1/48 RCAF Hakapik - The Missile With No Man In it

Gallery Article by Alvis 3.1 on Jan 8 2010

Silly Week 2010

 

In the late 1950s, interceptor missiles were all the rage. They allowed "punch button" warfare to be waged...assuming the other guy was playing on the same page as you. In the end, they  were just not as versatile as a manned jet could be, and were phased out by the mid 1970s. 

Click on images below to see larger images

  

Canada was no exception to this trend. Realising that manned aircraft could become obsolete soon, AVRO and Canadair teamed up to design an all-Canadian missile system. The basic airframe was based on the Lockheed F-104 Starfighter, which Canadair had been requested to build for foreign sales, and thus had all the high speed data already available.

Engine by Orenda, avionics by SPAR, and warhead courtesy of Uncle Sam, the RCAF was to have a potent interceptor: The Avro /Canadair Hakapik CIM-104B. 

When the US came to the Canadian Government and offered them the BOMARC missile, they were politely turned down and told "It's very nice, but we've already got one!" The money saved on not having to buy the BOMARC and the SAGE ground control that was tied to it allowed the government of the day keep the Avro Arrow program up and running. It's hard to imagine the RCAF without either Arrows or Hakapiks...

I have a Lindberg F-104, without canopy, so what to do? Then I realised that I could attach a warhead and turn the F-104 into a guided missile! The missing canopy section was faired in with balsa and sanded to a symmetrical profile. The boosters are from the Lindberg SNARK, and the launch rail was scratch built. LAC Schmutz is from the spares bin. Gee...I hope he isn't planning on firing the missile while standing there....

Alvis 3.1

Photos and text © by Alvis 3.1