Part F-16, part F-18: Taiwan's FCK-1 Out of the Box

[Faust]

I do love the odd, esoteric and somewhat forgotten planes, it seems. I always find that there’s something intrinsically rewarding about picking up a kit of a plane that most people don’t even know about. It makes it a lot more fun to build, too, assuming I can get around to it sometime!



One particularly good example of this is the AIDC FCK-1, or IDF. This is the Taiwanese answer to the F-16/F-18, and, maybe not surprisingly, looks a little like both combined. This fighter wasn’t built in large numbers, but it was successful and is still in service. I personally love the idea of a twin-engined F-16, and with the IDF, that’s kind of what you get! When I ran across an injection moulded example at a swap meet some time ago, I was thrilled!



Even though it’s not in my preferred scale of 1/72, it’s still a cool kit. I think it will look great once it’s built, too. Heck, as a What-If, it could even make a cool T-X contender for the Talon replacement program! Check out my out of box review of this rather oddball creation below. You might be surprised how not-terrible the kit seems to be!



adamrehorn.wordpress.com/zhengdefu-148-aidc-fck-1b-ching-kuo-oob/

[harron68]

Twin engine does have a unique look as well as stubby wings and far front canopy. An interesting bird for sure.

[dogfish7]

You definitely scored a good deal on that one.