Pre-WWII P-40 Aircraft Star - Identified!

Quest Master · **Joined:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:42 pm **Posts:** 387

Wanted to know: I have this section of a pre-WWII aircraft skin with a star painted on it. Any idea of what type of aircraft it came from? The aluminum skin has been painted with a pre-WWII star with the meatball in the center (but has been later over painted in white). The surrounding skin is painted grey over white paint. Now, I have seen factory photo's where they painted the skin white and added the stencil as they went with the final application of the final exterior paint, so it makes sense that there is some white under the grey. Every rivet has been removed (the bars on the rear were added by me to hold it together). It appears to have suffered damage prior to removal. Any ideas? Wing? Fuselage? P-40? Navy? Fire away!

Quest Master · **Joined:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:42 pm **Posts:** 387

Seriously? Not one guess? Wing of an early P-38.....fuselage of a P-40? Nothing? Fire awayQ

Nathan · **Posted:** Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:13 am

idk about what its from but I would buy it off from you. Any price you would be willing to part for?

rcaf_100 · **Posted:** Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:45 am

Dimensions of the circle might help for starters.
I'm guessing about 2 feet across? If it's an oddball measurement, it might help narrow it down.

:partyman:

JohnTerrell · **Posted:** Thu Apr 07, 2011 11:46 am

Could the dimensions of the star at least narrow it down to possible candidates perhaps?
Being that it looks like neutral gray paint, and the panel itself is fairly flat, I would hazard a guess that it is a lower wing panel.

Django · **Posted:** Thu Apr 07, 2011 12:37 pm

Neat! Looks like it's about 3' wide. I think lower wing panel is on the money, but no idea for what. And it doesn't have to be pre-WWII. If it got the white paint over the red circle, then it was at least operational in some capacity into '43.

Nathan · **Posted:** Thu Apr 07, 2011 3:44 pm

IMHO, it looks P-40'ish. Could also be P-39, P-38, O-47. I think B-17/B-24 could be out of the question.

Anyhoo, I am still very interested in case you would want to sell. Ask a number and maybe we will see.

Thanks,
Nathan

Pathfinder · **Joined:** Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 587

Someone removed over 300 rivets without a single scratch? There is paint inside the rivet holes indicating it was painted after the rivets were removed. Why is there underside gray on both sides of the single sheet aluminum? The inside should be chromate...no? The damage to the paint is incongruous to the surrounding metal damage. I think someone painted a meatball on an old piece of a metal corn crib.

Stoney · **Posted:** Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:44 pm

Django · **Posted:** Fri Apr 08, 2011 1:52 pm

I don't see any paint in the rivet holes. If that is a "fake" it would be one of the best fakes I have ever seen as far as the weathering goes. And corn cribs are generally corrugated tin.

Franklin · **Joined:** Sat Mar 19, 2011 3:53 pm **Posts:** 183

I concure, if it's a fake, it's a good fake. I also see no evidence of paint in the rivet holes but my eyes are getting older

I'm sure there's someone here who knows how to count rivet holes and can tell exactly what aircraft it's from.

brucev · **Posted:** Fri Apr 08, 2011 5:18 pm

rivet holes look countersunk or dimpled, so whatever aircraft it is from would be flush riveted. should help narrow it down, then i suppose you could measure the angle of the dimple or countersink. Did Curtiss (and only Curtiss) use 82 degree countersunk rivets?

Invader26 · **Joined:** Wed Aug 11, 2010 7:56 am **Posts:** 843

of course it is not really one piece, it is tao pieces riveted together with straps on the back..

Steve Nelson · **Posted:** Sat Apr 09, 2011 7:01 am

Looks like a chunk of skin from the underside of the right wing of a P-40. I did a bit of Googling and found some rivet plans. Your panel seems to match the section outlined in red pretty well (there are some differences in the number of rivet lines and locations, but the drawings probably aren't 100% accurate.)

What a cool find! Where did it come from?

SN

gemmer · **Joined:** Fri Mar 16, 2007 7:54 am **Posts:** 314

Steve Nelson wrote:

Looks like a chunk of skin from the underside of the right wing of a P-40. I did a bit of Googling and found some rivet plans. Your panel seems to match the section outlined in red pretty well (there are some differences in the number of rivet lines and locations, but the drawings probably aren't 100% accurate.)

What a cool find! Where did it come from?

SN

Too close to the wing tip to contain the insignia.
MHO

Duane

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Pre-WWII P-40 Aircraft Star - Identified!

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