History

The Fieseler Fi-156 “Storch” was one of the first STOL aircraft developed for military use. Appearing first in 1935, it went into Luftwaffe service in 1937, and served throughout World War II, both in the Luftwaffe, and in the armed forces of Bulgaria, Croatia, Finland, Hungary, Rumania, Italy, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. In addition, they were also manufactured in Czechoslovakia and France, where production continued after the war. Many postwar models had different engines, and some wartime models are still flying. Some Fi-156’s were captured by the Allies, and were used by the Americans, British, and French.

Brief History

The AIDC F-CK-1 Ching-kuo, commonly known as the Indigenous Defense Fighter (IDF), is a multi-role combat aicraft named after Chiang Ching-kuo, the late President of the Republic of China (Taiwan). The aircraft made its first flight in 1989. It was delivered to Republic of China Air Force in January 1994 and entered service in 1997. All 130 production aircraft had been manufactured by 1999.

The IDF program was initiated when the United States refused to sell F-20 Tigershark and F-16 Fighting Falcon jet fighters to Taiwan following diplomatic pressure from China. Taiwan therefore decided to develop an advanced indigenous jet fighter. The IDF jet fighter project was designed and built by the Aerospace Industrial Development Corporation (AIDC) based in Taichung, Taiwan.

Brengun has released the Me-163B 1/144th scale kit before but this new boxing has markings for some “War Prizes” or captured aircraft. The kit parts are molded in gray plastic and comprise only ten parts per airplane. Did I mention that there are two complete models in each box? If not, let me tell you now that there are two complete models in each box.

The box also contains markings for three separate War Prizes: one British, a Russian, and a Me-163B still in German markings that was taken to the United States for evaluation. Fun Fact: The War Prize that was flown to the U.S. was flight tested by Major Gustav Lundquist. Major Lundquist, was later a Brigadier General and commanding officer at the Arnold Engineering Development Center, the U.S. Air Forces flight test facility.