HISTORICAL ADVISOR

Please email Monroe your questions by clicking on "Contact US".
Please label your email "Monroe: Question".

Some questions and answers will be posted in this section.

 
 
Page 1: Questions 1-24, click on links or browse page.
Q1 How did they really look ? Q13 Info on father's F-86 ?
Q2 P-47 light locations ? Q14 What is aromatic fuel ?
Q3 Col Duncan's "Dove of Peace" P-47 ? Q15 Monroe's P-51 named "Donna Jay" ?
Q4 Green Canadian Corsairs ? Q16 Lt. Sidney Wood's P-40 details ?
Q5 F6F in brand new factory paint ? Q17 P-40 of the 13th Pursuit Group history ?
Q6 Launching from carrier while under attack ? Q18 SBD-5 Dauntless of "Jig Dog" Ramage ?
Q7 Hurricane finishing details ? Q19 Mismatched tires ?
Q8 A-26 with D Day markings ? Q20 B-17 "Miss Donna Mae II" information ?
Q9 Big Beautiful Doll P-51 pictures ? Q21 Correct "Cripes A Mighty" color scheme ?
Q10 Big Beautiful Doll P-51 info ? Q22 Twin Dragon Squadron paint schemes ?
Q11 How did you get the name "Willie the Wolf" ? Q23 Prop sizes and diameters for warbirds ?
Q12 White arrows on Corsairs ? Q24 At6 pilot, front or rear seat ?
 

Question 1: "In the field did the planes look new or were they really as beat up as some scale builders depict?"

Monroe: "I suppose, if I was a model builder, I would be inclined to build the model new looking, painted up , and beautiful. But, if I wanted it to be historical, that is not the way it was. I suppose it would depend a lot on how old the plane was and how well it was taken care off. As you can imagine, after months and months of these young fighter pilots climbing into the cockpit loaded down with a back-pack parachute, a dingy hanging from their bottom, a G-suit on, heavy jacket , shoulder holster with a 45 pistol, muddy combat boots ( these were required because low-cut shoes would likely snap off on bailed out leaving you barefooted in some German briar patch or tree), the cockpits did not look so new. And, it was not so important...the crew chiefs were more concerned with the performance of the plane. Oil leaks and streaks on the plane would get attention because its hard to fly and land a plane with oil blowing back on the windshield.....I know, I've done it. So, if you want to build a historical, well used, combat plane, I would not dress it up like it just came out of the factory. >>>Monroe"

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Question 2: "I am building the Top Flight P-47 and I want to make it as scale as I can. Do you have any pictures that show the landing lights and Nav lights of a P-47? I have seen the ones in the wings but not a close picture. I have never seen the tail light, did it have one? Thanks, Chris"

Monroe: "Hi Chris, Thanks for your questions about the P-47 lights. You may already have these sites but I will send them anyway. They are some of the sites that may have information that will help you. http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=p-47+landing+lights In the first item on the page , you will note Tony Heyburn had a similar question that was answered by Roy Dowling and Darrell Thompson. In item 9 , Floyd S. Werner has a picture of a model that shows the landing light in the correct location, as stated by Roy. In item 5, "More P-47 Stuff" is taken from Zenoswarbirds...a site that has a lot of information that may help Model Builders. In item 2, I found the write up of Florene Watson very interesting. Florene is a friend of mine that lives in Borger Texas about 50 miles from my home in Amarillo. She has visited me a few times to have coffee and rehash old times. I have great respect for Florene and all the WASP pilots. http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/353rdGal.htm This is the photo Gallery of my old outfit, 353rd Ftr Gp. I use it often to review some of the things I have forgotten. You may scroll down to Bob Unanst's and Dick Stearns' planes and see the location of the Navigation lights on the front of each wing tip. Red was on the left tip and green on the right. I cannot confirm there was a light on the vertical stabilizer...maybe some of the other model builders will know. Chris, I don't know if this will help or not....if you need more information, I 'm sure some of the Pro model builders will know more about some of these things than I do...Thanks.>>>Monroe"

