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DH Hornet F.3, PX293/QV-A, No. 19 Sqn, RAF Church Fenton, 1950.


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Having entered service just too late for WW2, the Hornet featured a similar wooden construction to the Mosquito, and served predominantly with the RAF in the Far East. It saw service during the Malayan campaign, flying with 33, 45, 64 and 80 squadrons, before being withdrawn and retired in 1956.

 

As well as the Far East, the Hornet also equipped three squadrons in the UK, numbers 19, 41 and 65 sqns at Church Fenton, flying firstly in the long range fighter role then converting to ground attack as more Meteors became available. No. 19 sqn operated Hornets from October 1946 until January 1951. 

 

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The Novo kit is basic but as far as I'm aware still the only 1/72 Hornet available? 

 

This one was built oob, except for a tiny bit of scratch building of the pilot's front console and having to source spare decals and serial numbers as the kit ones dissolved and were completely unusable. Although it's called finished, I'm still looking for the 19 sqn tailfin markings and the square marking on the left side of the fuselage behind the 'QV' code.

 

 

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35 minutes ago, Lord Riot said:

The Novo kit is basic but as far as I'm aware still the only 1/72 Hornet available? 

Nice job on the Hornet, I built that exact same aircraft a good few years ago from one of the Skybirds 86 kits. Special Hobby have done a range of injection Hornets as well, and Magna did a range in resin.

1/72 Hornet Kits

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On 6/13/2018 at 7:36 PM, Lord Riot said:

Having entered service just too late for WW2, the Hornet featured a similar wooden construction to the Mosquito, and served predominantly with the RAF in the Far East. It saw service during the Malayan campaign, flying with 33, 45, 64 and 80 squadrons, before being withdrawn and retired in 1956.

 

As well as the Far East, the Hornet also equipped three squadrons in the UK, numbers 19, 41 and 65 sqns at Church Fenton, flying firstly in the long range fighter role then converting to ground attack as more Meteors became available. No. 19 sqn operated Hornets from October 1946 until January 1951. 

 

IMG36701528914726.jpg

 

IMG36671528913146.jpg

 

IMG36681528913146.jpg

 

IMG36691528913145.jpg

 

IMG36711528913145.jpg

 

IMG36721528913145.jpg

 

The Novo kit is basic but as far as I'm aware still the only 1/72 Hornet available? 

 

This one was built oob, except for a tiny bit of scratch building of the pilot's front console and having to source spare decals and serial numbers as the kit ones dissolved and were completely unusable. Although it's called finished, I'm still looking for the 19 sqn tailfin markings and the square marking on the left side of the fuselage behind the 'QV' code.

 

 

Nice build, Lord Riot.

I never tire of seeing Hornets in the earlier blue/grey colour scheme.

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Thanks David. Yes it does look rather fetching, something a bit different. At some point she'll need squadron markings adding though!

 

I'd like to make silver and camo ones at some point too, but I agree I think this is the nicest scheme.

Edited by Lord Riot
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On 6/18/2018 at 9:00 AM, Lord Riot said:

Thanks David. Yes it does look rather fetching, something a bit different. At some point she'll need squadron markings adding though!

 

I'd like to make silver and camo ones at some point too, but I agree I think this is the nicest scheme.

 

I will check to see if I have any spare squadron markings for you.

 

The Frog/Novo kit is a bit of a conundrum dimensionally. There are some very accurate parts to it, while other features like the thickness of the wing and fin for are way too thick.

 

We looked at trying to correct this, but found it would have removed too much of the original mouldings. I elected to sypathetically paint them to reproduce the schemes accurately, while retaining the original charm of the Frog model.

 

I have made a Hornet to represent each RAF unit so far, and one racing machine. All photo links have been renewed, and a little more text added.

 

Edited by David A Collins
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Thank you David, that would be brilliant. My old Novo decals simply broke up on contact with water!

 

The wings do look on the thick side, but like you say overall it looks a decent representation of the aircraft.

 

Your Hornet collection sounds excellent, looking forward to seeing the pics.

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8 hours ago, Lord Riot said:

Thank you David, that would be brilliant. My old Novo decals simply broke up on contact with water!

 

The wings do look on the thick side, but like you say overall it looks a decent representation of the aircraft.

 

Your Hornet collection sounds excellent, looking forward to seeing the pics.

Hi Lord Riot.

I have sent you a message regarding the decals.

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On 6/13/2018 at 7:36 PM, Lord Riot said:

The Novo kit is basic but as far as I'm aware still the only 1/72 Hornet available? 

Nice Hornet. I remember building that one  in my youth (very long time ago!)

 

There is another Hornet available in 1/72 from Special Hobby. See this link - https://www.scalemates.com/products/reviews.php?scale=1:72&topic=de Havilland DH 103 Hornet

 

Cheers

 

Terry

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Nice!

I often wonder how these compact twins handled in the air.

Pretty fast in a straight line, I would assume, but were they easy to fly?

Mind you, it wasn't a problem for the P-38.

Anyway, ignore my idle thoughts - I think the model is great.

👍

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2 hours ago, kapam said:

Nice!

I often wonder how these compact twins handled in the air.

Pretty fast in a straight line, I would assume, but were they easy to fly?

Mind you, it wasn't a problem for the P-38.

Anyway, ignore my idle thoughts - I think the model is great.

👍

Hi Kapam,

I got to talk with several Hornet pilots over the years, and they all praised the flying qualities and handling, especially the F3. Going as far as saying that aerobatics were a joy, due to the "excess of power and slippery airframe". 

Reading the official records, in a dog- fighting situation it compared well against single engined fighters such as the Spitfire and Mustang, with only a slightly slower roll rate than the other two being observed. The other contemporary is the Meteor F4, which was  marginally faster, but could not turn or roll with the Hornet!

I guess like any type, you fly it to it's strengths. If you got out turned, a Hornet could simply out climb anything....even the Meteor F4.

 

The handed turning props were a big part of its predictable handling qualities, as they removed any torque effects at lower speeds, when landing and take off for example.

Edited by David A Collins
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Great looking Hornet. Fantastic work.  I need a Sea Hornet for my stash one day.  I do love the old Frog/Novo  kits and they are great to build apart from the Novo decals. My Proctor decals disintegrated on contact with water too.

Thanks for sharing. 

All the best 

Chris 

 

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2 hours ago, David A Collins said:

Reading the official records, in a dog- fighting situation it compared well against single engined fighters such as the Spitfire and Mustang, with only a slightly slower roll rate than the other two being observed. The other contemporary is the Meteor F4, which was  marginally faster, but could not turn or roll with the Hornet!

I guess like any type, you fly it to it's strengths. If you got out turned, a Hornet could simply out climb anything....even the Meteor F4.

 

The handed turning props were a big part of its predictable handling qualities, as they removed any torque effects at lower speeds, when landing and take off for example.

Thank you David.  Really interesting.  Though I'm not particularly knowledgeable with all the technicalities of flying, I find it enlightening to discover a few "nuances" about individual aircraft now and then.  Unless I'm mistaken (often am) the handed props was also a feature of the P-38. 

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On 19/06/2018 at 22:01, David A Collins said:

Hi,

 

For any one interested, I have updated all of the photo links to the 1/72 Frog Hornet collection, and added a little more descriptive text. See link here:

 

 

These are fantastic!

 

I didn't know about the windscreen frame not being painted, I might see if I can remove the paint from the frames on mine!

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3 minutes ago, Lord Riot said:

These are fantastic!

 

I didn't know about the windscreen frame not being painted, I might see if I can remove the paint from the frames on mine!

 

I will upload a photo here to show the frameless screen here for reference.

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