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Re: Question For Mr. Mears

Posted by Rob Mears on Sat Mar 02, 2002 05:26:19 AM

In reply top Question For Mr. Mears posted by Mike Henniger on Fri Mar 01, 2002 12:58:59 PM

: Hi Rob,
:
: So time ago you mentioned that the Corsair undergoing rest
: oration at the Flyind Tigers Warbird Restoration Museum ha
: d be recovered from the Sierra Nevada mountain range. You
: also mentioned that the Navy had mistakenly provided an I
: D for this airframe that actually belonged to another Cors
: air that had crashed in the same area. Do you know the Bu
: Nos of these two airframes?
:
: Thanks in advance for any info!
:
: Mike

The Bureau Number for the actual F4U-4 recovered from the Sierra Nevadas is not known to me (or anyone else that I know of). The US Navy mistakenly applied the BuNo. of a nearby FG-1D wreck to the recovered airframe when they released title to the new owners. It didn't take long to figure out that the Navy missed the mark and got the identity wrong, but because the US Navy is renound for being less than trustworthy, it was ultimately decided not to inquire about correcting the mistake. By that time the plane had already been recovered, and I believe the new owner didn't want to give the Navy the opportunity to decide that the recovered plane was legally still Navy property (even though it was the Navy's clerical error that caused the SNAFU in the first place). I don't think too many folks would put it past the Navy to use such an excuse to repossess the airframe after it had been conveniently recovered by a private group.

As for the bogus FG-1D Bureau Number being used to register the plane, I tried just today to contact the Corsair's new owner Bob Frye for the first time to no avail. The previous owner John Silberman referred me to Mr. Frye to obtain that information, but I've yet to reach him. As soon as I gather that bit of information I will post it here.

My plan is to ultimately review all of the in-country loss records for that area and see if I can in fact determine the true identity of the recovered F4U-4 fuselage that's being used as the basis for Mr. Frye's restoration. I think it's important that little mix-ups like these be well documented so the historical record remains true to fact.

Rob

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