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Question 3: "Monroe I am finishing a 104 inch p-47 -d bubble canopy version , and I want to use COL. DUNCANS DOVE OF PEACE AS MY COLOR SCHEME . I have pictures of the razor back version he flew , but one of the last p-47s he flew was the bubble canopy version before he was shot down. I found one picture of it at a squadron commanders meeting , but it is about the fourth or fifth plane down the row . Is there any where we could get a good picture of this plane? Maybe from government archives or somewhere ? thanks"

Monroe: "Thanks for your E-mail.....very good question. I don't know if this will help you or not....it is not a very good picture. It is taken from a book written by Graham Cross entitled " Jonah's Feet Are Dry". I am sending the picture and a scan of the page it is taken from. Maybe you can do better taking it off the page. Also, you may be interested in reading some of the information about Col Duncan. If this does not work, you may try E-mailing Graham and see if he still has the original. Graham lives at Raydon, England, where we were located. Some of the things you should note about Col Duncan's plane: We all had "diamond shape" black and yellow checker cowling.....except Col Duncan had "square shaped" black and yellow checkers. He also had the tips of his wings removed....said gave him a better "Roll rate". The picture I am sending is the plane he was shot down in in July 1944. P-47D-22-RE, SN: 42-25971 LH*X "Dove of Peace VII" If everything else fails, you might try E-mailing Lynn Gamma at AFHRA, Maxwell Field, Ala The last time I contacted them, they could not do individual research for me but gave me the Microfilm number where I might find the information. I ordered the roll of microfilm for the 353rd Gp that covered the period Aug 44 to Feb 45. I haven't reviewed all of the 2000 slides.....they have to be done with a special projector at the Library, but I don't think Col Duncan would be on it because he was shot down in July and didn't get back till April 45. >>>Monroe"

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Question 4: "Hello Monroe. My name is Rick Bell and I'm up in Canada (west coast). I would like to build a Corsair as my first attempt at a "scale" airplane. With regards to scale competition I could just order from Bob Banka a photo pack and be done with it. As a first attempt. However a guy that I work with, has informed me that there were some Corsairs flown by Canadians off of British Aircraft Carriers that where painted green I would like to be able to document this if it is possible for two reasons. Everybody's got a blue Corsair, and if I could commemorate a Canadian as I am Canadian. After all isn't that what, or at least part of the reason we build warbirds. Any help in steering me in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Rick."

Monroe: "Thanks Rick for your E-mail. I must admit I have a very limited historical knowledge of the British and Canadian naval planes. I do know the British Fleet Air Arm received a lot of Corsairs from the United States because the US Navy was not successful in flying them off of carriers. The US navy gave them to the US Marines to fly off land bases. The British Fleet Air Arm badly needed a good fast combat fighter and the Corsair was about the only thing available at the time. After receipt of the planes, they modified the struts and clipped eight inches off the wingtips so they could be stored in their carriers, and were very successful in carrier flying. Later, the US Navy did the same thing. I did find a few sites that may help you or may give you some ideas for your color scheme. As you may note, the Fleet Air Arm used several different color schemes for their planes. I think it will confirm for you they did fly corsairs with a green color scheme. Hope these will help. >>>Monroe"
http://freespace.virgin.net/charles.mchugh/ArtCorsair.htm
http://www.faasig.org/tech/corsair.htm
http://www.rcaf.com/database/aircraft/coursair.htm
http://www.squadron.com/old/f4u1atam/f4u1atamreview.htm

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Question 5: "Hello Sir ! Hey, I gotta say it ! I was USAF too. Crewed on the F-100, 68-72 & RVN. What I'm doing right now is getting ready to build a Nosen F6F. I have pictured in my mind an aluminum shiney warbird rolling out of the doors of the factory with full pride and ready to be delivered to its first duty station. I'd like to find some pics if at all possible of just that. Maybe even with a good looking lady fairy pilot readying for taxi out to the run up ! That should give me panel lines and everything needed to pull this off. I have seen many warbirds painted with cameo and some in civilian paint but I kinda like my idea. Can you help on this one ? Don"

