1/?? Flunker

by Dave "The Rat" Bailey

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Silly Week 2009

 

On the 5th of July 1956 Carmine Vito (http://roadrunnersinternationale.com/vito.html), an employee of the CIA, made aviation history on what was the second overflight of Russian territory by the U2 when he overflew Moscow for the only time in the history of the program. Entering Warsaw Pact airspace over Poland, he then flew across the Ukraine and continued toward the Russian capital. Over the Fili Airframe Plant (http://www.faqs.org/cia/docs/100/0000491496/PRODUCTION-OF-BISON.html) where construction of Myasischev Bison bombers was underway he photographed a smaller aircraft which seemed very out of place. Analysis of the photos revealed that this previously unknown aircraft was most definitely a fighter, but the Myasischev Design Bureau was strictly in the bomber business. The conclusion drawn by the CIA was that these new fighters were designed as point defence interceptors to defend the airspace above aircraft production plants, but their total inaction when the U2 appeared was puzzling. It was known that the flight had been tracked and that some MiG-17s were scrambled in a futile attempt at interception, but the sequence of photos showed that the new aircraft did not even appear to start up. If this was an interceptor it seemed relatively ineffective in the role, so the Air Standards Coordinating Committee gave it the code name 'Flunker', presaging a slightly more successful fighter which emerged much later. 

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It wasn't until the fall of the Soviet Union that the truth was revealed – the 'aircraft' were actually decoys fabricated to confuse western intelligence. They had been constructed by airframe maintenance students as a means of practising their skills, and were sturdy enough to be self-supporting, albeit without the weight of engines or cockpits. They were certainly good enough to fool some of the best photo analysts in NATO, and when the facts were finally revealed at a reunion dinner in 1994 the laughter was deafening, if only to disguise the reason for the sea of very red faces.

The Model

When I found this model at Northstar Hobbies (http://www.northstarhobbies.com/) in what had obviously been a dumped collection it grabbed my attention like few others do. In an incredibly cheap looking box with artwork like you might see on a kindergarten wall there no doubt resided a really interesting kit, something which gives me the sorts of feelings normally relieved by a cold shower or a good... I was obviously off my meds again. Paying the princely sum of about $5 secured this wonderkit for a future bout of whiffery, the results of which I now shamelessly inflict upon the innocent. Grandiose plans of actually turning this into something with aspirations of reality fought with the rivalling ideas of doing it OOB or melting it down to make fake dog faeces. Since I felt too lazy for option 1 and didn't want to research the exact shade of brown for option 3, OOB won out in a landslide vote of 1 – 0.

Some of the older members of the hobby may remember this as Lindberg's rather sorry attempt at producing a Soviet aircraft which they called, at various times, a "Russian Jet Fighter" or a MiG-19 (to which it bears about as much resemblance as a Ford Edsel does to a Corvette Stingray). This offering was a Russian produced copy marketed as a MiG-19, which must have caused some laughter among any pilots of the real thing. If scaled up the rivets would cause enough drag to bring Vmax to within about 3 knots of Vstall. The pilot figure, which I chose not to use, has one leg that descends from the middle of his hips – how he relieves himself is beyond me. The blue tint of the canopy makes one think that you are looking into a large aquarium… AAAAAAAAARRRRRGGH! Now I know what I should have done! Put a sleeping guppy in the cockpit and call the plane a Fishbed!

There were no decals so the stars were nicked from a Frog Tupolev SB-2.

Is there a model in here? I think so, and if I ever happen across another I would have a serious go at it. (won't go out of my way and I definitely wouldn't pay the price this is going for among some collectors sites) It can never be anything other than a 'what if' as it doesn't closely match anything ever used by any air force, but all the bits are there. I would probably try a bicycle style gear arrangement with outriggers, like a Harrier, and a better canopy.
Dave "The Rat" Bailey

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Photos and text © by Dave "The Rat" Bailey