Jimd0586 Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 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 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted April 2, 2018 Share Posted April 2, 2018 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 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jimd0586 Posted April 2, 2018 Author Share Posted April 2, 2018 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? Quote Link to post Share on other sites
ChesshireCat Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 I will Glt Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooby Posted April 3, 2018 Share Posted April 3, 2018 Fairly sure most of the original volunteers were gone by the time they flew P-40Es. By that time it was a newly formed US Army unit. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
WymanV Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooby Posted April 5, 2018 Share Posted April 5, 2018 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jimd0586 Posted April 6, 2018 Author Share Posted April 6, 2018 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 Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Scooby Posted April 6, 2018 Share Posted April 6, 2018 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jimd0586 Posted April 6, 2018 Author Share Posted April 6, 2018 No problem. Thanks for checking that Scooby! Tex’s pre-23rd E it is! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jimd0586 Posted April 9, 2018 Author Share Posted April 9, 2018 Thanks Scooby for the pics! Quote Link to post Share on other sites
Jimd0586 Posted April 23, 2018 Author Share Posted April 23, 2018 Ok, so how do I post pics? I tried to but I'm limited to 0.1 MB. Is there anyway around that? I'd like to show you guys my finished P-40E! My phone pics are all bigger than 100 kb. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
DonSS3 Posted April 24, 2018 Share Posted April 24, 2018 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. Quote Link to post Share on other sites
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