Loach Driver

Nice shots of the MD902 Explorer and the Westland Scout. The MD902 is not currently in production and no new ones may ever be built. Great to see a few Scouts still flying in private hands, It's not the prettiest helicopter but it has its charm, nonetheless. LD.

Astonishingly good work, as always. LD.

I think they are part of the High Frequency radio system. At least the long one under the tailboom is. I am not sure if the one on top of the tail fin is too. I'd imagine that is still some kind of radio antenna though. LD.

Something of interest to anyone building a YCH-1A model. 85514 and 85515 both appear to have a shorter forward rotor-mast while 85516 has the taller production-standard rotor-mast. The cabin door and pilots' side windows are also different from the later production aircraft. The fuselage window layout in 85516 is the same as the production-standard CH-46. I think the Airfix U/CH-46 is probably closest to 85516 in terms of an out-of-the-box build. Scroll down this page for a pic of 85516. https://www.helis.com/database/sqd/6515th-Squadron/1960s LD.

The simple answer right now is no. There is no S-92 kit in any scale available right now but hopefully that changes pretty soon. LD.

Thanks for that info. LD.

Thanks for all that info and the interesting photos. I had a dig through my OH-58A photos saved from the web and found this image of an OH-58A with a Stinger Pod fitted. The cameras fitted on top of it (as well as all the equipment in the rear compartment) indicate that it might actually have been a "live" pod and was used in testing the firing of the Stinger missile from the OH-58A. I reckon it is a second photo of the same OH-58A from your post above. It would be interesting to know the Army serial number for this Kiowa. It would make a nice and interesting little model. (I'm not

I've got a 1/72 Matchbox YA-10 kit waiting for this sheet. The JAWS schemes are tempting too. Thanks for releasing this sheet. LD.

Thanks for doing up this drawing. It might be useful in the future for a conversion of one of the existing AHIP kits. Any photos of OH-58As or AHIP prototypes fitted with ATAS would be welcome. I think the first ATAS launches from a Kiowa were from an OH-58A in the mid-eighties. I don't know the identity of that particular airframe though. LD.

There is an old and basic kit of the S-62 in approximately 1/48 scale. I have one in the attic. I recall paying a princely sum for it. LD.

It sure would. I need to pull out my 1/72 Italeri kit and see how difficult that engine cowling modification might be. Nice paint scheme and the air data boom adds further interest to the model. The Stinger missile system was a feature of much of the early OH-58D artwork and early airbrushed photos. Hughes also fitted a Stinger pod to their OH-6D AHIP entry. I'm not sure if any of the early OH-58D prototypes actually flew with a Stinger pod fitted. I think the Stinger came later with the armed OH-58D Kiowa Warrior. As a kid, I was always fascinated by these images of the Kiowa with

Thanks for the colour tips. I messed around with the pic for a minute and came up with this version of it. Not fully correct but a bit closer to the real colour of the helicopter than the first version of this pic. LD.

I managed to find two more photos of OH-58D prototypes. First up is Ship No.2, in a configuration and paint scheme that is just dying to be replicated in miniature form! I think the colours in this photo are off a little. The red should probably day-glo orange, similar to the orange in the second photo. I'd imagine the zinc chromate-like colour is probably a bit paler too. And here is Ship No.5. I believe this was the first of the prototypes to get the production-standard engine cowling. Another bright test ship that would look good in 1/72 or 1/35.

Thanks Matt, I'd appreciate that. The development of the OH-58D from the winning proposal in 1981 to the first production variant delivered to the Army is poorly recorded, as far as I can tell. Photos of the five prototypes are fairly thin on the ground. Maybe the Army Aviation Digest has a good write-up on their development and on the test program. That publication gave a lot of attention to the development of the AH-64. Thanks. LD.

Here are two photos of the third OH-58D prototype. I've been trying to find other photos of the original five test ships but they seem to be extremely rare, online. LD.

Lovely Tomcat, Paul. I always enjoyed your 1/72 builds in FSM. Still not sure what kit to get, a Matchbox for Tomcat No.1 or the Airfix kit for one of the later prototypes. LD.

It is insanely-good modelling! LD.

Here is a link to truck load of photos of 71-1369, including cockpit photos, as well as some photos of 31665 fitted with an air data boom. I'd guess these are all Fairchild company pics. https://cdm16694.contentdm.oclc.org/digital/collection/p16694coll109/search/searchterm/Republic YA-10/page/1 I hope this is of interest. LD.

The Airfix 1/72 A-10 kit was released in JAWS markings in the early 80's too. As you say, a new sheet featuring JAWS markings will be good. It ain't going to be easy to paint, though! LD.

(I hope it is OK to pose this question here.) I am interested in doing an early F-14A from this sheet in 1/72. It seems the best, but not perfect, option for the first prototype is the 1/72 Matchbox kit. I was wondering where the first release of the Airfix F-14A fits in on the sheet. Which airframe does it most closely represent, in the opinion of someone who knows the F-14 well as well as having knowledge of the Airfix kit? I built the original Airfix kit on its release in my childhood and I'd love to try that kit again, for the sake of nostalgia but I'd also like to

I see that this sheet is being released in April. Will it be released in 1/72 at some point in the future? The Matchbox kit is a good representation of the first two prototypes (71-1369 and -1370). The tailfins need to be reshaped and an air data boom needs to be added too but other than that, externally, it looks good to go. The cockpit might be a different story, however 😬. I'm sure there are other kits in this scale that will allow early-production A-10s to be built too. 👍 LD.

The SH-3s from the Apollo missions have been reasonably well covered but the SH-3s used in the astronaut recovery portions of the Gemini and Mercury programs have not received their fair share of attention. I have done some research into thos machines so let me know if they might be of interest. LD.

Here we go! More photos and stories of test helicopters. Yes, please detail the mods "airwolf" was fitted with. Always fascinating to hear about some of the tech fitted and tests being undertaken. PS. Is that an Argentine Air Force decal on the pillar behind the pilot's door? 👍 LD.

Wow, that looks interesting! Can't have too many Loaches! 👍 LD.

Rob, can you recall what types of missions or test flights -4433 undertook while based at Kirtland AFB? It would be fascinating to learn about its test flight program prior to service entry. Thanks. LD.