When in the market for a naval patrol and anti-submarine aircraft during the post-war period, France was presented with the options of either the Grumman TBF Avenger or the Fairey Firefly. The Firefly was chosen, and a number of FR.1 aircraft were transferred from the Royal Navy. They were fitted with a wing mounted radar pod, and flew from both carriers and ground stations. They participated in Operation Musketeer, often being used to aid in attacks by the F4U-7 Corsair. They were retired in the early 1960s when they were supplanted by the Breguet
Alize.
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Why do I keep doing this to myself? Buy a cheap kit that I know is probably crap, open the box and discover I was correct, and build it. Oh well, It's done.
This is apparently the old Frog kit, later Novo, and now Modelcraft. Crude by today's standards, and possibly even by the original standards. The worst part is the transparencies, which may not be the correct term for what it comes with. There were no instructions or decals with this one, but the only part I was unsure of was the orientation of the aerial; did it slope forward or back? Bah, this is the whiff world, so it can go either way. The parts are totally stock except for the radar pod, which came from a 1/72nd Corsair, and the tailwheel which was purloined from an old Frog Tempest, and glued in place just a few minutes before I found the kit one. Aerial wire is stretched
sprue.