1:72 Mirage IVP n°59 CF C'est Fini 1964-2005

A second career: from a weapon carrier to a reconnaissance machine

When the strike role ended in the mid-1990s, several airframes were left with flying life still remaining. Instead of being withdrawn, they received a large imaging pod with optics and an infrared sensor in the space for the weapon and began to fly strategic reconnaissance. For such work they suited better than anything else in the force: they were able to cover a great distance quickly, to work from altitudes tactical machines did not reach, and to return before the situation on the ground changed.

Operations ended in 2005, that is more than four decades after introduction. Few supersonic combat aircraft of the early 1960s lasted so long in the front line. Paradoxically the low flying hours of the individual examples helped, because the machines spent a substantial part of their career on alert on the ground, not in the air, and their airframes therefore aged more slowly than the number of years on the books would suggest.

The coloring on this sheet is a farewell one and carries a French inscription meaning that it is over. The years 1964 and 2005 given in the name bound the whole time of service of the type, and so they are not an anniversary count. The marking CF with the sequence number n°59 belongs to the machine the farewell scheme was carried on.

The decals are intended for 1:72 scale and printed on a transparent film. Large areas settle better divided into smaller pieces, which are joined only on the surface of the model. Before sticking them down it is useful to try the position dry and to note the edges.