Monroe: "Don, thank you for your E-mail and thank you for your service to the Airforce...especially your time in Vietnam. I have a lot of respect for "Crew Chiefs" and other maintenance types. In fact, I went through A/C maintenance school at Amarillo, Texas in 1942-43 before I went to cadets. After WW2, I was placed back in maintenance as a maintenance officer/pilot with some temporary periods as line pilot. I ended my career in 1965 as the Director of the Dept of A/C training at Amarillo, Texas. Don, I'm sure you have searched the net for what you are looking for and I didn't have any better luck. I think Leroy Grumman must have loved the color Blue or he must have had an over supply of Blue paint. Also, I note that apparently none of the other Warbird builders have used the "Shiny Aluminum" as their skins. Actually, most all the Airforce planes I have flown had the natural Aluminum skins. That is what I prefer. I got a chuckle out of your statement: "Maybe even with a good looking lady "fairy pilot" readying for taxi out to the run up". I'm going to assume you were referring to the "WASP"( Women Airforce Service Pilots}"Ferry Pilots". After thinking about it, maybe it is appropriate. The dictionary defines "Fairy" as "tiny graceful beings in folk tales and legends that suppose to have magic powers and look like little people with wings". When I was a cadet at Eagle Pass, Texas, a P-39 landed, taxied into where a group of us were waiting for our flight in that hot T-6 trainer, we were shocked when this little 5ft 2in, beautiful thing climbed out of that P-39. "Magic Powers" you bet....it was love at first sight. Don, I am sorry I can't find a picture of that beautiful "shiny aluminum" Hellcat that you want. I did find a lot of very nice looking F6F planes that might help. Try these sights: http://search.yahoo.com/bin/search?p=Grumman+F6F Good luck and Thanks again. >>>Monroe"

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Question 6: "I am proud to say that I have deep roots in my family as related to aviation. My dad led a squadron of B 24 Lib. In the pacific and my uncle flew corsairs off the carrier Bunker Hill. My uncle was killed by a Kamikaze pilot when it hit the Bunkerhil while he was attempting to get his Corsair into the air. My question is, and it might seem a little on the simple side, but, was it common practice to be attempting to launch aircraft from a carrier while it was under attack? My father died 20 yrs ago and never could talk about his brothers death so I never asked any questions about it. Thanks, Lee "

Monroe: "Lee, I referred your question to a very good friend of mine who served on the USS Saratoga A/C carrier. Wiley Hamilton, AKA, "Jags" is a "top notch" virtual pilot that flies with the 353rd Virtual Ftr Gp along with me. I have had the pleasure of speaking with his Dad who is a USAF Full colonel retired , WW 2 bomber pilot. Thanks Lee for your question and I'm sure you are proud of your family's military background. I hope Jags' answer will give you some satisfaction. >>>Monroe"

Jags: "Hey Monroe; Obviously carrier tactics changed quite a bit from WW2 to the time that I served on one, the largest factor being nuclear warfare. I did some searching around today and found (in general) some evidence that supports what you and I discussed last night. I found some first hand testimony and some historical write-ups on the major carrier engagements in the pacific theater, one very good one is at the following site http://www.everblue.net/1942/. In general, I don't think that carriers launched aircraft while under attack in WW2 for the following reasons:
1: Carriers were protected by both fighters constantly flying CAP and a screen of (mainly) destroyers. When enemy aircraft or ships were sighted the task force would start steaming circles or zig zag patterns with the carrier in the center of the destroyer screen. This tactic was to enable the destroyers to lay down depth charge patterns and AA fire to protect the carrier as well as throw off the aim of both dive bombers and torpedo bombers (or subs and Jap destroyers launching torpedo's). This movement by the carrier would make it very difficult to launch aircraft as the carrier had to turn into the wind and maintain speed so that aircraft could develop enough lift to take off.
2. Having aircraft fueled and armed on the flight deck while under attack was very dangerous for the obvious reason of secondary explosions and fire if hit by an enemy bomb (just look at what happened to the Japanese carriers Soryu, Kaga, and Akagi when our dive bombers caught them with fully loaded planes on deck during the battle of midway). I believe that one of those carriers took all of 3 minutes to go down.
I never found definitive statements to this effect while researching this but I believe that when EA were spotted coming in there was a scramble to get all planes, fuel, and armament off the flight deck (either by launching or returning them to the hangar deck) and that no planes were actually brought up from the hangar deck to launch during an attack. Obviously, with the lack of reliable early warning devices that we have today, there were most probably instances of US carriers attempting to launch and getting caught by enemy planes in the process. I hope this helps, JAGS "

