P-38 Data Plate Question

tulsaboy · **Posted:** Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:59 pm

Like, say, this:

kevin

http://cgi.ebay.com/JAPANESE-WWII-AIRCR ... dZViewItem

Jack Cook · **Posted:** Thu Feb 19, 2009 1:08 pm

Quote:

It does not constitute an aircraft.

Tell that to the guy with the data plate...opps I mean P-51D "Marinell" :twisted:

tom d. friedman · **Posted:** Thu Feb 19, 2009 2:55 pm

jack, i'm just basing my opinion on current economic conditions. i've got 23 years into selling / buying antique aviation memorabilia, & i'm a full time merchant with 2 stores, so i know the pulse of things. if somebody has a woody for something they'll pony up the $$$, but otherwise people /collectors are laying low. trust me, feel my pain in the wallet, but don't touch my butt cheek!! :butthead:

airmanual · **Joined:** Thu Nov 04, 2004 6:32 am **Posts:** 240

tom d. friedman wrote:

jack, i'm just basing my opinion on current economic conditions. i've got 23 years into selling / buying antique aviation memorabilia, & i'm a full time merchant with 2 stores, so i know the pulse of things. if somebody has a woody for something they'll pony up the $$$, but otherwise people /collectors are laying low. trust me, feel my pain in the wallet, but don't touch my butt cheek!! :butthead:

True that it is definitely a buyers market at the moment. I've been collecting gunsights and manuals for years but has never seen so much as is currently on offer now at only a fraction of the price that was applicable just a few months ago.

Laurent

RMAllnutt · **Posted:** Thu Feb 19, 2009 8:34 pm

tom d. friedman wrote:

from a collectables standpoint i'd say it's worth anywhere between $50.00 & $125.00 bucks, but in this economy to sell it/ buy it i feel it would fetch around $75.00. the problem is nobody has expendable income now days with the question do i buy a cool historical data plate?? or groceries?? i think you know what will prevail. i haven't bought / sold a thing in damned near a year!!

Hi Tom.... your estimate of $50 to $125 for a P-38 identity plate is extraordinarily low... Most WWII era data plates go for much more. A P-38 id would easily go for $500, but probably far more... even in this murky economic climate. I've seen Corsair plates go for $1000, and a P-38 is easily as collectible.

Richard

tom d. friedman · **Posted:** Thu Feb 19, 2009 8:37 pm

cripes hook me up!!

tom d. friedman · **Posted:** Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:09 pm

richard, you must realize that part of an antiques value must have documented provinence. i had an opportunity some years back to sell some girder work from the hindenburg. the owner's story jived, but there was no documentation as to authenticity to back it up, thus it wasn't worth squat. he ended up donating the piece to a museum with the gray area of detail still in place.

RMAllnutt · **Posted:** Thu Feb 19, 2009 10:19 pm

Hi Tom... of course. Something like that would be hard to prove, but a data plate is something else. An original P-38 data plate, with the aircraft serial number on it is very hard to dispute. Yes, there are newly manufactured plates out there... but these are easy to tell apart from old ones, at least for WWII era plates.

Cheers,
Richard

bdk · **Joined:** Sun May 02, 2004 1:16 am **Posts:** 11330

Sully wrote:

A data plate in itself is a collectors item. It does not constitute an aircraft.
Data plates can be manufactured.

If you were to walk into the FAA with your dataplate, they can't do anything for you. If you were to walk in with a documented chain of ownership (on paper) without a dataplate, you would walk out with an FAA registration. You can make a replacement dataplate at your leisure. With a registration you can get an airworthiness certificate once you have had the required inspections. Then you have a real airplane, at least according to the FAA.

If I'm missing something here or I'm incorrect, please let me know!

jdvoss · **Posted:** Fri Feb 20, 2009 12:57 pm

I am closing watching where this dataplate issue ends up. Reason is that I have a dataplate for a Douglas A-20C Boston Mk IIIA RAF S/N BZ-339. If I can get a good price for it...I'll sell it, if not I'll donate it to either the RAF Musuem at Hendon or the Donald W. Douglas Museum

Jack Cook · **Posted:** Fri Feb 20, 2009 1:02 pm

We used a A-20B serial to register a AT-6 :idea:

Jim MacDonald · **Posted:** Sun Feb 22, 2009 12:03 am

A Zero data plate just sold on ebay for $1200! Hate to see what it would've gone for in a "Seller's Market".

Mac

Jack Cook · **Posted:** Sun Feb 22, 2009 12:12 am

I gave my Sally data plate to OFM at Olympia Airport :shock:

Jack Cook · **Posted:** Sun Mar 01, 2009 9:56 pm

It is the AAF data plate for......
P-38L-5-LO s/n 44-23827 landing accident at Santa Rosa, CA AAB Aug 10, 1944 being flown by 2Lt Albert Bess

RMAllnutt · **Posted:** Mon Mar 02, 2009 2:17 pm

bdk wrote:

Sully wrote:

A data plate in itself is a collectors item. It does not constitute an aircraft.
Data plates can be manufactured.

If you were to walk into the FAA with your dataplate, they can't do anything for you. If you were to walk in with a documented chain of ownership (on paper) without a dataplate, you would walk out with an FAA registration. You can make a replacement dataplate at your leisure. With a registration you can get an airworthiness certificate once you have had the required inspections. Then you have a real airplane, at least according to the FAA.

If I'm missing something here or I'm incorrect, please let me know!

Just out of curiosity, how did Jack Rousch get his P-51B certified then, as there certainly wasn't a data plate from that aircraft? I've always wondered how that was done... or the former David Price Me-109E either?

Cheers,
Richard

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