The Little World

Well, the long saga has concluded – the Dassault Super Mystere is ready for the IAF museum at Schmattarim.

The display of older aircraft at the museum is a mixed affair -some of the older relics have been left in as-received condition after the air force has wrung all the good they could out of them. Paint jobs and canopies have suffered, and the insides may be pretty bare. Others – like famous fighters piloted by war heroes – are regularly maintained as a tribute to them. One hopes that the staff are doing it authentically, rather than with the cheap paint from the DIY shop.

This Super Mystere is a Sinai veteran – roughly the same era as the Oragon or the Vautour. it is a gun-armed plane and in the form seen at the museum, has disparate fuel tanks mounted on the pylons. One assumes this to be museum work, rather than operational fitting. At least it doesn’t leak hydraulic fluid too badly.

The type has been fitted with several engines – this ’57 version has the Atar on board, though later re-working brought American engines and a long tail cone. The model sits comfortably on the tricycle landing gear but it might have been a close-run thing if the long tail cone was added.

Kudos to AZ Model for the fit of the landing gear legs and their gear doors – it has made a pretty sturdy base for the weight of the aircraft. Any odd angles are the fault of the model builder or the Schmattarim maintenance fitters…