Warbird Information Exchange

I am looking for any photos or information on a P40 with "Pacific Fury" on the chin cowl. I think it may have been operated by the 68th Pursuit Group. Thanks.

Please don't take the following comments in the wrong way, but throughout my life I've spent many, many personal hours scrounging info and/or parts for restorers and enthusiasts who are requesting "anything you've got" on a particular aircraft,(squadron, aviator, etc)...only to be told at the end of the search, "Oh, I've got that already".

So, please, anyone who is looking for assistance in these areas, kindly provide some kind of listing of what you have already acquired or discovered. I really do enjoy scrounging and assisting others; wasting time searching for what was never needed dampens the enthusiasm considerably.

Rant over.

Let the hunt begin.

coldkiwi1: What have you got already?

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Very well said. I know people who do research for a living, and some get paid really well for it, going through archives.
One said he was recently looking through a forum and was 'mortified' (his word) at the people who'd just ask for people to do work for them for free. It just blew his mind when he found his common it really was, especially when some hadn't apparently even done a simple Google search.

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Life member, 91st BG Memorial Association
Owner, 1944 Willys MB #366014
Former REMF (US Army, O3)

Hi Dan/ P51. I have seen the cowling with the script on it ( just legible). I know the cowling ended up on an RNZAF P40 with the code 23 on the cowl painted over the "pacific Fury" script. According to a NZ researcher, P-40K-15 NZ3059 and also P-40E-1 NZ3271 carried the code 23. NZ3271 was in Tonga with No. 15 Squadron. The Tongan aircraft were taken over from the 68th Pursuit group, so it is possible that the aircraft served in that unit.

I recognise and appreciate the effort that goes into this type of research - I often spend inordinate amounts of time identifying parts for people, but it is a passion and I enjoy it.

Could you perhaps mean the 68th Pursuit Squadron? I believe they had P-40s and P-39s on strength in the south Pacific in 1942.

No "68th Pursuit group" (nor "Fighter group") existed within the USAAF during WWII, so clearly we're dealing with the 68th Pursuit/Fighter Squadron.

NZ3271, 41-25130, seems the likely culprit to me.

Probably old news for coldkiwi1, but the following link suggests that NZ3271 was one of a few P-40 that transferred from the 68th to the RNZAF in late October, 1942; went back into a USAAF (13th AF?) fighter pool in 1943; and then back to the RNZAF by 1944. With this many transfers, it seems logical she would pick up multiple layers of paint/artwork/etc.

Scroll down to "Curtiss Corner" for pic and info

http://www.adf-serials.com.au/newslette ... %20GRB.pdf

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Hi Dan, Thanks for the link - nice photo of "23". Appreciate your help.