1/72 SH72048 Special Hobby Koolhoven FK-51 Dutch Version - 13 LVA de Haamstede mary 1940 / E14 MLD De Kooy Base Feb/March 1940 / 426 LVA III-2 LvR (Reconnaissance Squadron) Noordwijkerhout May 1940 - Bagged
Plastic Model Kit, Box Condition: No Box
NOTE: bagged kit; there is no box. The box is shown for reference only. This detailed, limited-run injection molded kit featuring optional parts for different aircraft, all fine recessed surface detail, many brass PE parts, resin details, very good cockpit, complete engine, clear windscreens and more. Includes rigging guide & paint guide and decals for all aircraft listed. Never started and inventoried complete with all parts and includes decals and instructions. The Koolhoven F.K.51 was the winning design in a 1935 Dutch government contest for a new trainer. The prototype was designed by Frederick Koolhoven and first flew on 25 May 1935. This two-seat, fixed undercarriage aircraft was an equal-span biplane designed to use a variety of engines from 249 to 500 hp. The Royal Netherlands Air Force (LVA) ordered 25 aircraft in 1936 and 1937 that were powered by a 270 hp Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah V radial engine. Another 29 aircraft were ordered with 350 hp Armstrong Siddeley Cheetah IX engine. The Dutch Naval Aviation Service ordered 29 aircraft powered by a 449 hp Pratt & Whitney radial while between 1936 and 1938 the Royal Dutch East Indies Army bought 38 aircraft with 420 hp Wright Whirlwind. The Spanish Republican government ordered 28 F.K.51s, 11 with 400 hp Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar IVa radials and 17 aircraft powered by 449 hp Wright R-975E Whirlwind radials; these were refereed to as F.K.51bis. Production totaled at least 142 aircraft and twenty-four fuselages of the F.K.51 were assembled at Aviolanda. While the majority of F.K.51s were employed as elementary trainers within the Netherlands in the Royal Dutch Flight Schools or in reconnaissance roles by the Royal Netherlands Air Force in the Dutch East Indies, twenty-eight were clandestinely sold to the Republican government during the Spanish Civil War, despite a Dutch embargo on the sale of arms to either side of the conflict. Some of those arriving in Spain were used as light bombers by the Republicans in the Cantabrian region of Spain.[2]Some LVA F.K.51s were briefly used for reconnaissance duties following the German invasion of the Netherlands in May 1940. Several F.K.51s being destroyed on the ground by attacking Luftwaffe aircraft. The Dutch Naval Aviation Service's F.K.51s were used to carry neutrality patrols from January 1940; however most were damaged or destroyed during an attack on De Kooy Airfield on 10 May.When the Japanese invaded in March of 1942, the Royal Dutch East Indies Army had 27 F.K.51s available for service. They saw the war coming and on December 5, 1941, the flying schools were shut down and the F.K.51s were formed into two reconnaissance squadrons based on Java.
$26.00