Birdcage Corsair at New Trier HS - 1944

Chris Brame · **Posted:** Tue May 26, 2015 11:25 pm

I've been doing a lot of digging through old high school yearbooks online on that Classmates site; great place to find vintage photos even though the resolution and size aren't the greatest. This was in the 1944 Winnetka, IL New Trier High School Echoes:

No info in the yearbook about it, and I checked subsequent yearbooks but it wasn't there. A much later yearbook referred to it as being purchased in a War Bond drive (and referred to it as a "Flying Fortress" :roll:

). However, this looks more like a rather worn trainer that probably got trucked over from Glenview - notice the missing cowl flaps.

Oh, and this fellow graduated that year - went on to fly the P-47, P-51 and B-52 in front of back projection screens in Hollywood:

Jerry O'Neill · **Posted:** Wed May 27, 2015 10:14 pm

Cool Corsair and Rock Hudson!

Triplane102 · **Joined:** Wed Oct 15, 2014 12:55 pm **Posts:** 491

And the Kid Playing in the Cockpit ! :shock:

Guess the Gear was locked Down !

Thanks for posting that !

Rob Mears · **Posted:** Fri May 29, 2015 2:42 pm

"F-21" anyone?

Chris Brame · **Posted:** Fri May 29, 2015 4:56 pm

Had me excited there for a moment - but the number on the New Trier bird looks to be farther forward than on the one pulled out of the lake. What was the date that one ditched? The high school photo looks like winter '43-'44.

Rob Mears · **Posted:** Sat May 30, 2015 7:30 pm

The detail that drew me in is that both planes were based in Chicago at the same time. I'm not sure how many tired old F4U-1 Corsairs marked "F-21" would be operating from the same locale. Then again, it would be a long shot for a Corsair to find its way to a high school, only to then end up back in active service doing local training flights. It could have been a temporary visit to the school, and the markings could have been freshened up prior to its time training aboard the USS Wolverine, but that's way down the 'long shot' pathway. Fun to consider though!

Chris Brame · **Posted:** Sat May 30, 2015 11:48 pm

Just checked the Registry on this one - the "F-21" Corsair recovered from Lake Michigan, BuNo 02465, ditched June 12, 1943 - so the one at New Trier must have replaced it in the training squadron before the yearbook photos were taken late '43-early '44.

Oh well - best to clear it up now before a bunch of misinformation starts going around... :wink:

Rob Mears · **Posted:** Mon Jun 01, 2015 10:47 am

Good sleuth work Chris!

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11324

Great find Chris! To start a rumor, I heard that Earl Rinert had that Corsair in his garage that burned down in 1964.

Chris Brame · **Posted:** Tue Jun 09, 2015 5:44 pm

Ha! I'll give you a better Earl story from the man himself. He had lots of parts stored around the VAM, including inside the Loadstar. One time when we were messing around with it (I gave him a piece of plexiglass to replace a side window) he told us, "Yeah, I tell all those guys tryin' to buy my stuff that there's just DC-3 parts in there - actually it's P-36 parts!"

:shock:

Wonder if it was true - and whether the newly-restored 38-210 was the beneficiary of those bits? I never really took a close look inside.

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Birdcage Corsair at New Trier HS - 1944

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