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Help Identifying a P-51D


Whiplash

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I have this old photo of a P-51D that my Grandfather brought back with him from WWII. I am assuming he took it from the side gunner position of a B-24 he was flying in. I always wanted to know more about this plane. I realize this is a bad picture but I might be able to get a better scan of the original I just need to teach my grandmother how to use her scanner over a long distant phone call (easier said then done). From what I can tell, it looks like this is a Tuskegee squadron mustang. I remember my grandfather telling me how entertaining the Tuskegee airman's radio chatter was. I guess everyone he heard was a real character.

 

But if anyone can find any information on the pilot or anything really it would be much a appreciated. My goal would be to make a skin of this plane eventually but I think I need a little better picture of the nose art. I know the original is a little clearer so hopefully I can get.

 

P-51D_zpsb273b7fa.jpg

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It does not look like Redtails to me. Tail color comes too far forward.

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No.

 

I thought they were but please let me know why you think otherwise. Any ideas what squadron it does belong to?

 

This is another image I found that I think looks like it has a similar paint scheme but I could be wrong.

 

print_P-51D_R.Brown.jpg

 

Edit: I chose this image because I think they have the same nose stripe where it come to a point below the exhaust.


Edited by Whiplash

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Hmm are you sure?

 

 

I am seeing that diagonal line being well forward of the horizontal stabilizer in the OP's photo.

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  • ED Team

How accurate are those colors drawn on these aircraft, they were done by the ground crews in the field right? As well there was 4 squadrons under the 332nd fighter group, I would say that might allow for some variance... but I dont know... I dont see any other squadron with a design that close...

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How accurate are those colors drawn on these aircraft, they were done by the ground crews in the field right? As well there was 4 squadrons under the 332nd fighter group, I would say that might allow for some variance... but I dont know... I dont see any other squadron with a design that close...

 

I did find this image to support that.

 

redtail_zps928dc721.jpg

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Beat me to it Cichlid:thumbup:, I found that same image on a list of Mustang squadron paint scheme thread. Definitely looks like the same paintjob in the photo.

 

Here's the post that had the listing of Tuskegee squadron schemes:

http://www.rcgroups.com/forums/showpost.php?p=13134773&postcount=11

 

 

As for their radio chatter, did it sound anything like this? LOL


Edited by TooTall

"Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky; With hideous ruin and combustion down;
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell; In adamantine chains and penal fire"

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I would find a site that specializes in the history of the 332nd fighter group and send them the picture, surely there is some reference about pilots and aircraft around somewhere.

 

I don't know if these guys have access to any surviving members but they might know other people you can get into contact with that might be able to spot your plane. Might not hurt to send them the photo in an email.

 

http://www.redtail.org/contact-information/


Edited by TooTall

"Hurled headlong flaming from the ethereal sky; With hideous ruin and combustion down;
To bottomless perdition, there to dwell; In adamantine chains and penal fire"

(RIG info is outdated, will update at some point) i5 @3.7GHz (OC to 4.1), 16GB DDR3, Nvidia GTX 970 4GB, TrackIR 5 & TrackClip Pro, TM Warthog HOTAS, VKB T-Rudder Mk.IV, Razer Blackshark Headset, Obutto Ozone

 

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More than 900 Tuskegee Airmen were U.S. pilots, said Trent Dudley, an Air Force lieutenant colonel who is president of the East Coast Tuskegee Airmen Inc. chapter. An estimated 250 to 300 Tuskegee airmen are still alive. The exact number is not known because some have not registered with chapters.

 

source:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2089635/Red-Tails-Tuskegee-airman-Luke-Weathers-Jr-buried-Arlington.html

 

maybe try to contact this chapter, if those veterans are registered as the text states, you might get help there.

 

http://www.ecctai.org/

 

regards,

RR

 

PS:

would be interesting if you find the pilot, let us know ;)


Edited by Roadrunner

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LoL on that video! I can only imagine what my grandfather meant when he said they were entertaining to listen to. I just know he thought very highly of them.

 

Thanks for all the links and info. I emailed a few places, hopefully I will get a response. I'll be sure to update here if I do.

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"Adulthood is like looking both ways before you cross the street and then getting hit by an airplane."

