The French sky was to be defended by Polish pilots flying Dutch fighter planes armed with Belgian machine guns. What could possibly go wrong? Of course, there was the chaos characteristic of the 1940 campaign in France and the preceding months of panic buying. The order was placed late, and then there were problems with the neutrality of the Netherlands in the context of deliveries to France, which had been at war since 3 September 1939.

Ultimately, 18 aircraft were assembled in France and put into service, ending up in the hands of Polish pilots and mechanics. It was decided to arm two Polish air defence squadrons, each consisting of seven aircraft. The number of aircraft ready for flight decreased as the campaign progressed, so at the turn of May and June 1940, the available FK-58s were used to form Captain Jasionowski’s so-called Koolhoven Squadron (2nd Koolhoven Squadron – 2e Escadrille de Koolhoven de Salon), operating in loose alert formations. It did not achieve any aerial victories, but during the transfer, one aircraft was lost for unknown reasons, and another two were damaged during training.

Perhaps one of them was No. 17, which stands out with its different engine cowling and air intake under the engine. In June 1940, it was captured by the Germans in Montpelier. Two photographs have survived.

The Planet Models kit is the second resin kit from this manufacturer that I have built, after the Avia B.135 (the Avia was better made as a model). There were some problems with fitting, corrections to make the model resemble the one portrayed (also mainly around the engine), I had to make the missing air intakes for the oil cooler, the exhaust manifold, shorten the landing gear struts, and I added a characteristic sight – a canopy – to the interior. I replaced the engine with one obtained from a Bloch MB-152 C-1 Dora Wings – the kit engine had underfilled cylinders.

Painted with Lifecolor acrylics. Decals from the box (I converted 11 to 17), very easy to work with.

Finally, I am pleased; I have wanted to work on this model for a long time. And now here it is.