Merry Xmas to you all !

Merry Xmas & Joyeux Noël to all and specially to Mr Dodd V Shepard (89th FS) and his family ;)

Card is from the Anthony Arnone collection, and was signed by Jinx Falkenburg.

Pilots of the 80thFG "Burma Banshees" with a non-refundable gift yet to be delivered, 24 December 1944

Col Philip Adair presentation at the Pax River Aero club in 2004

Le Colonel Philip Adair filmé pendant une conférence, en 2004.

Six parts: Part.1>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwV7zFWEF3E Part.2>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B-YKECo8XUY Part.3>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TXH2d4coBc4 Part.4>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Um3NpXS3mr4 Part.5>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AGb_rgGOw5U Part.6>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LR5GaeIs-vM Enjoy !

80th Fighter Squadron briefing picture

Picture by William Vandivert from the "LIFE" magazine collection.

Note the 80th FG patch on the flight jackets, the "skull design" on the P-40 painted on the curtain ... and the small kitten on the bench ! >°o°<

On remarque le badge du 80th FG sur les blousons, la penture de P-40 orné d'un crâne sur le rideau du fond,... et le chaton qui se fait caresser par un des pilotes. Miaaw.

459th FS, P-38 "Twin Dragons" in action video

On YouTube...

Another B&W video

On YouTube, again: On y voit les 8 pilotes de P-40 qui inscrivirent 18 victoires au palmarès du 80th FG,le 27 Mars 1944.

Pilot Lt. Raymond B. Mc Reynolds wrote to his family, on April 5, 1944:"Had to go down to headquarters about two days ago and pose for a movie or newsreel outfit. There was 8-P40 pilots that knocked down 18 Jap planes-in the little scrap we had-so they thought was good enough-to make a complete movie of it-as we were all afternoon-posing for the cockeyed thing. Guess it will take them six months or more before we will get to see what it looks like to be in a movie. Ha ! Some stuff."

Burma Banshees P-40 line-up

2 images du même alignement de P-40Ns permettent de se repérer un peu mieux, parmi les différents crânes et numéros individuels.

These 2 images allow us to better identify some P-40Ns & their "skull nose-arts". Among these are #43 and #49 from the 89thFS.

P-40N #43 (source: Fold3)

P-40N-5 #49 "Joanne" (from Sq/Signal in action)+ another earlier P-40N-1 #49 as seen on this screen shot.

Un P-40N #49 d'une version antérieure à celui vu dans le Sq/Signal in action, sur cette capture d'écran d'un film couleur.

Paul J. Eastman

Paul J. Eastman's story has been (well) written by Walt Shiel: ROUGH WAR / The Combat Story of Lt. Paul J. Eastman, a "Burma Banshee" P-40 and P-47 Pilot.

Walt Shiel a écrit le récit de la courte carrière de Paul J. Eastman, un pilote du 90thFS, qui pourrait avoir volé sur le P-40N #83.

He may have flown P-40N #83, as seen on this very bad picture...but it seems more likely that his assigned P-40 displayed #85, same as his P-47 later."Bunny" was his wife nickname, while "Lady Esther" was his mother.

"Bunny" était le surnom de sa femme, tandis que "Lady Esther" faisait référence à sa mère. Sadly, Walt Shiel passed away, back in 2016. RIP, Walt.

His book can still be found on Amazon or else.

P-40N-1 #60 "The Rough Cob"

Un autre P-40N-1 semble avoir été également utilisé par le Lt Philip Adair: le #60 "The Rough Cob".

Another P-40N-1 which may have been used by Lt Adair, is #60 "The Rough Cob", caught here by LIFE mag. photographer, William Vandivert.

Ce P-40 a une autre intéressante particularité: des flammes peintes près des échappements ! (et ici des flasques de roues grises)

#60 had some interesting features: flames painted aft of the exhaust stacks ! No red surround to the fuselage insigna.

Une autre vue du P-40N-1 #60 "The Rough Cob" montrant le design des flammes à droite, et la partie qui rejoint le cône d'hélice, rouge lui aussi. Une araignée rouge orne la flasque de roue.

Flames design on the starboard side, too + red spider painted on the wheel discs !

