82Whitey51

I wish they'd retool the fuselage molds for a proper "Silverplate" B-29 😕 When Revell rereleased it with "ENOLA GAY" on the box art, I assumed they might have...at the 2016 Nats I asked the rep at the table if they had and he didn't know what I was talking about, understandable. So I asked, hey ,lets open it up and take a look! But he refused to open the box on display...way to promote your product , bud.

🤣 No...shoulder belts slung over the top.

Yes, it is the CEC antenna. At the Naval Research Lab, we flew a P-3 that was the test bed for the Hawkeye 2000 systems:

😆...nope. We've all seen it too. When I was in E-2Cs, living in the barracks at Norfolk I had a couple of the Fujimi kits built up sitting on my desk shelve. Came back from Leave once, and noticed one had the gear facing out...Hmmm. Look over at my roommate and say, "Dude, what's up with my bird here?" LOL. He explained that a few guys were in the room drinking n' all, someone bumped it so they fixed it. I go, "Yeah, I get it no sweat...BUT YOU'RE ALL HUMMER MECHANICS AND YOU PUT THE !@#&ING GEAR ON BACKWARDS??!! 😂

E-2C/C-2A MLG...someone put them on wrong. ...and A LOT of modelers do put them on wrong! 🏃‍♂️🌬️

Yeah, I imagine they are out of the office. Hopefully you get someone really enthusiastic about the job to find the info you're looking for. Sometimes guys get assigned a billet, or take a position as a stepping stone to another gig, and frankly don't put a whole lot of effort into helping some "schmoe" looking for info. A buddy of mine was on the staff up there a few years back, he was a huge airplane and history geek, and absolutely loved tracking down stuff like this.

The Navy History and Heritage Command in D.C. would have the reports, and likely the flight schedule for that day with aircraft assignment. Drop them a line; https://www.history.navy.mil/ Good to hear that James has moved on, what an interesting phenomenon.

Perhaps Bruce could ask James if he remembers what his side number was that day??? Seriously, as a flyer, you know the side number of about every bird you ever flew, especially if it was your last!

OK...Interesting stuff! I just came across this illustration so you may rule out it being aircraft "4" :

This was the other VC-81 FM-2 lost on 3 Mar 1945: 56866 (VC-81) attached to USS Natoma Bay (CVE-62) lost off Bonins in central Pacific Mar 3, 1945 This photo here could be Lt(jg) Tate's aircraft, photo taken close along side the ship...although no date is listed and you can't see the BuNo.

I haven't found the side number but according to Joe Baugher's site ( http://www.joebaugher.com/navy_serials/navyserials.html ) this is the fate of the aircraft: 74037 (VC-81) attached to Natoma Bay (CVE-62) lost off Bonin Is in central Pacific Mar 3, 1945. And the squadron log has this information for 3 March 1945: The 16th day at Iwo Jima, 3 Mar. 1945, was eventful. It opened with a strike on a reported concentration of large enemy transports at Chichi Jima. Eight FM-2' s from this squadron participated in the attack. They made three attacks; on the first firing rockets at the shipping and on the second and third attacking AA positions to protect the torpedo bombers which were following. The shipping was identified as one medium transport vessel and small FTC class freighters. Damage was observed. On the first attack as the fighters were retiring toward the entrance to Futami Harbor, The FM-2 piloted by Lt.(jg) Huston was apparently hit by AA fire. The plane went into a 45° dive and crashed into the water just inside the harbor. It exploded on impact and there was no survivor or wreckage afloat. He was one of the squadron's better pilots. He was quiet and unassuming, always alert and his keen eyes tally-hoed everything within sight. He was always the first to sight aircraft and shipping; he tally-hoed the only submarine sighted by the squadron. He was credited with the destruction of four airborne enemy aircraft. The same day, on the 1000 launch, Lt.(jg) Tate's FM-2 veered to port due to a heavy roll of the ship and despite prompt and correct measures taken by him, it went over the after stack and into the water. He promptly disengaged himself and was picked up five minutes later by a DD with no injuries except· minor bruises. So, 74037 could be Lt(jg) Huston's aircraft or Lt(jg) Tate's...both lost on 3 March but I can't find who was in what aircraft. Chichi Jima is part of chain of islands known as the Bonin Islands. If you can find the official after action reports on these incidents, they should provide further information on the specific aircraft, BuNo, and side numbers specifically. On further investigation...I came across some interesting information regarding Lt(jg) Huston, apparently back in 2005 some parents claimed their kid was Lt(jg) Huston...reincarnated: https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/Technology/story?id=894217&page=1 https://med.virginia.edu/perceptual-studies/wp-content/uploads/sites/360/2017/04/REI42-Tucker-James-LeiningerPIIS1550830716000331.pdf Is his the aircraft you're looking to build by chance?

I assume that is an older type tank, or one that the Swiss AF might have used (a lot of these F-5s are former Swiss birds). Definitely too big for a travel pod...unless he plans on staying a while.

The Blackbird was VF-45s unit marking when they existed...it showing back up on the VFC-111 jets is interesting...wonder if a former VF-45 guy might be involved with VFC-111 operations down there now??

^^^ These! Banged away on a Matchbox FJ-4B Fury some years back, scratchbuilt stuff, etc, etc... Finished it up...and a within a couple of weeks the Grand Phoenix kits came out...along with sheets of aftermarket decals. 😩

Good call! LOL