So, some analysis by Stan Winke and Mark Sheppard over on the WIX Facebook page has turned up solid, almost irrefutable evidence to support a pretty remarkable theory... the Wildcat we've all been salivating over is even more historic than we think because it was flown by Butch O'Hare for a newsreel along with Jimmy Thach on 10 April 1942.
I'm at work so can't post the Facebook or YouTube video links but the summary is this: Thach was in F-1 and Butch was in F-13 (BuNo 3986) for this flight. At one point, Butch swings his F4F in close to the camera ship and we get a really good closeup look at the cockpit area... and that ship sports three old and one fresh Japanese kill flags, in the exact same position as "F-5". And not only that... all of the marking locations, from the star to Felix, all match up perfectly with that ship. And most importantly, there is a patch of fresher blue-grey paint beneath the "5", and you can just make out the ghost of the number "13" beneath it.
We won't have positive proof unless Petrel gets a shot of the fin to check the BuNo, but the evidence is pretty strong that O'Hare flew Gayler's ship for that film sortie, for who knows what reason... maybe his regular bird was down for maintenance, who knows.
As I told another friend, with that information, you think the folks in Pensacola aren't working packing up two miles of rope and a bucket about right now?
Come on Navy, go lift those birds and bring them home. I'll throw in 20 bucks to help. And I bet if you asked nicely, VFA-31 might be willing to chip in a buck or two as well, LOL.
Lynn