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P-40E and the Flying Tigers Questions


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Dear All,

 

I splurged and purchased the Hasagawa P-40E 1/32 kit and have begun building it. I then purchased a set of 1/32 Flying Tigers Gregory Boyington decals... after which I realized that Boyington's P-40 number 21 of the Adam and Eve Squadron wasn't an E variant but a B or C. I panicked but then calmed down when I found out that 33 P-40Es were briefly used in combat by the AVG BEFORE it converted over to the 23rd Fighter Group. Apparently E variants began coming into the AVG in late March of 1942. I found online that plane numbers 101-134 were E variants and I actually found one picture confirming that an E variant was painted Adam and Eve Squadron white and was number 125. My questions:

 

1) Are there records of what variants the AVG had and what squadron they were assigned to? Possibly who flew them?

2) Are modelers given artistic license to a limited historical degree? I am not entirely sure how plane 125 was painted, I only know it existed, it was flown by Wilf Jepson, and that it was an Adam and Eve squadron member based on its white stripe near the tail, I don't know it's exact color scheme, however. I still want to make Boyington's plane but because I don't know if he ever flew a P-40E prior to his leaving the AVG in April 42, I can't determine if he was ever assigned to fly one... even if only once.

 

Just wanted your thoughts as a community on this topic. From what I have read online on assorted forums about the AVG, there are a lot of varying opinions, facts, and questions. Any knowledge on the subject or advice greatly appreciated. Ultimately I want to model AVG and not 23rd Fighter Group, that I know. Thanks all!

 

- Jim

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I have a book on the Flying Tigers somewhere, and it's loaded with photos (even a couple colored ones). Where it's at, I can't say as it's miss placed. Anyway, I do know there was at least one or two photos of his airframe. They called it out as a P40e, but others have said this is wrong. I have the same kit, and have decided to look at another airframe in the unit.

gary

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5 minutes ago, ChesshireCat said:

I have a book on the Flying Tigers somewhere, and it's loaded with photos (even a couple colored ones). Where it's at, I can't say as it's miss placed. Anyway, I do know there was at least one or two photos of his airframe. They called it out as a P40e, but others have said this is wrong. I have the same kit, and have decided to look at another airframe in the unit.

gary

That's totally fair. I should probably do the same thing. However, the Boyington decals come with a lot of customization ability, so I can basically do any airframe and any number within the 1st Squadron Adam and Eve. So that gives me a bit more flexibility. I found out Wilf Jepson was a radio mechanic, so that pic of him in front of 125 I found is not his plane. I may do it. If you come across any pics of a P-40E from 1st squadron (white stripe near the tail), maybe you'll let me know?

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 The first P-40E touched down in Kunming on 22 March 1942 and flew their first combat mission in 8 April, almost 3 months before the AVG was disbanded. R.T. Smith was one of 6 AVG pilots who ferried them in from Africa. Pretty safe bet all the surviving volunteers were still in theater when the AVG started flying the E.

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15 hours ago, WymanV said:

 The first P-40E touched down in Kunming on 22 March 1942 and flew their first combat mission in 8 April, almost 3 months before the AVG was disbanded. R.T. Smith was one of 6 AVG pilots who ferried them in from Africa. Pretty safe bet all the surviving volunteers were still in theater when the AVG started flying the E.

 

I can’t say I agree, I just finished reading “Flying Tigers” by Daniel Ford. The first batch of six was received in March, soon after one was destroyed one the ground and a second was heavily damaged. The pilot revolt occurred in early April and slowly the original volunteers dwindled. Only a handful of the originals were around when the unit disbanded.

 

The Panda Bears flew the bulk of the P-40Es. The other units had for the most part Tomahawks to the end of the war. The most the AVG had at one time was 17, but only immediately after receiving 8 new airframes.

 

If I recall, Boyington crashed one of the P-40Es during his one and only P-40E flight before he left for the States (after the revolt). The crew chief suspected he was drunk when he crashed it. This was one of the original six. I may be wrong that was a P-40E. 

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Sometimes the truth is better than any story!!! Scooby, if there was any way to find out if Pappy did crash a p-40E before he left, that would be the P-40E I’d make... prior to the crash of course!

 

Frankly, I bet they came in piecemeal. My guess is that even after the 23rd came to be some pilots still had B/C’s... or they were around for parts....

 

Either way, if anyone finds out if the story was true or that Pappf flew an E, I’ll owe you a beer.

 

Jim

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6 minutes ago, Jimd0586 said:

Sometimes the truth is better than any story!!! Scooby, if there was any way to find out if Pappy did crash a p-40E before he left, that would be the P-40E I’d make... prior to the crash of course!

 

Frankly, I bet they came in piecemeal. My guess is that even after the 23rd came to be some pilots still had B/C’s... or they were around for parts....

 

Either way, if anyone finds out if the story was true or that Pappf flew an E, I’ll owe you a beer.

 

Jim

 

I just read through the chapter again, it was a Tomahawk.

 

I can’t find any reference to him flying the Kittyhawk, I thought there was. I read every page his name was mentioned in.

 

At the end of his time with the AVG he was breaking in new engines at Camco on war weary Tomahawks.

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  • 2 weeks later...

You need a photo host like Flikr, Imgur or Postimage. Are you doing that? You need to upload your photos to one of those types of sites, then post the appropriate link here.

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