Warbird Information Exchange

Hi guys,
New to the forum and I have some questions. I have been searching, in vain, for information on the F4U-4 "Angel of Okinawa" 97286, previously owned by Merle Gustafson.
Does anyone here have any documented evidence or photos showing Tail Codes & Nose Numbers of this bird? I "grew up" with this Corsair and would love to know the history of Her post WWII and into the Korean War.
The only info I have is that its completed production was dated December 7, 1945. From there and on to the pictures of her in California in the Olathe paint scheme, I have no other information. Can someone please help me with: squadrons, carrier assignments, combat info? I and, I'm sure, many others would greatly appreciate it!

Vince

Try this for starters.

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/corsairr ... 97286.html

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Greg Witmer, V.P. of Operations
Airboss / Ground Boss / WWII Aircraft Coordinator
David Schultz Airshows LLC

Hey Vince, check your PM's.

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Rob Mears
'Surviving Corsairs' Historian
robcmears@yahoo.com
http://www.robmears.com

Thank you very much, Mr. Mears!!!

V.

Good day 'Mr. Vince' and 'Mr. Mears' I see you two may have exchanged some information regarding the service history of F4U-4 97286 via PM. I have several photos of what may be this airframes service history, but I would need some additional information to confirm. If it is privileged information between you two I can certainly understand and will respectfully step away. If not I wonder if you would be willing to share your knowledge here publicly, or in a PM if that's necessary. I'd like to see what I can come up with on my end for you.

Sincerely,

Mark

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“PMURT KCUF”

F4U-4 BuNo.97286 was accepted by the US Navy on November 28, 1945 and delivered on December 7, 1945. Its military service history is recorded as follows:
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NAF Weeksville, North Carolina - in delivery (December 1945)
NAF Weeksville, North Carolina - storage (January 1946 - *November 1948)
* From roughly January 1949 through March 1950 the US Navy was reconstituting its record keeping process. As a result, official records from this period of time are largely non-existent.
MCAS Cherry Point, North Carolina - Overhaul & Repair (*May 1950 - August 4, 1950)
NAS Quonset Point, Rhode Island - Overhaul & Repair (August 4, 1950 - October 13, 1950)
NAS San Diego, California - Overhaul & Repair (October 13, 1950 - November 9, 1950)
VF-821, CVG-101, NAS San Diego, California (November 9, 1950 - May 4, 1951)
FASRON-691, NAS San Diego, California (May 4, 1951 - July 12, 1951)
FASRON-8, NAS Alameda, California (July 12, 1951 - August 16, 1951)
VF-191 "Satan's Kittens", aboard USS Princeton (CV-37) - (August 16, 1951 - October 8, 1951)
*The USS Princeton (CV-37) was pulled out of mothballs after three years and reinstated on August 28, 1950. It's thought that VF-191 might have been brought aboard to commemorate the ships reactivation. The USS Princeton did not enter the Korean combat theatre until December of that year, and VF-191 was apparently detached from the ship prior to the deployment.
VF-192 "Golden Dragons", NAS Alameda, California (October 8, 1951 - March 13, 1952)
FASRON-8, NAS Alameda, California (March 13, 1952 - December 9, 1952)
NAS San Diego, California - Overhaul & Repair (December 9, 1952 - March 15, 1953)
NAS Oakland, California - Reserve Training Squadron (March 15, 1953 - February 12, 1955)
NAS San Diego, California - Overhaul & Repair (February 12, 1955 - October 9, 1955)
NAS Olathe, Kansas - Reserve Training Squadron (October 9, 1955 - July 1956)
NAF Litchfield Park, Arizona - storage (July 1956)
stricken: July 1956 (stored on site at NAF Litchfield Park)

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Rob Mears
'Surviving Corsairs' Historian
robcmears@yahoo.com
http://www.robmears.com

Rob, I thought I remembered "Old Blue", as we used to call her, did some time on the USS Boxer during the Korean Conflict, anyway thanks for posting your info, I never was able to trace the aircraft back very far.
Robbie Stuart
Former Crew Chief
F4U-4
Angle Of Okinawa

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Fly Fast Make Noise!

