Interesting mate, I’ll check with my local book store again, I do know that they tend to be a bit behind in their stock.

You didn’t by any chance happen to be one of the lads who scored a Melbourne on the side of their Scooter did you? I heard that certain pilots marked landing on our carrier on the side of their mounts because she was so small and difficult to land on.

Would you say then that the A-4 was harder to fly because it was so small?

Sounds interesting mate and welcome aboard. The book hasn’t hit the shelves down here (Australia) yet but I will keep a look out for it.

I do have a question for you though about your flying experiences:

How much much of a shock did you get climbing out of a Scooters cockpit and jumping into a bigger cockpit of the A-7.

Interesting thread and a valid question as well, A good case to look at is Finland who operated both Western and Eastern Block fighters at the same time in the form of SAAB J-35 Drakens and Mig 21’s.

The problem I read about (and this is emphasised in the Indian Air Force) is that it takes a lot of work trying to match weapons to the different systems. Firstly there are problems with connecting the systems to the rails of the different aircraft- Russian types have a narrower gap between attachment points. This means that you have to have an adapter pylon (the fins developed some), the prob with these though is that the weapons then hang lower to the ground, I have seen pics of Migs with Sidewinders and Drakens with AA-2’s

Another problem is matching the capabilities of the weapon to the capabilities of the electronics in the airframe- If the radar isn’t up to the full spec of the missile, then how can you have a complete defence system?

Basically you are doubling up on weapons systems and spending money (that your country might not have) on everything in a logistical sence.

Just reading the list of users, cancelled orders and evaluators.

I have seen pics of a GR-91 in Greek markings and one in American markings, but does anyone have any in Turkish and Norwegian markings?

Did a quick bit of fishing in the pond and came up with this for you mate:

Cuban Armed Forces Review

What I’d like to know is, how will the Cubans restore their once proud navy? They had a reasonable navy for the region, a Foxtrot, a couple of Koni’s.

Perhaps with the fading out of the Castro administration, Cuba may once again rise up as a decent military force.

LERX: mate you got most of it right, they were oil burning ships, thus engine room temps took a huge toll on their engineering crew. I remember there being a special allowance for those who served in the boiler rooms (Uni could back me up on this if he was in around the same time I was).

I too forgot about this pic and indeed you are correct, they did serve with both systems for a very short time, though my sources put it at only 4 months as the systems were being phased out at the time due to the RAN buying torpedos with a much larger range than the Ikara system could offer.

it’s a shame, personally I think the Pampas were a great idea for Bolivia, support being local was the key to my thinking.

The L-159 is a very impressive aircraft, but I wonder if it might be a bit too much for the FAB. My point of concern being that of training- the FAB doesn’t havemodern training aircraft- this would force the AT-33’s to stay on as training aircraft.

Swerve: Mate thanks for the presentations, it’s the first chance I have had to actually view the offer and it is indeed very impressive. I am concerned however about the very very high freeboard.

I see the proposal does mount a “Medium Calliber” gun on the bow- so with that in mind how could a heavy calliber gun, such as the 127mm, fit? Easy, extend the box mounting and cover the anchor winchs over or move them altogether. The Barrel does however present a problem as it would bury into the waves in a rough sea. Again I can only offer the thought of the Stealth 127mm gun.