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1/72nd scale Monogram  AH-1G  Cobra Here is the old (I mean old) 1/72 Monogram kit. I added the cockpit using the Testor/Italeri AH-1T parts  & scratch built a few detail pieces. That fit surprising well. The exhaust is brass tubing. I lengthen the main rotor to the correct span.  Here it is compared to the Cobra* Company's main rotor replacement: The SUU-11 miniguns are resin copies of a scratch built master. The decals are from Joseph Osborn's superb Fireball decals.          I guess the Special Hobby kit has rendered this one obsolete (OK!, OK! this kit was obsolete decades age), but for many a budding model enthusiast coming of age in the early '70s, this kit is a nostalgic favorite.   * If I'm not mistaken, the owner of the Cobra Company retired, and closed up shop. Regardless of the reason, Cobra is no longer open. But! fear not my follow Tenex sniffers, Mike...

Hasegawa 1/72nd scale TA-4F Skyhawk The Mission : “Two TA-4Fs came on board Hancock in August 1972. Assigned to VA-164, the two-seaters (BuNos 154325 and 153491) had been transferred from the Marine Corps, with the 'Playboy' FAC mission having been cancelled two years before in September 1970. As now-retired Adm Stan Arthur later wrote, 'Pilots of VA-164 logged some serious combat time in the two-seat A-4. The A-4 squadrons of CVW-21 had been assigned responsibility for developing expertise in unique types of missions, an example being VA-55's specialization in the Iron Hand mission. VA-164 deployed with its aircraft wired for equipment to facilitate the delivery of laser-guided bombs, and worked on developing tactics for delivery and control of those weapons in a high­ threat environment'. Several 'Ghostrider' A-4Fs carried a Laser Spot Tracker (LST) in their nose cones, along with a Ferranti gun sight that could show the spot where the laser en...

....we're hunting tewwowist! A Mountain Home F-16C in Operation Enduring Freedom circa 2002. This is the Monogram boxing of the RoG kit in 1/72 scale with 2Bobs decals and the Hasegawa weapons sets for the CBUs.

Hasegawa 1/72  F-4B/N Phantom II      The Kill:   On May 6, 1972 LCDR Jerry “Devil” Houston and LT Kevin Moore flying an F-4B, BuNo 150456, of VF-51 engaged and shot down a MiG-17 trying to shoot down an A-6 striking the Bai Thuong Airfield.   Houston positioned himself behind the MiG as it maneuvered into firing position on the A-6.   Houston could not shoot as long the A-6 was out in front. He could not be sure who the Sidewinder was looking at! The CAG of CVW-15, CDR Rodger “Blinky” Sheets, piloted the Intruder this MiG decided to pick on.   CAG was a fighter pilot by trade and knew the MiG-17 had no hydraulic assisted flight controls.   At the transonic speed of the A-6, the MiG driver could not pull the control stick hard enough to maneuver the MiG! (3. p 59) “Having reached minimum Sidewinder launch range, Houston squeezed the trigger from 'dead six o'clock', about 3000 feet behind the MiG. [Devil Houston recounts]   'T...