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Question 7: "Hi Colonel I have a question maybe you can answer for me. I am researching to doa Hurricane and was wondering if you ever got a chance to get up close and personal to one. What I am trying to find out is how they attached the fabric fuselage covering to the metal fuse? I was wondering if the metal was perforated and the fabric stitched or something or whether it was glued to the metal or maybe sandwiched under a metal band. Thanks Joe"

Monroe: "Hello Joe and Merry Xmas. Sorry Joe, I've never been up close to a Hurricane. Please note this site....
http://www.flightjournal.com/fj/plane_profiles/hurricane.asp It appears they changed the wing structure from a fabric-covered metal-frame to an all metal structure. See this statement: "During the production of the Mark I, the Hurricane adopted several significant state-of-the-art improvements. The wing structure was changed to all-metal; " I assume you wanted to build the fabric covered metal-frame type. But I cannot find anything that indicates how the fabric was attached to the metal frame. Maybe some of the other builders may know. Thanks Joe, and again Merry Xmas and a Happy New Year.>>>Monroe"

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Question 8: "Hello Mr. Williams, I am searching an attractive finish for my fully aluminum plated R/C scale model of an A-26 with both gun turrets and an eight gun fitted nose and late canopy version. I would like to paint only small parts of the surface which are sun reflect protection zones, squadron signs and serial number etc.. I would prefer the typical D-Day Markings but I do not know if ever has exist an original aircraft in this colours. Can you help me? Greetings from Bernhard/Germany"

Monroe: "Thanks for your question....it's a good one. From my observation and research, I don't believe the A-26 ever carried the D-day stripes. Here are my reasons for believing this: The A-26 did not go into combat until Nov. 44, some time after D-Day. Stripes were placed on the Allied planes just a couple days before June 6th so the ground forces could recognize the Allied planes. The A-26 went into combat in France with the 386th Bomb Gp in Nov 44. As you will note from the link below, pictures of the A-26s of the 386th do not have D-Day stripes, while pictures of the B-26s do. I hope the pictures in the link will help you in your paint scheme. Thanks again and Happy New Year.>>>Monroe
"The Douglas A-26 Invader first went into combat in November 1944 and quickly earned a reputation for being a rugged and dependable aircraft. They saw combat with the Ninth Air Force in Europe and in the Pacific Theater". http://www.web-birds.com/9th/386/386.html"

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Question 9: "What is a good sight to find close up pics of the p-51 Big Beautuful doll or any other p-51s thanks, Nick"

Monroe: "Nick, Thanks for your question. I must tell you right off hand, I am prejudice.....I like the P-51 D-20s in the colors of my outfit. I guess that is because I spent a lot of time in the air with them. I am sending you a link to mustangsmustangs.com. I think you will find some beautiful P-51s to look at. I am also sending you a couple of attachments of planes in our 353rd Fighter Group. "Double Trouble" was flown by Col. Bill Bailey....I visited with Bill not so long ago at a P-47 Thunderbolt Association reunion in San Diego. "Dove Of Peace" was flown by Col Glenn Duncan....he was Commander of the 353rd. He was shot down in July 44, just before I got there, and got back to the organization just after I left. I'm sorry I don't have a picture of my P-51D, "Willie The Wolf" to send you. I do have a picture of me getting into it (top of page) but you can't see much of the plane. I'll send it along anyway....you can see what a "corn fed" Mississippi country boy looked like in the 40's. See the link below: Thanks again, hope it helps.>>>Monroe
http://www.p51.mustangsmustangs.com/survivors/p51listD1.shtml"

