Hawker Hunter FR.10/71A/FGA.73A ‘Recce’ - stavebnica

The Hawker Hunter was a British jet fighter developed during the late 1940s and its prototype, the P.1067, was flown in July 1951. Succeeding first-generation jet fighters such as the Meteor and Venom, the first single-seat Hunters were introduced to RAF service in 1954. During the 1960s dedicated variants of the Hunter evolved, to be used for fighter-bomber and  reconnaissance roles.

The FR Mk.10 was based on the F Mk.6 and a total of 33 aircraft were produced, while the FR Mk.71As were conversions of both F Mk.4 and Mk.6s (3 each) for Chile. The Hunter FGA Mk.73A was a designation for a handful of aircraft exported to Jordan in the late 1960s, which were later, in 1975, handed over to Sultan of Oman Air Force.

The recce Hunter was a single-seat swept wing all-metal monoplane aircraft powered by a R-R Avon turbojet. It featured two wing-root intakes, single jet pipe, aft sliding canopy, ejection seat and tail-mounted brake parachute. The Hunters were armed with four Aden cannons in a removable weapons pack in the fuselage underside, while a variety of external stores could be mounted beneath the wings including the drop tanks. Three F.95 reconnaissance cameras were fitted in the nose.

The Hunter was one of the RAF’s mainstays from the mid-1950s through the sixties. It became a popular machine in foreign service, being exported to many countries worldwide and flown with the air forces of no less than 20 nations.

Colour schemes included in the kit:

1)   Hawker Hunter FR Mk.10, XF459, White F, No.4 Sq., RAF, Coltishall Air Base, Norfolk, U.K., September 1961

2)   Hawker Hunter FR Mk.10, XF436, White U, No.8 Sq., RAF, Khormaksar Air Base, Aden Protectorate, summer 1962

3)   Hawker Hunter FR Mk.71A, J-735 (ex-WV326), “Las Panteras Negras“, Grupo de Aviación 9, Chilean Air Force (Fuerza Aérea de Chile, FACh), El Tepual Air Base, Puerto Montt, Chile, 1974

4)   Hawker Hunter FGA Mk.73A, 825 (ex-XG255), No.6 Sq., Sultan of Oman Air Force (Al Quwwat Aljawwiya Almalakiya Oman), Thumrait Air Base, Oman, 1979

Two injection-moulded kits are supplied in this box and each kit contains 43 parts (moulded in grey plastic) and one clear part (the cockpit canopy). A comprehensive instruction leaflet and a decal sheet are included.