greatgonzo

Well, it's a dig out, but since the thread have came a bit alive again I thought maybe to thank You with addition of two fun pics. The credits for first one go mostly to Spiton, also a member of Britmodeller community, who fixed two separate pictures into one. I only corrected it a little to suit my personal preferences. The background is old German airfield in my neighbourhood. The famous Normandie - Niemen French regiment stationed there with it's Yak fighters for awhile.

Merry Christmas to You!

There was no need to pull any string really. 5th ERS flew its first mission in the middle of may 1944. Most of the known pics of the unit's Thunderbolts are post D-Day. This was the time when paddleblade screws were widely available and that's why pictures of 5th P-47s with toothpick are so rare. For me the surprise is the planes retained their Malcolm canopies. It seems quiet different to the policy connected with P-51s.

In short: it is forbidden by low to propagate nazi and communist ideology in Poland. Public presentation of scale models in historically accurate markings is not considered to be a propagation of these ideas. So far at least ;).

That's right. A bit 'lego-like' construction of P-47 made it possible to see D-2s indistinguishable form late Razorback models. The nose colour is Sky type S - a short lived markings of 63FS. This dates the plane to Feb. 1944. The screw is CE of course, and it can be seen clearly on better framed copy of the pic. What kind of prop blades is a different story. At the time replacement paddleblade screws were used by 56th FG but some craft still flew with original 'toothpicks'. It is to decide how important Lt. Stamps could have been in the squadron those days ;).

I really love Your honouring 'Cobra' with Your work. Urbanowicz was so fascinating person. Excellent author - his books cover much more than operational flying and stand out proudly from typical pilot memoires writing. In the race for the supposed first place on Polish fighter pilot list he would have had to face 'Mike' Gładych who, by some of his American pals of the 56th FG, is suspected to hang something like 50 kills under his belt. But that's another story. Unfortunately we do not know for sure the markings of P-40's Urbanowicz flew in China. He had a guest status and was not officially assigned to any of the squadrons he flew with. So actually, he borrowed the aircraft from these units. All we have are clues. We know the types, but not the details. One thing we know is he did not use P-40M. This is one of these traditional ideas that have not withstand the results of historical research. I have built a model of one of his planes awhile ago too, in case anybody cared:

If You compare D-22 with D-25 then Yes. Starting with D-30 there were compressibility flaps added (landing light had to be moved here), and of course N model brought major wing reconstruction. With D-30 the new ailerons entered presenting 'blunt' profile. Throughout all production small changes were added. Reinforcement of the components and additional wiring and plumbing were necessary to make carrying more arms and gas possible. Pylons were the outer sign of the changes. Still most of the changes were prepared in a way to be done 'in the field' too. You can find D-2s being indistinguishable from late Razorback models.

And it seems it is meant for a late one. There is no such thing as a difference between razor and bubble except those obvious considering the shape. There was just a development of the construction. The Aires kit is not right for Mahurin's bird when it comes to oil tank, hydraulics reservoir and it's area and (AFAIR what's in the box) ignition system. At least ;). And there are some elements missing too, like constant speed propeller governor. If You care for such a thing... . Be careful to use right markings for toothpick prop. This P-47, like others got a replacement paddle blade screw as soon as it was available. I mean it may be good idea to check if the decals fit the time frame. Hope the built will go swell.

Thank You Nick. The Cockpit Light Green idea makes sense to me, which does not mean its a proven thing, of course. It was known (does not mean common) practice in the field to correct the antenna wiring following different problems with maintenance, or making things more comfortable. The radio would work not only with one wire configuration. It is always a bag of warms to try to pin exact wiring for the single aircraft. I know it doesn't help much here :(. But if somebody wanted to avoid mounting the antennas it is good to remember, they could have been taken off on the ground to allow easier access to the plane. Erks would have done it with Spitfire - no reason why should it be different with P-40.

Nick, is it possible that being built for RAF, the AVG Hawks would have been painted in the cockpit area with a paint based on DuPont 71-036?

I've had a feeling I've got another photo of Bette too.

Ooops. double post.

When I was writing an quite large article about Neel Kearby and his Thunderbolts for our Polish periodic AeroPlan, I had to mention Tom Moore too, as a member of Kearby's flight on famous MoH dogfight. I always wondered about wives and girlfriends personified on the aircraft noses. Here is Capt. Moore and his wife - 'Daring Dottie'.

It was Yellow. Capt. Moore's 341st squadron colour. No mystery here.

C'mon, I've seen many grey framed US insignias on b&w pics. I was hoping for red... .

Where? It would be a real treasure, so I'd love to see it too.

No red borders on Pacific area. It was official. Well, semi official really, but fully official from the point of view of people responsible for painting the birds. The restriction coordinated and issued by Army and Navy. With thousands of aircraft there it is easy to assume there had to be an exception. There even are strong candidates to stand as such an exception, sure. Still, the day is yet to come when the hard proof for red bordered insignia on the operational aircraft in the theatre will show up.

I missed the grande finale. Very interesting presentation of a bit less known period in 56th history. And Zamke's bird seems a rare view on modellers sites. Well done!

It is Okinawa U-4 all right. The occasional photo was taken after the 21st kill achieved by Walsh. I am not fond of accusing authors wrong with no evidence to support it, and that's how it stands in the books.

Thank You very much for Your effort Nige!

Hello! Anybody copied the pictures presented here by Edgar? I didn't do it before and, sadly, I can't just mail him and ask for help, as I used to not so long ago.

If You cared to give me Your e-mail I would send You a couple of them.

There are pics of Penrod and Sam. We are not talking of probabilities here. One look - mystery gone! Still analyses above are correct and of value. One thing to add maybe is that D-22 was first production variant with paddle blade prop indeed. But D-22 carried HS screw, leaving Farmingdale.

Curtiss Electric symmetric paddle blade it is.