I wonder if this plane had been in civilian hands before aquisition by the NMUSAF? The radio call sign placard reads N347D, which is a civil aircraft designation. Also, just above the airspeed indicator is an ancient looking VOR with glideslope, which didn't come along until well after WWll. The tail number does not make sense; This aircraft may have been in foreign service after the war - maybe south america. A friend of mine aquired several P-51's and a couple of P47s from Nicaragua. One of the 47s was bellied in by a ferry pilot before its departure to the states. The other suffered double mag failure and the ferry pilot put it down on a beach in southern Mexico. He was a retired USAF pilot with considerable skill, but nearly perished from the heat before he was rescued. The firstt plane, a P47N, was scrapped, the other one, my friend believes, was recovered by a renowned warbird organization. This was in the 60s and at the time those type of aircraft were not considered valuable and little effort was made to keep them original. Finally, one of his 51s eventually made irs way to NMUSAF. He had sold the plane after its arrival in the states and somewhere along the way a turbine engine was hung on it and was used to evaluate its potential as a ground attack platform. I hope I got all this correct and welcome corrwctions.
My cousin, Major Chester Slingerland, was KIA March 23rd over Griesheim. His crash site was discovered and excavated in 2003 and I have a paddle blade and parachute from the wreckage, both pieces mentioned in the letter his friend, and wingman, mentioned in his letter to Chester's widow. Are these items something a museum would be interested in displaying if donated? The crash site excavation was documented by the Stars and Stripes and I have a copy of the letter to his widow.
Sat in that plane a long, long, long time ago on an after hours tour. It felt like you could carry a suitcase on each side of the seat and still had plenty of room
Fantastic this is great for painting p-47 cockpit details thank you. Cheers Gary from the UK 🇬🇧
Cheers Gary, glad this helps! Check out ACI Cockpit 360 App. About 100 of our birds on there.
Will do thank you for sharing buddy. Cheers Gary 🇬🇧
I wonder if this plane had been in civilian hands before aquisition by the NMUSAF? The radio call sign placard reads N347D, which is a civil aircraft designation. Also, just above the airspeed indicator is an ancient looking VOR with glideslope, which didn't come along until well after WWll. The tail number does not make sense; This aircraft may have been in foreign service after the war - maybe south america. A friend of mine aquired several P-51's and a couple of P47s from Nicaragua. One of the 47s was bellied in by a ferry pilot before its departure to the states. The other suffered double mag failure and the ferry pilot put it down on a beach in southern Mexico. He was a retired USAF pilot with considerable skill, but nearly perished from the heat before he was rescued. The firstt plane, a P47N, was scrapped, the other one, my friend believes, was recovered by a renowned warbird organization. This was in the 60s and at the time those type of aircraft were not considered valuable and little effort was made to keep them original. Finally, one of his 51s eventually made irs way to NMUSAF. He had sold the plane after its arrival in the states and somewhere along the way a turbine engine was hung on it and was used to evaluate its potential as a ground attack platform. I hope I got all this correct and welcome corrwctions.
My cousin, Major Chester Slingerland, was KIA March 23rd over Griesheim. His crash site was discovered and excavated in 2003 and I have a paddle blade and parachute from the wreckage, both pieces mentioned in the letter his friend, and wingman, mentioned in his letter to Chester's widow. Are these items something a museum would be interested in displaying if donated? The crash site excavation was documented by the Stars and Stripes and I have a copy of the letter to his widow.
Sat in that plane a long, long, long time ago on an after hours tour. It felt like you could carry a suitcase on each side of the seat and still had plenty of room