1:72 Mirage IIIRD 33-TG 90000h Mirage IIIR.RD ER 3/33 Moselle 1988

A reconnaissance delta machine with cameras instead of a radar

The reconnaissance form came about through a swap that sounds simple but changed the nature of the aircraft: instead of a radar the nose received a set of obliquely and vertically aimed cameras and its shape turned from a sharp cone into a rounded nose. The machine thereby lost the ability to intercept in all weathers and gained a photographic strip taken at low altitude and high speed. The form with the added letter D went further: a Doppler navigation system was added, which held the accuracy of an approach even over terrain without landmarks, and the composition of the imaging equipment was extended.

The power was provided by a single engine with an afterburner, and the wing stayed a tailless delta of low aspect ratio. Such a configuration does not forgive much. The landing speed is high, because a delta without a horizontal tail has nothing to trim out lowered flaps with, and it was exactly the crews of the reconnaissance versions that were meanwhile flying the most demanding work, that is long low flights under the radar horizon.

The motif captures the festive finish for reaching ninety thousand flight hours with a reconnaissance squadron, as stands in the name beside the year 1988. The figure of hours relates to the operation of the type with the given unit as a whole, not to a single airframe; the code 33-TG, by contrast, denotes a particular aircraft.

The base should be smooth and glossy, otherwise air will be trapped under the film. The print is prepared for models in 1:72 scale and settles after a brief soaking. The striking stripes across the whole fuselage are more easily managed when cut into two pieces, which are then joined exactly on the edge of a fairing.