US West Coast 1980

[RGL9999D]

Any help with the following would be appreciated:

4/10/1980 NAS Miramar Show

TA-4J Blue Angels coded 8
F-8 on dump
F-8 coded 657
A-4 coded 5 Preserved
F-4 USMC coded DR (no numeric noted)
F-4's on flightline with NJ code

5/10/1980 Edwards AFB Open House
T-38 Thunderbirds (all of them 1-8)

5/10/1980 Mojave
A-26 Coded H

7/10/1980 Long Beach
There were a number of Corsair Fuselages here, I have never tied up 617, 627 and 692 possibly ex-Honduras AF ?
Also an unmarked camouflaged Skyraider

11/10/1980 Point Mugu Show
2 x P-2 on dump
A-7 coded ND513

If anyone has a list from Chino around 11/10/1980, I have a long list of unidentified warbirds from the store round the back of the museum as I recall

MTIA, long shots I know

Kind Regards
Robin

[JAWS]

7/10/1980 Long Beach
There were a number of Corsair Fuselages here, I have never tied up 617, 627 and 692 possibly ex-Honduras AF ?
Also an unmarked camouflaged Skyraider

The following web site mentions FAH-617 being there around that time along with several other airframes . FAH-692 is also mentioned despite FAH records stating that serial was not allocated , no mentions of FAH-627 .

http://www.goodall.com.au/warbirds-dire ... vought.pdf

There were several ex. Thai Air Force Skyraiders stored there at that time with Yesterdays Air Force .

11/10/1980 Point Mugu Show
2 x P-2 on dump
A-7 coded ND513

This web site has 154390 as being ND-513 between 1979 - 1983 .

http://www.millionmonkeytheater.com/A-7.html

Hope they help.

[RGL9999D]

Hi Steve
many thanks for the two links - especially helps clear up the Long Beach query,
Cheers
Robin

[mustang5861]

The A-1 you saw at Long Beach was one of four there, imported by David Tallichet from Thailand in 1979/80, so when you saw them they hadn't been there all that long. They were all ex-SVNAF aircraft that escaped to Thailand on 11/4/75. I saw all four in June '82, all crammed into a small compound, making photography very difficult (but I did get a shot of the A-1E and one of the A-1Hs). All were in SEA camo; no sign of previous national insignia having been hastily painted over - apparently the Thais repainted them; serials in white low on the tail; a 'squadron marking' on all four tails was a white triangle containing a spitting cobra in black and yellow - don't know which unit this is for. They weren't ex-RTAF as such - the Thais didn't want anything to do with the South Vietnam connection for 'political reasons', and they don't appear as a type operated by the RTAF in the extensive type inventory I have on file.

The four I saw were an A-1E (132683; later N39147) and three A-1Es (135332/N39148; 139606/N39606; 139665/N39149) and I would bet a lot of money that the one you saw was one of these - but which one I don't know (unless it was the A-1E). I have seen a photo of 139665 sitting away from the others, beneath the wing of a C-1333A at Long Beack in '79, but I can't guarantee that it was the one you saw. The A-1E is now a flying 'warbird'; one of the A-1Hs went to the Donald Douglas Museum at Santa Monica.

Re Chino: if you want to post a sample of the types you're looking to identify, say 5-10, I'll check my records. Can't guarantee anything, but I might be able to fill in some of the gaps.

Cheers,
Rob

[RGL9999D]

Many thanks for the reply Rob.
Looking back on the confirmed sightings of my log from that day, I did infact log these 3:

132683
135332
139606

So the missing one was 139665, thanks again.

Re Chino, here goes with a list of airframes I did not identify on 7/10/1980:
Beech 18 USAF
Boeing B-17 Fortress USAAF
Cessna A-37 Dragonfly USAF
Chance Vought Corsair US Navy
Curtiss P-40 Warhawk USAAF
FR-1 US Navy
Grumman F6F Hellcat US Navy
Lockheed F80 Shooting Star USAF
Lockheed F80 Shooting Star USAF
Lockheed P-38 Lightning USAAF Carried a code N2
Republic F-84 Thunderstreak USAF
Chance Vought Corsair US Navy
Fairchild PT Cornell USAAF
Bristol Blenheim RAF
Douglas A-26 Invader USAAF
Douglas AD Skyraider US Navy
Lockheed P-38 Lightning USAAF
Lockheed T33 Shooting Star USAAF
NA B-25 Mitchell USAAF
NA F-86 Sabre USAF
NA F-86 Sabre USAF
NA T-6 Harvard/Texan USAAF Coded TA-955
Lockheed F80 Shooting Star USAF
Bell P-59 Airacomet
Lockheed T33 Shooting Star USAF Coded 35
NA T-6 Harvard/Texan Royal Canadian Air Force

Many thanks

[mustang5861]

Apologies for the delay - poleaxed by flu for a couple of weeks. Here's what I know from my visits to Chino in the early 1980s; hope it helps to fill in a few gaps:

P-59 was YP-59A 42-10877
B-17 was either B-17F 42-3374 (dismantled) or B-17G 44-83684/N3713G
T-37 was XT-37 54-717

P-38 was P-38J 44-23314
P-80 was P-80A 44-85488
T-33 was T-33A 53-5541/TR-541

B-25 was B-25J 44-30423/N3675G
FR-1 was BuNo 39709
Beech 18 was likely TC-45J BuNo 89468

Dauntless was SBD-5 BuNo 28536
F-86s: one of them was F-86A 49-1318/FU-318
Hellcats: one of them was F6F-5 BuNo 93879

F-84s were YF-84A 45-59487; F-84B 45-59556; F-84E 49-2155

I'll get back to you re. the Corsairs. All the best.

[jmhenderson]

Robin,

I've only just seen this thread. I was in CA about the same time as you & can provide a few more bits of info.

NAS Miramar. I was there on 6 Oct and noted RF-8G, 145622 as PP-657 of VFP-63 and F-4S, 155757 as NJ-160 of VF-121.

Mojave, 5 Oct. A-26A/H was N22939.

NAS Pt Mugu, 12 Oct. I can confirm that A-7B, 154390 was ND-513 of VA-305.

If you let me have your e-mail address I can also send you my Chino list for 3 Oct in case you want to try & pick out any other a/c.

Yours

Martin