P-47 Hawaii Fuselage Piece / Squadron Identification Please

[Quest Master]

I have a piece of a P-47 that I recovered from Hawaii many years ago. It is the fuselage of a P-47 with the number "8" on it. I have found one picture of a P-47 in Hawaii (maybe pictured at Bellows Field?) prior to 1945. Can anyone tell me (possibly) the squadron? The only problem I see with matching my piece to this photo is the stripe on the side of the pictured P-47....my "8" may not be from the aircraft pictured with "28". It could be from an aircraft with an "8" or "18" or "38". The style of stencil is the same though.
Front of fuselage section:

National Archives photo, from Hawaii with an "8" on the side (kinda matches the above piece):

Rear of fuselage section:


Fire away!
Thanks,
Van

[Garandguy]

That might not be an "8" It could be a "3" and part of "39". I say this because my father ditched a P47 off Bellows field on 7 Jan 1946. Serial 42-28114 It had been originally assigned to the 78th fighter Squadron(The Bushmasters) They were then assigned P51's and assigned to Iwo Jima to give VLR escort to B29's. Google 78th fighter SQ or 7th fighter Command and you will see pictures. My dad's name is Rufus R Barber. There is a pic there of him flying this P47. It was supposedly recovered around 1970 but was not confirmed. The wreckage was so deteriorated that I. D. was not possible. My wife & I visited Hawaii in 2003 & I called the Hawaii ANG and talked to the Public Info Officer and asked him about the recovery. He knew nothing about it. We read about it in the Atlanta Journal and there was a post recovery picture in Air Classics Quarterly Review. I never heard what became of the wreckage. The size & style of the numbers changed during the course of the war. When & where did you find this piece?

[mike furline]

Here's a list of accidents in Hawaii. http://www.aviationarchaeology.com/src/ ... Submit9=Go

Filter out the P-47 accidents/locations and just maybe you'll find what you need.

[Garandguy]

I have tons of info. I was just curious as to when & where you found this piece. If it came from the water off Bellows Field it could possibly be from the P47 my father had flown & ditched due to engine failure. This was a common problem in the PTO with P47's. It took a while to solve the problem but it was determined by Republic Aviation that due to the warm salty air the ignition harness was corroding causing loss of power or total engine failure. They did solve it. But some of the older A/C that were used in training got repaired last and 42-28114 was one of them.

[Garandguy]

Also, after the war ws over & the Army ASir Corp was winding down , Bellows was closed & my father along with the other pilots had to ferry the remaining a/c the Wheeler Field. He was discharged in lat 46. He talked to one of his Squadron mates who left later & he told my father that the older P47's were loaded on a ship & dumped at sea in deep water

[bdk]

You might want to talk to someone at WestPac. They could tell you the exact fuselage station that chunk came from. An 8 over the wing might be a different aircraft than an 8 on the tailcone based upon photos you might later come across.

That rubstrip makes me think it is from just ahead or behind the intercooler outlet door.

That piece also doesn't look like it spent 25 years in saltwater.

[Pat Carry]

A very kool thing to have!

[Garandguy]

I'm slow sometimes. I should have realized that the piece was not in the water. Still a cool piece of history. Several years back there was a company that would make an accurate copy of half an engine cowling with the nose art painted on. They had some already painted or you could custom order one.

[Garandguy]

If I could read the tail number thru the trees That would be helpful. It appears the first number is a 3 which would mean it was built in 1943. If I could get a copy I could do some basic photo enhancement and maybe get all the numbers. The pnae my father ditched had been used in the Marianas Invasion by the 78th FS. It was there they were assigned p51's and flew to Iwo Jima to support the invasion there. The P47's were sent back to Hawaii and given to training for VLR missions.

[Chris Brame]

Pretty sure that's an "8" not a "3"; but also it doesn't match the P-47 in the photo because that one has a break in the middle of the number as well as the top and bottom.

[mike furline]

You can zoom in and manipulate the photos using the toolbar in the upper left of the picture.

http://www.fold3.com/image/54866180/?terms=p-47 hawaii#54866180/

http://www.fold3.com/image/54866564/?terms=p-47 hawaii#54866564/

http://www.fold3.com/image/54866842/?terms=p-47 hawaii#54866842/

http://www.fold3.com/image/54866824/?terms=p-47 hawaii#54866824/

http://www.fold3.com/image/54861909/?terms=p-47 hawaii#54861909/

[Chris Brame]

Looks like 42-7577? which is in a block of P-47D-15-REs; no info from Baugher on them.

[Garandguy]

Maybe 42-73779

[Chris Brame]

That would be a CG-4A.

[Garandguy]

I saw that. There is probably another pic of the same plane in someone's collection