Connecting USAAF Serial Number to Base Side Number

[Fearless Tower]

I am planning on reaching out to both the Smithsonian and the archive folks at Maxwell, but wondering if any researchers know what specific document(s) to ask for that would indicate the local base side number an Army aircraft was given?

Trying to see if any of the aircraft my grandfather flew in WWII are still in existence, but his logbook only documented the base side numbers (ex E-856) and not the aircraft serial numbers.

Would that be shown on the Aircraft History Card, or would I need to search through base/unit documents?

[quemerford]

This kind of information won't be shown in the aircraft record cards and it's unlikely to be detailed in unit records either.

The only help will be if the three digits in the log book relate to the 'last three' of the aircraft serial number. But I have a nasty feeling that in many cases it doesn't.

Working from the other direction, there are a few books that detail types such as the Curtiss-Wright AT-9 that show individual aircraft histories by s/n with base/unit allocations; this might be a start in pinning down aircraft operated by a particular base. There are a few trainer type specialists on this forum who might also be able to assist.

I recall a website that has an online resource of training base yearbooks too (anyone?) - these have lots of photos that might get you started too.

Would you be happy to list dates and bases for your grandfather? It might help...

[aerovin]

See also this excellent site maintained by John Voss:

https://www.fuselagecodes.com/

[quemerford]

That John Voss site is a valuable resource.

This is the yearbook site I mentioned:

https://aafcollection.info/items/list.php

[mike furline]

My belief is that the local base side numbers were just random numbers that weren't documented or connected with any s/n. If a base had 200 AT-6's and they were numbered 1-200 when a plane or two was bent or busted the next replacement aircraft would receive that number.

41-17308..X-531
41-17634..X-530
42-3984....X-529
42-3967....X-526
41-17280..X-527
41-32091..X-535
41-16295..X-536

[Fearless Tower]

This kind of information won't be shown in the aircraft record cards and it's unlikely to be detailed in unit records either.

The only help will be if the three digits in the log book relate to the 'last three' of the aircraft serial number. But I have a nasty feeling that in many cases it doesn't.

Working from the other direction, there are a few books that detail types such as the Curtiss-Wright AT-9 that show individual aircraft histories by s/n with base/unit allocations; this might be a start in pinning down aircraft operated by a particular base. There are a few trainer type specialists on this forum who might also be able to assist.

I recall a website that has an online resource of training base yearbooks too (anyone?) - these have lots of photos that might get you started too.

Would you be happy to list dates and bases for your grandfather? It might help...

Thanks. My grandfather trained in T-6s at Merced from March to May 1945 and then went to Douglas AAF for B-25 training June until the end of the war.

I'm mostly interested in the Douglas AAF B-25s. There is a chance he flew Wild Cargo while it was assigned to Douglas, but right now there is no way to match it without the secret decoder....

[Fearless Tower]

That John Voss site is a valuable resource.

This is the yearbook site I mentioned:

https://aafcollection.info/items/list.php

They have one Douglas AAF yearbook on that site, but unfortunately it is from 1943 back when my grandfather was working the B-25 assembly line in Kansas City.

Am I more likely to find additional yearbooks in local Arizona archives or through government sources?

[Chris Brame]

One other possible source is accident reports; many of those have photos. 44-30129 Wild Cargo had three incidents listed, but the earliest was in 1948 when it was based at Barksdale.
It's generally a cr@pshoot trying to find this info; a lot of codes and numbers I've turned up for John Voss have come from eBay searches.