Bereznyak-Isayev BI-1

Kit:	mostly scratch-built, 1/72 (see description below); completed in 1997
Aircraft:	"3", 3rd prototype, May 1942; this was the first Russian rocket-powered fighter, and first flew under its own power on May 15, 1942.

Construction Notes

I mostly scratch-built this model, but took some parts from an obscure Russian kit that was highly inaccurate and - in my opinion - unbuildable as such. I described this project in an article that was published in the IPMS/USA Journal vol 11 no 3 March/April 1999, p.49 (PDF file). My article was a response to an earlier article in the same publication that I felt mischaracterized the kit.

Competing

This model took 2nd place at the IPMS/USA Nationals in 1999 in Orlando, FL, in the category "Scratch-built aircraft, 1/72nd scale or smaller". It also took 2nd places at PatCon 97 (in Lowell, MA), category "Vacuforms and major conversions - all scales" and at BayCon 97 (South Attleboro, MA), category "Single-engined jets".

References Used

Air Enthusiast April 1973, December 1973
Aviation News 11 (7), 27 October 1978, pp.14-15
Les avions de chasse russes et soviétiques 1915-1950 (Léonard); Editions Heimdal 1995
Encyclopedia of Russian Aircraft 1875-1995 (Gunston); Motorbooks/Osprey 1995
IPMS/USA Journal July/August 1997
Rocket Fighter (Green); Ballantine's Illustrated History of World War II 20; Ballantine Books 1971
Scale Aviation Modeller 7 (2), July 1996, pp.393-394
Soviet Combat Aircraft of the Second World War - Single-Engined Fighters (Gordon & Khazanov); Midland Publishing 1998
Soviet X-planes (Gordon & Sweetman); Motorbooks International 1992

More About the Model

My model's entry at the Finnish scale model Web site pienoismallit.net
Scalemates' entry for the kit I took some parts from

Scale plans prepared for the project