Need help with my P-61 Nose identity - with picture

RyanShort1 · **Posted:** Thu Jun 11, 2009 7:38 am

paulmcmillan wrote:

Are we sure that the Sqn number did always correspond with the last 2 numbers of the aircraft serial ??

I assume not if you had the case of 2 77's etc but if it would make obvious sence!!

No, I'm not prepared to say it couldn't happen, or that it didn't happen, but if you look at other USAAF squadrons, it was not necessarily standard practice to standardize squadron numbers with serials.

A good example of this in the Pacific would be the P-51 squadrons on Iwo Jima. Almost NONE of the squadron numbers were anywhere close to the tail numbers.

Some good pictures here including some P-61 shots towards the end: http://www.7thfighter.com/gallery/NASM%20Photos/index.htm

Ryan

Django · **Posted:** Thu Jun 11, 2009 2:50 pm

There more than just pics of P-61s at the end. What a great album!

Django · **Posted:** Wed Feb 15, 2012 4:26 pm

Hey Van, did you ever figure out the ID on this P-61?

Quest Master · **Joined:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:42 pm **Posts:** 387

Django,
Nope. Still a mystery. Same goes for the P-40 wing star that I put up here and the two B-29 tails! All of them have come to a bit of a dead end for now.

WIXMOD-Charlie · **Joined:** Thu Jun 02, 2011 11:53 am **Posts:** 256

MOD note: Baldeagle 29: please stop this useless discussion. It is a P-61, but distorted, giving the impression to be shorter then it really is. Thread cleaned.

Quest Master · **Joined:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:42 pm **Posts:** 387

Thank you moderator!!!!! :drink3:

Zachary · **Posted:** Thu Feb 23, 2012 7:59 pm

Hey Van,

Any chance you could post a second shot of the nose cone with a yard stick for reference? It'd be a relatively easy way of clearing up any doubts, as well as show us all how big this thing is. Very interesting thread by the way.

Thanks,
Zack

hairy · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2012 4:21 am

Sorry for the slight thread drift, but call me weird, the first thing I saw when I was looking for the numbers in your photo was an unhappy child (outlined in yellow)........... :roll:

..........then I saw the 7.

Sorry for the distraction, carry on.

Zachary · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2012 9:37 am

hairy wrote:

Sorry for the slight thread drift, but call me weird, the first thing I saw when I was looking for the numbers in your photo was an unhappy child (outlined in yellow)........... :roll:

..........then I saw the 7.

Sorry for the distraction, carry on.

It's Anakin Skywalker! :shock:

Dan K · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2012 11:11 am

Zachary wrote:

hairy wrote:

Sorry for the slight thread drift, but call me weird, the first thing I saw when I was looking for the numbers in your photo was an unhappy child (outlined in yellow)........... :roll:

..........then I saw the 7.

Sorry for the distraction, carry on.

It's Anakin Skywalker! :shock:

I think you really meant Moe from the Three Stooges

Zachary · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2012 11:14 am

Are they not one and the same, Dan?

Dan K · **Posted:** Fri Feb 24, 2012 12:25 pm

Zachary wrote:

Are they not one and the same, Dan?

The force in you is strong, delinquent one.

Quest Master · **Joined:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:42 pm **Posts:** 387

Christ....I see we've started to drift again. There is no visible art on the nose. Only the ferry number 27.

The radome that I have is 4' 7" long. Hard to measure the correct height due to being squished. The height as it is right now is 4' 4".......but if it was still round at the fuselage end would be about 3' tall. I do not want to restore or correct anything until I find out her wartime history. She was a Pacific bird, and more than likely saw combat. I speculate this as high airframe time aircraft were the first to get scrapped. Many freshly delivered aircraft were used after the war. Although new aircraft were scrapped as well.

Travisd80elcam · **Posted:** Sun Feb 26, 2012 5:19 pm

Quest Master, what happened to the B-24J-155-C0 44-40332 that is listed on your website, but as no longer owned? And has the prop for the P-61 ever been recovered from where it was sitting (the p-61 prop listed on your webpage)? Thanks

Travis

Quest Master · **Joined:** Fri Oct 06, 2006 2:42 pm **Posts:** 387

Only some of the nose components were recovered from B-24J 44-40332, not the entire aircraft. The rest of the aircraft remains at the crash site - although not much is left. As for the rest of the B-24 collection pictured on the website: the turrets, fuselage section, wing parts, landing gear and all of the internal components were packed into a 40' container and are now on display at the Yankee Air Museum in Willow Run Michigan.

No, the P-61 prop was not recovered.

Warbird Information Exchange

Need help with my P-61 Nose identity - with picture

Who is online