The 'Malcolm Miller Mystery' (FG-1D Corsair, BuNo.87853)

[Rob Mears]

Its time again to check back in with the WIX community to see if any new info, photos, etc. have come to light regarding this "mystery Corsair".

Backstory: In 1959, BuNo.87853 was part of a 'lot' of FG-1D Corsairs sold to Alu-Met Smelting Company for scrap. Eight of the fighters were singled out and offered up for private sale. One plane (BuNo.92509) sold almost immediately to well-known warbird collector Frank Tallman. The following year, Malcolm Miller purchased BuNo.87853 from Alu-Met's remaining stock, after which it essentially disappeared from known existence.

Strangely enough, Miller ended up also buying BuNo.92509 from Frank Tallman in 1963, thus reuniting the two planes for a short period of time. Miller ended up selling BuNo.92509 a couple of years later, and after many years of flying it now resides with the Kalamazoo Air Museum.

On the contrary, BuNo.87853 fell completely off of the map! By 1972, the FAA had revoked the plane's registration due to inactivity. Does anyone have a clue regarding the fate of BuNo.87853? Any photos? No doubt Miller and Tallman knew each other to some degree, so I'm hoping this might ring a bell with someone previously associated with Frank Tallman, Paul Mantz, or 'Tallmantz Aviation'.

The best part? BuNo.87853 is an actual combat veteran aircraft that flew with VMF-512 aboard the USS Gilbert Islands. Not only that, its actually credited with an aerial victory(!) while piloted by Capt. Thomas Liggett. That would make this particular aircraft the only surviving Corsair with an actual 'kill' scored against an enemy aircraft during WWII or Korea.

So given the evidence, what are the chances someone here might finally solve the mystery of this "lost" surplus Corsair? PS - I have Malcolm Miller's last known address in Carpenteria, CA if anyone has the skills to use that info to find his current location (PM me).

Thanks,

Rob

[zorro7]

Rob:

I found an old F4U BW of poss Buno 857 at Kindred, ND c. 1980s by D. Phillips. It has the # 47 on the L/side of the cockpit. Prob a close cousin or so!!

[daviemax]

One possible explanation is that 87853 was dismantled for parts to support 92509.

It appears that spare parts inventories were not really properly planned and/or implemented for many aircraft of WW-II vintage. In my study of post-war B-17's there are many instances of some aircraft being dismantled to support others. Contrast this with typical automotive industry practices, where large inventories of spare parts are maintained and dismantling vehicles to support others is a secondary process.

[jaybird]

Does this other thread (http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... 15&start=0) have any validity to the mention that 87853 was the airplane First Lieutenant Bob Klingman used to take down a KI-45 by using the propeller to ram the tail of the Nick? Unfortunately the mp3 audio clip link no longer works, which supposedly had the first hand account and mention of the airplane ID.

That event was 5/10/45 from VMF-312 which seems to have been based at Kadena Okinawa.

Capt. Thomas Liggett's score was 21 days later with VMf-512 on a CAP mission near Okinawa from USS Gilbert Islands. His logbook shows that he flew 87853 on 5/9/45, but not again until 5/31/45 (http://www.adamsplanes.com/images/Ligge ... y45%20.jpg).

The plane would not have been used by 2 different fighter squadrons, one land based, and the other carrier based, correct? ....or is there some plausibility?

[Rob Mears]

The plane's aircraft history card shows that it was assigned to VMF-512 during April of 1945 until the end of the war. Of course, the WWII-era history cards are notoriously non-specific when it comes to the finer details of a plane's assignments. Since both squadrons were based at or around Okinawa, I suppose there's easily a chance that some sharing of aircraft might have taken place, depending on the circumstances. BuNo.87853 could have been temporarily assigned to VMF-312 when the USS Gilbert Islands arrived at Okinawa that same month, packed with its load of fresh Corsairs, and later taken back into VMF-512's inventory, etc. I've seen stranger things happen.

The fact that the plane was apparently involved in TWO well publicized aerial combat episodes (the only such 'would be' survivor) makes it that much more critical to determine what became of it back in the mid-1960s. Whatever happened, it took place amidst major players on the early warbird scene (Frank Tallman, Paul Mantz, Ed Maloney, etc.), so someone somewhere has to know the facts. None of the other Corsairs passed around among this group of players was left to rot, let alone scrapped. They all had a distinct desire to the contrary...so who was Malcolm Miller?!?

I determined the following:

- He possibly served as a probation officer in Santa Barbara, CA during the 1970's.

- He had a TBM Avenger that he sold to T.A. Underwood in Buckeye, Arizona (some CAF connections there)

- He was connected with Parsons Airpark Inc. in Carpenteria, CA during 1963-64.

Given the circumstances and connections, I find it amazing that this man remains such a complete mystery!