P-47D Thunderbolt, 'Normandie-Niemen'
Posted: January 21st, 2018, 8:21 pm
P-47D GC1/III 'Normandie-Niemen' Oran-La-Senia Airfield, Algeria, 1950-51
The F6F Hellcats the Normandie-Niemen used in Vietnam were left behind when the squadron returned to the middle east in 1950 (to be fair, they were extremely second-hand when the French Air Force received them, and they were used hard against the Viet Minh so they were probably at the end of their useful lives). The Hellcats were replaced with almost new late model P-47Ds which were used until 1954. Very little seems to have been written about their service in the AdlA, at least in English, but they were the last prop-driven aircraft that GC III used.
And very nice they look too, IMO. This was the 2002 Revell boxing of the aircraft, a splendid kit in most respects rather let down by the nasty brittle aluminium plastic it is shot in. However, i have to say it went together easily enough, needing only the tiniest amount of filler along the wing roots. Probably the best Thunderbolt on the market, at least in gentleman's scale.
The decal sheet was for French Thunderbolts, put out by Berna Decals, a French company with good coverage of French subjects in most scales. they are as nice a set of decals as the Carpena ones on my last build weren't
. As a bonus, they had a spare NN Squadron badge attached, so the Hellcat I built last month is now properly decorated:
Coming up next is the first NN jet, a SNCASE Mistral (A Vampire FB.VI to you and me).
The F6F Hellcats the Normandie-Niemen used in Vietnam were left behind when the squadron returned to the middle east in 1950 (to be fair, they were extremely second-hand when the French Air Force received them, and they were used hard against the Viet Minh so they were probably at the end of their useful lives). The Hellcats were replaced with almost new late model P-47Ds which were used until 1954. Very little seems to have been written about their service in the AdlA, at least in English, but they were the last prop-driven aircraft that GC III used.
And very nice they look too, IMO. This was the 2002 Revell boxing of the aircraft, a splendid kit in most respects rather let down by the nasty brittle aluminium plastic it is shot in. However, i have to say it went together easily enough, needing only the tiniest amount of filler along the wing roots. Probably the best Thunderbolt on the market, at least in gentleman's scale.
The decal sheet was for French Thunderbolts, put out by Berna Decals, a French company with good coverage of French subjects in most scales. they are as nice a set of decals as the Carpena ones on my last build weren't
. As a bonus, they had a spare NN Squadron badge attached, so the Hellcat I built last month is now properly decorated:Coming up next is the first NN jet, a SNCASE Mistral (A Vampire FB.VI to you and me).
