F4U-4 vs P-51D

davparlr said:

I am sorry about being a pest, but these heros are becoming more rare and lots of knowledge is lost. Maybe you have, but if you have not you should sit down with him and gather as much info as possible. Some more questions from me.

1. What were the main operational maintenance issues with the P-51.

2. Was there any concern about the Germans because of their Dec offensive. He must have arrived just as the tide was turning. Asche appears to only be about 100 miles from Bastogne.

3. What was his opinion of command in the ETO? What were some of the dumbest procedures?

4. Did he fly any escort missions? If so, what did he think of them?

5. What did he like about the Mustang and its cockpit? What bothered him?

6. What was his opinion of the gunsight? How did he feel about the effectiveness of the 50 cal.? Was there problems with jamming?

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dav, i can give you a few answers on this as well. my father flew 51s out Leiston and primarily escort missions. i recall some of this info from his comments and stories.
51s ( or his at least ) seemed to go through spark plugs at a pretty hefty rate. perhaps it was the high octane fuel or use of EWP. but said he didnt go through too may missions with out a plug change. and more than a few guys (him included) bent the wings pulling out of a high speed dive. but that isnt a fraility of the aircraft but a testiment of how well they were put together...some of the EA they were chasing broke apart where as they didnt.

as far as flying escort...he said after flying for 6 hours you could feel the threads in your underwear. the seat had a bladder that you could inflate/deflate for comfort but still it was a long time to sit. he had a lot of respect as well for those bomber crews. they would escort them to the target then break off as they did their run. he commented that the flak was "so thick you could walk on it" and that the bomber would have to weather it....he was happy to be in a fighter.

He liked the cockpit. everything seemed to be where you wanted it and it was fairly roomy and had a good field of view.

He thought the K14 gunsight was great. it took a lot of the guess work out. if i recall...you first dialed in the aircraft or wing span...cant remember which....then cranked it to where the circle just touched the tip of the wing...that ranged it. the pipper was gyro controlled so if factored in lead.

at the bottom of this site is accounts of the K14.
Mustang Encounter Reports

Thanks for the input. If they were using 44-1 fuel, spark plugs would have to be replaced often. I still wonder how long it takes to replace 24 spark plugs on a Merlin. When did he fly the Mustang?

bobbysocks said:

My father flew 51s out of Leiston and primarily escort missions

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Was he there at the same time as Anderson and Yeager?

he had 62 missions in by the end of the war. i am still doing reseach but think he joined up with the 357th in july/aug 44?? yeah he was in the same time as yeager and anderson...and had the chance to meet both at their last reunion in 2001. cant honestly say what plugs they used ( almost want to say they were AC brand but could be 100% wrong) but would imagine it would all night to change them out. i found my dads crew chief who lives near where i have a camp and hopefully if he is still alive i will have a chance to talk to him. i have a ton of questions...and i will ask that one as well.
dave asked about the 50 cals. they did pretty well with the armor piercing incendary rounds...you can see hits clearly on gun camera footage. they didnt jam often. i do remember dad saying they ( either the 357th or usaaf) had some sort of reward for the armorer if the guns fired so many thousands of rounds ( cant remember the number) without a jam. dad was real close to that number and wanted his armorer to get whatever it was and burnt the rest of his ammo coming across the channel when he was real close to home. but one gun jammed so it was all for naught.

baldpuki said:

Also, dad got credit for both of the planes he put in 1/2 for on jan 1, (no one else claimed the other 1/2's) later to be awarded an official "air Ace" a few years ago. Always bugged him that he didn't pursue it at the time, but he figured there were more fish in the pond. Nice to see him finally recognized by he American Aces Association. He is still going the rounds with the Air Force for them to correct their records. They seem to be stalling until dad dies of old age.

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Did his score get adjusted by USAFHRS. I noted that the USAF 85 study had him for 3 ful scores - no half credits in their original study - and you can go online to look at the victory credits section of their webpage to get the very latest updates.

Sounds like they did because that is the source for 'Fighter Aces Association'.

Suggestion - contact Frank Olynyk who is THE authority and has personally submitted documentation which caused USAFHRC to correct their victory credits.

Regards,

Bill Marshall

Thanks, drgndog. I'll pass that along. I am going to dad's house this afternoon, I'll get up to speed on the exact situation.

Hi baldpuki -- I had the pleasure and honor of meeting your dad 3-4 years ago at the Museum of Flight in Seattle. He was one of the guest speakers for an aces' panel discussion. He was kind enough to sign a drawing I did of a P-51. Glad to hear he's doing well!