Freedom Models FD18014

Boeing/Hughes AH-64D/E Apache Combat-proven and constantly upgraded to adapt to the threats of modern battlefields, the AH-64 Apache is arguably the most capable combat helicopter in the world today. Our first decal sheet for the Apache features 16 (sixteen) different marking options for US Army and foreign operators of the latest Apache variants - the AH-64D and AH-64E. Designed for the Hasegawa kit. Please note that the US options on this sheet require the ASPI (Aircraft Survivability Product Improvement) exhaust kits (commonly known as the "sugar scoops") installed on the US AH-64 fleet since 2009. The options on this decal sheet are: AH-64D 04-5472, US Army AH-64D 07-05302 "Tyrone Biggums", US Army AH-64D 07-05524 "No Diggity", US Army AH-64D 02-05340 "El Patron", US Army AH-64D 07-05523, US Army AH-64E 17-03117, US Army AH-64E 12-09025, US Army AH-64D 07-5525 "St. Anger", US Army Apache AH.1 ZJ184 "Gunship 1", Attack Helicopter Demonstration Team, British Army Apache AH.1 ZJ208 "Gunship 2", Attack Helicopter Demonstration Team, British Army AH-64DHA 03-1026 "026", Hellenic Army AH-64E 15-4808 , Indian Air Force AH-64E 15-0716 , Indonesian Army AH-64E 19-0002 "QA-112", Qatar Emiri Air Force AH-64D 01-2069 "069", Republic of Singapore Air Force AH-64E 11-00019 "819",Republic of China (Taiwan) Army

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US NAVY SQUADRON HISTORIES - NO. 305 WORLD WATCHERS A Pictorial History of Electronic Countermeasures Squadron ONE (ECMRON-1) and Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron ONE (VQ-1). by Angelo Romano Pages: 304 Size: 8.5 X 11 (inches) Format: Paperback with semi-rigid cover Illustrations: 633 mostly color photos, 39 color profiles, 82 patches Publisher: Ginter Books The lineage of VQ-1's "World Watchers" can be traced back to two PBY-5A Catalina "Black Cats" modified for electronic reconnaissance during World War II. In Oct 1951, the unit was formally established as the Special Electronic Search Project (SESP) at NAS Sangley Point, Republic of the Philippines, in Oct 1951. On 13 May 1953, the unit was redesignated Detachment Able of Airborne Early Warning Squadron One (VW-1), and operated four P4M-1Q Mercator aircraft. On 1 Jun 1955, Detachment Able was reorganized into Electronic Countermeasures Squadron One (VQ-1) at MCAF Iwakuni, Japan. This was the first Navy squadron dedicated to electronic warfare. In Sep 1956, VQ-1 received the first A3D/A-3 Skywarrior, or "Whale" as it came to be known, which served the squadron for the next three decades. In 1960, VQ-1 moved to NAS Atsugi, Japan and redesignated Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron ONE. The last Mercator was retired and replaced by the WV-2Q Super Constellations. The "Willie Victor" would remain the backbone of VQ-1's long range, land-based reconnaissance efforts through the Vietnam Era and into the 1970s. The squadron's involvement in the Vietnam War started characteristically, at the very beginning, when a Skywarrior crew was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation for their role in the Gulf of Tonkin incident of 2-5 Aug 1964. For the next nine years, VQ-1 would operate from DaNang, Cubi Point, Bangkok, aircraft carriers on patrol in Yankee Station and other bases in Southeast Asia. VQ-1's aircrews supported countless air strikes and were credited with assisting in the destruction of numerous MiG aircraft and Komar patrol boats. In 1969, The first EP-3B joined the squadron, which began the replacement program for the Super Constellations, which was completed in 1974. In 1971, VQ-1 moved its homeport to NAS Agana, Guam. At that time it absorbed Heavy Photographic Squadron SIXTY ONE (VAP-61) and its former parent unit, VW-1. For a time, VQ-1 consisted of thirty aircraft: sixteen Skywarriors, twelve Super Constellations and two Orions. In Jul 1974, VQ-1 welcomed the first of three EP-3E ARIES I, which served well until retirement, in 1992. On 29 Nov 1988, the last four Skywarriors left the squadron which now flew EP-3E exclusively. In 1991, the squadron closed its permanent detachment at Atsugi, after 30 years and relocated it to Misawa, Japan. In the same year, VQ-1 received the first EP-3E Aries II, an upgraded version of the ARIES I, using modified P-3C airframes. The squadron played a key role in Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM. Tasking included strike support, combat search and rescue, communications and over-the-horizon-targeting support to Coalition forces. In 1994, as a result of the base closure of NAS Agana, VQ-1 was notified of the homeport change to NAS Whidbey Island. Coincidentally, in Jul 1994, VQ-1 retired the Navy's oldest operational P-3, EP-3E ARIES I BuNo 148887. Its retirement also marked VQ-1's transition to all EP-3E ARIES II mission aircraft. The next aircraft upgrade, the Sensor Systems Improvement (SSIP) Program, became operational in Aug 2000. On 1 Apr 2001, a VQ-1 EP-3E collided with a People's Republic of China F-8 II fighter, 70 nm off the coast of Hainan Island in the South China Sea. After struggling to regain control of the crippled aircraft, the crew performed a successful three-engine, no-flap emergency landing at Lingshui Air Base on Hainan Island. The crew of 24 was detained for ten days. After the terrorist attacks of 11 Sep 2001, VQ-1 surged aircraft and crews to the Central Command, where missions were flown in support of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM, IRAQI FREEDOM and NEW DAWN. On 17 May 2012, VQ-1 became the largest operational aviation squadron in the Navy when Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron Two (VQ-2) was officially disestablished and its personnel consolidated into VQ-1. Today, VQ-1 continues to provide Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (ISR) flights over an area of responsibility spanning 17 time zones from the East Coast of Africa to the West Coast of the United States. The World Watchers maintain a constant, forward-deployed status to ensure global support to Combatant, Joint and Fleet Commanders. This book is a tribute to all World Watchers who have served the squadron since its establishment to date. A special mention goes to those crews who were lost in tragic accidents, while serving their country.

