"Bee" is a perfect choice for this kite. A young man who ranked among the very best of his profession. As Grover C. Hall put it in
1000 Destroyed, Beeson's gun camera footage was usually closeups of disintegrating German aircraft.
Unfortunately, like many other early P-51s that arrived at Debden, the finish on Beeson's kite was 'marred' by the pulling off of the panel-sealing tape (for the ocean crossing) as the plane was assembled at Speke Depot. This often resulted in bare metal showing through, effectively "outlining" many of the panel lines ... very unsightly and very prominent on
some kites.
The solution was naturally to touch up the paint, leaving a "mottled" appearance - the excellent color photo of Beeson giving a thumbs-up to his crew chief, by all reports taken on 5th April, the day he was shot down (POW), shows this effect very well.
Some have postulated that Beeson's plane was part of an "experimental" dazzle paint job. There is absolutely NO evidence that this was the case. Looking at the great color photo, the "darker" paint is applied along the panel lines, thus covering up the NMF areas exposed by the hasty pulling off of the sealant tape.
If there's any way I can help with the historical part of this project, let me know, though I'm sure the project organizers already have a pretty good handle on their subject.
Wade
EDIT: From Peter Randall's excellent Little Friends site, here's the shot I'm referring to. Notice that almost all of the major panel lines visible in this shot are overlaid with darker paint. The splotches on the upper cowling I can't explain, but this ain't no "dazzle" paint job:
http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/gallery. ... rchString=
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