A total loss of self-control......

the guilty party (I remember the box-art being different though)

       About a half-century ago my Dad bought me a 1/72nd scale model of the Hawk P-6E. As we built it he explained that, as a child, he had seen this same type of plane flying out of Selfridge Field (then a grass landing strip, now an Air National Guard Base)  with the Army Air Corps . My ten-year old's mind was fascinated by the aggressive appearance of the airplane with it out-thrust spatted landing gear painted to look like the outstretched claws of a Snow Owl. Ever since that formative moment I have always liked the look of fixed landing gear with aerodynamic spats, the bigger the better (Lockheed Vega wins hands down). 

       Echoing that childhood fascination sometime over the past ten years or so I started collecting 1/72 scale single-engine aircraft with fixed "spatted" landing gear, I tried to limit myself to aircraft that had served in the era of the Second World War 1935-1945 just to try to keep a lid on things. What I hadn't counted on was the very large number of these obsolescent aircraft that had been used during the conflict. Thus I find myself with this:

 

there are several more that I don't have and might have to scratchbuild

       The presence in the photo of the the Fulmar, Battle, Bachem Natter, HE-162 and D 520 are my other (slightly less) obsession; the true loser aircraft of the Second World War. Aircraft that were insufferably bad or just plain dangerous to their crew. There are many more that I plan on adding to that list (Boulton-Paul Defiant anyone?) but I am trying to put a stop on things until I get at least half of what I have got built and painted.

        Then there are two little "side-projects" Really Cool Airplanes and The Polish Air Force. Fortunately the Polish Air Force project is nearly complete, conversely the Really Cool Airplanes will likely never be. 

 

lots of early-war stuff, a pattern begins to develop!

 

       I think that it amusingly serendipitous when one airframe meets all the requirements. The P-26 Peashooter, the Hawk P-6e and the Goshawk FIIC-2 are all contenders; fixed landing gear with spats (check), Really Cool (check), and a deathtrap to try to fight in (check) actually used in combat during the period concerned (check). So prepare yourselves for a steady (if slow) parade of funny-looking aircraft builds in the future.