F-16A MLU RNLAF 322nd Squadron "Polly Grey" 60th anniversary 2003

December 13, 2023 · in Aviation · 1/48 F-16 Italeri RNLAF · 24 ≡ · 346

This article is part of a series:

1. The smokewinders are an after-market addition

With the 50th anniversary of the F-16 today, I repost the F-16 I finished recently as part of the GB initiated by Erik Gjørup @airbum.

It's a rendition of the F-16A MLU with registration J-063 from RNLAF 322nd Squadron based at Leeuwarden at the time. The aircraft has a special temporary livery to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the squadron back in 2003.

This particular aircraft, is also known as the “MIG-killer”, as on March 24 1999 four Dutch F-16s were on duty to protect coalition aircraft that carry out attacks over enemy territory. Major Peter “Wobble” Tankink, flying one of the four Vipers, suddenly spotted an enemy aircraft approaching on the radar. When it was clear that this was a MiG-29, he immediately fired an AMRAAM missile which hit the MiG-29. The enemy pilot immediately ejected from the plane. Later when returned to the AFB, Tankink states:
“After half a minute when I fired the missile I saw a faint flash and a second or so later I saw a burning wreckage going down. That's when I knew it was definitely a kill.”

A little bit of background on Polly. The story of Polly goes back to the summer of 1942 when a small number of Dutch fighter pilots flew for the RAF and were stationed at bases located on the south coast of Britain. They wanted to have their own squadron within the RAF and nearly a year later 322 squadron was formed.
However they still needed a mascot.
In July 1943 pilot officer Sluijter returned from leave from London and brought an African Grey parrot with him.
It was then decided the parrot should be the squadron's mascot and was named Polly Grey.
Nowadays, Polly generation V is in active service with this oldest Dutch squadron since 1989.

With respect to the kit, Italeri 278, it is quite basic in terms of detailing, fitting and especially the decals are a disappointment.

As you can see in the pictures below the canopy is just too wide for the fuselage, so I could not establish a proper fit. Off course I could have opted for a canopy in open position, but the cockpit simply has a substantial lack of detail to allow for this.

With respect to the decals, I observed the following:
⁃ the decal with the text “WWW.322SQUADRON60JAAR.NL” is simply too short for the tail section.
⁃ the decals for the demarcation of the STEP/NO STEP areas are too small as well, so I had to cannibalise the decals meant for the area between the wing-root and the horizontal stabilizers, to make the other ones fitting the designated areas on the wings.
⁃ the decals representing the “Frisian roots” of this aircraft and to be placed on the ventral fins are incorrect as the water lily leafs look more like a row of Pac-Mans to me).

And lastly, my fault, the kit is also a tail sitter as I forgot to add some weight in the nose as it was not mentioned in the instructions. Grrr … Hence the sticky gum under the nose wheel.

Anyway, here's the result of my struggles with a few annotations. Hope you like it.
BTW, Polly is in the last picture. 🙂

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