info on George Laven, 8th FS, 49th FG??

If one wants more tidbits on Col Laven, there is a photos in the Squadron Signal F-84 in Action showing an F-84 with checkerboard markings in a unit in Germany that the Col commanded in the early 50s.

I sort of am stuck on the 14th Fighter Group when it served in Bangor.
Our business was across the street from the Main Gate, and the end of the runway about 400' to one side.
I listened to lots of hanger flying at our business from 1947 thru the 50s, my uncle, the proprietor was a C-47 Radio Operator in the 317th Troop Carrier Group (Jungle Skippers) Bong, Tommy Lynch, etc came up often. It was great hearing the stories first hand from young veterans with fresh memories years before they appeared in todays' history books. What was even greater was having an F-51 on final and seeing the pilot wave as he went over the fence. Kids today do not get the chance to see WWII and early Jet aircraft constantly coming and going all day long.

wmlaven said:

I'm looking for info on my uncle, George Laven, a P-38 ace and was happy to find this forum. Any info would be appreciated by me and my cousins (ie his kids).

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I happened to be looking for my dear friend...."Uncle George's daughter, Leslie", when I came upon this site searching for her Dad. I spent many hours in Col Laven's home at Clark AFB where he was Commander of the 405th Fighter Wing. This was in 1963-64. I find it strange as I was just a teenager visiting a friend. So reading all this about Leslie's Dad is amazing to me. I just remember all the fun Leslie and I had.

I only visited Leslie a couple of times after she returned to the States and eventually I lost track of her. Partly because I moved so frequently. I last saw her in Mississippi where she was visiting her in-laws. I was living in Louisiana at the time. Gosh I am still in La. Makes me wonder if she is in Ms?

So if you happen to speak with her, let her know her dear friend and swimming buddy at Clark, Mary, would love to hear from her.

Well guys sorry I interruped your board to place a personal note. I do know Col Laven was a special person. His daughter loved him dearly!

By the way, there is a picture of Col Laven in the Wagner High Yearbook. 1964 Thought all of you would enjoy seeing a picture of him during that period of time.

I never tire of reading or hearing about the P-38 and its pilots. Arguably, the Lightning, not the Mustang was the best over all U.S. fighter of WW2 as it was there from the start to the end.

Darn shame the majority of surviving planes were put to axe and torch after the war. What a loss that is to the rest of us aviation enthusiasts.

tjlaven said:

Hi, I'm an admirer of George Laven, too. Unable to establish any familial connections but we share a fairly uncommon surname so I suspect there's a link somewhere.

I made a skin for his P-38L which can be flown in the online air combat simulator "Aces High".

Here is a picture of the skin in flight in the game:

Its a pretty easy game to download and get started in, if you are familiar with flight sims.

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Heya TJ, that's one of the skins I used when flying in AH2. Great job you did on it, bud!

I know this thread is older but just wanted to say that I just bought one of George Laven's old Deloreans. I was doing a search for the owners name and came across this thread. It still has the license plate Laven 7 on it. I am assuming its not the one that he rolled! From the paperwork in the car it looks like he traded in Delorean #6148 with 390 miles on it for this one #6163 in 1983. Great to see information on the original owner. I will think of him when I drive it.

I know that this is a very old thread, but something may be of interest Laven's Aircraft

If would love to be in touch with any of his descendants.

Rf