Warbird Information Exchange

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

Try this?

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

Steve

_________________
"Any excuse is good enough if you're willing to use it!"

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

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.