Hobby Master Archive

Hobby Master 1/72 Air Power Series HA3553 McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A+ Hornet 162841, VFC-12 “Fighting Omars”, 2018

Professionally painted Great attention to detail All markings are Tampoed (pad applied) Option to display the model on a stand that is provided Model can be shown with the landing gear in the down or up positions Canopy can be displayed open or closed Extremely heavy metal with a minimum of plastic Highly collectable

The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic twin engine all-weather night fighter and attack aircraft. The F/A-18s first flew in November 1978 and the first production flight on April 12, 1980. The first 380 aircraft were F/A-18As and in September 1987 production switched to the F/A-18C. Variants A and C are single-seat aircraft while B and D are tandem- seats. The Hornet can operate from either aircraft carriers or land bases with the capability of in flight refueling. A total of 1,480 A-D variants were built.

VFC-12 “Fighting Omars” is a USN Reserve fighter squadron that acts as adversaries for the USN and USMC. In 1994 VFC-12 received the F/A-18A/B Hornet with the F/A18As being upgraded to the F/A-18A+ in 2004. The upgrade consisted of improved mission avionics compatible with the F/A-18C variants. F/A-18A+ aircraft are able to carry AIM-120 missiles, JDAMs and JSOWs while F/A-18As aren’t. In 2006 VFC-12 transitioned to the F/A-18C only to transition back to the F/A-18A+ in 2012. That year saw the usual adversary blue paint replaced with the SU-35 Flanker Prototype 2 Arctic Splinter Camouflage.

Specifications for the McDonnell Douglas F/A-18A/B Role - Fighter/Attack Manufactured - 1980 to 1987 Numbers Produced A - 371 B - 40 Crew A - 1 B - 2 Dimensions Length - 56 ft 0 in (17.07 m) Wingspan - 40 ft 8 in (12.4 m) Height - 15 ft 4 in (4.66 m)

Weight Empty - 28,000 lbs (12,700 kg) Gross - 38,000 lbs (17,240 kg) Maximum Take-off - 56,000 lb (25,400 kg)

Performance Engines - 2 X GE F404-GE turbofans producing 10,600 lb.s.t. dry & 15,800 lb.s.t with afterburning per engine Fuel Internal - 1,670 U.S. gal (6,322 l) External - As many as 3 X 330 U.S. gal (1,249 l) drop tanks Maximum Fuel - 2,660 U.S. gal (10,070 l) Maximum Speed - Mach 1.8 1,190 mph (1,915 km/h) @ 35,000 ft (10,670 m) Landing Speed - 150 mph (241.4 km/h) Combat Ceiling - 50,000 ft (15,240 m) Maximum Range - 2,875 miles (4,627 km) ARMAMENT 1 X 20 mm M61A1 cannon in nose PLUS Hard Points 4 X under-wing 2 X fuselage corner stations 1 X center-line 2 X wing-tip To carry AIM-9 Sidewinder Missiles Or AIM-7 Sparrow Missiles Plus Up to 3 external fuel tanks and other assorted ordnance