# T-6 Mosquito FAC In Korea



## MIflyer (Dec 22, 2022)

Interesting shot of this T-6. Note the rockets and the special flattened drop tank.

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## Peter Gunn (Dec 22, 2022)

Looks like they not only made the bottom of the drop tank flat it seem they shaved a bit off the back bottom and made it flat as well.


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## special ed (Dec 22, 2022)

I have mentioned elsewhere on the forum about an instructor I had who flew these in Korea. It came up when asked about flak. He said anti-air flak looked like ping pong balls slowly floating up. They were pretty to watch until you realised they were floating right through your wing.

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## MIflyer (Dec 22, 2022)

I wonder what variety of drop tank that is, or was? Looks bigger than 50 gal. That might even be a modified napalm bomb made into a tank. I do not think there was a demand for 50 gal drop tanks by that time. All the P-40's and P-39's were gone and the jets carried much larger ones, except possibly for napalm.

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## MIflyer (Dec 22, 2022)

special ed said:


> They were pretty to watch until you realised they were floating right through your wing.


Yep, and what they did was not pretty, either.

These shots are from: Korea in colour / USAAF / USN Library / Forums - Axis and Allies Paintworks

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## MIflyer (Dec 22, 2022)

It seems we had B-17's in Korea, too.

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## Snowman (Dec 22, 2022)

Definitely yes:


KORWALD B-17 Loss Incident Summary

Date of Loss: 501108
Tail Number: 43-39364
Aircraft Type: SB-17
Wing or Group: MATS
Squadron: 3rd Air Rescue Sq
Circumstances of Loss: Another SB-17 collided with this parked aircraft (43-39365) at Ashiya AB, total loss


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## MIflyer (Dec 22, 2022)

Another shot of an SB-17, with its lifeboat.

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## ThomasP (Dec 23, 2022)

"T-6 Mosquito FAC In Korea"

I really like the looks of the rear seater.


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## fannum (Dec 24, 2022)

Dad was USAAC/USAF officer, and some friends in '50s were T-6 FACs. Their name for them was "Maytag Messerschmitts"

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## hawkeye2an (Dec 29, 2022)

fannum said:


> Dad was USAAC/USAF officer, and some friends in '50s were T-6 FACs. Their name for them was "Maytag Messerschmitts"


Term was used for the L-4s during WWII. There was a song made up about them.

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## fannum (Dec 29, 2022)

General Eisenhower was a licensed pilot, learning while on MacArthur's staff in pre-war Philippines. 
After Allied HQ was moved to France, etc., much to the horror of his staff, he insisted on flying in Piper L-4s, Stinson L-5s, and even a conscripted Fiesler Storch around the front lines on inspection tours. 
Though he liked to handle the controls himself, he apparently was always accompanied by another pilot.

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## hawkeye2an (Dec 29, 2022)

Patton was a pilot as well and was instrumental in establishing spotter planes for artillery
The Patton Society Research Library How General Patton Flew His Jeeps

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## fannum (Dec 30, 2022)

Not to quibble, but aerial artillery spotting was well refined in WWI, mostly from balloons then. Eisenhower and Patton both were involved in the pre-war maneuvers in Louisiana where a lot of the interaction of the air corps, infantry, artillery and the mechanized forces were refined. Both of these leaders were strong proponents of aerial spotting.

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## DBII (Dec 30, 2022)

MIflyer said:


> It seems we had B-17's in Korea, too.
> View attachment 699619


Appears to be.... Nevermind. I am late on this one.


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## MIflyer (Dec 30, 2022)

fannum said:


> Their name for them was "Maytag Messerschmitts"


I have read that this was also applied to P-51's, because Maytag made parts for the V-1670.

As for the L-4's, the pilots were amused to see printed on the side of the crates in which they were shipped overseas both the price of the airplane and the price of the crate. The crates cost more.

After WWII new J-3 Cubs generally were flown to their US destinations. Piper would let anyone with a license deliver one. Read an interesting description of flying one to the West Coast. Trying to find refuling stops was a challnge at times, since most of the airfields built for training had been shut down and had no fuel service, even if the runways still existed. A gas station next to a highway in the desert became a popular stop.

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## fannum (Dec 30, 2022)

B-17s post war were numerous, but not in demand. Few foreign countries wanted them ... they wanted fighters, light bombers and cargo planes.
However, with warehouses full of spares and a cadre of trained crews in civil life, esp. ANG and AF Reserves, B-17s and a few B-24s were called upon for the Berlin Airlift.
Come Korea, they were adapted to carry fuel from Japan, and to patrol the coasts. Some were outfitted with radars in the belly, leading into the AWACs role, and some were outfitted with droppable lifeboats for sea rescue. 
Remember that the air war in Korea took place over the North, and no pilot wanted to bail out over land so the closest out if damaged was to head to the water. 
Korea, the Philippines and IndoChina in the '50s was a hodgepodge of WWII aircraft ... mostly US, but a lot of Brit and French. I was in VietNam in '63 and the ramps at Than san Nhut and Bien Hoa were more like museums than modern airports at the time.

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## MIflyer (Dec 30, 2022)

In Korea they took C-47's, equipped them with a bunch of SCR-522 VHF radio sets, and used them to relay the communications from the FACs to the fighter and attack aircraft they were trying to contact.

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## hawkeye2an (Dec 31, 2022)

fannum said:


> Not to quibble, but aerial artillery spotting was well refined in WWI, mostly from balloons then. Eisenhower and Patton both were involved in the pre-war maneuvers in Louisiana where a lot of the interaction of the air corps, infantry, artillery and the mechanized forces were refined. Both of these leaders were strong proponents of aerial spotting.


Hate to quibble, but was my statement that Patton was Instrumental wrong? At the time of the Louisiana Maneuvers Patton was a Major General and was involved in getting Mr Piper and his Cubs invited. This simple fact was INSTRUMENTAL in getting a leap forward in producing the huge numbers of grasshoppers that had such an impact on artillery spotting. Read Ken Wakefield's "Fighting Grasshoppers" Amazon product or "L-Birds" Amazon product 


P.S. Eisenhower was a Colonel at the time of the Louisiana Maneuvers.

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## MIflyer (Dec 31, 2022)

I wonder if we will ever find out the true story about the Spitfire that attacked Patton's L-4 over France. Was it really from an RAF Polish unit that was nowhere near the area of the attack? 

And interestingly enough, Patton's forces once opened fire on a RAF Auster, but did not shoot it down. The pilot was a young man who went into acting after the war; his name was James Doohan. Yes, THAT James Doohan.

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## hawkeye2an (Dec 31, 2022)

MIflyer said:


> I wonder if we will ever find out the true story about the Spitfire that attacked Patton's L-4 over France. Was it really from an RAF Polish unit that was nowhere near the area of the attack?
> 
> And interestingly enough, Patton's forces once opened fire on a RAF Auster, but did not shoot it down. The pilot was a young man who went into acting after the war; his name was James Doohan. Yes, THAT James Doohan.


The Germans had a bounty on shooting down ANY L-Birds as they knew what kind of hell the could bring to bear from the Artillery.

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## MIflyer (Dec 31, 2022)

There was a British general officer who used a captured Fiesler Storch for battlefield transport. It's a miracle he did not get shot down by friendly fire.


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