Lockheed XFV-1 "Salmon" VTOL Turboprop Convoy Fighter (1954)

Scale: 1/72
Initial Release: 1995
Medium: Styrene
Kit Rarity: 3

About the Design

The Lockheed XFV-1 "Salmon" represented one of several attempts by American aircraft manufacturers to develop a fighter that could launch vertically from the decks of military and commercial cargo ships to provide defense from enemy air attack. However, like German aircraft designers discovered while attempting to develop similar tail-sitting fighters during WWII, taking off vertically is one thing -- while landing is quite another. The XFV-1 "Salmon" was test flown horizontally in March 1954 and managed to transition to hovering mode once, but the project was cancelled before a true vertical launch could be attempted.

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About the Kit

This was a limited-run kit by Pegasus Ltd. of England, and was available in the U.S. only briefly during the mid 1990s.  An earlier Aurora version of the XV-1, done in 1/48 scale, was released during the late 1950s as part of its "Famous Fighters" series, and is highly prized on the collector's market.

This kit was built from the original Pegasus issue.