JUNE WARBIRDS (1 Viewer)

[Gunn Miniatures]

WOW542 Blackburn Buccaneer

The Blackburn Buccaneer, later officially known as the Hawker Siddeley Buccaneer when Blackburn became a part of the Hawker Siddeley Group. The Buccaneer entered service in the 1962 and was designed to have exceptional low-altitude performance, the Blackburn Buccaneer was one of the most capable aircraft of its kind and was originally designed in response to the Soviet Union’s Sverdlov-class cruiser construction program.

Instead of building a new fleet of its own, the Royal Navy could use the Buccaneer to attack these ships by approaching at low altitudes below the ship’s radar horizon. The Buccaneer could attack using a nuclear bomb, or conventional weapons. It was later intended to carry short-range anti-shipping missiles to improve its survivability against more modern ship-based anti-aircraft weapons.

The subsonic strike jet was the heaviest aircraft ever operated by the Royal Navy on an aircraft carrier.
There was a decision by the UK government in the 1960s to phase out fixed wing operations as HMS Hermes was slated to become a "Commando Carrier" for Royal Marine operations (similar in concept to a US Navy LHA).

The RAF later inherited the Buccaneer from the Royal Navy but adoption and use by the Royal Air Force was not straightforward. Firstly, they did want to use the Buccaneer as a replacement for the English Electric Canberra, due to low speed and lack of range. Plus the RAF were looking at using the more advanced BAC TSR-2 bomber, but this aircraft project was cancelled as was the proposed second choice, the General Dynamics F-111K.
It was therefore decided in 1968 that the RAF would adopt the Buccaneer.
The Buccaneer served in the first Gulf War in 1991 with the RAF and saw service with the South African Airforce, the only other operator. The ending of the Cold War led to a reduction in RAF strength, the last Buccaneer was retired in 1994, to be replaced by the Tornado.

Our new and very large 1/30 scale Mahogany Buccaneer S.2C in a 'squirrel grey' colour scheme and served with No 801 Naval Air Squadron at RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland and also onboard HMS Hermes. The squadron eventually disbanded at Lossiemouth on 21 July 1970. In January 1981 the squadron re-equipped with the Sea Harrier FRS.1 at RNAS Yeovilton and went on to serve with distinction in the Falklands War.

We only have one x 1/30 scale model available priced at $999 plus postage.





That's all for this month for our aircraft, we sincerely hope you enjoy the pictures and would love to hear from you if any of these magnificent models appeal to you.

Best wishes The Gunn Team

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

WOW535 Hs.132

The Henschel Hs 132 was a WW2 German dive bomber & interceptor aircraft that never saw service but came very close to it. The unorthodox design featured a top-mounted BMW.003 jet engine (identical in terms of make and position to the powerplant used by the Heinkel He.162 but this time with the pilot in the prone position.
There had been interest in the idea of a prone pilot for combat aircraft to reduce the effect of g-force during maneuvering. Several aircraft had already experimented with this layout for various reasons, the Horten III had a prone pilot, but this was primarily to reduce drag in this high-performance glider, while the DFS 228 glider also used a prone pilot to make it easier to seal its pressurized cabin. It was not until the Berlin B9 was built specifically to test this arrangement for improved g-load that any serious effort toward development could be carried out.

Starting in early 1943, the Berlin B9 twin-piston engined experimental aircraft demonstrated that it was indeed possible for a pilot to fly the aircraft lying down, and that it did improve his ability to handle high loads. The pilot had an extremely restricted field of view upward or to the rear that made it suitable only for certain roles, including bombers, fighters and interceptors with a major speed advantage over their opposition.

Based on this research, several late-war German designs followed the B9's lead and used a prone pilot. Better g-load performance was not the only reason, however, as this layout also reduced the frontal area of the aircraft. This was a serious concern for interceptors attacking the USAAF's B-17 Flying Fortress, as calculations showed that the chance of being hit by its defensive guns was largely a function of frontal area.

It was hoped that by the time the Hs.132B became available, the Panzerblitz anti -tank missile would be in production and available for use. The Hs.132D included a new wing of increased span. A contract for six prototypes was approved in May 1944, and construction was begun in March 1945.
The Hs.132V1 was scheduled to have its first flight in June 1945, However the Russian army occupied the factory just as the Hs.132 V1 was nearing flight testing and this amazing 'whatif' aircraft never got off the ground.

