The Israelis operate a number of Cobras and the chopper has been proving its excellence in almost routine combat action in Lebanon, since the Peace for the Galilee campaign, and is especially lethal in the anti-tank role.
We have made two Israeli Cobras for fans of this genre. WOW489 comes with serial number 520 on the sides and WOW490 comes with serial number 514 on the sides.
The K&C figures and TG accessories are shown for scale comparison purposes only and are not included. Limited to one of each version worldwide and priced at $1200 plus postage.
That's all for this month, we sincerely hope you enjoy the pictures and would love to hear from you if any of these magnificent models appeal to you. They are all now on our website and can be paid for upfront or over an extended monthly period.
All Gunn Club members qualify for a 5% discount on the website listed price, joining is free so well worth registering.
WOW488 Huey Cobra 'The Gladiator'
The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a single-engined attack helicopter developed and manufactured by the American rotorcraft manufacturer Bell Helicopters. A member of the prolific Huey family, the AH-1 is also referred to as the Huey Cobra or Snake.
The AH-1 was rapidly developed as an interim gunship in response to theUS Army’s needs in the Vietnam War. It used the same engine, transmission and rotor system of the Bell Iroquois, which had already proven itself to be a capable platform during the conflict, but paired it with a redesigned narrow fuselage among other features. The original AH-1, being a dedicated attack helicopter, came equipped with stub wings for various weapons, a chin-mounted gun turret, and an armored tandem cockpit, from which it was operated by a pilot and gunner. Its design was shaped to fulfil a need for a dedicated armed escort for transport helicopters, giving the latter greater survivability in contested environments. On 7 September 1965, the Model 209 prototype performed its maiden flight; after rapidly gaining the support of various senior officials, quantity production of the type proceeded rapidly with little revision.
During June 1967, the first examples of the AH-1 entered service with the US Army and was promptly deployed to the Vietnam theatre. It commonly provided fire support to friendly ground forces, escorted transport helicopters, and flew in “hunter killer” teams by pairing with the Hughes Cayuse scout helicopters. In the Vietnam War alone, the Cobra fleet cumulatively chalked up in excess of one million operational hours; roughly 300 AH-1s were also lost in combat. In addition to the US Army, various other branches of the US military also opted to acquire the type, particularly the USMC. Furthermore, numerous export sales were completed with several overseas countries, including Israel, Japan and Turkey.
Our 1/30 scale model is limited to 2 in number for this production batch. The K&C figures and TG accessories shown are not included and shown for scale comparison purposes only.
WOW475 Ginga
The P1Y1 Ginga was a Japanese medium dive and torpedo bomber, it was a twin-engined all-metal monoplane with retractable landing gear. The first flight of the prototype took place in August 1943 and entered service in October 1944. The codename given by the Allies was Frances. Developed under the leadership of Mitsuzi (Mika) Tadanao and Masao Yamana, the aircraft had an aerodynamically clean design with a small fuselage midsection, technological innovation, riveting in a blind and high power plant – all of this allowed high flight speeds.
Despite the small size of the aircraft in the wing and fuselage, it was possible to accommodate 8 protected and six unprotected tanks with a total capacity of 5535 litres, which could be supplemented by two 220 liter outboard tanks. The armour protection for the three crew members consisted of armoured headrests and backs with a thickness of 20 mm.
Armament consisted of one 20 mm Type 99 cannon or one 13 mm Type 2 machine gun in the bow and upper defensive mountings; up to 1000 kg of bombs (up to 1500 kg in overload) could also be carried. The armament of the various models was somewhat different. When the aircraft was used as a torpedo bomber, the bomb bay doors were dismantled, with the torpedo partially recessed into the fuselage.
Many Gingas were equipped with Type 3 Ku Mark.6 (H6) marine search radar. The radar antennas were located under the nose of the fuselage and along the sides in the tail. The bombers equipped with radar did not carry a special designation.
Early in its career the Ginga was one of the dominant Japanese bombers during the Philippines campaign, however towards the end of the bloody battles for the Philippines and Formosa, more and more P1Y1 bombers were used kamikaze bombers. There is one surviving example in the Smithsonian museum in the USA.
This 1/32 scale bomber is only one of 3 available and is priced at $999 plus $175 postage. The figures and other accessories are shown for scale comparison purposes only and are not included.
