Flying Ubangis VA-12 (U.S. Navy), Hobbymaster & Century Wings Update and next delivery update.

 

Attack Squadron TWELVE (ATKRON TWELVE or VA-12), also known as the “Flying Ubangis” or “Clinchers”, was an attack squadron of the United States Navy active during the Cold War. From their home port at Naval Air Station Cecil Field in Florida, the squadron made more than thirty major overseas deployments aboard aircraft carriers, primarily flying A-4 Skyhawk and later the A-7E Corsair II, including two combat tours in the Vietnam War.

History

The squadron was established on May 12th, 1945, as Bomber-Fighter Squadron FOUR (VBF-4) and soon after was redesignated as part of the service-wide reorganization of aircraft squadrons as Fighter Squadron TWO (VF-2A) on 15th November 1946. Upon the Navy’s return to its pre-1946 system of nomenclature, the squadron was again redesignated, this time as Fighter Squadron TWELVE (VF-12) on 2nd August 1948. Fully embracing the attack role, the squadron was given its final designation Attack Squadron TWELVE (VA-12) on 1st August 1955.

During WestPac in 1955, the squadron was part of the Navy’s support of the evacuation of the Tachen Islands which were under bombardment by People’s Republic of China forces. After returning from this cruise, the squadron re-equipped with the F7U Cutlass and its role was changed from air interception to ground attack with special weapons.

In 1960, VA-12 was part of airwing of the USS Shangri-La when that carrier was deployed to counter Cuban infiltration into Guatemala and Nicaragua. The next year, the squadron returned to the area aboard USS Franklin D. Roosevelt to support the government of the Dominican Republic.

 

In 1963 the squadron was deployed in detachments to the USS Essex and USS Intrepid for anti-submarine warfare exercises. In August of the next year, the squadron was again on board the Roosevelt when the carrier was deployed to the eastern Mediterranean in response to trouble between Greeks and Turks on the island of Cyprus.

The squadron saw combat in Vietnam twice, in 1966 and 1970. Later in 1971, the unit relinquished the A-4 for the A-7 Corsair. 1973 and 1974 saw further trouble in the Mediterranean. 1973 saw the Yom Kippur War and 1974 the assassination of the American ambassador to Cyprus. During the 1970s the squadron’s home base was at Cecil Field Naval Air Station near Jacksonville, Florida. In 1980, the Iranian hostage crisis saw the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower with the squadron on board. The ship remained at sea for 254 days continuously. Trouble in Lebanon flared in 1983, and the squadron supported the peacekeeping force in the country.

On 1st October 1986, the squadron was disestablished, ending 31 years of service as an attack unit, and ten years prior to that as a fighter unit.

Aircraft

The squadron was assigned the following aircraft as of the dates shown:

Grumman F6F Hellcat
F6F from 23rd May 1945 and F6F-5P from May 1947

Vought F4U Corsair
F4U-1, F4U-1D, FG-1, and FG-1D from 23rd May 1945 and F4U-4 from 30th September 1945

Grumman F8F Bearcat
F8F-1 and F8F-1B from May 1947

McDonnell F2H Banshee
F2H-1 and F2H-2 from 1st September 1950

 

Vought F7U Cutlass
F7U-3 from December 1955

Douglas A-4 Skyhawk
A4D-1 from April 1957, A4D-2 from January 1958, A4D-2N (A-4C) from 8th January 1962, and A-4E from 8th March 1965

Vought A-7 Corsair II
A-7E from 1st April 1971

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Century Wings 1/72nd scale A-7E Corsair II U.S.Navy VA-12 Flying Ubangis available from Flying Tigers.

CW001646 Century Wings  1/72nd scale A-7E Corsair II U.S.Navy VA-12 Flying Ubangis model is available to pre-order from Flying Tigers.

Don’t forget NO DEPOSIT necessary with Flying Tigers and if you order with your debit or credit card your payment is not taken until your model is available to dispatch.

Flying Tigers will also consolidate your orders to save on postage costs across all brands !

Please click on the images / links below to go to the model of your choice, or CLICK HERE to see all Century Wings models available.

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New Corgi Aviation Archive models due soon!

Check out the Corgi Aviation Archive models which are due soon at Flying Tigers. If you want any of these models it is always safer to pre-order as quantities are limited.

Don’t forget NO DEPOSIT necessary with Flying Tigers and if you order with your debit or credit card your payment is not taken until your model is available to dispatch.

Flying Tigers will also consolidate your orders to save on postage costs across all brands !

Please click on the images / links below to go to the model of your choice, or CLICK HERE to see them all in the Future Models section.

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Hobbymaster Updated Photo Gallery

Check out the all latest photos from Hobbymaster that have now been added to the Flying Tigers website. Please click on the images / links below to go to the model page.

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Hobbymaster model delivery delayed until w/c 10th April at Flying Tigers.

This Hobbymaster model delivery is due w/c 10th April and can be pre-ordered at Flying Tigers today.

Don’t forget NO DEPOSIT necessary with Flying Tigers and if you order with your debit or credit card your payment is not taken until your model is available to dispatch.

Flying Tigers will also consolidate your orders to save on postage costs across all brands !

Please click on the images / links below to go to the model of your choice, or CLICK HERE to see them all.

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That is all for now.

Richard.
Flying Tigers.