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Question 10: "First, thank you for risking your life to preserve our honor, freedom and strength. As I am sure you have flown P-51's I have a question for you. I am building a Top Flite P-51D as my first Warbird. I really like the 'Big Beautiful Doll' theme, and that nostalgic aspect attracted me to the plane in the first place. What or who's plane is this model based on? Where domost people look for scale details on a project like this P-51D? Thanks again!"

Monroe: "Liam, I can give you a short answer to part of your question but getting "scale details" of your project should come from Joe or one of the other pro-builders. I can fly the real thing but not smart enough to build the model. The original P-51D, "Big Beautiful Doll", was flown by Col. John Landers. As you will note in the link below, Col. Landers had a very good record....serving in three different fighter groups in the European theater....as Commander of two of them. All of his planes had the name "Big Beautiful Doll". Thanks Liam for your question, sorry I can't answer all of it.>>>Monroe http://www.cebudanderson.com/bigdoll.htm"

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Question 11: "hello monroe, my name is chris and i go by RECRUIT_MOOSE in hyperlobby. i fly around with guncam and those other fellas and you and i have spoken on rogerwilco on occasion. i see many names of planes and most i can understand. i asked guncam why you came upon the name "willie the wolf" and he said i should ask you. how did you exactly settle on that name for your aircraft? thank you for your time sir. "

Monroe: "Chris, I have been ask that question a lot. Usually I avoid the answer and change the subject....I'm sure that's why Guncam said you would have to ask me. As you will note, many of the pilots named their plane after their wife or a closely attached girl friend. At the time, I didn't have anyone that I was closely attached to. Being a red-blooded country boy with pretty high testosterone level, I guess I tried to love all of them. In those days, a fellow that chased after a lot of "skirts" was known as a "Wolf". So, having the last name Williams, I thought "Willie The Wolf" was a pretty good name. And, I thought the Wolf Head looked good on there. Now you know.>>>Monroe"

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Question 12: "What do the white arrows on Corsairs mean? These are the white arrows usually on the vertical fin always pointing up. I have also seen them on the cowl pointing forward. I have seen these arrows on other planes but mostly on Corsairs. Thans, Mike"

Monroe: "Sorry Mike, I'm not familiar with arrows on military planes. It's probably a navy thing...the Air Force knows which direction the plane flys and which side is suppose to be up. ( always rubber side down on landings) Ha, just kidding. Thanks anyway Mike.>>>Monroe"

Update: From Keith Johnson "Lt. Col. Williams, I am just recently getting into the RC scene. I love warbirds, and came across www.rcwarbirds.com. I am thoroughly enjoying all the information at the site. I wanted to drop a few lines on the US Navy Markings. If your like me, I like finding out all kinds of information on warbirds.

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Question 12: "What do the white arrows on Corsairs mean? These are the white arrows usually on the vertical fin always pointing up. I have also seen them on the cowl pointing forward. I have seen these arrows on other planes but mostly on Corsairs. Thans, Mike"

Monroe: "Sorry Mike, I'm not familiar with arrows on military planes. It's probably a navy thing...the Air Force knows which direction the plane flys and which side is suppose to be up. ( always rubber side down on landings) Ha, just kidding. Thanks anyway Mike.>>>Monroe"

I think distinguishing colors were assigned to each aircraft carrier for use as tail markings by all squadrons on board, thereby ending the practice of assigning colors to squadrons and eliminating the confusion resulting when squadrons transferred from one carrier to another. For instance, the USS Bunker Hill's carrier marking for aircraft was a large arrow while the USS Bennington's carrier marking was a small arrow. The carrier markings were also located on the wings (port bottom, starboard top) opposite of the national US markings. During or at the end of WWII, the carrier markings switched from geometrical shapes to single/double letter markings, although many squadrons ended the war still using the geometric carrier markings. I have found little information on the cowl markings and whether they used carrier markings, bands, or a combination. I am trying to locate a book, for myself, in hopes it will explain all of the aircraft markings.
Thomas, Geoff. US Navy Carrier Colors: Units, Colors and Markings of US Navy Carrier-borne Aircraft during the Second World War. Surrey, UK: Air Research Publications, 1989. Keep up the great work at RC Warbirds, Keith Johnson"

