A-36s?

[Wily]

Hello!

I'm new here...and looking for help.

I'm a hack artist/historian and I need reference material on the 311th FG, flying out of Burma, 1944.

There are two planes on my docket - both A-36s - and my references are poor quality. Plus, documentation on the 14th AF in terms of a/c serial #s is poor.

The Holy Grail would be someone out there announcing, "Why, I have the 311th Flight Records right here!" But that's not going to happen as we believe they were lost...including the stuff in the National Archives.

So, on behalf of two 311th pilots, I'm scrounging photos, records, trying to put together the pieces....scraps are good. Believe me, the strangest stuff can be hugely important.

If you have anything worth mentioning, would you mind posting it here?

As a token of good faith, the photo below is from my collection of 311th FG planes - it's an A-36 having her guns sighted. The photo was taken in June of 1944, at a place called Tinghawk Sakan in Burma.

Any of you who are fascinated with the shiny, clean poster-boys of the ETO, MTO or SE Pacific will cringe at the sludge the 14th mucked through. What you see is what they got. Yuck.

 

[Matt308]

Now that would make a nice diaroma. Great pic.

And wily, if you wish to keep your pics to your research, I would suggest watermarking them or something similar. Allows you to share with the forum and not distribute your collection intended for your copyrighted material.

 

[Wily]

Ok...done.

As for a diorama, that'd be cool. Go to town on the weathering, too.

Here's a factoid - on one day, the 528th FS flew 78 sorties...with 18 planes. Average mission - 2 hours. Do the math. Those birds were BEAT.

 

[Matt308]

 

[Terry McGrady]

Hi Willy ,
The 528th FS of the 311th was the only squadron in the group that operated the A36 Numbers are as follows
Ist May 44 31st May 44

528 21 A36 18 A36
7 P51A 8 P51A


529 18 P51B 22 P51B
2 P51A


530 25 P51A 25 P51A



A good reference book if you can find a copy is the book " Straight Down" The North American A36 dive- bomber in action by Peter C Smithpublished by Crecy in the UK distributed by Speciality press in North America
isbn---- 0-947554-73-4
Hope this helps
Cheers
Terry McGrady