Crécy Publishing’s biography: “Lieutenant Colonel Rick Bishop flew for over 50 years as a civilian, Army, and Air Force pilot amassing over 16,000 hours in the air. Raised in Miami, Florida his passion for aviation started with flying lessons at the age of 16 which he continued throughout his college years. Voluntarily joining the Army in 1967, he saw action in Vietnam then joined the Air Force in 1974 where he flew jets for four years until being selected to join the U-2 Program. Over the following 13 years he rose to Commander of the 99th Strategic Reconnaissance Squadron prior to further advancement preceding his early retirement in 1991. Rick then flew for American Airlines for the next 16 years. He now resides on a small farm in the rolling hills north of Ocala, Florida.”
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Aircraft and History
The De Havilland DH.98 Mosquito, commonly called “Mossie” or “Wooden Wonder” was a fast, twin engine multi-role aircraft developed and operated during WWII. The Mosquito could operate as a bomber or be fitted with guns (in the nose or in bomb bay) and operate as an effective fighter. Speed was one of the Mosquitos best defensive assets where this aircraft was faster than most piston powered fighters Germany operated. The Mosquito was very capable at high altitude, low altitude, daytime and night operations.
Construction of the Mosquito consisted mostly of wood which was beneficial since “strategic material” (metal) was in high demand during WWII and small “cottage industries” were capable of building parts for the Mosquito and reducing the aircraft manufacturing demand during war time. Some mosquitos were fitted with a “glass” nose while others contained four machine guns and others contained a radar for night fighting operations.
Scale Aircraft Conversions now has over twenty-seven years of experience supplying resin and white metal parts to model builders, and their product listing continues to expand. This is the ninth landing gear set from SAC that I have reviewed, and once again, they have provided an excellent metal option for kit-supplied landing gear. This set is intended for the 1/48 scale A-4 Skyhawk that was recently released by Hobby Boss (kit 81764). The purpose of this replacement set is to provide stronger landing gear that is adjustable if necessary to obtain the proper angles. Even with no previous experience in using white metal parts, this set will provide an upgrade that most modelers will have no issue installing.
David Doyle’s latest book is one of the initial entries into a new series called ‘Legends of Warfare’ with entries in Ground, Naval, and Aviation. The first Ground book is focused on the Panzerkampfwagen IV, the first Naval book was on the USS Yorktown (CV-5), and the first two Aviation books are on the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (#4) and Douglas TBD Devastator (#3). This tome is the second release in the Legends of Warfare – Naval series.
Thank you, Bob Sanchez, for another stunning set of decals for us! While the Bicentennial F-15 is not new to us in the modeling community as the original aircraft was displayed and flown worldwide over 40 years ago, the decals are a much-needed facelift to anyone who has an old F-15 A-D laying around or just maybe wanting to change it up and not use the kit decals.
About the Company
Two Bobs is a limited run/ Custom aviation Decal company based out of Fort Worth, Texas and is owned and operated by Mr. Bob Sanchez. Mr. Sanchez is a former enlisted Air Force engineer and has been very active in the modeling community almost all of his life and has continued to be active in the aviation field outside of his service to our country.
I can tell you guys from experience Mr. Sanchez’s decals cover unique and memorable topics, are a pleasure to work with and downright hard to get if you miss out on a particular set, so keep that in mind when ordering.