Thx Rob this info helps quite a bit obviously. Lots of stuff to research now. I have several photos of Corsairs with VF-191 "Satan's Kittens", VF-192 "Golden Dragons" with BuNo's that are very close to 97286 (some are proving difficult to read, but I have ways to sharper those #'s ) and I know where to look for many more. I'll see what I can find. In the meantime here's a nice color shot of a VF-192 F4U-4 and a nice video to take a look at.

M


F4U-4 Corsair of VF-192 Circa 1951

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5hqeOjx4MMM

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“PMURT KCUF”

If I may derail the thread for a second. Can any of you gents provide the history and eventual fate of F4U-1A BuNo 500007 which operated as #007 with VMF-115 at one point? TIA

Great Photo Mark!
Thanks! Do you know when that photo was taken? You guys definitely had better success than me finding info on 97286. Plus, I'm very intrigued about your knowledge of how to make BuNo's easier to read and just where photos might be located .
One curious thing though, I searched and searched, but have been unable to find any info on VF-191 flying corsairs, let alone any photos. All info I've found states they flew F6Fs then to F8Fs and then F9Fs.
And responding to Mr. Stuart, I too remember hearing, from somewhere, about a possible deployment for 97286 on the USS Boxer. Who knows?

Thanks guys!
V.

Your welcome Vince, I like to help out where I can at times around here Answers: 1) Circa 1950 the photo states. 2) I use a combination of software (photoshop, accu-splice, photo-render etc.) I have been able to zoom in and clean up old photos with sometimes a great amount of detail. 3) These particular photos came from the archives of the National Museum of Naval Aviation and SDASM archives, as well as just some simple Googling (with a lot of patience) 4) VF-191 info in the link below which seems to concur with your thoughts. Rob may have more to add.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VF-191


F4U-4 Corsair aircraft of VF-192 lined up together on the deck of the USS Princeton (CV-37) getting ready to take off c 1951


F4U-4 Corsair aircraft of VF-192 lined up on the flight deck of the USS Princeton (CV-37) ready for takeoff c 1950


F4U-4 Corsair aircraft of VF-192 landing on the flight deck of the USS Princeton (CV-37) in waters off the coast of Korea c 1950


F4U-4 Corsair aircraft of VF-192 being readied for takeoff from the deck of USS Princeton (CV-37) 1950


F4U-4 Corsair aircraft of VF-192 attached to CVG-19 lined up on the deck of USS Princeton (CV-37) c 1950


F4U-4 Corsair aircraft of VF-192 lining up on the deck of the USS Princeton (CV-37) c 1951


F4U-4 Corsair aircraft of VF-192 landed on the deck of the USS Princeton (CV-37) in the waters off Korea c 1950


F4U-4 Corsair aircraft of VF-192 on the deck of the USS Princeton (CV-37) c 1951


F4U-4 Corsair aircraft of VF-192 ready for takeoff from the deck of the USS Princeton (CV-37) in the waters off Korea 1950


F4U-4 Corsair aircraft of VF-192 ready for takeoff from the deck of the USS Princeton (CV-37) in the waters off Korea 1950


Two (2) F4U-4 Corsair aircraft of VF-192 of USS Princeton (CV-37) c 1950

... And here's a quick search for F4U-1A #007




VMF-115 Santa Barbara, 1944. (my neck of the woods) Joe Foss is standing in front of the prop

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“PMURT KCUF”

You are so busted!!! Ca-ching!!!

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Don't touch my junk!!

Don't hate! Lol ... And don't we have that bet going both ways? I think we do. And I'll be checking my mail soon

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“PMURT KCUF”

Wow Mark, what a treasure trove! Wonderful shots of a squadron I've never had the chance to visually study before. Thanks for posting those.

I believe Paul Allen will be painting his FG-1D in the VMF-115 scheme in the illustration above (probably as "303"). Its a bona fide 'Joe's Jokers' WWII combat veteran, although its time with the squadron was after Joe Foss had returned to the States.

Chad I've got the information for BuNo.50007 on microfilm, but I'll have to get down to the library to check it out.

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Rob Mears
'Surviving Corsairs' Historian
robcmears@yahoo.com
http://www.robmears.com

That would be great Rob but please don't go out of your way as it is not a big deal. A friend is building a model of said Corsair and is interested in learning its history.