Photo of the week
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One this week taken at Duxford , a wonderful shot of some 78th FG "Razorbacks".
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Mid week bonus
P-51 Mustang (PE-E, serial number 44-13406) nicknamed "Barbara M 4th",of the 352nd Fighter Group,328 FS.
P-51 D-5-NA , 44-13530 , " MILLIE " HO-A of the 487th FS assigned to Lt. Kenneth F Wittekiend. Assigned to two other pilots. 1st Lt George C. Arnold named " BABYLON PANTHER ". Then Capt Duerr N Schuh named " DUTCHESS ". Duerr Schuh became ace with 5 air victories including three Messerschmitt Bf 109 shot down on 26 December 1944.
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Two this week.
P-51 Mustangs, including (WR-B, serial number 44-11667) nicknamed "My Catherine S" and (WR-V, serial number 44-72462) of the 355th Fighter Group fly in formation during a mission.Capt Stan Silva leading
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This weekend's bonus
As an experiment to improve the rearward visibility, the USAAF fitted a standard P-47D-5-RE airframe (serial number 42-8702) with a bubble canopy taken from a Hawker Typhoon. In order to accommodate the bubble canopy, the Republic design team had to cut down the rear fuselage. This conversion was redesignated XP-47K, and was tested in July 1943. This modification was immediately proven to be feasible, and was promptly introduced on both the Farmingdale and Evansville production lines.
Ordinarily, the USAAF would have given such a radical modification as that which produced the bubble-canopy Thunderbolt a completely new variant letter (or perhaps even a new type number). However, the USAAF chose instead to designate it simply by giving it a new production block number in the D-series. Consequently, the first batches to feature this new bubble canopy were Farmingdale's P-47D-25-RE and Evansville's P-47D-26-RA.
Text from http://www.joebaugher.com
Regards Duggy -
Mid-week Bonus
An F4U-1A Corsair assigned to Marine Fighting Squadron (VMF) 422 pictured hooked up to a catapult and ready for launch from the escort carrier Kalinin Bay (CVE 68) for a flight to Tarawa Atoll. Note the nickname "Marine Special" on the cowling. The day after this photograph was taken, 23 of 24 aircraft of VMF-422 took off from Tarawa bound for Funafuti. Not provided with an escort plane or accurate weather data, the pilots unwittingly flew into a storm, losing 22 aircraft and six pilots in an event known as the "Flintlock Disaster."
SEE THE FULL DOCUMENTARY HERE - https://vimeo.com/53437571 -
A group of Curtiss P-40 Warhawks escorted a pair of Consolidated B-24D Liberators on a flight near the Aleutian islands, Alaska, 1944.
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Awesome pic and an interesting mix of aircraft, looks like a mishmash of P-40 Ns and much older Es still wearing the older style unit markings.
