VMF-314 / NAS Litchfield Park

Cherrybomber13 · **Posted:** Tue Feb 08, 2011 11:57 pm

Does anyone have photos of how the FG1-D's that rolled out Late / End of war were painted. Or how they were painted while in storage at NAS Litchfield Park in the late 50's.

Thanks in Advance!

mike furline · **Joined:** Wed May 05, 2004 3:45 pm **Posts:** 2635

Late war Corsairs left the factory looking like this,
http://www.airliners.net/photo/Goodyear ... 75e3c2c348

While in storage at Litchfield they would have carried the markings from the last unit they served with.

Regards,

whistlingdeath77 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 2011 4:38 pm

dark sea blue, no two-three tones camo. Just like that photo. they stopped the gull grey with the f4u-4 i thought

mike furline · **Joined:** Wed May 05, 2004 3:45 pm **Posts:** 2635

whistlingdeathcorsairs wrote:

dark sea blue, no two-three tones camo. Just like that photo. they stopped the gull grey with the f4u-4 i thought

IIRC the F4U-1A/FG-1A was the last version with tri-color paint. The F4U-1D/FG-1D and everything after was dark sea blue. None of the F4U-4's where ever tri-color.

Rob Mears · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 2011 8:25 pm

Pretty much all of the NAS Litchfield Park FG-1D's I've seen were ex-Reserve aircraft and were all painted accordingly in the markings of various Reserve squadrons (i.e. New York, Minneapolis, Dallas, Olathe, etc.) There were also quite a few wearing the Marine 'gull gray over white' paint scheme with the black anti-glare panel forward of the cockpit. The only -1D's still serving during that late of a date were all with the Reserves so the vast majority, if not all, were marked as such.

Cherrybomber13 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 2011 8:32 pm

Rob,
do you have any photos of the Bob Bean planes? Im looking in particular for the markings. Ours has US NAVY on the Tail , as we have found rememants under the many layers of paint. It matches the Bu# paint and style.

Thanks!

whistlingdeath77 · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 2011 8:35 pm

mike furline wrote:

whistlingdeathcorsairs wrote:

dark sea blue, no two-three tones camo. Just like that photo. they stopped the gull grey with the f4u-4 i thought

IIRC the F4U-1A/FG-1A was the last version with tri-color paint. The F4U-1D/FG-1D and everything after was dark sea blue. None of the F4U-4's where ever tri-color.

thats what i meant. f4u-4 was all blue

Rob Mears · **Posted:** Wed Feb 09, 2011 10:12 pm

BuNo.92460 served with the NART Columbus, OH squadron just prior to being delivered to Litchfield Park for storage. It's final paint scheme should have looked like the aircraft below (though I can't account for the exact side number). The second photo is from Jack Cook's collection showing BuNo.88297 also fresh out of Litchfield Park after serving with the same squadron.

Bob Bean's overall blue F4U-4's were painted in the same standard configuration as seen below, but with different city/squadron names (Olathe, Dallas, and Miami) and the letters on the tail that corresponded with those specific squadrons.

Cherrybomber13 · **Posted:** Thu Feb 10, 2011 2:40 am

Rob, Thank You!
Thats a cool shot and I know I am pulling at straws but the number under the tail looks similar to ours.

Are there any production shots of the FG1-D as they were off the line after final assembly? Or during testing?

zorro7 · **Joined:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 8:07 pm **Posts:** 483

CB13:

Good day!

That FG-1D *7 in the foreground appears to be Buno 92XXX. It could be your plane. Included below is a fresh factory photo of poss Buno 92XXX X FAS 206. FAS 206 came out of Dallas Reserve Sqs. Photo NAM, Pensacola.

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VMF-314 / NAS Litchfield Park

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