Warbird Information Exchange

I've been going through some older photos and there are some where I've never been able to identify the aircraft depicted. Maybe you guys can help. Most of these are unmarked projects found when poking around Chino between 1988 and 1993. I guess that means I could save time just by emailing them to bdk and letting him tell me, but what the heck, some of you may enjoy the pics. Here are the first six.

Type: P-40
Date: Feb. 4, 1989
Place: Chino, Tallichet compound


Type: FJ
Date: Feb. 4, 1989
Place: Chino, Aero Trader hangars


Type: P-39
Date: Sept. 9, 1989
Place: Chino, Yanks/Nichols compound
Remarks: I think this airframe moved over to Planes of Fame a couple years later, with the wings removed?


Type: P-38
Date: March 1, 1989
Place: Chino, Fighter Rebuilders hangar (I think)
Remarks: On this date I found four P-38s by poking around at Chino, a personal best. Three of them were Yanks' 44-27183, POF's 44-23314, and 44-53186 "Miss Behavin". Which one's this? Tallichet's 44-27231?


Type: Sea Fury R-3350
Date: March 1, 1989
Place: Chino, one of the wartime hangars across the parking lot from Flo's Cafe.


Type: PBY-5A
Date: Oct. 22, 1988
Place: Van Nuys
Remarks: I had to shoot all the way across Van Nuys airport through some heat distortion to get this pic. The PBY seems to have a Canadian registration C-F__ (can't make it out) and the blue band contains a 75th anniversary legend that reminds me of the one on Connie Edwards' PBY-6A. Any info on the Caribou also appreciated.


Thanks for any help and I hope you enjoyed the pics.

August

looks like it was charlie nichols at yanks back in the day

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Hang The Expense

My guesses:

P-40; No idea. Tallichet had a lot of them floating around over the years. Maybe a PNG recovery? Note the camouflage paint.

Fury; No idea. Aero Trader does/did have a bunch of Commonwealth CA-27 Mk.32 aircraft in storage. Could it be one of those? FJ Furies have a spine behind the canopy, don't they?

P-39; Based on the date and the location, this should be Nichols' own P-39, no? I have a photo of this aircraft looking nearly finished but unpainted in February of 2000. I think it was finished in late 2001. The one at POF was Stephen Grey's. I have a photo of it in April of 2002 as a fuselage only in Fighter Rebuilders' shop so it wouldn't be that one.

P-38; Looks like Tallichet's hangar, definitely not Planes of Fame.

Sea Fury; That is in dome hangar #2. The black Tri-5 Chevy belongs to Chuck who does all the warbird electrical wiring on the airport (a true craftsman!). Must have been something that the Sanders' put together. Are you sure this wasn't Jim Mott's Sea Fury with the Beverly transport Centaurus?

PBY; Was there another PBY with the 75th anniversary markings?

It's not a CAC Sabre, for certain. There's a number of differences, but a quick one is the CAC was always armed with two cannon.


Yes. Two Catalinas made the 1986 trans-Atlantic commemorative flight. IIRC, Connie's hit a buoy on landing and lost the wingtip.

I'll see if I can find the reference to the flight...

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

Yes. Two Catalinas made the 1986 trans-Atlantic commemorative flight. IIRC, Connie's hit a buoy on landing and lost the wingtip.

[/quote]

Are you sure it was Connie's that hit the buoy? I thought it was the all white PBY.
Jerry

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"Always remember that, when you enter the ocean or the forest, you are no longer at the top of the food chain."

No! I was going to check.

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James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

OK, according to Aeroplane Monthly Magazine, December 1986: "Four months after its spectacular and widely publicised crash at Plymouth on May 31, Robert Franks's Consolidated Catalina C-FOWE took to the air again on the morning of October 8 on the first stage of its return journey to North America."

And it's the same scheme.

_________________
James K

"Switch on the underwater landing lights"
Emilio Largo, Thunderball.

www.VintageAeroWriter.com

Concerning the photo marked "P-39":

Seeing that the nose gear scissors faces forward, any chance she might be a P-63?

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It was a good idea, it just didn't work.

Bob Pond's P-63 was under restoration during that timeframe also, but since it was at Yanks it may be the parts plane noted now with Kermit Weeks.

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/p39-p63r ... 68864.html
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/p39-p63r ... 11117.html

The wing root intakes and flat windscreen frame are definately indicative of a P-63.

SN

Thanks guys; I knew you would be a big help.

I guess we've established that the "P-39" is Pond's P-63, the P-38 is Tallichet's, and the PBY is C-FOWE (ex-RCAF 11074), now N222Ft "Turtle" with Connie E.

Your comments on the FJ made me realize that with the lack of spine and the slats, it had to be an FJ-2, and once I knew that, it was fairly easy to track down as that model is rare. It is with War Eagles in NM. BuNo 132028.

So that leaves the P-40 and Sea Fury. Bdk, the Sea Fury could well be Mott's WG567. The history and configuration seem to fit.

August

August, you seemed to be very positive regarding the R-3350 in your original posting. Was it the 4-bladed prop or the engine cylinders that directed you to that conclusion? It does look like the prop is a clockwise rotation (from the cockpit) example.

It was the four blades. I did not consider the direction of rotation but I think you are correct and that also suggests R-3350. If so then maybe I am still looking for an ID on this one.

August

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Don't touch my junk!!

Regarding the Catalina C-FOWE, the similarity in colour scheme with the PBY-6A N4NC that accompanied it on the trip to the UK only really extended to the blue forward hull band with the 75th anniversary logo on it. In all other respects, the livery was very different. After Robert Franks' death, Connie purchased C-FOWE (by now N69RF) and had it registered N222FT. So he now owns both that and N4NC - these featured in the hangar shots on a recent thread on WRG about Connie's collection of warbirds and spares.

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David Legg
Editor, The Catalina News
The Catalina Society
Author: Consolidated PBY Catalina - The Peacetime Record