HAF F4U-5NL project 1978. Need Tulio's help.

[Lone Eagle]

The following messages via Seagull 619;

To “SgtHawk”:
Did you take any pictures of the F4U’s at Ft. Lauderdale?

To Nick “ozyfuryfan”:
Did you guy find any ID plates in your aircrafts?
Can you take a close-up pic of the little ID plate located at the 2 o’clock position of the outside wall of the main fuel tank?
In the following picture (front view) you can barely see it at the 2 o'clock position..

Thanks to everybody for your help,
Lone Eagle / Seagull 619
Photo C/W collection

[Lone Eagle]

Via FAH 619;

F4U-5N poss Buno 123168 at Christchurch AB, NZ Oct. 1991." ??? Via RNAF Museum.



Al, Rob; the following info via Seagull 619;

Deep within the C/w.com archives is a letter dated Aug 1991 from the Christchurch RNAF Museum which clearly states the following:

"Unfortunately the main id plate in the cockpit had been previously removed, but a data plate attached to the mid-fuselage section reads as follows:
Airplane Model---------------->F4U-5N
Dwg or Part No.---------------> VS- 55210
Contractor No.----------------> A (S) 9771
Serial No.--------------------> A10-353 "

p.s Rob, according to your F4U Buno's the F4U fuselage currently in Australia is the poss Buno 123168. I hope that they are able to send us a picture of the mod plate to compare notes.

[Rob Mears]

Yep, it looks like the numbers line up (A10-353 = BuNo.123168).

BuNo.123168 is shown as "603" in the sales receipt below. This is FAH letterhead directly to George Heaven of Hollywood Wings. That, plus the data plate info mentioned in the previous post should dispell all doubts as to the plane's true identity. "603" is in fact 123168, and 123168 is the airframe currently in Australia.

This is fun stuff! I love a good bout of research.

[astixjr]

I think you guys have probably nailed it. I also noticed these two images in these links below. In the first image of BU123168 in the junk yard in Honduras, the left rear fuselage has been de-skinned. In the image on the second link, it looks like the left rear fuselage has had some skin work done in the same spot.

http://img198.imageshack.us/img198/5244 ... t1978e.jpg

http://webzoom.freewebs.com/cafcorsair/ ... sairs.html

Let's just assume that we have this mostly sorted out. I'm curious as to why our old Corsair project that is probably BU124493, reported as BU123168, but flying as BU122179, was swapped around in the first place? I wonder what BU# my father and John thought they had? That's why I'd like to find the files and photos that may still exist here in St. Louis.

[Rob Mears]

When I spoke with John Mullen years ago, BuNo.124493 was the only number that came up in our conversation and nothing was ever said to the contrary, nor was any doubt portrayed in that regard.

I think the registration from BuNo.122179 was probably used to expedite 124493's restoration to airwortiness. Surely "repairing a previously FAA certified aircraft" makes for a lot less paperwork than trying to restore, certify, register, etc a group of parts recently imported from another country. Using BuNo.122179's identity would no doubt have cut the amount of red tape in half.

The next act would have been exporting BuNo.123168 to the other side of the globe. I'm guessing here, but I'd imagine the paperwork that accompanies the international transfer of ex-war materials probably goes a bit smoother if you can show some kind of traceable identity. The only documented history they had left to work with at that point was "124493" and whatever paperwork might have come with it. I'm pretty confident that they had nothing in hand to substantiate the identity of 123168, thus they probably used what they had at their disposal to smooth the export process. The only airframe remaining by then was BuNo.122179, and by 1980's standards it was undoubtedly a complete write off - not to mention it had been scavenged heavily for parts to support the other rebuilds. With no need to apply a Bureau Number to it, the trail went cold on the 123168 identity.

[avenger2504]

That Corsair was at the RNZAF Museum when I was volunteering there in the 1980s and I can confirm it did end up in Australia in exchange for a P40.

[Lone Eagle]

Via Seagull 619 for Al & Rob Mears;

"A close review of the HAF document shows about 50% accuracy. They should be at least a date in the document for the boneyard deal. Missing fm the list are the fuselages of FAH 607, FAH 611 & FAH 617. FAH 612 was never at the boneyard however it appears as a boneyard F4U-4??

p.s Tomorrow another interesting profile view of Buno 123168!!

[Rob Mears]

Yeah, I often wondered how 612 slipped onto that list. Just a goof I guess. I always figured there might have been a second receipt that included the remainder of the derelicts, but who knows. I also found it odd that they included the N-numbers for the last two planes rather than the FAH numbers. Those were the N-numbers Bob Bean applied to the planes in 1960 prior to delivery to Honduras.

[Lone Eagle]

Rob, Al;
The following reply via Seagull 619;

"Rob, good point! FAH 612 appears in 2 lists. The flying F4Us & at the boneyard. I've always wondered if the Feds caught this mistake & began to ask questions that busy Dec 1979. And perhaps this is how FAH 619 was carefully re-painted??? But hey, ...this is another subject!!"

Thanks for your help,
Lone Eagle

[astixjr]

So far, I have only found one more image of our project -5 but I know there are more. They probably exist only as negatives now but I can still scan them. Although we had a complete set of manuals, it was always helpful to look at and photograph other -5s that were complete. Howard Pardue was kind enough to let my father and John take some detailed images of his airworthy -5 and I found some of those photos. Mostly, they are shots of the inside of the rear fuselage.

For a very short time, (80' to 81'?) one of the flying Honduran -5 Corsairs was purchased by a man in St. Louis who owned a company called We Care America. He kept it at Spirit of St. Louis airport but I do not recall the plane's BU# or N#. I've got some photos of that -5 also so maybe they will turn up soon.

[Lone Eagle]

Rob, Al;
The following info via Seagull 619;

"The poss F4U-5N Buno 123168 in profile view at Ft. Lauderdale, Fla c. June 1987, Looks like some sanding was done plus the replacement of the L/aft panel.

Al: Do you have pics of the cockpit of your plane before & after your restoration?? Tks "

Thanks guys,

Photo taken June 1986

[Rob Mears]

I've got a shot taken by Dave Homewood showing 123168 on outdoor display in New Zealand (still without paint) and it shows precisely the same zinc chromate overspray pattern around the tailcone access panel (I don't want to post yet it without his permission). That's the first shot I've seen of the plane while it was with Thelen.

[astixjr]

Lone Eagle, Seagull 619,
I suspect that I will find some photos of the cockpit as it looked when it arrived in St. Louis but I don't think I took any as it left St. Louis or when I saw it again in Doug Arnold's hangar in 90' or 91'. I do remember seeing an instrument panel and I think it was still in the cockpit when we got the center section. I vividly remember that it had a rectangular space for the Radar screen. Was ex FAH 608 BU124493 a F4U-5N? I also remember the wings having what remained of the de-ice boots. Did the -5N have boots or just the -5NL?

[Lone Eagle]

Rob, Al;
"Any idea who did the previous restoration work on our poss. F4U-5N Buno 123168 before coming to Ft.Lauderdale c. 1987??

Plz take a look at the following link. The aft section looks remarkably close to our poss. Buno 123168. Tks "
619, Lone Eagle

http://www.f4ucorsair.com/legends/fg1smojave.jpg

[Rob Mears]

That photo is actually of F4U-5N BuNo.124447 while in storage at Aero Sport in Chino, CA. It was owned by Richard Vartanian at the time (c1982-84).