[CapBritain]

That is one fugly helicopter.

[DMC]

CapBritain, I have to agree with you.

The next issue, titled ?All the Ships at Sea? is action-packed with a battle between the WHALE and Cobra Asps and Hydrofoils. Running in parallel, there is a fight between the Jane (the GI Joe transport ship) and a type of aircraft we haven?t seen before, the Sea-Rattler. This is just a Rattler with pontoons, but I think it is a cool design and idea.

[l0neW0lf]

Very interesting thread, that was a great read.

[DMC]

The next issue with any aircraft in it is titled Judgments. The joes parachute out of a C-130 into Sierra Gordo.



The Joes have used c-130s so much now, I wish they had made a toy of it.

[DMC]

The next issue, Walk Through The Jungle, has a couple cool finds. After the Joe team rescues Dr. Burkhart from Cobra, the cross the border out of Sierra Gordo and make it to an airfield. Wild Bill is there to take them home in a very distinct aircraft:




This can be none other than the Lockheed Constellation, with its triple tail:



I really love how the illustrator picked this plane to include. It was one of the first true airliners.

There one other plane seen at the airfield:



I think this is the DeHavilland Tiger Moth:



This fits right in with the Connie at an airstrip in a developing country in the 80?s.

[books]

Hi,

Have been an admirer of this thread for months, am just now finally catching up to my later 2024 goals, including diving in here. Love all the insight and wanna chime in, in the same spirit, by post #:

#1: Looks to me kinda like the tail, engine, and empennage of an F-16...wonder if he first drew the topmost one that's obscured in the forward fuselage by the flag, then drew the rear fuselages for the other two jets, and then ran out of time before an art delivery date and had to fudge the forward fuselages? Or maybe he delivered F-16 drawings entirely and then Hasbro wanted him to make last minute changes for legal reasons, since the likeness of the F-16 was GD property?

#13 Hmmm...isn't that just single engined? Maybe more of a MiG-17 or -15?

# 27 I say OH-58 Kiowa by Bell, as the engine and in some versions doors seem closer to me. Not the later Kiowa Warrior, just the more basic one.

# 28 Cobra sci-fi vehicle somewhat akin to the Rockwell breadbox shuttle & Star Trek TOS shuttle Galileo?
https://fantastic-plastic.com/Rockwe...huttlePage.htm

As for the helo, I agree with your diagnosis of the illustration, but the words imply that it was actually a Phrog, aka Sea Knight, a USMC helo that is of a similar config but a little later and better, more of an older brother of a Chinook.

# 38 Hmm, how odd, looks like a latter generation MiG-21 with the thick spine in some angles, but then like you say, the wing looks more Su-7. I'll see if I can find an obscure prototype that matches...

#39: While 707 is plausible, to me the flat, more wedge-shaped nose/cockpit interface looks a bit more like a DC-8

40: Maybe the illustrator just omitted the tail rotor swooshes due to the viewing angle being nearly in plane with thd plane of rotaion, rather than trying to imply NOTAR?

[books]

Oops, forgot one, also from #38: the Cobra VTOL previewed there looks like a sleeker jet, and also has souris (literally mice, but meaning shock cones) in the intakes, which in my opinion makes it closest to the Balzac V and Mirage III V.

[DMC]

It has been a while since I posted on this, so here are a couple new issues.

The next issue, Hydrofoil, begins the arc where Cobra Island is created. The USS Flagg launches its full load of skystrikers (F-14s) to bomb the underwater cobra base. There are a couple great drawings of them:






In the next issue, Strategic Diplomacy, Cobra island has risen from the sea bed, and the Joes invade immediately. Cobra Commander sends his air power to intercept the WHALE. We have a new variant of the Rattler here: Rattlers on skis.



Accompanying the Rattlers is a FANG with an infrared target designator beam that Rattlers? missiles can follow to the target.



It reminds me of an early Cobra version of the LANTIRN pod.


Finally, the next issue, Ties That Bind, has just one aircraft, a C-130. This is transporting the wounded Joes back to base after the Cobra island battle.

[books]

I love that the Skystriker is shown with an actual air-to-ground loadout! I see he opened up the nozzles too.

Am curious how that Rattler ski arrangement would interact with landing gear retraction system, or if they avoid that by keeping the gear down in that config. Pretty awesome look, I have to admit, even if it is flown by those dirty rotten Cobras!