Une autre vue du côté gauche, avec Phil Adair assis sur le capot + 2 images de William Vandivert, montrant le #60 dont on refait le plein. 4 marques de missions (bombes) sont peintes à gauche, et le contour de la cocarde semble fraichement repeint.

LIFE photographer captured also #60 back from a mission. 4 "bombing missions" mkgs are painted on the port side and the fuselage insigna red surround seems to have been freshly overpainted.

2 more pictures of this P-40N from Bill Maegerlein. Thanks & merci, Bill !

80th Fighter Group COLOR + B&W footage !

Thanks to Robin Adair, here is some color footage from a VHS tape !

Ici, Ivan McElroy devant son P-40N #1. Merci à Robin Adair, le fils du Lt P. R. Adair, d'avoir partagé ces vidéos couleur sur You Tube ! Watch also parts TWO, THREE & FOUR !

Lt Philip Adair's first "Lulubelle" 42-104590

Le 1er P-40N-1 piloté par Phil Adair, et baptisé "Lulubelle" est bien couvert par les photos d'époque. Facile à identifier par la verrière du "premier type" moins panoramique, la déco des flasques de roues et l'oeil rond du crâne des Banshees.

Phil Adair's 1st "Lulubelle" was a P-40N-1. Tyres had white-walls painted by himself and the wheel discs displayed an eagle holding a bomb in its claws.

Thanks to the Adair family for sharing his huge pictures collection on the website !

Philip Adair 2nd P-40N "Lulubelle" # 42-105128

Phil Adair's second "Lulubelle" was a P-40N-5. She displayed new wheel-cover discs with a "jap flag sun"+ eight ball. Here is a rare image provided by the Coll family. Philip Coll is standing on the left with 3 other "Burma Banshees", but this is the only evidence (so far) proving that the name appeared on both sides of the fuselage ! (thanks to Lee Coll !)

Le second P-40 du Lt Philip Adair était une version N-5. Les yeux de "Lulubelle"#2 étaient en amande et les flasques de roues avaient reçu une nouvelle déco. Merci à Lee Coll pour cette photo inédite montrant le nom peint sur le côté droit du fuselage, également. Decals from Fundekals:

P-40M from "Hangar 11" warbird collection

This summer, you may have the opportunity to watch "Hangar 11" P-40M flying in european skies !

Ce P-40M de la collection "Hangar 11" a été repeint aux couleurs du P-40N-1 du Lt. Philip R. Adair, un des 3 seuls pilotes survivants des "Burma Banshees".

P-40N-5 "Flung Dung"

Un autre P-40N-5 croisé sur diverses images ou videos: "Flung Dung", attribué au Lt Charles George Whitely, Flight Leader du Flight C. Il pourrait avoir porté le #61 si on en croit cette image d'un film...

Another quite well-known P-40N seen in various videos or pics: "Flung Dung" flown by Lt Charles George Whitely, Flight Leader for C Flight, according to Phillip Adair. He says that Whitely was "quite a character". "He had a saying whenever they were in trouble and he could be heard saying " Who Flung Dung?" Thus the name of his plane."

"Flung Dung" pourrait se traduire par "Bouse Projetée" mais j'ignorais si ce nom faisait référence à l'avion ou à ses munitions ! ... ^^ En réalité, c'était juste une expression souvent employée par son pilote, lorsqu'ils étaient en difficulté, ou "dans la merde": "QUI A FOUTU LA MERDE ?"

Cette vue de profil a visiblement été censurée...

The censor has wiped out the tail # and serial...

Another image from an Ebay auction. Could be a former P-40 flown by the pilot of "Flung Dung"...et 2 images de plus concernant cet avion attrappées sur le web:

Two more pics of "Flung Dung" caught on a website:

More "Burma Banshees" footage on YouTube.

Same footage seen on "Critical Past" website, but allowing a larger image on your screen: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PHxG_DiL494

Mêmes images que sur le site "Critical Past", mais en meilleure définition.Time: May,21 1944. On y voit aussi le P-40N-5 #30.

We had a glimpse of P-40N #30 in another video, but no "skull" on her nose, then.