Cazzie
SOH-CM-2024
I got around to processing a few more of the many model images I shot yesterday. Among them were three in-flight models. The mount has been removed by way of the magic of Photoshop. The props are spun with an old hair dryer, in which the heating element has been removed. This is the 1/72 scale MPM model of the Grumman XF5F-1 Skyrocket. The pilot figure is a resin PJ Productions figure. The model I have done depicts the first configuration of the short-nose version, which first flew on April 1, 1940 with R. A. "Bud" Gillis at the controls. Bob Hall, now a retired Grumman vice-president, took over the test program until November 1940, when "Connie" Converse assumed the test pilot role leading to the final Naval demonstrations in the short-nose version. Bob Hall completed a total of twenty-five flights averaging 3/4 of an hour in the first configuration during the one and a half months following the initial flight.