We have a total of three 1/30 scale models available, priced at $699 plus postage.

All figures and accessories are shown for scale reference purposes only and are not included.

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

WOW543 Iman Ro.43

The Ro.43 was designed to meet a 1933 requirement by the Regia Marina (the Italian navy) for a catapult-launched reconnaissance aircraft to equip the Maritime Reconnaissance Squadrons operating from its ships. The specification called for a speed of 240 km/h (149 mph), with a range of 600 km (370 mi) or an endurance of 5.5 hours. The Ro.43 exceeded all of these requirements and was accepted into service. One hundred and five aircraft were in service at the start of World War II, more than enough to equip the major surface units of the Italian Navy, these versatile and nimble aircraft served the Italian navy admirably during their service and were well respected by their crews.

The aircraft's endurance meant that seaplanes were useful in the constrained Mediterranean. Six Ro.43 launched from light cruisers played a role in spotting the British fleet during the battle of Calabria, in the opening months of the war. One of them kept visual contact with the battleship HMS Warspite during the exchange of fire between the British capital ship and the Italian battleship Giulio Cesare before being chased off by a Sea Gladiator from the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle. The Ro.43s continued to take part in shipborne operations as late as June 1942, during the Italian cruiser attack on the Harpoon convoy. One of the Italian seaplanes was shot down by a Beaufighter from Malta in the course of this action.

By 1941, the production of the Ro.43 was discontinued and they began to be replaced by Reggiane Re.2000 fighters specially adapted for operation with ships. IMAM Ro.43 machines were used in the course of operations in the Mediterranean in 1940-1943, incl. in the initial phase of the Battle of Cape Matapan in March 1941.

Our RO.43, numbered 711, flew from the light cruiser Eugenio di Savoia. The cruiser was part of the 7th cruiser division and during WW II she fought at the Battle of Punta Stilo, Operation Harpoon (1942), in which she crippled HMS Bedouin, which was later finished off by a torpedo bomber and also took part in Operation Pedestal.

This is a 1/30 scale mahogany model with clear glass observation panels inset into the fuselage, we only have 3 available, one available now and a further 2 in July 2024..
The Ro.43 was designed to meet a 1933 requirement by the Regia Marina (the Italian navy) for a catapult-launched reconnaissance aircraft to equip the Maritime Reconnaissance Squadrons operating from its ships. The specification called for a speed of 240 km/h (149 mph), with a range of 600 km (370 mi) or an endurance of 5.5 hours. The Ro.43 exceeded all of these requirements and was accepted into service.

The aircraft's good endurance meant that seaplanes could still be useful in the constrained Mediterranean. Six Ro.43 launched from light cruisers played a role in spotting the British fleet during the battle of Calabria, in the opening months of the war. One of them kept visual contact with the battleship HMS Warspite during the exchange of fire between the British capital ship and the Italian battleship Giulio Cesare before being chased off by a Sea Gladiator from the carrier HMS Eagle.

Near the end of 1940, a lone Ro.43 launched by the heavy cruiser Bolzano was the first to spot the British fleet at the beginning of the battle of Cape Spartivento while the seaplane of Gorizia located the British convoy at 11:45, British Skuas from the carrier HMS Ark Royal claimed to have shot down one seaplane after a fruitless bombing of the Italian fleet, purportedly an Ro.43 from the battleship Vittorio Veneto. The performance during this engagement of the Ro.43s in this battle was eulogized by the Italian supreme command.
Another Ro.43 launched by Vittorio Veneto pinpointed the British cruiser squadron at 6:35 during the engagement near Gavdos island, the prelude of the Battle of Cape Matapan on 28 March 1941.

A cruiser-borne Ro.43 signaled the presence of the British convoy by dropping flares during the Second Battle of Sirte, while another seaplane from the battleship Littorio directed the fire of the Italian fleet onto the British squadron before disengaging at 17:24.

