Besides Hurricanes, P-40s and P-47s the F9F has grown to be one of my favourite aircrafts. ATM I'm working on F9F-3 skins for a DBW1.7 compatible update of
Nixer's ForgottenWar campaign. Before I'll finish the generic VF-51 and VF-52 skins I'd like to show a first beta skin based on a historical F9F-3:
The Yak KillerF9F-3 flown by Leonard H. Plog, VF-51 USS Valley Forge, Korea 1950
The F9F-3, powered by the Allison J33 engine, was the first F9F version in service and only deployed on USS Valley Forge for a few months in Korea. When North Korean troops crossed the 38th parallel and threw back RoK and US forces to the Pusan perimeter Valley Forge was the only US carrier in the East Asia. The F9F-3s of VF-51 and -52 provided air cover for the F4Us and Skyraiders and saw limited use in ground attack and recon role.
On 3rd July 1950, during the first air strike on Pyongyang, the Panthers swept the airspace in front of the attack A/C. LT(jg) Leonard H. Plog, flying a VF-51 F9F-3 (BuNo 123071, modex 109S), made the first carrier-based jet kill, a North Korean Yak-9. Another two Yaks were destroyed in the air during that mission.
While the Panthers were supremely superior to the ageing North Korean Yaks and La fighters their vast fuel consumption, compared to prop driven a/c, proved to be a serious logistic problem. During the first weeks of the war supplies were scarce and accordingly jet flights had to be limited in favour of prop planes.
After their short deployment on Valley Forge the F9F-3s were converted to F9F-2 models equipped with more the powerful P&W J42 engines and able to carry exterior weapon loads.
Though quite plain, lacking even the common Navy and squadron markings, I like the scheme a lot because IMHO the 109 underlines the elegant beauty of the F9F. Profiles of the 109 available are more or less fictional BTW. Photos of other F9F-3 on Valley Forge show similar markings as those on the 109.
Skin preview:I've hardly any experience in a/c skinning and hardly any knowledge of warbirds so I'd be glad to get some criticism and input from you.
BTW could anybody enlighten me what the 'E' below the canopy stands for? I've no idea and couldn't find a hint.
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HH_BlazeSkin by
PurgatorioThanx for reading!
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Topic: F9F-3 Yak Killer (Read 5566 times)
