Kidd Hofer's P-51B

[DSmith]

Good Luck with finding it. It would be a great find.....

[Shade Ruff]

Thank you for your kind wishes. A long-standing aviation mystery is soon to be solved.

Shade Ruff

[Shade Ruff]

RER,

Thank you. My analysis of the known facts (as I've earlier laid out in this thread) clearly pointed in this direction. This KU report serves to confirm what I've believed from the outset.

Solving this mystery is now in its final stages. Will keep all apprised of our efforts.

No need for copies. Thanks again.

Shade Ruff

[Django]

Did anything ever come of this?

[RickH]

That was his last post and he never answered any pms after the initial discussion.

[gunnyperdue]

I quickly scanned through the replies.... but didn't find it...

Kid Hofer went down over Mostar in what is now Bosnia.... I was on a combat mission on the anniversary of his shoot down in the same area back in '94 and said a prayer for him.

gunny

[daveymac82c]

Wow, this is the first time I've come across this thread and it was honestly thrilling to read. What a way to end it though.

Does anyone have any new info on the search for this Mustang?

Obviously sonar scans of lakes are not cheap, but the pay-off is substantial once the airplane is found.

I hope someone can fill us in on what came of this.

Cheers,

David

[camshaw]

I have a sonar and am willing to travel, but you need a magnetometer not a sonar....will be purchasing one soon....many planes to locate...give us some news,great thread...

[F3A-1]

I have searched for and located "several" airplanes in lakes, rivers, and the sea. A fellow in Florida took credit for the salvage of a P-51B from a lake there. I had located and recovered parts of one of the Mustangs with the tips and guidance of two men from St. Louis MO. After learning a thing or two dozen, I found two more in FL lakes. I am officially retired from a major airline and can go too! I do suggest that the side scan sonar should be the primary tool, however variables can occur.

Good luck and best wishes on this one,
Pirate Lex
[url] www.BrewsterCorsair.com [/url]

[PinecastleAAF]

Bunte, the stringy, clownish Floridian

I'm reading "Tumult in the Clouds" by Lt. Col. James Goodson and there is a picture of Lt. Bunte. He was from my hometown of Eustis, FL. Be neat if this a/c could be located and salvaged.

[camshaw]

any further news folks?

[BAJ]

Very interesting stuff----but the current silence is deafening

[drgondog]

The reason for mentioning Hofer is that Bunte went down in QP-L 43-6946. It is possible that this ship, oft referred to above as Salem Representative, was not assigned to Hofer as primary. Hofer was a F/O and Bunte was a 1st Lieutenant.

It is probable that QP-L was Bunte's ship until shot down and that when the new P-51B-15-NA 42-106924 was coded QP-L, that Hofer got that ship as primary and named it Salem Representative.

Wade would know this and the Tower Log would confirm/reject this theory by simply seeing if Bunte was flying QP-L on a mission Hofer was flying another Mustang in March 1944.