Yak-3 Normandie-Niemen Squadron
Posted: November 7th, 2017, 2:00 pm
First in a new project, the history of Normandie-Niemen squadron of the French Air Force:
In November 1945, the Free French squadron that had been flying with the Red Air Force as the Normandie-Niemen Regiment returned to Paris, arriving at Le Bourget Airport in front of a crowd of 100,000 people. Part of the return ceremony involved the gifting of the 36 fighters they had used during the war as a gift from the USSR to the French People. After the celebrations, these became the nucleus of the new GC/III, Normandie-Niemen of the Armee de l'Air and continued to serve until some time in 1947/8 when lack of spare parts effectively grounded them. This had been a continuing problem that became progressively worse, causing the new Groupe to supplement its Soviet flightline with a very unexpected running mate (keep watching this space).
The kit was the surprisingly nice, given its age, Yak-3 from Heller, which went together well with surprisingly few fit issues. The colour scheme is a tentative reconstruction from several sources, as almost no GC/III aircraft had a matching scheme. Decals were pulled from the spares box and worked fairly well, although the blue of the roundel centre disk seems way too pale and may be revisited at a later date, as will the crosses of Lorraine.
The next kit in the build list will be the Yak's unexpected running mate in 1947. Please keep watching.
In November 1945, the Free French squadron that had been flying with the Red Air Force as the Normandie-Niemen Regiment returned to Paris, arriving at Le Bourget Airport in front of a crowd of 100,000 people. Part of the return ceremony involved the gifting of the 36 fighters they had used during the war as a gift from the USSR to the French People. After the celebrations, these became the nucleus of the new GC/III, Normandie-Niemen of the Armee de l'Air and continued to serve until some time in 1947/8 when lack of spare parts effectively grounded them. This had been a continuing problem that became progressively worse, causing the new Groupe to supplement its Soviet flightline with a very unexpected running mate (keep watching this space).
The kit was the surprisingly nice, given its age, Yak-3 from Heller, which went together well with surprisingly few fit issues. The colour scheme is a tentative reconstruction from several sources, as almost no GC/III aircraft had a matching scheme. Decals were pulled from the spares box and worked fairly well, although the blue of the roundel centre disk seems way too pale and may be revisited at a later date, as will the crosses of Lorraine.
The next kit in the build list will be the Yak's unexpected running mate in 1947. Please keep watching.