The Bell AH-1 Cobra is a single-engined attack helicopter developed and manufactured by the American rotorcraft manufacturer Bell Helicopters. A member of the prolific Huey family, the AH-1 is also referred to as the Huey Cobra or Snake.
The AH-1 was rapidly developed as an interim gunship in response to theUS Army’s needs in the Vietnam War. It used the same engine, transmission and rotor system of the Bell Iroquois, which had already proven itself to be a capable platform during the conflict, but paired it with a redesigned narrow fuselage among other features. The original AH-1, being a dedicated attack helicopter, came equipped with stub wings for various weapons, a chin-mounted gun turret, and an armored tandem cockpit, from which it was operated by a pilot and gunner. Its design was shaped to fulfil a need for a dedicated armed escort for transport helicopters, giving the latter greater survivability in contested environments. On 7 September 1965, the Model 209 prototype performed its maiden flight; after rapidly gaining the support of various senior officials, quantity production of the type proceeded rapidly with little revision.
During June 1967, the first examples of the AH-1 entered service with the US Army and was promptly deployed to the Vietnam theatre. It commonly provided fire support to friendly ground forces, escorted transport helicopters, and flew in “hunter killer” teams by pairing with the Hughes Cayuse scout helicopters. In the Vietnam War alone, the Cobra fleet cumulatively chalked up in excess of one million operational hours; roughly 300 AH-1s were also lost in combat. In addition to the US Army, various other branches of the US military also opted to acquire the type, particularly the USMC. Furthermore, numerous export sales were completed with several overseas countries, including Israel, Japan and Turkey.
Our 1/30 scale model is limited to 2 in number for this production batch. The figures and accessories shown are not included and shown for scale comparison purposes only.
WOW203 Fiesler Storch Restock
The Fieseler Fi 156 Storch was a small German liaison aircraft built by Fieseler before and during World War II. Production continued in other countries into the 1950s for the private market. It remains famous for its excellent STOL performance. Conceived by chief designer Reinhold Mewes and technical director Erich Bachem. Fieseler’s design had a far better short take off and landing (‘STOL’) performance than other aircraft of its time. A design feature rare for land-based aircraft enabled the wings on the Storch to be folded back along the fuselage. This allowed the aircraft to be carried on a trailer or even towed slowly behind a vehicle. The primary hinge for the folding wing was located in the wing root, where the rear wing spar met the cabin.
The long legs of the main landing gear contained oil-and-spring shock absorbers that had a travel distance of 40 cm, allowing the aircraft to land on comparatively rough and uneven surfaces; this was combined with a “pre-travel” distance of 20 cm, before the oleos began damping the landing gear shock. In flight the main landing gear legs hung down, giving the aircraft the appearance of a long-legged big winged bird.
The Storch is probably most famous for its role in ‘Operation Eiche’ and the 1943 rescue of Italian dictator Benito Mussolini from a boulder-strewn mountain-top near the Gran Sasso. Even though the mountain was surrounded by Italian troops, German SS officer Otto Skorzeny and 90 German paratroopers using gliders landed on the peak and quickly captured it. However the problem of how to get back off with Mussolini still remained. A Focke-Achgelis FA 223 helicopter was dispatched, but it broke down en route. Instead, pilot Heinrich Gerlach flew a Storch to the mountain top and took off with Mussolini and Skorzeny on board over a distance of 80 metres.
On 26 April 1945, a Storch flown by Hannah Reitsch was one of the last aircraft to land on the improvised airstrip in the Tiergarten near the Brandenburg Gate during the Battle of Berlin in an attempt to convince Hitler to leave the doomed capital.
Our 1/30 scale model is the one used in the Gran Sasso rescue attempt. Because of it’s high wing construction and large glazed interior this is a tricky model to perfect, we hope you feel that we have done this iconic aircraft justice. This model is priced at $999 plus $100 postage, these are likely to be our last Storches due to the complexity of making this model and the relatively high cost to manufacture them.
Dear all, welcome to our September 2023 Aircraft newsletter featuring a new selection of our latest warbirds.
All our hand carved Mahogany aircraft take in the region of 250 days to manufacture plus many more hours of drying time. 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 when buying our aircraft, 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 today's newsletter, please email and ask for a quote.
A big thank you to Mark Dyer with his assistance and others who cannot be named in their research and development of these models, it really has been invaluable and we could not do it without you.
All our aircraft now come with their own stands and can be displayed in flying mode if required.
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