Yamamoto last flight

[Mgawa]

[cott]

Are there any Betty airframes that are potential (eventual) flyers? Always thought that would be a neat plane to see at Oshkosh...

[Nathan]

Are there any Betty airframes that are potential (eventual) flyers? Always thought that would be a neat plane to see at Oshkosh...

sadly no.

[mustangdriver]

That would be cool. Did they ever figure out who got the kill?

[Mgawa]

Excellent article about this mission to down Yamamoto is published in French magazine Aero Journal, issue No. 10.

Cheers

[Holedigger]

With the killer flight consisting of Capt. Thomas G. Lanphier, Jr. and 1st Lt. Rex T. Barber, Lanphier Claimed it and was officially credited, but later evidence seems to say Barber.......jury is still out

[tex-fan]

hey cris. wikipedia says it was Rex T. Barber,,, they seemed to have ruled out Thomas George Lanphier, Jr. one half kill in 2003. here the link.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rex_T._Barber

[Holedigger]

Well, in my OPINION it was Rex Barber, but what official history says......Yes the newer evidence supports the Barber Kill. Know how hard it is to change millions of history books!

Last edited by Holedigger on Fri Sep 04, 2009 10:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

[Jack Cook]

#147 was a P-38G and the s/n was 43-2264
Rex's assigned P-38G is mistakenly referred to has Diablo but was actually named "Daisy".

[Tom Moungovan]

Are there any Betty airframes that are potential (eventual) flyers? Always thought that would be a neat plane to see at Oshkosh...

You'd play heck trying to get it out of there, but when I was on Guadalcanal 2 years ago, an Aussie friend showed me digital photos
that he took in the bush of a pretty complete Betty fuselage. No, I don't
have the photos available, sorry.

[TonyM]

The arguments of who shot down Yamamoto have been examined in a book titled "Lightning Strike" by Donald A. Davis. A must read for anybody interested in this controversy.

Lanphier is not even an ace any more because he had a Zero taken away from him and his claim on the Betty was reduced to one-half by the Air Force Victory Credit Board. In fact, it is quite possible that Lanphier did not even shoot down an enemy airplane on 18 April 1943. Most historians now agree that Barber shot down Yamamoto.

Anyways read the Davis book. It is well worth it.

TonyM.

[RyanShort1]

Glines book is good, too.

Ryan

[Steve Nelson]

I read a book called "Attack on Yamamoto" (I think that was the title..I'm at work.) The author's analysis of all acounts of the mission and examination of the Betty wreckage indicated pretty strongly that Barber go the kil. Lanphier may have gotten a few hits on the plane as it went down, but it was already mortally wounded by then. Lanhpier was apparently hoping to parley his combat record into a post-war political career, while Barber was much more soft-spoken. Lanphier immediately took credit for the kill, announcing over the radio "I got him" as they arrived back at base..and Barber never really challenged it.

BTW, I'd have to check my references, but I believe the underside of Yamamato's plane may have been bare metal, rather than gray.

SN

[Jack Cook]

I was at the AFAA reunion when Lanphier was told the AF took off a half credit was leaving him with 4.5 kills. He threw a fit!!
It was embarassing the be there and see it!

[A2C]

Are there any Betty airframes that are potential (eventual) flyers? Always thought that would be a neat plane to see at Oshkosh...

The Planes of Fame Museum has a Betty which could be restored to airworthy in my opinion. They have too much on their plate to do it right now. There are a few airframes in the Philippines, so I hear. The one at the Smithsonian includes only the forward fuselage, an Nubuo Harada in Japan has a restored tail. Go figure..