junkman9096 wrote:
I'm stepping out of my comfort zone here but may I raise a question. Those are just beautiful photos but the markings appear to be those applied to ANG F-47's after they were brought to Federal service in response to the Korean War. In particular it has the markings of the 108th FG, which was assigned to SAC at Turner AFB from March 1951 and then to TAC from Dec 1951. I only mention it because there are no ANG markings applied but only USAF. During that time the 108th had the 141st FIS (NJ ANG) and 149th FS (VA ANG) both with F-47Ds along with the 153rd FS (Miss ANG) with F-47Ns. I also have photos of F-47s with those markings in red, yellow, and blue. I think I'm saying that the photo was taken when that F-47 was assigned to either the 119th or 141st FIS when they had been activated in 1951. (Based on information from THE AIR GUARD by Rene' Francillon, AIRCRAFT MARKINGS OF THE STRATEGIC AIR COMMAND 1946-1953 by Rick Rodrigues and SAC FIGHTER PLANES AND THEIR OPERATIONS by Robert J Boyd.) So I'm saying that the plane may have been involved in an accident in 1948 while with the MI ANG but when photographed it was (most likely) with the 141st FS and pictured in 1951.
As always, I'm fully prepared to be corrected.
I suspect you may be correct. When I saw the markings on the F-47D, I had the same thought - it looked liked USAF markings of the late 40's/early 50's period and not Air National Guard markings, which did not become standard with USAF markings until mid to late 1963 I believe.