Pictures of 43-12252 you may not have seen before

[KarenG]

Hi All,

I was looking through my "Uncle Dean" pictures and I came across the following pictures that someone sent me of 43-12252 taken in early 1944 at Bartow AAF. I love how in some of them you can clearly see the serial number. According to the captions I put on the pictures, one of the pilots names is Conrad, and the other one is named Bud Fuhrman. I am getting senile in my old age, because I can't remember who sent these to me. Anyway, enjoy.

Karen

[N3Njeff]

Great pics Karen, thanks for sharing with us!!!! Anyone win the powerball, I have not checked my numbers yet but if I won. Maybe I will make Mr Roush an offer he cant turn down!!

[N3Njeff]

You know, I should chat with my father. In the late 80's he was collecting information on all the training fields in fla for a book he wanted to write. We have been to all of them and I bet he might have some stuff from Bartow. Gimme a couple of weeks and I will ask him if his stuff is packed. We are both getting ready to move to new locations.

[KarenG]

That would be great Jeff!

Thank you so much! I have several pictures from Bartow that were taken by a dear friend of mine last year. They have done A LOT of work to preserve her history! I will dig them out if you are interested. I have a picture of a plaque that lists all of the pilots killed at Bartow. Dean is in the bottom row. I was shocked to realize there were a lot of pilots from their killed during the war.

That is why I was so pleased that the monument erected at Lake Louisa was in honor of all pilots killed in Florida during the war. I just pray that someday they will be able to replace the monument! It was destroyed when hurricane Jean went through a few years ago. The plan is to use the tip of the propeller in the new monument as well. Thanks again.

Karen

BTW, best of luck with the powerball!!

[Jack Cook]

Bud Fuhrman is the fellow with the chubby face. He flew in England with the 486th FS 352nd Fg at Bodney. I believe he's still with us.

[Swiss Mustangs]

I just thought to add these - posted them before but some of the newer members might not have seen this yet:

P-51B 43-12252 on visit at Hillsborough AAF, FL, 17th April 1944







and a profile done by Dan Johnson, based on above photograph



Martin

[Jack Cook]

someone saw them before Martin because there now in AC

[Swiss Mustangs]

someone saw them before Martin because there now in AC

the one with my watermark ? I own the original neg and also copyright.... if this is true, I'll raise hell - please PM, Jack

Martin

[Jack Cook]

PM sent

[KarenG]

Thank you for adding these Martin! I was going to, but I didn't want to without your and Dan's permission. I do love all of these so much! As I have said many times, you guys are the best!

Karen

[KarenG]

As I look at all these pictures again, I have a couple of dumb questions that I should know the answer to but I don't, so who better to ask then all of you.....

1. If the L-5 on the Mustang is what marked her as being at Bartow why do some of the other Mustangs have L-6 etc? Or was it just the "L" that identified her as being from Bartow? Which if that is the case, how did they keep from running out of letters for all the bases?

2. Is the canopy on the original the same as what is on her now? It looks different to me. If it isn't the same, what is different? Is it still a "B" model? Did they use different ones for different Mustangs?

3. Is the number on the tail of the new Mustang the same as on the original? I haven't found a good enough picture of the new one to see the tail. If not, why? Doesn't it have to stay the same?

Thanks guys!

Karen

[frenesi4]

Conrad may be Conrad Netting. The book Delayed Legacy mentions his training at Bartow.

Mike

[51fixer]

As I look at all these pictures again, I have a couple of dumb questions that I should know the answer to but I don't, so who better to ask then all of you.....


3. Is the number on the tail of the new Mustang the same as on the original? I haven't found a good enough picture of the new one to see the tail. If not, why? Doesn't it have to stay the same?

Thanks guys!

Karen

Karen,
What is painted on the aircraft does not have to match the Serial Number. Different aircraft are painted to look like a WWII aircraft, sometimes there are more than 1 of the same paint scheme at a time.
The legal thing that needs to be displayed on almost all aircraft is a N-number. It marks the US registration number of the aircraft. There cannot be more than 1 aircraft with the same N-number. The serial number, which is shown on Dean's tail, needs to be stamped onto a metal plate and mounted inside the aircraft. The P-51 has the ID plate on the R/H side of the cockpit. At least the D does.
Rich

[Swiss Mustangs]

Conrad may be Conrad Netting. The book Delayed Legacy mentions his training at Bartow.

Mike

I believe this is Lt. Jule V. Conrad who served with the 352nd FG 487th FS - he became POW 16th July 1944 in P-51B 42-106451 (Preddy's former "Cripes A'Mighty" that was transferred when Preddy got 44-13321)

Martin

[KarenG]

Thanks guys!

Last edited by KarenG on Wed Sep 17, 2008 7:40 am, edited 1 time in total.