Dogs of War Dedicated WWII Server Thread

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I have this old photo of a P-51D that my Grandfather brought back with him from WWII. I am assuming he took it from the side gunner position of a B-24 he was flying in. I always wanted to know more about this plane. I realize this is a bad picture but I might be able to get a better scan of the original I just need to teach my grandmother how to use her scanner over a long distant phone call (easier said then done). From what I can tell, it looks like this is a Tuskegee squadron mustang. I remember my grandfather telling me how entertaining the Tuskegee airman's radio chatter was. I guess everyone he heard was a real character.

 

But if anyone can find any information on the pilot or anything really it would be much a appreciated. My goal would be to make a skin of this plane eventually but I think I need a little better picture of the nose art. I know the original is a little clearer so hopefully I can get.

 

Go to facebook and contact this person he is researching the Tuskegee Airmen..and writing a book on his findings..

 

https://www.facebook.com/guy.e.franklin:thumbup:

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Recruiting for Aerobatic Team/Fighter Group...

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  • ED Team
LoL on that video! I can only imagine what my grandfather meant when he said they were entertaining to listen to. I just know he thought very highly of them.

 

Thanks for all the links and info. I emailed a few places, hopefully I will get a response. I'll be sure to update here if I do.

 

Be sure to, would love to hear more about it...

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Cockpit recording would be pretty cool to listen to.

 

I got a response from one of my email inquiries.

 

Mr. Kanen:

I found a photograph of a 100th Fighter Squadron P-51D with the number 25 on its side on page 100 of the book 332nd FIGHTER GROUP - TUSKEGEE AIRMEN by Chris Bucholtz (Osprey Publishing, 2007). Unfortunately, the caption does not identify the pilot in the photo, although it does mention that the plane was escorting the 450th Bombardment Group somewhere over the Alps in early 1945. The same book does match many of the aircraft illustrations of numbered aircraft to pilots, but does not include who flew number 25.

I have searched our primary sources, including monthly histories of the 332nd Fighter Group, which contain some photographs, but I have not found any document that identifies who flew the airplane numbered 25. The daily narrative mission reports do not identify who flew which aircraft by number. I am sorry.

 

Daniel L. Haulman, PhD

Chief, Organizational Histories Branch

Air Force Historical Research Agency

 

He also supplied me with a table of all 312 missions of the 312 FG. My grandfather was part of the 450th BG, 47th Wing, 720th Squadron. They have a pretty awesome website that includes a lot of information, including my grandfathers escape statement from when he bailed out over Yugoslavia and was smuggled back to base by Tito's partisans. I can cross reference the table Dan gave me with my grandfather's bomber group missions and probably narrow down the date the picture was taken but it looks like beyond that it will be difficult to know much more. I'm going to have to pick me up a copy of that book though. It would be nice to see the picture that Dan said is on page 100.

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Dogs of War Dedicated WWII Server Thread

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Cockpit recording would be pretty cool to listen to.

 

I got a response from one of my email inquiries.

...

 

Very cool. Not everything but it's a starting point.

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  • 3 weeks later...

So that book came in the other day. The plane pictured on page 100 and the plane in my grandfathers photo are definitely the same. It's hard to tell in either photo but the first word on the nose is little. The caption in the book says the P-51 is from the 100th FS 'rides herd' it's unclear to me if this is the plane's name or a name for the squadron. A quick google search didn't produce any promising results. Also tried searching for either of the Purwinis. What is interesting though is that my grandfather was part of the 450th bomber group so maybe both these pictures were taken close to the same time when this guy did a close pass by the B-24's.

 

85383226-3643-4739-914A-E8EBCBA76042_zpsijdfboo6.jpg

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'rides herd' is a description of what they were doing. It is a reference to cattle ranchers, in the 'old west' riding along with the herd, to guard it, while moving it(i.e. from one grazing area to another).


Edited by cichlidfan

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I got a little better picture of the nose. I think it could say little Mac but it also looks like Mac might be a part of another word.

 

58E282CE-5E3F-428F-A1B1-0D610CD5654C_zps3pdjkvqa.jpg

 

 

Edit: little Mac 1502, or little ma C1502?


Edited by Whiplash

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"Adulthood is like looking both ways before you cross the street and then getting hit by an airplane."

Dogs of War Dedicated WWII Server Thread

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