[Folgore]

Here's a photo of BuNo 155022 parked on the flightline at NAS Lemoore in October 1974. Note that HM's Lady Jessie depicts BuNo 155022 during the time Cdr. Fred Gosebrink was squadron CO, between June 15, 1973 and May 30, 1974, so this photo is not exactly contemporaneous with HM's Lady Jessie, but it's pretty close. It's tough to tell, but it looks like the undersides of the elevators, at least, should be white. Eh. I still think this is a great model.

By the way, the parent site, Skyhawk Association Home Page, is your one-stop source for all things Skyhawk, including loads of great photos.

[zed550]

its the same as the ritchie phantom quite a few variations in the lady jessie scheme.
still a nice release.

[kb466]

I contacted an unnamed acquaintance who is quite an authority on Vietnam-era Naval aircraft and markings and asked him if he had any informaion on whether the upper elevators should be white or gray on this particular airplane. He is quite familiar with the "Lady Jessie" but could not immediately access any upper views of the aircraft. However, he said that although white upper elevators were the standard, he would not be surprised if the upper elevators were gray for a couple of reasons. (1) He said that "Lady Jessie" came from a different squadron and had different markings before VA-164 received her. He says that the squadron would have repainted her and could have easily painted the elevators gray, not bothering to mask off the white. He says this was not unheard of. (2) He says there may have been repairs on the elevators due to battle damage and again, the repair crews took the easier route and simply repainted the repaired aircraft gray in this area. This is nothing concrete, but could explain why they are gray on the model-- maybe HM (or someone) has a picture showing the plane with gray upper elevators.

[William]

Originally Posted by kb466

I contacted an unnamed acquaintance who is quite an authority on Vietnam-era Naval aircraft and markings and asked him if he had any informaion on whether the upper elevators should be white or gray on this particular airplane. He is quite familiar with the "Lady Jessie" but could not immediately access any upper views of the aircraft. However, he said that although white upper elevators were the standard, he would not be surprised if the upper elevators were gray for a couple of reasons. (1) He said that "Lady Jessie" came from a different squadron and had different markings before VA-164 received her. He says that the squadron would have repainted her and could have easily painted the elevators gray, not bothering to mask off the white. He says this was not unheard of. (2) He says there may have been repairs on the elevators due to battle damage and again, the repair crews took the easier route and simply repainted the repaired aircraft gray in this area. This is nothing concrete, but could explain why they are gray on the model-- maybe HM (or someone) has a picture showing the plane with gray upper elevators.

Hi,

Actually we don't. But our reference show a gray elevator and hence we stick to this.

Thank you for providing a very insightful explanation on this.

William

[whongtk]

Hi William,

I am a fan of the skyhawk and loved the green/tan camo of the IAF type - is there any plan to make a dual-seater such as the example below from RSAF - this is unique in the sense that it is not the standard 2-seat cockpit of the TA-4 but a local rebulit with a lengthed fuselage and stepped up instructor cockpit?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:TA-4SU_close-up.jpg

If this proves to be too costly, I am all for the single-seater RSAF A-4SU with bombs and rocket pods as accessories:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:A-4SU_Korat_2002.jpg

Cheers,
Wilson