F4U "lifeguard", Tuscon AZ 1973

deltascrew · **Joined:** Thu May 13, 2010 9:38 pm **Posts:** 41

Wildchild wrote:

Steve Nelson wrote:

The Naval Air Museum does have this F4U-1 done up in rather inaccurate Pappy Boyington markings, and the main display floor is done up as a faux carrier deck. Could that be the one you're thinking of?

SN

It may be, but whats the Bu #? I'm trying to look it up here at WIX, but i can't find anything yet...

http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDos ... erial=9308

Mark Allen M · **Joined:** Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:48 pm **Posts:** 7863

C VEICH · **Joined:** Sun Nov 15, 2009 12:40 pm **Posts:** 1471

mustangdriver wrote:

The NMNA never had the budget that the other National Museums had, nor have they been around as long. Many of the aircraft on display are painted as they were when donated.

Maybe so but, since this is the National Museum of Naval Aviation you would think they could at least find the budget to repaint the national insignia accurately! The stars and bars on the F4U-1 are not even close.

mustangdriver · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2012 3:46 pm

I would say that the NMUSAF displays their aircraft in more accurate schemes. That said there are some that are not 100% right. But the NMUSAF has been around alot longer, had a bigger budget to work with, and in alot of cases had to restore the planes that are on display from the ground up, or were retired to the museum right from active service. I think the NMNA is working on changing alot of that, and many of their current restorations are beautiful.

Steve Nelson · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2012 3:46 pm

mustangdriver wrote:

The NMNA never had the budget that the other National Museums had, nor have they been around as long. Many of the aircraft on display are painted as they were when donated.

Sorry, Chris. I didn't intend to ruffle any feathers. By and large, the NMNA is doing a fantastic job..I realize that lack of time, funds, and personel make it hard to keep up with a collection that big. I've been there twice, and look forward to visiting again (the wife loves the place, and grew up about a half-hour away in south Alabama, so it doesn't take much arm twisting to get her to agree to the trip.)

Totally OT..are you gonna be at Hamilton, Chris?

SN

mustangdriver · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2012 3:51 pm

C VEICH wrote:

mustangdriver wrote:

The NMNA never had the budget that the other National Museums had, nor have they been around as long. Many of the aircraft on display are painted as they were when donated.

Maybe so but, since this is the National Museum of Naval Aviation you would think they could at least find the budget to repaint the national insignia accurately! The stars and bars on the F4U-1 are not even close.

I am sure it is on their list. Once again they really have alot going on.

Steve, no ruffled feathers here man. I know what everyone means about it, I just recently got sort of a behind the scenes view of the museum, and just amazed at how much they do with not alot. I wish I could make it up to Hamilton, but I have friends coming to visit from out of town.

Mark Allen M · **Joined:** Fri Feb 03, 2012 1:48 pm **Posts:** 7863

jaybird · **Posted:** Mon May 14, 2012 6:05 pm

Hands down, that is the coolest swimming pool picture I have ever seen !

zorro7 · **Joined:** Tue Dec 08, 2009 8:07 pm **Posts:** 483

F4U Folks/Wildchild:

Good day!

Plz post some pics of your Dad/s F4U before it went to NAM. I'm interested in its previous schemes. Tks

p.s I'm also interested to know what kind of ID plates/swapping took place between Buno 97142 & Bu 97349?? Are we talking cockpit manufacture ID plates, Mod plates or wrong stenciling on the L/R side of the tail??

Wildchild · **Posted:** Tue May 15, 2012 8:47 pm

zorro7 wrote:

F4U Folks/Wildchild:

Good day!

Plz post some pics of your Dad/s F4U before it went to NAM. I'm interested in its previous schemes. Tks

p.s I'm also interested to know what kind of ID plates/swapping took place between Buno 97142 & Bu 97349?? Are we talking cockpit manufacture ID plates, Mod plates or wrong stenciling on the L/R side of the tail??

Sorry, i don't have any pictures of my dad's friend's plane, but I believe it's in the same paint job it had when it was flying from '72 through '77.

Also, if anyone wants to see, its FG-1 92246

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/corsairr ... 92246.html

If i remember correctly, that airplanes never been restored. Always kept in good clean condidion, and even when it was at a salvage yard in VA it was kept in a garage.

whistlingdeath77 · **Posted:** Wed May 16, 2012 8:40 am

is anybody a fan of aircraft suspended from the ceiling? It does look nice but i'd rather have it displayed on the ground to get a better look at all the details

mustangdriver · **Posted:** Wed May 16, 2012 8:51 am

I like them better on the ground as well, but more importantly indoors. If it means hanging some to get them all inside, have at it

whistlingdeath77 · **Posted:** Wed May 16, 2012 9:04 am

mustangdriver wrote:

I like them better on the ground as well, but more importantly indoors. If it means hanging some to get them all inside, have at it

totally agree

Rob Mears · **Posted:** Sun Aug 19, 2012 12:43 pm

FWIW, the "incorrect" paint scheme on the FG-1D is the same scheme it wore with its previous civilian owner, thus the lack of historical accuracy. The civilian owner painted it as "46" and the museum simply modified the "4" into an "8" after they received it. I imagine it was an inexpensive and fast way to create a similar reference to the Corsair popularly seen in Boyington's Stateside photo shoot after WWII.

As for the mixup in identities between F4U-4 BuNo.97143 and BuNo.97349, it was ultimately determined that some incorrect media reporting from the 1970s was responsible for that mixup. The local newspaper in Tucson reported that the Corsair arriving at the Pima Air Museum (BuNo.97142) was the same plane previously displayed at the Tucson Inn swimming pool. In retrospect they no doubt meant the same 'type' of aircraft. I mentioned this to the previous curator at Pima back in the 1980s and that note apparently made it into their archives. When I contacted the museum a few years later, they had taken on a new curator who the referenced the old note and 'confirmed' that there was some question about the planes true identity. It became kind of a self-fulfilling prophecy that took me some time to clear up.

So for the record, there was never any data plate swapping between BuNo.97142 and BuNo.97349. BuNo.97142 did in fact go to Pima Air Museum, and BuNo.97349 did in fact go to the National Museum of Naval Aviation in Pendacola, FL.

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F4U "lifeguard", Tuscon AZ 1973

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