I need to correct my earlier postings…
..and here’s my opportunity!
I made a case for suggesting all 55th FG P-51’s had red stripes. Quack, quack, ooops! How wrong was I?!
I can now say that I have colour photo proof that some 55th Mustangs had yellow borders around the anti-glare panel. Those more observant of you probably noted this with TFC’s ‘Miss Velma’. Frank Birtciel has been adamant for some time that his memory was still good on this and ‘Miss Velma’ had a yellow stripe. I shouldn’t have doubted Frank’s memory!
So…back to ‘Da Quake’…
I would like to correct my earlier observation and suggest the border was in fact yellow as was being argued at the time of the previous thread. Belated apologies from yours truly!
The other interesting thing is this is a real oditity of a colour scheme, as it’s the only non-343rd FS P-51 I have seen with a 343rd FS colour scheme. The veterans I have spoken with have discussed this and the only answer they could come up with (for why McGinn had a 338th plane in 343rd colours), was that he liked the scheme and being the CO he chose to copy it. Sounds plausible to me.
I know this a/c changed hands a short while back…anybody know if the new owner is keen to get it restored any time soon? Being greedy, but having another 55th Mustang scheme in the UK would be fantastic (regardless whether it’s painted as Kester’s, or Gevorkian’s P-51), especially as it’s got provenance.
Shabby
http://www.55th.org
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