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WW2 USN Brewster F2A Fighter Plane Official Photo | eBay
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The B-339D used by the KNIL was the same as the F2A-3 used by the US navy. Even in April 1942 Buffaloes were made in America with the orange triangles, but it was too late to deliver them. Out of 92 ordered planes likely only 50 had been delivered. At the start of the war there were 30 planes operational and short after that another 20 arrived in Dutch east Indies. These last were B-439's, but what is remarkable, the registration numbers existed out of four digits, like B-3113, B-3119, B-3122 etc. They did not fit in the normal registration-system of the KNIL. It is possible that the true strength of the KNIL had to be camouflaged by these high numbers.
More Dutch Buffalos Brewster Buffalo in Dutch Service - Destination's Journey
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I enjoyed reading that little caption under the photo.WWII US Brewster Buffalo Grumman Wildcat Vought Kingfisher 1942 MAGAZINE PHOTO | eBay
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Yes before shots fired in anger. Like the pretty girl that leads you on, but tells you when the party is over she has a vd. Then things change a bit.Popular you say.
The registration numbers were correct. The ML-KNIL registration system had categories - the one for fighters was '3' - and the category number was preceded by a letter indicating the manufacturer. So the base code for Brewster Model 339 fighters was 'B3'. Following this was an individual aircraft number, within that type class. The Brewster 339's started with the number '95' (other fighters real or planned took up previous numbers) so the first example got coded 'B395'. The went on to 'B399' and then the next number was 'B3100' and so on. However, naturally, somebody at Brewster screwed up and painted on 'B400'. The use of '4' as a type number was supposed to be for recon types like the Fokker C.V. This mistake continued until about 'B422' when the purchasing authority caught it and corrected it to 'B3122', as well as on preceding mistakes, some of which had made it to the East Indies. You can spot these corrections in photos with a sort of smudged paint area under the registration number. The later Model 339-23's (I don't know where the Model 439 number comes from, but not from Brewster documents) has registration numbers with a hyphen, as 'B3-186', which made the system clearer.what is remarkable, the registration numbers existed out of four digits, like B-3113, B-3119, B-3122 etc. They did not fit in the normal registration-system of the KNIL. It is possible that the true strength of the KNIL had to be camouflaged by these high numbers.