The British built an engine for a plane that couldn't handle its power, then built the SE5a around the engine. A real hot rod, enormous nose, daintily tapered tail. I consider it one of the most beautiful planes of the war. It was fast, it was easy to fly, it was stable, sturdy and didn't kill its own pilots like the Camel did. One is reputed to have flown through a house and the pilot survived.

The 1/6th scale kit is by Flair, a British company, my first at that scale. The kit is somewhat crude compared to my later builds, but it was a real kit, i.e., it had parts that fit together and didn't take a terribly long time to build, unlike the Arizona kits that are beautiful but took a lot of scratchbuilding. My skills were cruder than the kit. I hadn't yet learned the joys of fabric coverings, and my attempts at detailing are almost embarrassing. That said, it's still not a bad looking kit. Maybe someday I'll do another SE5a.