The Ro.43s continued to take part in shipborne operations as late as June 1942, during the Italian cruiser attack on the Harpoon convoy. One of the Italian seaplanes was shot down by a Beaufighter from Malta in the course of this action.

One hundred and five aircraft were in service at the start of World War II, more than enough to equip the major surface units of the Italian Navy, these versatile and nimble aircraft served the Italian navy admirably during their service and were well respected by their crews.

This 1/30 scale mahogany model with clear glass observation panels inset into the fuselage is limited to 3 in number, we only have one available at the moment as the remainder are coming by sea freight but should be here next month.
The retail price is $899 plus shipping.

The TG/K&C/JJD figures and accessories are shown for scale comparison purposes only and are not included.

 

[Gunn Miniatures]

Dear Gunn Aviation Club members welcome to our June 2024 Aircraft newsletter featuring some exciting new products. All our hand carved Mahogany aircraft take in the region of 60 man hours to manufacture plus many hours of drying time which usually equates to a 9 month build time frame. For this reason we only make small numbers of each model and every aircraft is a unique piece. For those of you who wish to spread your budget, please note we do accept stage payments where you can spread the cost over several months. If you require further details of any of the aircraft in todays newsletter please email us on welcome@gunnclub.co.uk. A super big thank you to Mark Dyer who assisted us as always with the finer details. WOW533 Caudron G.3 The Caudron G.3 was designed by René and Gaston Caudron as a development of their earlier Caudron G.2 for military use. It's maiden flight was in May 1914. The aircraft had a short crew nacelle, with a single engine in the nose of the nacelle, and an open tailboom truss. It was of sesquiplane layout, and used wing warping for lateral control, although this was replaced by conventional ailerons fitted on the upper wing in late production aircraft. Usually, the G.3 was not armed, although sometimes light machine guns and small bombs were fitted. It was ordered in large quantities following the outbreak of the First World War with the Caudron factories, building 1423 of the 2450 built in France. 233 were also built in England and 166 built in Italy along with several other countries. The Caudron brothers did not charge a licensing fee for the design, as an act of patriotism. It was followed in production by the Caudron G.4 which was a twin-engined development and much larger. The G.3 equipped Escadrille C.11 of the French military at the outbreak of war, and was well-suited for reconnaissance use, proving stable and having good visibility. As the war progressed, its performance and lack of armament made it too vulnerable for front line service, against newer German aircraft and it was withdrawn from front line operations in mid-1916. The Italians also used the G.3 for reconnaissance on a wide scale until 1917, as did the British RFC (continuing operations until October 1917), who fitted some with light bombs and machine guns for ground attack. The Australian Flying Corps operated the G.3 during the Desert of 1915–16. It continued in use as a trainer until well after the end of the war. Chinese warlord Caudron G.3s remained in service as trainers until the Mukden incident of 1931, when many were captured by the Japanese. In 1921 Adrienne Bolland, a French test pilot working for Caudron, made the first crossing of the Andes by a woman, flying between Argentina and Chile in a G.3. This is the second version of the Cauldron G3 we have released, the first was in May 2024, the four we had in stock sold out within a few days. We only have 2 available of this new version and we are not expecting them to be around for very long. This variant comes in a light blue/grey colour scheme and is priced at $750 plus shipping. The TG/K&C/JJD figures in the photos are shown for scale comparison purposes only and are not included.

 

[tmanthegreat]

I received the Henschel HS-132 model and it’s beautiful!

 

[MLH13]

Excellent scene, Tman! You never disappoint with your displays.

Mark

 

[tmanthegreat]

Thank you, MLH13

But I’ve got to give a shout out to Thomas Gunn Miniatures for making such quality products. Their mahogany wood aircraft models are first rate.

 

[amund]

I am the proud owner of Thomas Gunn's P-38 Lightning model. The overall quality of the model is outstanding and worth the price. For those collectors who might be contemplating adding a "warbird" to their collection, I highly recommend Thomas Gunn's line of military aircraft.

 

[Jumper]

Can you kindly indicate who provides the german WW2
pilots please

 

[tmanthegreat]

Jumper, the pilots and ground crew figures in my diorama with the HS-132 are all older Thomas Gunn figures. They’re a little harder to find these days, but some retailers may still have some and there’s always eBay as well.