Warbird Information Exchange

In case you missed it, the AF Museum dedicated A-1H 134600, configured to resemble 139738, "The Proud American" on 11/18/22. The airframe of '600 was a hollow shell exported from Vietnam in the 1990's. Considering the funds and time available, the project results are magnificent.

The real '738 was known for three events:

1. Flown by Lt Col Wm Jones III on his Medal of Honor mission, 1968
2. Flown by Capt Ron Smith on an Air Force Cross mission in 1972 on the deepest-ever rescue performed in North Vietnam
3. Was the last US A-1 lost in combat. 1Lt Lance Smith had either battle damage or a wing failure and extracted safely during an airstrike

The AF Museum is researching the claim that 738 may be the most highly decorated airframe ever. No other is known to have been flown on both an MoH and AFC, plus it has an undetermined number of Silver Stars, DFCs, etc. As an aside, 132649 (actual airframe on display in Dayton) was flown during Maj Bernie Fisher's MoH and is the only known fixed-wing MoH airframe in existence.

To honor these two airplanes, the Skyraider Association created a lithograph (see link). Collector (signed by Gen Smith and Col Smith) and standard versions are available to the public; prices include shipping in the US. Proceeds go to the Association; please take a look at the art and consider having a copy of your own:

https://cockpitcreations.com/collection ... and-prints

Some quality photos of The Proud American restoration are here:

https://www.nationalmuseum.af.mil/Visit ... -american/

An eloquent video review of the restoration project was posted online here:

https://youtu.be/A_1P0DPjxd8

As a final note, there are 5 "The Proud American" A-1s:

1. A-1H 134555, named by pilot Don Combs' children, later transferred to the VNAF. Name applied in block stencil.
2. A-1H 139738, was assigned the name after '555 left USAF service. Name appeared in both block stencil and later with eagle artwork.
3. A-1J 142072, a static display airplane that concurrently wore the name for many years in Thailand; block stencil.
4. AD-4NA 126965, a very nice tribute paint scheme at the Heritage Flight Museum; block stencil.
5. A-1H 134600, representing 139738 as it appeared between June-Sep 1972; with eagle artwork.

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

Wow, a great restoration and a very worthy tribute to the actual Proud American airframe and crews. Thanks for posting.

Wonder if any effort has been made to find the wreckage of the actual airframe?

That has been mentioned informally as a "Wouldn't it be neat to find ...". No actual effort has been made to my knowledge. The leading reason is that efforts to locate crash sites are focused on identifying MIA aircrew. Since Lance Smith extracted safely, there has been no reason to put resources into looking for '738. That said, many of us wonder if it could be found, how bad is the terrain, and what would be left? Has it already been picked over by locals? FWIW, the loss is listed as Ban Nam Feng, Xiangkhoang Province, Laos.

Ken

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"Take care of the little things and the big things will take care of themselves."

For the modelers in the group, "The Proud American" is available on the old Aeromaster 48-342 sheet but they bolloxed up the s/n having it as 34555 rather than 39738. It was proven in photo #50 of the collection of photos referenced above. Looks as they referenced two different aircraft with the same name at different time frames. They didn't call it "Errormaster" without reason. Link for reference only: https://www.ultracast.ca/AeroMaster-48- ... m48342.htm