BOAC ordered the 727 at the expense of the Trident stating it was too small and short ranged !!!! The cheek.

In the 1950s and 60s BOAC caused more damage to the struggling British aircraft industry than any competition. Indian Airlines did look at the Trident but it could not pass the hot weather trials. However China bought 33 of the final variants in the early 1970s as their first Western jet airliner. How I wish I can find a 1:200 in BEA colours.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

I felt something did not quite sit right when I viewed the MiG-21's picture but could not tell what. And you are absolutely right - the tail!

It is pretty easy to differentiate between the Type 76 MiG-21PF & the Type 77 MiG-21FL in IAF service.

Type 76 MiG-21PF:


Type 77 MiG-21FL:


One can easily tell that the FL had a larger fail fin with a brake parachute container extension at the base of the tail fin. Besides that, the six IAF PFs had BC82X series tail numbers and the hundreds of FLs had CXXX & CXXXX series tail numbers. The Type 96 MiG-21M/MFs & Type 75 MiG-21bis too have/had CXXXX series tail numbers.

Also note the positioning of the IAF roundel on the fuselage. The MiG-21FLs had them on the nose, while the PFs had them on the rear fuselage behind the flaps(Early FLs followed the PF's roundel placement technique but were quickly changed to the one shown in the MiG-21FL screenshot above)

[V.Narayan]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

One can easily tell that the FL had a larger fail fin with a brake parachute container extension at the base of the tail fin. Besides that, the six IAF PFs had BC82X series tail numbers and the hundreds of FLs had CXXX & CXXXX series tail numbers. The Type 96 MiG-21M/MFs & Type 75 MiG-21bis too have/had CXXXX series tail numbers.

Also note the positioning of the IAF roundel on the fuselage. The MiG-21FLs had them on the nose, while the PFs had them on the rear fuselage behind the flaps(Early FLs followed the PF's roundel placement technique but were quickly changed to the one shown in the MiG-21FL screenshot above)

Hats off to you. Clearly you have read and re-read your books several times.

[skanchan95]

1:72 Saab J-35F Draken Swedish Air Force (Swedish: Svenska Flygvapnet or just Flygvapnet), F16, Yellow 32 (Altaya)

The Saab 35 Draken ('The Kite' or 'The Dragon') was a Swedish fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by Saab between 1955 and 1974. It was the first fully supersonic aircraft to be deployed in Western Europe.When it was conceived in the early 1950s, Saab’s Draken was a very radical and unusual machine.

Its unorthodox design allowed it to easily surpass the speed of sound, making it Sweden’s first supersonic fighter aircraft and one of Europe’s best performing fighters. The Draken had a successful career with a number of air forces and remained in service 50 years after its maiden flight – quite an achievement, especially considering that two successors(J-37 & JAS-39) have been built!

The Draken was developed to replace Sweden's first generation of jet-powered fighter aircraft, the Saab J-29 Tunnan and, later, the fighter variant (J-32B) of the Saab 32 Lansen. It featured an innovative double delta wing; in order to test this previously-unexplored aerodynamic feature, a sub-scale test aircraft, the Saab 210, was produced and flown. Developed in Sweden, the Draken was introduced into service with the Swedish Air Force (SAF) on 8 March 1960. Early models were intended purely to perform air defence missions, the type being considered to be a capable dogfighter for the era.

The Draken functioned as an effective supersonic fighter aircraft of the Cold War period. In Swedish service, it underwent several upgrades, the ultimate of these being the J-35J model. By the 1980s, the SAF's Drakens had largely been replaced by the more advanced Saab 37 Viggen fighter, while the introduction of the more capable Saab JAS 39 Gripen fighter was expected in service within a decade, although delayed. As a consequence of cutbacks and high maintenance costs, the SAF opted to retire the Draken during December 1999. The type was also exported to Austria, Denmark, Finland, and the United States; the last operated the type as a training aircraft for test pilots.

The J-35F was the definitive Draken variant, which had greatly improved avionics and weaponry compared to earlier Draken variants. 230 J-35Fs were delivered between 1965 and 1972. This variant had improved electronics and avionics, e.g. integrated radar, aim and missile systems. The aircraft's main armament were IR and SARH versions of the Hughes Falcon missile originally intended for the J-35D, but one of the cannon was removed to make space for more avionics. It had a Hughes N71 Infra-red search and track sensor under the nose.

