Follow Berlin Express to the UK

As am I seeing as it was based at Debden!

Adrian

Yep ! For some reason I think they looked better on the Kidds kite. I am biased though !

Great (?) minds think alike – I logged in to say that wouldn’t it be nice to see a Mustang painted as Salem Representative!

Adrian

The white walls are nice, but I preferred the look of them on Kidd Hofers ‘Salem Representative’ 334th FS 4th FG.

The original 43-24823 “Berlin Express”, however, continued to fly with the 357th FG all the way up until May 30, 1945 – one of the last P-51B/C’s that were still in operation with the 357th by that time. (Jack Roush’s restored P-51B “Old Crow” depicts the very same plane as “Berlin Express”, that of 43-24823, but of course as it was when Bud had it prior to D-Day (but lacking the red wheels and whitewalls, since Roush isn’t a fan of them – “too garish”).)

They look great IMHO, and given they were applied by the original ground as a leg pull, they are an intrinsic part of the identity of the aircraft its painted to represent.

If Roush doesn’t like them why on earth did he pick that aircraft to paint it as……….:rolleyes:

Might as well as picked any one of a hundred or so others.

P-38 silhouette on drop tank – from Operation Bolero?

It’s indeed a P-38 and P-51 silhouette from Operation Bolero on the outside of each tank. And it looks as if they’ve added ‘Operation Berlin Express’ to the insides!

Nice to see some exhaust staining, That will please the model makers (me included).
Perhaps they can leave it on for the weekend.

(but lacking the red wheels and whitewalls, since Roush isn’t a fan of them – “too garish”)

Must admit, I’m not all that keen! 😮 Great to see her over here. Well done to all.

Ta for the whitewall lesson!

I watched a few USAAF gun camera clips last week one of which was Capt R.W. Foy and the other 2nd Lt. D.E. Karger both 357FG…

From an authenticity stand-point (the fact that these style/type of tanks weren’t in use until after about 1947), I don’t see all of the appeal, but they do still look very nice. When the restoration was completed, it often sported some standard early-variant WWII-era 75-gallon tanks, that were/are painted neutral grey, matching the plane.

I do hope they keep the tanks on.

Thanks! Maybe they’ll have another go with the P-38 next year. 10 years, time flies….

Yeah, the tanks are the same ones that were carried by “Miss Velma”, on much the same journey, precisely 10 years ago.

If you haven’t followed this particular restoration over the past few years, the paint they’ve been using on the tires is marketed for painting whitewalls on classic cars. It can peal off quite easily (though that is also one of the perks), so a touch-up every now and then seems to be required. I know that early on the whitewalls were yellowing quite fast due to the brown mold-release of brand-new tires, requiring touch-ups/reapplications for that reason as well.

Edit: Also, for those not too familiar with this restoration/markings…the original 43-24823, as this one is painted as, was one of the P-51B’s flown by Bud Anderson as well, painted as “Old Crow” (the third and final P-51B that Anderson had on his first tour). After Bud’s first tour, the aircraft became Bill Overstreet’s (his third Mustang) in July 1944, and the name/nose art was changed to “Berlin Express” and the individual identifier letter was changed from ‘S’ to ‘O’. (When Bud Anderson had the plane, he had a Spitfire mirror mounted above the windscreen, as you can see on the restored aircraft – the gunsight on this restoration, if/when installed, is also an RAF reflector sight, which commonly replaced the American N-3 reflector sight on these early airplanes in England.) This particular restored airframe, painted as “Berlin Express”, is however 43-24837, only just several serial numbers difference. Both aircraft were part of the P-51B-15-NA production block, and both were completed, accepted and delivered on the same days, and both aircraft traveled together by boat to the UK, arriving on May 5, 1944. From there, however, the aircraft parted ways. While the original “Berlin Express”/43-24823 served in the 363rd Fighter Squadron of the 357th Fighter Group, 8th Air Force, the identity of the airframe you see today, 43-24837, served in the 382nd Fighter Squadron, 363rd Fighter Group, 9th Air Force. As part of the 382nd FS, the aircraft got the code letters of C3-W. It is possible that the aircraft flew in support of the D-Day landings, but very early into its combat assignment, however, it crashed on June 10, 1944 during a training flight, in Beckley, England (the pilot, 2nd Lt. Carleton Palmer, parachuted to safety). The remains were recovered sometime in the early 2000’s, I believe, and through the assistance of Craig Charleston found their way to Pacific Fighters to incorporate into this restoration/new-build. The original 43-24823 “Berlin Express”, however, continued to fly with the 357th FG all the way up until May 30, 1945 – one of the last P-51B/C’s that were still in operation with the 357th by that time. (Jack Roush’s restored P-51B “Old Crow” depicts the very same plane as “Berlin Express”, that of 43-24823, but of course as it was when Bud had it prior to D-Day (but lacking the red wheels and whitewalls, since Roush isn’t a fan of them – “too garish”).)

P-38 silhouette on drop tank – from Operation Bolero?

Yep – wonder what they will be slung under next?…

Thanks for the photos! What great times we live in.
Years ago ,unless you were there, you would need to wait for a future issue of an aviation mag for probably lower quality photos than those.

P-38 silhouette on drop tank – from Operation Bolero?

Looks like they got the tyre tire paint out in Wick…

https://farm5.staticflickr.com/4283/34861104714_2f4f5814ca_b.jpg

Tires its American !!!!

now he can empty the wee wee bottle !

Glad a/c and pilot arrived safely. Love the whitewall tyres!

Great shots!