MD 450 Ouragan - Israel - 1956
Komentarzy
Mr DHi Marius 👍
What metallic paint did you use..??
I'm struggling to airbrush my Velejo silver!! Keeps clogging.
Like your work 👌👍👍
MariusThank you guys for the interest and patience with my never ending typos 🙂
I am of course not the first one to build this kit in the IDF version, but I am trying my own approach.
@Mr D: I am using Xtreme Metal paints. Their Aluminium and Duraluminium are by far my favorites among many other I tried in the last years. Both need no thining and can be used directly out of the bottle. The metallic paints from Xtreme Metal are compatible with Alclad metallics, where my first choices for "Steel" and "Jet Exhaust" are. So you can mix both brands for shading. I am using the Mr. Hobby Thinner, since especially the Alclad Steel is thick and more pretentious. Otherwise regarding the Vallejo metallics, although I experimented quite much with acrylics, nobody managed so far to convice me that spraying acrylics has any advantage over the other "dark side" (other than smell). The Vallejo Silver is indeed the best metallic paint I have found so far that can be applied by brush (for small details or minor chipping). It settles well without waves or protuberances maintaining a good shine (if applied properly). Otherwise, I would personally never think of applying acrylic metallics by airbrush. But there is certainly a reason why some people are still trying that, just that I personally don't know the secret recipe.
Mr DHi Marius 👋😃👍
Thanks for the info, be really helpful .
I'm trying to learn about paint and techniques....and advice like this is appreciated 👍
I only purchased an airbrush about a year ago.
Yes the Velejo silver brush paints really well.
What size needle jet do you use for the Extreme metrics?? and general use ?
Thanks
ClementNice work on those stripes.
I share your frustration regarding Print Scale lack of research, they are also pretty hard to apply, especially small stencil sized decals.
I tend to avoid the brand these days.
I'm looking forward to the rest of your build, it's gonna be a stunner.
ClementOutstanding work, especially given the short run nature of the kit.
Another stunner in your display cabinet, Marius!
Łukasz GlińskiAnother middle-eastern gem in your collection 👍 Congrats and thanks for sharing the context info, very well researched (as usual)
MariusThank you mates for having a look and for the kind words, they are highly appreciated. 🙏
Album info
By 1954, the Israeli Air Force struggled to find a replacement for the obsolete and battered fleets of Meteors, Mosquitos and P-51s. Within one year, the IAF underwent a remarkable transformation as it aquired in 1955 two squadrons of new French fighters. Israel aquired 24 used MD 450 Ouragans shipped immediately from Armée de L'Air units. While the production of the Ouragan was stopped in 1954, the machines delivered to Israel were still fairly new from the later production batches or machines about to become operational. This deal was signed in the context of Israel waiting for the production and delivery of the more advanced Mystere IVA (nicknamed "MIVA").
While the subsonic straight-wing Ouragan was no match for the MiG-15 fielded by Israel's Arab neighbours in even greater numbers, it still had a proper firepower. Equipping four 20mm guns, two underwing pylons but with even more possible ordinance attachment points, the Ouragan could equip a good variety of air-to-ground weapons. The Ouragans with their 7gs also introduced the IAF to g-suits, a new boundary compared to the previous 4gs of the Meteor. The 24 machines were organized in the newly founded 113th Squadron in October 1955. Two months later, the unit is already declared operational and combat ready. Six more Ouragans arrived secretly in August 1956, raising the total number to 30.
Following the sudden nationalisation of the Suez Canal by the Egyptian President Nasser and the closing of the Straits of Tiran to Israeli shipping, tensions were very high in the region in 1956. The disapproval for the nationalisation of the Suez Canal was particularly high in France and Great Britain. The regional situation had more complexity to it, among others counting also the Egyptian's president Nasser assistance for the anti-colonial rebellion in Algeria and his growing influence in the North-African colonies and protectorates of France. Also, Israel believed Egypt formed a secret military alliance with Jordan and Syria, while Egypt was already supplied with 86 MiG-15s and MiG-17s (150 in other sources) and 39 IL-28 bombers (50 in other sources) from the Czech Republic and Soviet Union. Counting also orders of hundreds of armoured vehicles, Israel believed there is only a small window of opportunity until the local military balance is disrupted.
With the support and later participation of France and UK, Israel invaded Egypt on 29 October 1956 in Operation Kadesh. In the early hours of the first day, a daring airborne operation aimed at capturing the far away Mitla Pass in the Sinai Peninsula, where a paratrooper batalion was dropped. The rest of the brigade led by Ariel Sharon advanced on ground to try to catch up with the paratroopers. The delicate operation required intense air support from the very first moments. Small IAF aircraft helped with ground resupplies and evacuation of wounded by landing on an improvised landing strip, while IAF Ouragans and Mysteres were offering CAS and protection from attacking Egyptian aircraft.
