Hobby Master 1/72 HA3525 F/A-18C 30th Anniversary 164630 Naval Air Depot San Diego 14th Nov 2008

The McDonnell Douglas (now Boeing) F/A-18 Hornet is a supersonic twin engine all-weather night fighter and attack aircraft. The F/A-18s first flew in November 1978 and the first production flight on April 12, 1980. The first 380 aircraft were F/A-18As and in September 1987 production switched to the F/A-18C. Variants A and C are single-seat aircraft while B and D are tandem-seats. The Hornet can operate from either aircraft carriers or land bases with the capability of in flight refueling. A total of 1,480 A-D variants were built.
VFA-106 “Gladiators” is a Fleet Replacement Squadron (FRS) whose primary mission is to provide the fleet with trained replacement aircrews. Aircraft from this squadron are supplied to the TAC Demo Team and appear at air-shows to demonstrate the flying capabilities of the F/A-18 used in training and combat. Usually the pilots assigned to TAC Demo spend one year before returning too their squadron. In 2008 F/A-18C 164630 from VFA-106 was given a special paint scheme to commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the F/A-18 in service.