Navalwarrior
Staff Sergeant
- 764
- Jun 17, 2018
Last edited by a moderator:
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Resp:
USAAF 31st FG, 308 FS.
Yes, but whose aircraft?
Reap:I thought that was John Voll's "American Beauty", I do believe all 21 were air to air but will stand corrected if I"m wrong.
I remember as a kid I badgered dad into buying me William N. Hess' "Fighting Mustang:The Chronicle of the P-51", I must have read that a hundred times, at any rate, I always had a lot of admiration for Captain Voll. He seems to have slipped under the radar as far as American aces go, perhaps I'm wrong about that but you don't seem to read much about him.
One question I have is that, he was a pretty good fighter pilot, why no posting to Korea to mix it up with MiG's?
Resp:I thought that was John Voll's "American Beauty", I do believe all 21 were air to air but will stand corrected if I"m wrong.
I remember as a kid I badgered dad into buying me William N. Hess' "Fighting Mustang:The Chronicle of the P-51", I must have read that a hundred times, at any rate, I always had a lot of admiration for Captain Voll. He seems to have slipped under the radar as far as American aces go, perhaps I'm wrong about that but you don't seem to read much about him.
One question I have is that, he was a pretty good fighter pilot, why no posting to Korea to mix it up with MiG's?
Resp:
I did not know Gentile was killed testing a new type. That's too bad, great pilot and great guy from what I've read.Resp:
As to his fame or lack of it . . . Voll may have shunned the Limelight, developed a condition that kept him out of combat, etc.. He certainly did his 'tour' during WWII, so he likely was able to have some say in future assignments. Also, ground crews certainly enjoyed the success of their pilot's plane . . . so Voll may have yielded to their dressing up his P-51K. Remember, both Bong and Gentile were killed stateside testing new aircraft (F-80/T-33, etc) . . . and Voll certainly was aware of his fellow fighter pilot's demise. Thoughts of raising a family, etc . . . may have played a roll. He was certainly no coward.
Resp:I did not know Gentile was killed testing a new type. That's too bad, great pilot and great guy from what I've read.
Will do........thanks.Resp:
Google 'The Last Flight of Don Gentile' at warbirdsnews.com
Resp:First photo is interesting. Never seen that photo of "Ferocious Frankie" before
North American P-51 Mustang "Ferocious Frankie"; WWII, Operations, Bombing, Germany. [photograph]