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Republic F-84F Thunderstreak and RF-84F Thunderflash. Fraught with engine and aerodynamic teething problems that resulted in its missing the Korean War for which it was intended, the F-84F Thunderstreak, initially seen as languishing in the shadow of the more well-known and proven F-86 Sabre, matured to become a formidable fighter-bomber that served not only with the USAF's Tactical and Strategic Air Commands, but also with numerous European air forces for many of which it also offered the first experience in swept wing jet fighter operation. It provided a much-needed deterrent during the critical early years of the Cold War and the 1960s, especially with NATO air forces, where it normally replaced its straight-wing predecessor, the F-84 Thunderjet. No fewer than 2,711 examples of the Thunderstreak were built, so that for a time it was the fighter most in widespread use in Europe, becoming the backbone of the Alliance's combat element. In contrast, its service with the USAF was rather short-lived when newer fighters such as the F-100 Super Sabre and F-4 Phantom with superior and supersonic performance supplanted it in service. However, with the outbreak of the Vietnam War, when these modern fighters and the USAF's other more valuable combat aircraft were deployed to Southeast Asia, the USAF recalled the Thunderstreak for another spell of frontline service in defence of mainland United States. It was only the French who used it in anger when it carried out strikes on Egyptian targets during the Suez Crisis of 1956. Sharing the Thunderstreak's main characteristics including its vices and virtues, its offshoot, the RF-84F Thunderflash, was considered to be the best photo-reconnaissance fighter of its time, capable of carrying six cameras in its abundant nose in 15 different combinations. The Thunderflash, too, was exported to most of NATO's air forces, as well as to the Republic of China Air Force where it carried out routine overflights over mainland Communist China in a hostile environment. The French, too, used it in a firing war, again in Suez, while the Turkish Air Force similarly employed it during its brief war with Greece in 1974. Again, the advent of such types as the RF-101 recce Voodoo and the RF-4C Phantom replaced it in USAF service, while the F-104 was the type that most replaced it in NATO air arms. But both the Thunderstreak and Thunderflash remained in service for a long period in some of the European air forces, the last Thunderflash being retired from the Greek Air Force in 1991. This latest Warpaint title gives an account of these two types' service, with detailed lists of serials, squadron service, production and variants in 80 pages of text accompanied by no fewer than 190 colour and B&W photos, eight pages of colour artwork by and foldout scale drawings, describing the development and operational career of these remarkable aircraft. This book is written by Charles Stafrace and is superbly illustrated by Richard J.Caruana.

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North-American F-100D Super Sabre Part 3 In Foreign Service (5) 53-1602/0223 41FBS,2FBW Republic of China Air Force Taiwan 1960; 54-2219 FW-219 113 Filo Turkish Air Force 1960; 55-2756 G-756 730 Esk R.Danish Air Force 1965; All natural metal/sprayed aluminium. 55-2744 G-744 Esk R.Danish Air Force 1973 overall green; 42138 11-YM EC-4-11 Jura French Air Force Dijibouti 1978 SEA camouflage

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Re-printed! Lockheed F-104 Starfighter Collection Pt1 (7) F-104G Starfighter '32733', '161-25' of Escadron 61, Ala 6, Ejercito del Aire, (Spanish Air Force) based at Torrejon, Spain, 1965-66. RF-104G Starfighter '12235/W-FN' of 331 Skvadron, Luftforsvaret, (Norweigan Air Force) based at Bode, Norway, 1964. F-104G Starfighter, 'D-8288' of 322 Squadron, Commando Luchtverdedinging, Koninkijke Luchtmacht, (Royal Netherlands Air Force), based at Leeuwarden, Netherlands, 1970's. F-104G Starfighter, '26+65', of Marinefliegergeschwader 1 (MFG 1), Deutsche Marine, (German Navy), based at Schleswig-Jagel, West Germany,1983. F-104G Starfighter '62-12347/4414' of 8 Squadron, 427th Wing, Zhonghua Minguo Kongjun (Republic of China Air Force) based at Ching Chuan Kang Air Base, Taiwan, 1970's. F-104G Starfighter, '6_164' of Turk Hava Kuvvetleri (Turkish Air Force), based in Turkey, 1980's. F-104S Starfighter, '37-11/MM6795' of 18 Gruppo/37 Stormo, Aeronautica Militare, (Italian Air Force), based at Trapani/Birgi, Italy, 1996

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