A whole new weapons suite was fitted in the J-35F, the primary change being the ability to carry the semiactive radar homing (SARH) Rb 27 AAMs and under each wing, a single heat-seeking Rb 28 AAM or an Rb 24. Both the Rb 27 and Rb 2 Both the Rb 27 and Rb 28 were Swedish-built copies of the American Hughes AIM-4 Falcon, but featured a number of improvements compared to the American missile. Because the RB 27 was too heavy to be carried on the wing pylons, only two could be attached to the underside of the fuselage. Although the J35F had a top speed of Mach 2, this was limited to Mach 1.4 when four AAMs were carried. Because of the extra avionics, which included an upgraded radio and sighting system, the port Aden cannon was deleted and the J35F only had one Aden M/55 with either 90 or 100 rounds in the right wing. Maximum weapons load was considerably increased to 4 082 kg (9 000 lb).

Further changes on the J35F included a revised cockpit with updated navigation, autopilot and communications systems. Later production J35Fs were fitted with S-71N infrared target seekers, which were Hughes AN/AAR-4 infrared detectors built under license by Ericsson.

The first J35F, which was actually a modified J35A, made its maiden flight on 22 December 1961 and was later joined by three other modified J35As in the Filip development programme. On 26 June 1964 the first of 230 production examples took off on its maiden flight. These were the last new-build Drakens for the Flygvapnet. Deliveries began to F13 Wing at Norrköping in mid-1965.

For such a radical aircraft the tailless double-delta Draken was amazingly successful. Many unique and innovative aircraft have ended up performing poorly, but the Draken was almost faultless. Its large production run and export orders are testament to its quality and effectiveness. As the air forces of Sweden, Finland, Austria and Denmark would probably agree, it was one of Saab's finest jet fighters.





















The landing gear was complemented by two retractable tail wheels, an arrangement that permitted a tail-down landing to gain the full aerodynamic braking effect of the wing. Such a landing, combined with the use of a braking parachute, made possible a landing run as short as 610m for the J-35.




The two Saab fighters in my collection. The J-35F flanked by a Czech AF JAS-39C Gripen.

[skanchan95]

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Hats off to you. Clearly you have read and re-read your books several times.

Thank you. I am extremely proud of this one:

[FrozeninTime]

Originally Posted by Foxbat

Where was it procured from and did it come with any missiles ?

Its available in eBay.No missile came with model.

Originally Posted by V.Narayan

Please tell us the make and post more photos - don't be lazy. Tomorrow is a Sunday
How I wish I can find a 1:200 in BEA colours.

Mig 21 is Corgi make. Some more photos

Originally Posted by skanchan95

I am extremely proud of this one

Congrats.


China Airlines DC-3 1/200 (Hogan)
The DC-3 was a twin-engine metal monoplane with a tailwheel-type landing gear with exceptional qualities of being fast, good range and could operate from short runways. It was reliable and easy to maintain and carried passengers in greater comfort. It is the first airliner that could profitably carry just passengers

[Foxbat]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

It is pretty easy to differentiate between the Type 76 MiG-21PF & the Type 77 MiG-21FL in IAF service.

Your knowledge of military aircraft is unparalleled

Originally Posted by skanchan95

1:72 Saab J-35F Draken Swedish Air Force (Swedish: Svenska Flygvapnet or just Flygvapnet), F16, Yellow 32 (Altaya)

Thats quite a catch! I read about the Draken as a child and its unique wing shape is really interesting. Where was this procured from and whats the make?
I see its in the 1/72 Scale and nicely Detailed and goes well with your Gripen.

Now all you need is a Saab 37 Viggen to complete the Swedish collection. India was interested in buying the Viggen back in 1978 but it was blocked by the US. I was just reading about it again on Wikipedia and came across this, not sure how true it is "According to leaked United States diplomatic cables, India's interest in the Viggen was reported to be entirely due to Rajiv Gandhi's influence, and had alleged have been without any input from the Indian Air Force."

Source: https://www.thehindu.com/news/nation...cle4592091.ece

Originally Posted by FrozeninTime

[b][u]China Airlines DC-3 1/200 (Hogan)

How is the detailing on this model? I have been thinking of buying this model for a long time to go with my China Airlines MD-11, Caravelle and Constellation.
However the last two are Hogan diecast Hogan models like this one and there not really well detailed like other diecast brands in 1:200 Scale.

[im_srini]

Originally Posted by skanchan95

...
The landing gear was complemented by two retractable tail wheels, an arrangement that permitted a tail-down landing to gain the full aerodynamic braking effect of the wing.
...

Nice model

If memory serves me right, two-thirds of the way into the first production run of 90 J35As (Adams'), an upgrade to the EBK 66 afterburner forced a lengthening of the J35's tail section.

This increase in the rear, combined with the Draken's notoriously high pitch sensitivity, led to Saab installing the 'tail scrapers' at the back to prevent tail strikes during high AoA take-offs & landings.

I have nothing against the Swedes, but they can sometimes get carried away in their marketing - this aircraft has an exceptionally high accident & pilot fatality rate (compared to the number of airframes produced).