Whose plane is it?

[Skyros]

Any ideas, pilot had 4 kills?

[Lecivius]

He's from VF-6. Any idea where this was taken?

[AW1Steve]

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

He's from VF-6. Any idea where this was taken?

I believe that Lexington was carrying VF-3 (Off the USS Saratoga , which had been torpedoed) so that she would be carrying Wildcats rather than Buffalos. Don't let the "Felix the cat" logo get you. There is some controversy as to which squadron was entitled to it , and both wore it at different times till the Sec Nav settled the matter. LCDR Butch O'Hare had by this point shot down 3 Betties , and one Mavis by this time. I'm not aware of any other Navy flyer having 4 kills at the time.

[Korvar]

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

He's from VF-6. Any idea where this was taken?

The short answer is "it's complicated" - enough so that it's probably going to take further footage, especially of tail numbers, before we can hope to sort it all out.

For those interested, I suggest reading the excellent historical background of what's known so far given by a historical researcher.


EDIT: I didn't really answer your question originally - this picture was taken at the Lexington wreckage site.

[BBfanboy]

ORIGINAL: Korvar

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

He's from VF-6. Any idea where this was taken?

The short answer is "it's complicated" - enough so that it's probably going to take further footage, especially of tail numbers, before we can hope to sort it all out.

For those interested, I suggest reading the excellent historical background of what's known so far given by a historical researcher.

You are all barking up the wrong tree. The plane currently IS in Davey Jones possession. There should be a new thread about who piloted the aircraft previously. [;)]

[Zorch]

That Davy Jones, he has a lot of ships [:D]

[Major Shane]

ORIGINAL: Korvar

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

He's from VF-6. Any idea where this was taken?

The short answer is "it's complicated" - enough so that it's probably going to take further footage, especially of tail numbers, before we can hope to sort it all out.

For those interested, I suggest reading the excellent historical background of what's known so far given by a historical researcher.

Great discussion site, thanks for posting the link.

[Korvar]

ORIGINAL: BBfanboy

You are all barking up the wrong tree. The plane currently IS in Davey Jones possession. There should be a new thread about who piloted the aircraft previously. [;)]

Your comments reminded me of something everyone should keep in mind while we solve the mystery of who piloted this F4F. The standard Navy practice was to assign a specific aircraft to a pilot, serviceability permitting. The USMC standard practice was to pull all aircraft into a common pool and assign pilots during each mission briefing. We're very likely dealing with an aircraft that was in service of both the Navy and the USMC (however briefly) per the link I posted earlier.

For example, Pappy Boyington of USMC fame did NOT fly around in one aircraft named "Lulubelle" - in fact, his common practice was to take the aircraft in the worst shape of the flyable aircraft that day to make sure his youngest pilots had the best equipment. The aircraft "Lulubelle" was painted up for photo-op purposes then and to sell you model kits today.

So, the ultimate answer will probably be that this particular airframe was flown by multiple pilots and was painted with the four kill markers and a particular pilot's name for the purposes of a Time magazine style photo-op - especially considering this was the time frame of the DooLittle Raid and showing in the press how the US is "striking back" against Japan:

ORIGINAL: Major Shane

Great discussion site, thanks for posting the link.

You're welcome!

[geofflambert]

Thach of the "Thach Weave". I had thought when I first heard of it that it was called the "thatch weave". Oh, that would be on the President's head!

[geofflambert]

ORIGINAL: AW1Steve

ORIGINAL: Lecivius

He's from VF-6. Any idea where this was taken?

I believe that Lexington was carrying VF-3 (Off the USS Saratoga , which had been torpedoed) so that she would be carrying Wildcats rather than Buffalos. Don't let the "Felix the cat" logo get you. There is some controversy as to which squadron was entitled to it , and both wore it at different times till the Sec Nav settled the matter. LCDR Butch O'Hare had by this point shot down 3 Betties , and one Mavis by this time. I'm not aware of any other Navy flyer having 4 kills at the time.

You know, I sometimes think "kills" should have been numbered by engine, so this aircraft would rate 10 "kills".

[MakeeLearn]

ORIGINAL: geofflambert

Thach of the "Thach Weave". I had thought when I first heard of it that it was called the "thatch weave". Oh, that would be on the President's head!

looks like 3 kills.

[MakeeLearn]

USS Lexington in the Panama Canal. 1934.

[MakeeLearn]

USS Lexington, Coral Sea

[wegman58]

ORIGINAL: MakeeLearn

USS Lexington in the Panama Canal. 1934.

The Panama Canal is an interesting journey (as is (or at least was) the Suez Canal.