Fuselage identification markings questions

Tue Apr 22, 2008 5:05 pm

I think the subject of fuselage ID letters has been covered here before, but I can't find anything in a search.

What determined the letter that was applied to the fuselage with the 2-character ID? Was there any rhyme or reason? Is there a cross-reference to look back to see what letter may have been applied to an aircraft of a certain serial number if the squadron is known?

Thanks.

Bill

Tue Apr 22, 2008 7:31 pm

Try this?

http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/

Steve

Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:51 pm

Usually, there was no rhyme or reason. Fighter guys might be able to get their initial assigned as the individual a/c letter if no one was using it.

When I'm trying to research a serial/letter pair, usually for a RAF/RCAF model project, I start with some older books that gathered a few examples for each squadron: Rawlings, "Fighter Squadrons of the R.A.F." Moyes's "Bomber Squadrons of the R.A.F.", Kostenuk & Griffin's "RCAF Squadrons and Aircraft". Beyond that, it's a matter of chasing down profiles and photos in books and articles that cover the unit in question. Units that tend to be the subject of widespread near-obsessive fixation, like 8th AF fighter squadrons, have a lot more research out there.

August

Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:49 am

Thanks for the replies.

I've looked through the book "The Dynamite Gang: The 367th Fighter Group in World War II" but only found a nose shot of the plane I'm looking for. At least I think I found it... there are photos of two apparently different P-38s with "659" painted on the nose. One is 43-28659, "Viking 2." The one I'm looking for is 44-23659 in which my wife's great uncle was lost, and I think the plane without nose art might have been the one. He was in the 394th, while Lt. Paschall and Viking 2 were in the 392nd.

That second "659" shows a different pilot in the photo, but as a recent replacement pilot I don't think her uncle had his own plane. The book also notes that he had taken anti-aircraft fire in somebody else's plane a month before,and had to belly land on his return to base, destroying the aircraft.

Well, I guess I'll just keep looking. Thanks.

And August... great photography on your website.