IDF archives are reporting that 29 Ouragans were operational with 20 combat ready on the onset of the Suez War. In the late afternoon of the 29 October, six Ouragans were ordered to escort transport flights of the 103 Squadron. The escort missions implied not only engaging any approaching aerial threat but also engaging any enemy vehicles advancing towards the drop zones.
By 30 October, the still isolated pocket at Mitla Pass was under constant air attacks by Egyptian aircraft, including MiG-15s. The IAF initially dispatched only the Mystere IVa of the 101 Squadron to the Mitla Pass, since all other IAF aircraft were inferior to the MiG-15. Despite the presence of the IAF Mysteres, the Egyptian MiG-15 did not stop attacking the IDF paratrooper pocket. After 12:00, also four Ouragans joined the six Mysteres in the operations over Sinai, mainly East of the Suez canal. Nevertheless, the group engaged also a ground target West of the Suez canal, the first of such kind in the war.
Separately, another mixed group of four Ouragans and five Mysteres joined a flight formation at about 13:10. The group sighted two Egyptian MiG-15s, but no aerial combat ensued.
At 13:40, other four Ouragans take off for a rather unusual mission for a jet figther. The Ouragans are joining several P-51s and Meteors in conducting the dangerous cable cutting missions.
Later at 14:35 in the same day, one specific message between Egyptian units is interpected by the IDF, but is wrongly translated. The misunderstanding led to the belief that 24 Egyptian jets were airborne and heading towards the Mitla Pass. The IAF scrambles ten Mysteres and four Ouragans in the direction of Kabrit to intercept what was in the end a group of only 4 EAF MiGs. Nevertheless, 12 more MiGs scrambeled and joing the air combat briefly after. Israeli reports of that day mentioned two shot down MiGs with a third probable crash. In the end, only one EAF MiG was actually seen crashing with post-war analysis crediting the downed MiG to a Mystere pilot.
The very early morning of 31 October 1956 started with a report of an Egyptian warship attacking Haifa. It was the Egyptian destroyer "Ibrahim el-Awal" (previously the HMS Mendip) attacking the coastal and oil installations around Haifa. Although the destroyer was harrased by French and Israeli warships, no hits were scored. Two Ouragans are scrambled at 6:00 from Hatzor to attack the ship, while several French Mysteres are scrambeled in support against assumed aerial threats. The supposed aerial threats originated from an intercepted message, saying Syrian aircraft will support the Egyptian warship. In the end, there was no sighting of any Syrian aircraft, Syria having had no direct participation until the end of the war. After a long search and being critically low on fuel, the two Ouragans are vectored to the warship by a supporting Israeli C-47. The C-47 even exposed itself to the warship's AAA for a clear identification of the ship. The two Ouragans attacked the destroyer from close range under the destroyer's AAA, firing all 16 T-10 rockets each in one pass. A big white cloud emerged from the ship after multiple hits. Later reports revealed that the Ouragans succeeded in damaging the vessel's turbo generator and rudder. Left without power and unable to steer, "Ibrahim el-Awal" surrendered to the Israeli Navy.
Another group of two Ouragans and two Mysteres were scrambeled at 7:00 to participate in the same naval attack, but they were too late and were vectored to attack advancing Egyptian columns eastwards from the canal towards the front lines. During this flight, six Egyptian Vampires are spotted at the El Arish airfield. The Vampires are attacked by two other Ouragans taking off at 07:45. All six Vampires and three more light aircraft are destroyed in the raid. It was later revealed, that all six Vampires were only dummies, while the EAF did not even use the El Arish base during the Suez War. Among the latter two attacking Ouragans, the number 44 (4044) is mentioned for the first time participating in combat missions. The number 4044 likely did other sorties before, but not all identification numbers were properly documented for all missions.
Another ground attack is performed by four Ouragans after 8:30 on the road going northward towards El Arish. While they claimed the destruction of several armoured vehicles, there was also heavy return fire, severely damaging two of the Ouragans. The reputation of the Ouragan being a robust and damage tolerant aircraft was confirmed once more, once all Ouragans did manage to return to base. A similar fate had awaited also the next mission with two Ouragans taking off at 08:40. While the Ouragans reported the destruction of a "Stalin" tank (IS-3?) and several trucks, they both came back with several holes in the airframe.
