The 1st photo shows BuNo.97359 (obviously), with BuNo.97264 just behind it, both parked among a group of eight Corsairs stored outdoors at the Moseley airfield near the western outskirts of Phoeniz, Arizona.
The 2nd photo shows BuNo.97349 in the foreground, with what has to be BuNo.97369 in the background. They are also parked at Moseley airfield, and appear to have been set aside prior to being relocated to the Tucson Inn, and the USMC Museum, respectively.
Of interesting note is the cowling seen on BuNo.97369. You hardcore 1970's era racing/airshow enthusiasts might recognize the lower "00" cowling from Gene Akers' F4U-4 air racer. That partial cowling was somehow transplanted onto this Bob Bean derelict from Akers' BuNo.97259 which had previously flown at Reno as "Lancer Too" in the late 1960's. In 1970, he repainted the plane in VX-5 Squadron markings with the number "00" on the cowling. It was raced in this configuration until the following year when it was retired. For some unknown reason, Akers swapped his lower right cowling onto the plane in the photo above!
Now for the fun part. Akers parted ways with the old "Lancer Too" / "00" Corsair and it eventually went to the EAA, showing up on outdoor display at Oshkosh '85. Here's a photo I took of it with the upper half of its original cowling still in place, paired no doubt with the lower cowling from BuNo.97369. Put both halves together and the number applied to BuNo.97369 at Olathe appears to have been "17". Why Gene Akers swapped out his freshly painted lower cowling for a weathered replacement panel is a mystery to me.
Oh, and the third photo in the black & white series above shows BuNo.97286 in the foreground, with BuNo.81415 just behind it. That series was taken at Blythe, California where Bob Bean had stored these two Corsairs seperately from the rest of his fleet.
At least six of Bean's Corsairs were Olathe Naval Reserve birds, thus the identical squadron markings. It appears he must have walked into Litchfield Park and simply dragged home the twenty-one(!) Corsairs sitting nearest to the exit gate.
_________________
Rob Mears
'Surviving Corsairs' Historian
robcmears@yahoo.comhttp://www.robmears.com
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