Tangmere,
We realized the part mentioned was not from a G.I. magazine after viewing better pics, the first one wasn’t very clear. Those discussions weren’t on this forum. It is very definitely aircraft aluminum as you suspect. Also Lt. Donovan’s aircraft was #43-6879, not 6875 as I first thought. There is some conflicting information out there that needs further clarification or correction regarding #43-6875

knifeedgeturn,
The P-51B parts would have the prefix 102 and 104. The prefix 103 and 111 are P-51C, and 109, 111, 122, and 124 would be found on a D model. Of course individual parts can be swapped but in this case the crash happened before the D model arrived in Europe. In fact this crash happened the day after the USAAF ordered 4000 of the P-51D.

Here’s the view out the port side of the Dash 80 with Tex at the controls. After over 3 decades of retirement it was last flown in 2003 to IAD and now can be seen there at the Udvar-Hazy Center.

On March 31st, 2012 at least 2 pictures were posted to the web that still contained valid EXIF data. The number of people who are in on this secret is no doubt growing by the minute. The fact that this piece of history is being “guarded” by the military of a country in turmoil gives me no comfort. Hoping for the best. Not holding my breath.

The Boeing 720 series may be remembered as one of the most hijacked, bombed, and famously crashed commercial aircraft in history unfortunately. Including C-FETB there are 5 remaining airframes but the other 4 are all displayed or stored outdoors. The one in Taiwan was kept in pretty good condition as recently as 2 years ago but I haven’t seen it since then. I know the one in Israel is in pretty bad shape, and the other 2 I’ve never seen.

I believe the last operational 720 in the U.S. was Honeywell’s N720H which was also used for engine testing, much like C-FETB. I saw what remained of its tail section and engines sitting in a big pile in Phoenix about 5 years ago. It was a really pretty bird, all white with a simple black stripe down the side. It was already in Phoenix and I wished at the time someone had been able to just tow it out into the desert to buy it a little more time and maybe find a home for it, but I guess you can’t save everything.

Many 720 models were hijacked on the ground and while in the air, 1 was blown out of the sky by a bomb in the cargo hold, and 10 of them blown up while sitting on the tarmac at Beirut. The most famous indignity to the 720 was NASA’s failed “Controlled Crash” film they made about 30 years ago that showed a remote controlled 720 at Edwards AFB belly landing and hitting barricades before turning into a spectacular fireball.

These test aircraft have some of the most interesting histories, and don’t forget that the recently lost B-17G “Liberty Belle” was used by Pratt & Whitney for 20 years to test their turboprop engine designs. If you’ve never seen a B-17 with a turboprop nose, you should look up the photos.

Here is a picture of C-FETB towards the end of her career with one of P-W’s Dash 8 engines mounted in her nose.

http://www.airliners.net/photo/Pratt-&-Whitney/Boeing-720-023B/1907925/L/&sid=2ce64e4611585acd40080e669adb6c74

Remington Rand pistols are my favorite, as it is the first model I ever shot as a young boy.

Remington Rand made more M1911A1 pistols than any of the 5 companies that produced them, including Colt, and they also made some of best examples of the type. When they were awarded the contract in 1942 they had never built firearms before. They converted one of their old typewriter manufacturing facilities in Syracuse, N.Y. to pistol production and other manufacturers were shown this facility and the early pistols as examples of how to correctly manufacture and assemble these weapons. By the end of WWII they were producing the M1911A1 at a lower cost per unit than anyone and turned out over 875,000 of them. Colt only produced a little over 600,000, Ithaca produced a little over 300,000, Union Switch & Signal produced about 55,000, and Singer produced only 500.

Does your pistol say “Remington Rand” or “Remington UMC”? Remington Rand is the typewriter manufacturer and is not the same as Remington UMC (Universal Metallic Cartridge) or the company that uses the name Remington today. Remington UMC only made the M1911 model used in WWI and stopped production long before WWII. Remington Rand only produced the M1911A1 from 1942 to 1945 and never made the earlier M1911 model. Pistols can be mixed up in the field or in Arsenal rebuilds where they may have a mixture of parts from different manufacturers. Many of the earlier M1911 frames ended up with new slides and barrels and other small parts and were used in WWII, so identification can be tricky sometimes.

Was this pistol issued to your father and do you have any papers that show the serial number? That would be a rare find and would add to your father’s story. Many men snuck weapons home and then later were afraid they’d be arrested and prosecuted because of the “United States Property” that is stamped on the right side of the slide. That’s why you see many parts & pistols today that have had that stamp and the serial number scratched or ground off in a crude attempt to cover their tracks. No one has ever been prosecuted for owning these pistols and the Government stopped looking for them more than half a century ago. It is illegal however to own any firearm that has had the serial number altered or removed. If it never had a serial number and you can prove it, it’s okay but altered or removed is really bad news.

Regarding your shooting the pistol, don’t worry we all shot them before we realized what treasures they really are. Just make sure the barrel is properly cleaned because the old G.I. issue .45 ball ammo that many of us used has highly corrosive powder that will etch and scar the rifling in the barrel if not cleaned out immediately after shooting. Also these old pistols don’t have fully tempered slides and it only takes one round to crack or shatter your priceless connection to your father. You can buy a Springfield 1911A1 replica for about $500 and shoot it all day long with modern ammo with no worries. Your father’s pistol is irreplaceable.

Send me a PM if I can help with any questions regarding the identification of all the stampings and markings on the pistol, etc. I’m sure your Dad was a hero to you, he’s a hero to me now too.

I’m very happy to hear your father survived the downing of his plane and was able to evade capture. I can’t tell from the picture but one piece looks similar to a magazine from a Colt 1911A1 pistol, which you father may have been carrying at the time. It might even have been an extra magazine stored onboard, not the one in his pistol, if he was carrying one. I would think that if he had a 1911A1 with him at the time it would have been in a shoulder holster that many aviators used or possibly a conventional belt holster, but I would think that he would have kept that with him at all times.

Here is a picture of a G.I. issue Colt .45 M1911A1 magazine. Keep in mind that these were made by several different companies and subcontractors so the size and pattern of holes on the side varied over time and from one manufacturer to another. Many of these magazines were made by companies that made shavers and other household items.

Ask your friend to find some good pictures of one of these magazines and compare the curvature and size to a known example and you may be able to exclude this possibility. Let me know if you need better pictures or details and I can provide them. Good luck in your search.

The first one is indeed a Pulse Warning & Homing System (RWR) from a Buccaneer.

http://www.blackburn-buccaneer.co.uk/Pages1_files/Passive_Radar_Index.html

Looking at the cockpit pictures again, does anyone know what the good size panel is on the left hand side above the throttle??

That is the instruction placard for flaps and gear operation. The ones I am familiar with have a flap diagram on the left half, and the right half of the placard details gear operation. The ones I have seen are about half the size of the one seen in this aircraft, and are held in place by 4 rivets and the top edge is flush below the edge of the frame to which it is riveted. This placard’s large size may indicate it contained additional instructions or procedures.

To anyone who wants a quick understanding of the P-40 series cockpit I would recommend the late Jeff Ethell’s “Roaring Glory” series of videos. It’s a complicated bird with a lot of old technology. Ethell points out that these aircraft have to be started and launched fairly quickly or they will overheat in a hurry. He also says that it was much more maneuverable than the P-51 Mustang. He said the P-51 felt like it was “cast in cement” when compared to the maneuverability of the P-40 series.