Warbird Information Exchange

Anybody know what happened to this plane?
P-80A, 44-84997
side number PN-997
It does not show up on Aerial Visuals or Forgotten jets web sites

It's P-80A 44-84997; this is from an archived version of the Forgotten Jets site:

Not much info on it - where and when was your photo taken?

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

Here's a hint...
If the photo is too bad to make out details of a type and the serial can't be seen, look at the Buzz number on the fuselage.

In this case "PN" (FN-post 1947) means F-80. If it was a T-33, it would have been "TR".

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Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

The P-80 was last seen at Sampson AFB in 1951. Sampson Air Force Base was a Basic Training base that closed in 1956, located Geneva NY. Most of the former base is abandoned.

997 postcard on eBay:


Reading up on Sampson on the Abandoned Airfields site, there's no mention of the P-80 (you might want to pass the photo along to them), but they did have something else interesting:

Per Baugher, RP-63G 45-57295 is on display at Lackland AFB.
http://www.airfields-freeman.com/NY/Air ... htm#seneca
Anyone have a better shot of the Kingcobra at Sampson?

EDIT: One more Sampson bird, just for fun:

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All right, Mister Dorfmann, start pullin'!
Pilot: "Flap switch works hard in down position."
Mechanic: "Flap switch checked OK. Pilot needs more P.T." - Flight report, TB-17G 42-102875 (Hobbs AAF)

I've never heard of the place...sure it's before my time but still, as a basic training base, you'd think it would be better known.

Looks like it was used in the Korean-era buildup?

_________________
Remember the vets, the wonderful planes they flew and their sacrifices for a future many of them did not live to see.
Note political free signature.
I figure if you wanted my opinion on items unrelated to this forum, you'd ask for it.

Anybody live near there? Maybe the P-80 is abandoned in the weeds there somewhere.
I love the B-25 paint job.
Thanks for the responses

Google earth shows a couple of aircraft at the Sampson Navy Memorial Museum including one Lockheed jet...

https://www.google.com/maps/place/Samps ... -76.891325

Thought it might be this one but it looks to be a T-33A per the excellent resource Million Monkey Theater:

http://www.millionmonkeytheater.com/T-33.html

T-33A-1-LO s/n 51-8604
*Was preserved in Atmore, AL.
*Currently preserved in Sampson State Park in Romulus, NY.

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Always looking for P-51D parts.

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45-47=-2