Just to give you a glimpse of the history and showing one of the nice things about modelling:
60 years of fighters in the LVA, RAF and KLu.
LVA had more figthers than these, but these can be regarded as the fighter development where the next plane was the successor of the former.
It started in 1916 with the Fokker D.III (missing in this line up and in my stash)
Then the Fokker D.VII after which came the Fokker D.XVI (and D.XVII) At the end of the thirties the last in this line is the Fokker D.XXI. In between the orange discs had been replaced by the three colored version with the orange dot in the centre, but in 1939 it was replaced by an orange triangle.
Then in 1940 the LVA was disbanded and some pilots took their refuge to the UK and joined the RAF. In the forties the RAF 322 Squadron was assigned as a 'dutch' unit. They flew with several mk's of Spitfires. Here you see a Mk XIVc in 1944 with an orange triangle below the windscreen. After the war 322 squadron flew with Spitfire LF MK IXc with clipped wings and several types of rudders.
After the war in the KLu (Koninklijke Luchtmacht or RNLAF) one of the fighter squadrons still was numbered 322 and exists still today, flying with F16.
So after the Spitfire the jets came and in the pure fighter role there is this quartet of 322 squadron
First there were the Meteors F4, T7 and F8 (this is an F8), followed by the Hawker Hunter Mk4 and Mk6 (this is a Mk4). Then the F104G Starfighter was introduced, which was used until the eighties and then replaced by the F16. Now there is an ongoing discussion about the next airplane. The Netherlands has joined somehow the F35 JSF programme and has bought 2 prototypes, but as the KLu clearly wants the JSF, politics is still considering the Saab Gripen. But that has got nothing to do with WW1 aircraft, so it's off-topic here.
When finding these planes on the attic I stumbled over some biplanes too that have been build by me in the seventies (I guess around the age of 14). All Airfix as far as I remember. I even tried some rigging with sewing silk from my mother.
Fokker D.VII, AVRO 504, Sopwith Pup and Bristol Bulldog.
These have been hanging from the ceiling in my bedroom for several years and are the remainders of at least 6 house moves.
At that time I brushed all paint (I probably hadn't heard of an airbrush) and there were almost no decals for dutch planes. So I did most of it with masking tape trying to realise cockardes and registration numbers.
Also an Airfix model. There are a number of Hasegawa 104's waiting to be build in my stash.
regards,
Ivo
