A boarding ladder is included, as
is a vast amount of underwing
hardware to choose from!
VFA-147
V
A-147 was commissioned
as the Navy’s irst A-7
Corsair squadron on 1
February 1967 at NAS
Lemoore, and recieved its irst A-7A on 28 June 1967,
and in December 1967, and deployed a total of ive
times in support of the Vietnam War. VA-147 deployed
aboard USS Constellation in 1980 and 1981-82. Between
January 1984 and June 1987, the squadron deployed
three times aboard USS Kitty Hawk, and in 1988 aboard
the USS Nimitz. The squadron was redesignated VFA-
147 on 20 July 1989 and transitioned to the F/A-18C
Hornet and received its irst LOT XII ‘Night Attack’
Hornet’ in December 1989. The squadron deployed to
the Persian Gulf in March 1991 in support of Operation
‘Desert Storm’ and was Navy’s irst operational
F/A-18 squadron to employ the Navigational Forward
Looking Infra-Red pods (NAV FLIR) and night vision
goggles. In June 1995 they completed the transition
to new LOT XVI/XVII F/A-18C aircraft with the APG-
73 radar and Enhanced Performance Engines. They
made deployments to the Gulf three more times in
support of Operation
‘Southern
Watch’ aboard
USS Nimitz. In May
1998 the squadron
conducted a
wholesale swap of
their Lot XVI Hornets
for Lot XI Hornets
from VFA-195. After
the September 11 attacks, the squadron participated
in Operation ‘Noble Eagle’, and then deployed
aboard USS John C. Stennis in support of Operation
‘Enduring Freedom’, conducting numerous strikes
into Afghanistan against Taliban and Al-Qaeda forces.
The squadron then VFA-147 deployed aboard USS Carl
Vinson on 17 January 2003 to the Western Paciic for
an 8-month deployment in the South China Sea and
the Western Paciic. The squadron next deployed on
USS Carl Vinson with CVW-9 in support of Operation
‘Iraqi Freedom’ in January 2005. The squadron began
transitioning to the F/A-18E Super Hornets in October
2007, and completed transition in February 2008,
and deployed with John C. Stennis on 13 January 2009.
They made two deployments aboard the USS Ronald
Reagan in 2010 and 2011, and the following year, the
squadron was deployed aboard USS Nimitz. After two
extensions supporting Operation ‘Enduring Freedom’,
VFA-147 returned home on December 12, 2013. VFA-
147 was then selected to be the irst operational
squadron to transition to the F-35C in January 2018.
F/A-18C
MANUFACTURER: HobbyBoss
SCALE: 1:48
KIT TYPE: Injection moulded plastic
KIT NUMBER:80321
KIT DETAILS
SCALE AVIATION MODELLER INTERNATIONAL • APRIL 2019
1/48
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