The Intrinsic Details of F4U-5N FAH 609 Buno 124715

[zorro7]

F4U-5N FAH 609 Folks:

Good day!!

The barely visible Buno 124715 on the lower left side of the tail. Still to find out if poss the NP 'numbers' at the wings!!

[ffuries]

Wow this is like the War Birds version of CSI.........Hey there is a great ID for a TV show. In all seriousness this is pretty cool that the ID of some of these birds can be narrowed down finally!

[The Inspector]

The intrigue continues...the new issue of Flight Journal Dec. 2012 (Ruff Stuff on the cover) has a nice article by Chuck Lyford with assist by Barrett Tillman about FAH 609 and how Chuck and Ben Hall got involved in flying for/with the FAS, and the James Bondlike intrigue just getting to El Salvador. Lot's of insight and a good spread of personal photos-Chuck and Ben are still going strong here in the Northwest ( I ran into them a couple years ago in the Me-262 project hanger) and still hold your sides funny to hear when they get wound up with stories because the daring-do stuff is as natural in their conversations as 'so, how was your family camping trip last weekend?'.

[SIDSIKO]

F4U-5N 124715 suffered a Class D accident on the 4th of September 1953 while with VC-3. The accident happened during take off at NAS Moffett Field, CA. A poor photo taken just after, inculded in the accident report, shows the numbers "30" on the front doors of the undercarriage.

Sid

[Rob Mears]

Any chance you could scan and share that accident report Sid? I'd love to see the photo!

[SIDSIKO]

Hi Rob,

The accident report is back in the hands of Craig Fuller of AAIR. He has very kindly scanned the poor quality picture from the report into the Class D accident, as to help in the identification of the Modex number.

If interested, the incident is number 625 on reel 10-54

[Rob Mears]

That's an amazing piece of history Sid! Its hard matching an airframe to its original modex number. Bureau Numbers seem to have served as the basis for all record keeping while the modex numbers I suppose were more for short term reference, apron and deck handling, etc. I looked through what few VC-3 photos I have, but no number '30'.

[zorro7]

FAH 609 Folks/Sidsiko:

Excellent find & tks for the B/W pic. That report prob mentions some type of damage to the folding area of the R/Wing of FAH 609 as it shows a different ID mod plate ----->A-4-670 vs 559!

Will search for the NP #30 of that time frame as well in the VC-4 SQs. The #30 is kind of high for a VC-3 SQ.

[zorro7]

F4U-5N Buno 124715 folks/Sidsiko:

Good Day!

Looking for a copy of the accident report on Buno 124715. I looked in another website but that Buno is not listed at all. Plz pass me the e-mail of Mr. Craig Fuller for a poss contact and the type of damage done during the accident.

Also, I'm looking for pictures of the historical Navy F4U NP VC-3, VC-4 (Atlantic City NAS) & VC-3 & Det Sqs while flying F4U-5N & F4U-5NL corsairs. c.1950s. Tks

p.s Any other links or poc's are welcome!!

[groundpounder]

So just what is the plan for this aircraft ? It looked reasonably intact and unmolested in the first few photos, but when i saw it all stripped down and in pieces in the later pics, i was a bit surprised to say the least. Will it ever fly again ? Why is it being torn down ?

[zorro7]

Groundpounder/FAH 609 Folks:

Tks for your interest about a unique Chance-Vought F4U-5N Corsair!

From a distance & according to the previous FAH Museum admin folks the aircraft was doing just fine, just being a sitting duck, in open storage at the mercy of the elements for the last 3 years. There was never initiative or strong leardership to make things happen.. & in the meantime close inspections of the this magnificent flying machine revealed fabric damage, canopy damage & just in plain neglect, in a deplorable condition waiting for the end of the Mayan calendar Dec 31, 2012 to see if anything would happen.

As of apprx April 2012, new leadership assumed command under the direction of a previous FAH CC Col. Jose Alfredo San Martin who is in charge of the restoration project (partial) with the idea of restoring as much as possible for an engine crank-up and poss taxi around Toncontin airport, the alma matter of this fine bird by the 1st week of Dec -2012!

Things are looking good so far & on schedule with the help of FAH personnel & volunteers who are making this fine restoration a reality!

2 B Cont..

Last edited by zorro7 on Wed Oct 17, 2012 1:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

[zorro7]

FAH 609 folks:

More data of the intrinsic details of this fine bird. Via Sidsiko. Tks

"It was involved in another incident on the 14th of Sep 1952 with VC-4 Det 41 on the USS Bon Homme Richard, although that report was of poor quality. The report number was 608 from Reel 9-53."

[jack973]

zorro7

did you talk with cor. Soto in 2009 as you said before?? how was this possible??

viewtopic.php?f=3&t=46194&start=30

[zorro7]

FAH 609 folks:

We sent in today for the historic accident report of Buno 124715, FAH 609 at Moffett Field, Calif while in service with Navy composite SQ VC-3. We talked to Craig of the AAIR folks & he stated there are couple of more photos/angles included in the same accident!

They are not the best resolution pics but we are a bit curious to see what they show. The #30 is a bit high for a VC-3 Navy Sq.. however, photos simple show that particular time frame c. Sept 1953. Tks to Sid & Craig for their cooperation.

p.s We'll be glad to upload the report/photos as soon as it comes in!

[zorro7]

FAH 609 Folks:

While we wait for the other pictures fm the AAIR report on F4U-5N Buno 124715.

This is what was found underneath the R/Wing. Remains of the U.S Star . We hope to find underneath the L/wing close to the white NAVY letters that may be still in place the "NP" number(s) of Buno 124715 while deployed in the Korean conflict c. 1951 with NAVY VC-3 Sq. Photo via FB/ FMAH.

p.s We are looking for a poss one digit number.