Grabs from original 357 FG film ...

[Chicoartist]

These are a couple of quick grabs from one of our upcoming DVD releases. These two are from original film stock that likely has never seen the light of day. The can says the footage is dated "September 6th 1943", during a mission to Stuttgart, but that year obviously isn't correct for several reasons. 1944 for sure.

I still have to dig into my refs for additional details (maybe you guys can help me out in that regard), but for now, you guys are among the first to see this:







Wade

[Chicoartist]

Another image, just to tease you ....

[visaliaaviation]

Wade-

Have to agree, it cant be anytime in '43. Other than the fact that P-51D's didnot enter service until May of '44, painted out invasion strips on upper surfaces puts it at least Aug, possibly early Sept '44. IIRC, this group chose to "paint out" the upper surface stripes with a full application of camo a little more frequently than others.

There are several interesting things for us Mustang geeks to enjoy in these shots. First, its a -5-NA wearing its original -2 style canopy blister. The second shows this in perfect profile., and IMHO, (and a lack of the Dorsal Fin Fillet) makes this the the most esthetically pleasing Mustang ever. AFAIK, the -5's were the only D's fitted with this blister in production. This particular group seems to have been operating these early types in greater numbers(anyone know for sure???) at this time.

The second is the "greyed out" national insignia, in contrast to it's apparently un-dimmed invation stripes. It raises more questions than provides answers.

thanks for sharing

[Swiss Mustangs]

Wade.... you got me 'slightly' breathless here...

the a/c in the 'grabs' is

44-13735 , Special Proj. # 92741N; DEPUS 20th June 1944; assigned to 357th FG on 4th July 1944 - where it became G4-H of the 362nd FS - known as "U've had It" assigned to Maj. John B. England - it had a structural/mechaincal failure on 6th August 1944 (repairable), suffered a landing accident at Sta. 373 Leiston on 26th September 1944 (repairable - pilot Samuel G. Fuller, Jr.) and eventually was lost on 2nd November 1944 (MACR # 15796 - pilot Lawrence P. Giarrizzo, KIA - wing failure)
England flew this a/c on Frantic V - it seems that the noseart has not been applied, yet.

this a/c replaced England's previous G4-H "U've Had It" P-51B 42-106462

so much for the moment....
Martin

[Chicoartist]

Thx Charlie and Martin!

Wade

[The Inspector]

Can we assume that, if this airframe suffered an in flight wing failure, it happened before the military and N.A. started installing the wheel door hook and eye to keep the wing from twisting and tearing off?

By the way, that is exactly what caused Gary Levitz' crash @ Reno in Miss Ashley. Some of the mechanics @ the MRO I worked at were on the crew here (KPAE) and when they mentioned that Gary had complained about wing twist, I mentioned the gear door fix, but since I 'wasn't on the crew, what did I know" I know it unnecessarily killed a pretty good race pilot.....

People like that need a special flag, but how do you accurately depict ignorance rampant of a field of stupidity?.

[retroaviation]

By the way, that is exactly what caused Gary Levitz' crash @ Reno in Miss Ashley. Some of the mechanics @ the MRO I worked at were on the crew here (KPAE) and when they mentioned that Gary had complained about wing twist, I mentioned the gear door fix, but since I 'wasn't on the crew, what did I know" I know it unnecessarily killed a pretty good race pilot.....

Rudder trim tab failure/flutter. Tail came off first, followed by wings.

Gary

[Hal B]

Wade; that's pretty rotten posting just a few to tease us with

We need more!

[Chicoartist]

... We need more!

My personal fave of the ones I have handy:



Notice the "nose up" bias of the drop tanks ... very apparent in these images.

Wade

[mustangdriver]

That is so cool.

[The Inspector]

Thank you Gary for clearing that up for me, I never did hear the eventual reasons behind Miss Ashleys accident, all we heard was 'wing failure' and the owner stopped talking about it, still it's sad because I lived about five blocks from KPAE and working 2nd shift, I'd see Gary out gradually increasing speed on the bird and listening to the GRIFFON growl and snarl more every time he flew it. His acessment early on was that he thought it was 'a grocery getter, a nice stable airplane'

[Paul Patist]

The cockpit data plate (serial 27368) of this particular ship is in my possession. It was found some years back at a jumble sale in Holland by a fellow countryman of mine...