COBI Mirage IIIC Set 5930

COBI's Mirage IIIC is a 1:48 model built from 375 blocks, 31.5 cm long, produced under licence from Dassault Aviation. The ailerons move, the wheels detach, the cockpit opens, and Matra and AIM-9 missiles are fitted. A display stand with a transparent pin and an information plate are included. All markings are printed; no stickers.

Three hours on 5 June 1967

The Mirage III's reputation was made in a single morning.

Israel had bought the type in the early 1960s, and at the start of the Six-Day War it launched almost its entire air force at once against Egyptian airfields, flying low over the Mediterranean below radar cover and arriving at a time of day when Egyptian patrols had landed.

In roughly three hours the Egyptian air force was destroyed largely on the ground — several hundred aircraft, most of which never took off. The war was effectively decided before the ground fighting began, and orders for the Mirage came in from around the world.

It is worth being clear about what that demonstrates. The aircraft was good. What won that morning was planning, timing and intelligence about someone else's daily routine.

The delta

The IIIC was the first production Mirage III, first flown in October 1960. A delta wing gives excellent supersonic performance and a large internal volume with no tailplane needed, and it costs you low-speed handling — a delta lands fast and does not like turning tightly at low speed. Dassault accepted that trade for thirty years.

Around 95 were built for France, and the family was made under licence in Belgium, Switzerland and Australia, with Israel and South Africa developing their own versions.

The stork

The bird on the fin is the emblem of the Escadrille des Cigognes, the French fighter unit of the First World War whose pilots included Georges Guynemer — whose Nieuport 17 COBI makes as set 2997.

In the COBI range

Set 5917 is the Mirage 2000-5F, the later delta, and 5901 the Rafale.

Specifications

Pieces: 375 · Scale: 1:48 · Age: 8+ · Licensed by Dassault Aviation · No stickers
Model dimensions: 31.5 × 18 × 11.5 cm (12.4 × 7.1 × 4.5 in), 15 cm high on the base