Happy New Year 2024 !

A new image of P-40N #65 appeared on the Remembering Shared Honor website. Anthony Arnone had previously sent me an image of that P-40N named "Queen ... ? ... "

We now can confirm that the name was "Queen Elizabeth", as the beginning of this name has been painted out on the other image, but the remaining letters read "...beth".

Now, to find a photo of the starboard side of that one ^^

89th Fighter Squadron members / EBAY find

Seen on Ebay, this vintage photograph of the 89th Fighter Squadron members, taken at Mitchell Field, early 1943, before their departure overseas.

Some infos on the back side:

NEW !! BURMA BANSHEES P-47Ds decals from Thundercals in 1/48 !

Thundercals & Norris Graser just opened their orders for their new 80th FG P-47D Razorback decals ! You can order from their website : https://thundercals.com/1346-2/

5 markings are included !

EDIT: Norris Graser suddenly passed away in April. Deepest condolences to his family and best of luck to his son David to keep the Thundercals available.

P-40N-1 DIKAM DEATH illustration

Paru dans le "Le Fana de l'Aviation" d'Avril 2020, pour accompagner la maquette "cartoon" de Tiger Model.

Published in "Le Fana de l'Aviation" April issue. I opted for DIKAM DEATH displaying #11 on her tail, but new info seems to confirm tail #15 & s/n 42-105099.

J'avais opté pour le #11, mais les nouvelles infos semblent à la fois confirmer les souvenirs de Bob Gale et corroborer le #15 sur un P-40N posé en vrac par lui-même.

P-40N-1 DIKAM DEATH identification ?

From this Bernard Hoffman pic, we know that the tail number had to be #1...something.

Partant de cette image de Bernard Hoffman, on sait que le chiffre sur la dérive était compris entre #10 & #19. Let's see which ones can be ruled out: #10 stuck in the mud doesn't fit. #11 seen in flight from a poor video still could be. It also may be the P-40N hidden in the distance on a 88thFS dispersal area in the woods... #12 doesn't fit either from the 2 pics I have #13 & #14 have no skull painted #15 was supposed to be DIKAM DEATH, but some info published in a previous post seem to rule that one out, too: the checkers painted under Gale's left wingtip aren't visible BUT do appear on the right (starboard) wingtip of another P-40N parked just behind #15: how frustrating ! #16 is not Dikam Death either. Now, let's find pictures of #17, 18 & 19 !

#10 piégé par la boue n'est pas notre sujet. #11 pourrait convenir, mais la capture d'écran d'une vidéo couleurs est trop floue. Ce pourrait aussi être ce P-40N à nez blanc du 88thFS caché parmi les arbres... #12 ne peut convenir, au vu des 2 photos dont je dispose #13 & #14 n'ont pas de crâne sur les images dispos. #15 était supposé être DIKAM DEATH, mais en examinant des imagesd'un post précédent il semble qu'il faille rayer aussi celui-là: le damier N&B peint sous le bout de l'aile du P-40N de Bob Gale n'est pas visible MAIS apparait derrière la dérive du #15, sur l'extrémité de l'intrados droit d'un second P-40 parqué derrière lui ! Frustrant ! #16 n'est pas non plus Dikam Death. Il ne reste plus qu'à trouver des images des P-40N #17, 18 & 19 ! Une planche de decals existe pour un gros P-40N radio-commandé, mais pourquoi l'ont-ils identifié comme étant #12 ?? You can also follow Mark Joyce progress on his 1/48 replica of "Dikam Death" flown by his (now gone) friend: http://www.p40warhawk.com/smf/index.php?action=profile;u=4;sa=showPosts;start=0 PS: Looks like I missed #19 on that well-known line-up pic !

Le P-40N #19 figure dans cet alignement. Mark Joyce a aussi terminé la déco de son P-40N-1/P-40M piloté par Bob Gale: DIKAM DEATH ! Bravo à lui !

Mark Joyce also finished his P-40N-1/P-40M kit of DIKAM DEATH with the correct markings on the under-surfaces ! Congrats Mark !!

NEW 1/72 decals (and 1/48 to follow soon) !

Rising Decals vient de sortir un nouvel assortiment de P-40N porteurs de crânes blancs sur leurs capots ! Il est prévu d'en retrouver certains au 1/48 bientôt !

New 1/72 decals for Burma Banshees P-40N. Some should also soon become available in 1/48 scale.

À noter que les damiers de bout d'ailes (intrados) sont aussi fournis, pour tenir compte des nouvelles infos sur le #15 (?) de Bob Gale.

P-40N #42 Betty Jean

A new picture of P-40N #42 via Bill Maegerlein, allows us to ID this plane: 42-104586 seen from the starboard side, after a belly landing

Une nouvelle image via Bill Maegerlein, permet enfin de connaître l'identité de ce P-40N, ainsi que son "nom": Betty Jean.