Warbird Information Exchange

English museum seeking answers to WWII mystery
Search on for Goodyear Aircraft worker 'Smith'

By Mark J. Price
Beacon Journal staff writer

POSTED: 04:28 p.m. EDT, Apr 05, 2009

The name could have been Baumgartner or Delvecchio or Kowalski or Papadopoulos, but noooooooooo. . . .

It had to be Smith.

An English museum is trying to identify the Goodyear Aircraft worker who signed the name ''Smith'' — or possibly ''Smity'' — on an engine panel of a Corsair fighter plane built in Akron during World War II.

Goodyear built more than 4,000 Corsairs for the Navy and Marine Corps during the war. The lightweight, single-pilot planes soared at 400 mph, and had ''gull wings'' that folded up for storage on aircraft carriers.

One such plane has been restored to its original condition at the Fleet Air Arm Museum in the English village of Yeovilton, Somerset.

The Corsair FG1-A — serial number KD431 — was transported to England in November 1944 and used for flight training, but the war ended before the aircraft fought in battle. From 1945 to 1963, the plane was used in training at Cranfield College of Aeronautics in Cranfield, England.

It then moved to the air museum, where it was repainted and put on display for 40 years.

David Morris, the museum's curator of aircraft, spearheaded an ambitious project in 2000. In a meticulous, inch-by-inch process, workers removed the 1963 paint layer and restored the plane's original, wartime finish.

''During the restoration, we discovered many rare and interesting details that link KD431 with the people that built her at the Goodyear factory, worked on her and flew her,'' Morris said in an e-mail interview.

Researchers tracked down Chris Clark, a Goodyear test pilot who first flew KD431 in 1944, and Peter Lovegrove, the Corsair's last known pilot in 1945.

The museum also uncovered a few mysteries.

Restoration workers found a small aluminum plate riveted to the inside of the right engine cowling. The plate seemed to serve no purpose, Morris said. The inside panel revealed the name ''Smith'' or ''Smity'' signed in pencil on the primer paint.

Although Smith is a common name, researchers were able to pinpoint the airplane's manufacturing date to mid-July 1944 in Akron. How many Smiths could have been working at Goodyear Aircraft that month? It's a needle in a haystack, but at least Morris is looking in the right haystack.

''Another unusual factory find is that just about all of the ink-marked instruction stencils on the aircraft have been stamped two times (often obscuring the message of the instruction). The build number of the aircraft is 1871 and by coincidence that U.S. government contract for all Corsairs was contract number 1871,'' he wrote.

''Intriguingly, this number has also been stamped two times into the aluminum sheet of the aircraft, just below the cockpit. Can anyone shed any light on these unusual details and help to complete the research and history of KD431, or of Akron's finest?''

Morris provides more details in his 2006 book Corsair KD431 — The Timecapsule Fighter, which chronicles the plane's restoration. It can be purchased on Internet sites such as Amazon.com or ordered at local bookstores.

Does anyone have ideas about Smith's identity?

Readers can contact Dave Morris at davem@fleetairarm.com or write to him at Fleet Air Arm Museum, Box D6, RNAS Yeovilton, Somerset BA22 8HT. For information, visit http://www.fleetairarm.com.

''The aircraft is complete as far as the restoration work is concerned but the research and history tracking will continue,'' Morris said. ''Someone somewhere will always have a new strand to add to this, hopefully.''

Oh, I love this aircraft,what a time capsule!! One thing I have always wondered about gull winged aircaft. As far as my limited knowledge goes, the Corsair was given a gull wing for prop clearance (forgive me if I am wrong.) Does this have any effect on the flight characteristics of the aircraft, anything that gull winged aircraft in general share?

It does give increased prop clearance, but it also is a method of effectively increasing the wing area without increasing the span. As a side effect the wing fuselage junction can be made without the neccessity of a large fairing.

They were removing paint layer by layer as they had on the Martlet (Wildcat).

Peter, surely the Martlet stripdown came after the Corsair? It's still in progress

Couple of observations:

It was a great job, not a restoration,
.

James,

I would check the definition in your 'Concise Oxford'.

Reinstate, Bring back to right, Re-establish...take your pick.

PeterA