The top-10 Thunderbolt Aces all survived the war. This is a statistic, not shared by any other aircraft in World War 2

Big, Heavy, Tough, and Beautiful
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Paughco
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The top-10 Thunderbolt Aces all survived the war. This is a statistic, not shared by any other aircraft in World War 2

Post by Paughco »

P-47 pilots: I'm reading a great article on the web site "Hush-Kit" about the P-47. Here's the link: https://hushkit.net/

Hmm. Looks like the generic web site link. Better hurry up to see the P-47 stuff.

Seeya
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DHenriques_
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Re: The top-10 Thunderbolt Aces all survived the war. This is a statistic, not shared by any other aircraft in World War

Post by DHenriques_ »

Paughco wrote: 20 Feb 2023, 22:11 P-47 pilots: I'm reading a great article on the web site "Hush-Kit" about the P-47. Here's the link: https://hushkit.net/

Hmm. Looks like the generic web site link. Better hurry up to see the P-47 stuff.

Seeya
ATB
The old Jug played a part in my life and through the years I was proud to know many of the pilots who flew the D in combat and after the war the N with the Air National Guard.
Many years ago I was made an honorary member of the P47 Pilots Association by their members and later on an honorary membership in the American Fighter Aces Association given to me by Walker "Bud" Mahurin, a P47 ace from WW2. I still carry their signed card today.
She was indeed a beast of an airplane to look at but loved by the men who took her into harm's way. She brought many pilots home with damage that would have downed another fighter.
I think of all the attributes the pilots I have known who flew her gave to her, love would have to be their number one response.
I still remember flying in and out of Farmingdale Long Island at the old Republic plant before Fairchild (the parent company) finally closed it all down in the eighties. I can see in my mind's eye the cracked runway there where all that history took place.
It's all gone now. Only the memories remain.
Dudley Henriques

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Paughco
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Joined: 30 Nov 2014, 12:27

Re: The top-10 Thunderbolt Aces all survived the war. This is a statistic, not shared by any other aircraft in World War

Post by Paughco »

It was a Saturday morning in 1963, as I looked through the San Francisco Examiner at breakfast. I saw an article about a gear up landing of a Beechcraft Staggerwing at Half Moon Bay Airport. I decided to ride to Half Moon Bay airport on my 1950 Harley Davidson and check it out. Rode over the hill from San Bruno, down Devil's Slide to KHAF. I met this kid who also went to Capuchino high school. Paul Sylvestri and I are still pals. Paul spent his weekends working at West Coast Aviation, a flying school owned by his father, Frank Sylvestri. Mr. Sylvestri also ran the airport. Paul showed me the wreckage of the Staggerwing. He said they almost had the fire out when the old firetruck ran out of water, and the airplane burned to a crisp. I started going down there on weekends, helping to get the school's Cessna 150s, 172, and Super Cub out of the hangar, pumping gas, and putting the airplanes away in the late afternoon. Paul told me that his father had flown P-47s in WW2. They had a thick front windshield from a P-47 Razorback that was occasionally used as a surface plate, and a set of radiators from a P-40 in a corner of the hangar. Frank Sylvestri ran Half Moon Bay Airport like a small fighter base.

Memories...

Seeya
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