Czech Model 1/48 FR-1 Fireball Kit First Look

By Michael Benolkin

First Look

In the middle of World War II, the United Stated obtained jet engine technology from Great Britain and began to explore its application in combat aircraft. While the Army Air Force was focused on the abortive P-59 program, the US Navy saw its application immediately. With the growing number of kamikaze attacks on the fleet in the Pacific, faster interceptors were needed to neutralize this threat.

The Navy also recognized the jet engine's main weakness, it took too long from throttle movement for the engine to respond (not good when you get a wave-off) and these early engines didn't have enough thrust for carrier deck operations without the use of a catapult to assist take-off. The answer was a hybrid aircraft, a piston engine to conduct take-offs and 'traps' on the deck, and the turbine to augment power to achieve greater speeds.

Ryan was selected to build this new aircraft, partly because they were not engaged in the production of other major aircraft programs. The aircraft was powered by a Wright Cyclone at 1350 horsepower and a GE J31 jet engine rated at 1600 lbs thrust. The GE engine was developed to operate on standard aviation (piston engine) fuel to simplify fuel management. The aircraft was armed with four 50 caliber machine guns and provisions for underwing pylons.

The Navy ordered over 700 FR-1s, but in the end, only 66 were produced before the order was cancelled at the end of WW2. VF-66 had transitioned into the Fireball but were too late getting into the Pacific to see combat before the war ended. The Navy flew the Fireball through 1946, gaining experience with turbine engines and conducting launch and recovery with a nose-gear-equipped aircraft. The lessons learned from the Fireball, the first on the deck with a nosewheel, would shape the future of Naval aviation as the jet age rapidly progressed.

This is the first time the Fireball has become a styrene-based kit in 1/48 scale! Czech Model continues to improve the quality of its injection molding with each release and this kit is definitely looking great!

Molded in medium gray styrene, the FR-1 kit comes on three parts trees to provide the basic airframe details and includes a number of nicely cast resin parts to provide the cockpit, wheel wells and other details. The canopy is vacuformed and two are included in the kit.

Despite the significant improvements in molding in this kit, it is still classified as a limited production model and with the use of resin parts and no locator pins/slots for the wing-fuselage joints, some good modeling experience will be needed to get a nice result.

A comment about the Czech Model instructions. Whoever is doing the instruction sheets for these kits should get an award. These are some of the simplest, clearest instructions I've seen in any kit. I can look at any step and not have a question about where any part should be oriented or placed. The scrap drawing inserts clearly depict wing and tailplane angles/dihedral, gear door droop angles, etc. Nice job!

The FR-1 was equipped with two underwing pylons that were mounted inboard of the main gear. The kit includes a pair of external fuel tanks, a favorite configuration since the fuel system was feeding two thirsty engines.

Markings are provided for two aircraft:

• FR-1, VF-66, B11, USS Ranger, 1945
• FR-1, VF-1E, BS/117, USS Bairoko, 1946

This is a very nice-looking kit and should build up into an even nicer example of this pivotal Navy fighter.

I always enjoyed reading the war stories from Corsair pilots who would be out over the Pacific, have a funny-looking fighter join up on their formation, then watch it shut down its engine, feather its propeller and begin climbing away from them. Who needed UFOs when you had the Fireball?

You can find this kit at your local hobby retailer or directly from Squadron Mail Order (www.squadron.com).

My sincere thanks to Squadron Mail Order for this review sample!