At 08:50 four Ouragans are sent in a more bizzare task, to destroy an underground communication line with rockets, a mission yielding no conclusive results. After 09:20, four more Ouragans are sent in a ground attack mission in the Mitla Pass sector, while two more Ouragans are joining four Mysteres after 09:45 over Bir Hama. The latter group eventually engaged Egyptian MiG-15s but with inconclusive results.
The same sector at Bir Hama sees ground attacks from two Ouragans after 11:00. Both Ouragans were engaged by MiG-15s but with no relevant result. Nevertheless, ground support of Ouragans near Bir Hama countinued, when another pair claimed after 11:20 the destruction of a "Stalin" tank. A third Ouragan pair attacking the same sector at after 11:50 was as well ambushed by MiG-15s. While Israeli reports are mentioning eight MiGs, Egyptian sources are confirming only four Egyptian MiG-15s led by squadron leader Natih Khalifa. According to Egyptian accounts, both Ouragans jettisoned the fuel tanks and started maneouvering. The MiG-15 of Khalifa opened fire from 150 meters hitting one wing, with the Ouragan "falling" afterwards. The remaining Ouragan was engaged by the other MiG-15 pair, with reports of the Ouragan exploding in the air after several hits. While the Egyptians claimed both Ouragans destroyed, in the end one Ouragan managed to return damaged to the base, while the second Ouragan made a forced landing in the desert (from lack of fuel, according to Israeli sources).
After 12:30, a pair of Ouragans sighted MiG-15s, but did not engage, while a flight of two other pairs reported 50 Egyptian tanks moving from Bir Hama to Bir Gafgafa protected by MiG-15s. This time, the Ouragans retreated against unfavorable odds. Later after 13:10, a pair of Ouragans engaged "MiGs", where this time also MiG-17s were involved. The engagement is confirmed in most details by both sides. While both sides claimed a kill each, all aircraft returned to base, with one MiG-15 smoking heavily. The Israeli Ouragan pilot Jacob Agassi painted himself a second green kill mark beneath the cockpit of the Ouragan 4028 (following his first from 26 April 1956, a Vampire), but the kill was never officially credited.
The four Ouragans taking off at 15:20 with the two more 10 minutes later claimed the destruction of 10 vehicles West of Mitla. Three more Ouragans attacked after 16:40 a column of 50 vehicles moving to Bir Hama, claiming the destruction of two tanks.
On the 1 November 1956, several Ouragan flights attacked ground targets in the Bir Gafga sector, with three Ouragans claiming 7 destroyed armoured vehicles after 11:45, four Ouragans claiming four armoured vehicles and a truck after 12:00. The Ouragan number 4044 ir reported to have been as well involved in the latter attack. Five more tanks and two tracked vehicles are claimed destroyed in a late attack after 16:40 involving four Ouragans.
The 2 November 1956 involved a slow down of IAF offensive air operations. Six Ouragans taking off at 07:55 reported the destruction of 12 Vehicles close to Qantara. A second group of four Ouragans took off at 08:55 with no clear results, while the group of four departing at 09:15 claimed 7 destroyed vehicles. The Ouragan number 4044 is mentioned again within the group of four taking off at 09:25 for a ground attack mission, flown by Jacob Agassi himself this time. The future commander of the IAF Ezer Weizman was also flying one of the Ouragans of the latter group.
The last combat mission of the Israeli Ouragans in the Suez War took place on 3 November 1956 at 08:00, when two pairs conducted CAS for the Brigade 11 in its aim of capturing Khan Yunes.
On the 7 November 1956, a ceasefire is reached. The official order to stop any hostilities is given at 17:40 to all IAF units.
By the end of the hostilities, the Ouragan has proven to be a reliable and robust platform. Although seven were damaged and four made belly landings (other sources claim only 2 damaged), none was actually written off. Both the IDF and IAF have hit together 45-50 tanks in Sinai, out of which a quarter can be credited to the Ouragans.
Following the Suez War, the Ouragans were employed in an OTU (operational training unit). To bolster the ground attack force, 40 more inexpensive Ouragans (45 in other sources) were bought to equip a second squadron. The operational fleet went up to 51 machines by June 1967, out of which only 3 were not combat ready. On the 5th of June 1967, the Israeli Ouragans were to embark on another history chapter.
The Ouragans were finally retired from service in January 1973.
References:
Tom Copper, David Nicolle, et al., "Arab MiGs Volume 1", Harpia Publishing
Tom Copper, David Nicolle, et al., "Arab MiGs Volume 2", Harpia Publishing
Shlomo Aloni, "Israeli Air Force Operations in the 1956 Suez War", IsraDecal Publications
Bill Norton, "75 Years of Israeli Air Force, Volume 1", Helion and Company
...and several other more
