Carolina Maneuvers - Fall of 1941

[John Lane]

Kenn, Great photos! No such luck, my dads not in any of those shots, a little to late in the war. By the time those photos were taken he would have been flying P-47s out of New Guinea still with the 39th FS, 35th FG, 5th AAF or home in the USA. Thank you for thinking of my Dad, John "Shady" Lane!!! Best Regards,

[Dan Johnson II]

John,

Might one of these gentlemen be your father?

A friend of mine found these and others at a flea market.



TTFN....Kenn

Top image is 35th Fighter Squadron 8th FG Pilots and bottom is 80th FS, 8th FG pilots. 80th FS better known as the Headhunters.

80th FS image from sometime after January 1945, probably closer to July-August 45

Wish I'd found those photos

Dan

[kennsmithf2g]

Dan,

Thanks for the Identification. I was going by one of the photos that had a pilot identified as LT. C B Ray.

Here are some more from my friend's collection.











I really like the field maintenance one. I had it as my wallpaper for a while.

TTFN....Kenn

[Jack Cook]

Here are the shots from my collection showing the P-39 in question. It is #23 of the 12th Fighter Squadron 18th Fighter Group.

[Dan Johnson II]

Hi Ken.

Thanks for posting the others. You realize that the bird with all the kills is Richard Bong's "Marge" You can make out where the photo was on it. Might want to check with the Richard Bong museum and see if they've seen that one before.

C.B. Ray is Charles B. Ray. He was with the 80th FS Headhunters, 8th Fighter Group. HE was the last Headhunter to make Ace with 5 kills when he downed a Dinah and a Zero on December 29, 1944. His 38 was named "San Antonio Rose"

"Little Eva" is a 35th Fighter Squadron P38 from the 8th Fighter Group

The field maint shot is of an 80th Headhunter 38L.

Great stuff. Thanks again for sharing those

Dan

[Jack Cook]

Here's a couple shots ya'll might like of DickBong and Marge.

[TimAPNY]

Great shots!

[kennsmithf2g]

Dan,

Then this picture is probably when C B Ray got those last two kills.




Sorry for getting off the origional subject of the P39.

Kenn

[airnutz]

I have a curiousity?..If Kenn's photo is of Richard Bongs aircraft, then why
is it displaying 27 "kills" without Marge-art, and Jack's photo is showing 25
"kills", with the Marge-art??

Rampant censor zeal?? Another question..how many and what models of
P-38(s), did Bong fly in achieving his total of 40 kills?

Sorry about the off-subject interruption..but this has been bugging me!

ps
I didn't even mention the detail of the white background on one kill-field..versus natural metal background of the other...

pps
Is this a later stateside rendition of Marge without his kills displayed?....
http://usfighter.tripod.com/bong5.htm

[airnutz]

Hey Dan...I didn't forget you. As you mentioned earlier in reference to
Kenn's photo, ..."you can make out where the photo was on it ..", I can
see the shadow your seeing. If this is the "stateside pic".....
http://usfighter.tripod.com/bong5.htm , then you'll also recognize the
earlier image on the gun-cowl overlaid with the"Marge portrait". The Marge pic looks the same, but the Marge script is"drafted" rather than "cursive". But, regardless...does this suggest that Bong carried his "nose-art" with him?

ps
....I'd really like to fondle the original pics....

[Digger]

G’day Everyone,
Great pictures guys
I think that Joe Baugher covers the P-39 issue pretty well and I quote him here;

“On September 13, 1940, 394 P-39Ds (Model 15) were ordered. The serials were 41-6722/7115. It was the first Airacobra which could be considered even remotely as being combat-ready.
On the day after the P-39D order, the initial contract for the P-39C was modified, and the 21st and subsequent machines on the P-39C order (serials 40-2991/3050) were ordered completed as P-39Ds.
The P-39D differed from the P-39C primarily in having a heavier armament. It had four wing-mounted 0.30-inch machine guns with 1000 rpg, two fuselage-mounted 0.50-inch machine guns with 200 rounds per gun, plus the 37-mm cannon (with increased ammunition capacity of 30 rounds). Bulletproof windshield panels were added, and some armor protection for the pilot was provided. Self-sealing fuel tanks were introduced, which reduced internal fuel capacity from 141.5 Imp. gall. to 100 Imp. gall. This internal fuel could be supplemented by a 72.4 Imp. gall drop tank carried on a strongpoint fitted underneath the fuselage. In place of the drop tank, a 300 lb or 600 pound bomb could be carried. A different 10 foot 5-inch Curtiss Electric propeller was fitted and the fuselage length was increased to 30 feet 2 inches. In addition, a very small dorsal fin was added just ahead of the rudder. The D model also differed from all other Airacobra variants in having a slightly smaller wing area of 213 square feet, as compared with 213.22 square feet on all other models.

The bulletproof windshield and armor protection added 245 pounds to the weight of the aircraft, causing the climb and altitude performance to suffer. The maximum speed at 15,000 feet dropped to 360 mph.
The first P-39D Airacobras entered service with the USAAC in February 1941, first with the 31th Pursuit Group (39th, 40th, and 41st Pursuit Squadrons) based at Selfridge Field, Michigan. Between February 12 and March 21, 1941 27 USAAC pilots flew three P-39Ds over 160 accelerated service test hours at Patterson Field in Osborne, Ohio. In March of 1941, Bell's test pilot Vance Breese dove an Airacobra 15,000 feet to pass the final Army Air Corps test. The 39th PS partcipated in the "Carolina Maneuvers" from September to November of 1941, which was a series of war games during which five different squadrons flew Airacobras.”

I reckon I am getting close and I am awaiting some feedback from another official source after which I hope to be able to say with greater confidence what the serial number is for this Cobra, ie 15-317 or 15-326.
As 317 falls within this serial range, so does 326. In addition to this, Baugher’s explanation of contract dates etc and the improvements made to the P-39C explain why my cobra has 12 and 14 numbers crossed out and 15 numbers handwritten alongside or underneath.

Thanks Jack, Shelldrake and Gordy and others, youe help has been most appreciated

all the best

Digger

[airnutz]

Great Digger! Glad to hear your narrowing it down..Good Luck!! Sorry
we deviated your threads flightplan..

[Jack Cook]

The picture of Marge peeled off in flight and was lost. It was replicated once when Bong was back in the states touring bases in another P-38L.

[airnutz]

Thanks Jack! They used an actual photo-applique. Pretty interesting story.
It still looks as if he carried the original panel with him to the states.
I wonder what was the original art underneath Marge?

[Jack Cook]

It's my understanding that only one photo was made in the Pacific. Shortly after the photo came off it airplane itself was lost on a weather recon mission with another pilot. The picture itself was mounted with rubber cement and then had schalak (sp?) applied over it.
They should have done what Art Heiden's crew did on his P-38J in the 20th FG ETO. They mounted a large photo of actress Lorainne Day on the ammo bay door by covering it with a sheet of plexi and riviting a aluminum frame onto the door itself.