Monroe: "Thanks Keith for your E-mail. In my research of the history of US Naval A/C markings, I found no reference to Arrow type markings on the aircraft. It may have been a marking of a particular Squadron at one time. If you find something in your research, please let Mike know. Thanks.>>>Monroe"

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Question 13: "Hello Col. Williams. I'm afraid my question will be one that relates to aircraft after WWII but I hope you can still help. My father was an F86 pilot right before Korea. His squadron was based in Detroit. As a surprise, I want to recreate the plane he flew while he was stationed there. He flew both the E & D models but preferred the E's. What I'm asking of you is, do you know any pilots that flew during the 50's that might have been stationed there? Most of all, I need the squadron markings. Thank you for any and all help in this matter, Robert Morrison"

Monroe: "Thanks Robert...good historical question. I don't know how much I can help you but I think I can give you a little information. From what you have said, it appears your father may have been at Selfridge Field about 18 to 20 miles north of Detroit. It so happens, I was there on temporary duty from June through October 1952 with a Mobile Training Detachment consisting of me and ten technical instructors to assist one of the organizations in transitioning into a new aircraft. It appears your Father may have been with the 56th Group at the time you are speaking of. The 56th Group returned to the US from England in Oct 1945 and was deactivated. It was reactivated in May of 1946 with P-47s and P-51s. Then was converted to F-80s in 1947. They moved to Selfridge Field in Aug 1947 and was redesignated Fighter Interceptor Group in Jan 1950, with F-86 type aircraft. I am attaching some links that will give you information about the 56th group, including the Group and squadron insignias. If this is not the organization he was with , then it would have to be the 56th Squadron( not associated with the 56th Gp above). They were re-constituted and activated at Selfridge in Nov. 1952 and assigned to the 4708 Air Defense Wing with F86F type aircraft. In Feb 1953 they changed to F-86D Aircraft. I am also attaching a link about this Squadron. Robert, I'm sorry I don't remember any of the pilots that were there when I was there. I was attached to the 575th Air Base Group for my housing and for flying, etc, although I did fly some of the administrative type aircraft assigned to the Fighter Squadrons, such as B-25s,C-45s, C-47s and T-6, but I didn't fly any of their tactical aircraft. Thanks again, Robert.....With this info, you may be able to find the info you are looking for.>>>Monroe

http://www.littlefriends.co.uk/56thFG.htm
http://www.maxwell.af.mil/au/afhra/wwwroot/rso/wings_groups_pages/0056fw.html
http://www.armyairforces.com/dbgroups.asp?Group=78&GroupSubmit=Submit
http://www.geocities.com/~whiskey_w/classics/v81head.htm

Robert Morrison replies: "Thank you Col. Williams for your quick response. According to my mother he was with the 56th squadron AFTER Korea (my bad). He flew both the E & D models of the F86, (he liked the E better). I haven't even been to the web sites you sent because I wanted to get this back to you ASAP. A tad more history - My mother told me that they were at Selfridge between 1952 and 1956. While they were there, my older brother was born and she had the task of writing a column for the base paper called "Words to the Wise." I'm sure there's no way you could remember all the names of all the pilots from that long ago. I did a tour with the U.S.M.C., it's only been 30 years and I can only remember a few names. I keep you up to date on my progress. Thank you again AND again, Robert Morrison "

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Question 14: "Hey Col, ProfLooney here, I got a question for you me and my buddy Hans is curious about. He is doing a B-17 replica of "Heavy Date" and was showing off the nice decals he made for it and I noticed it said to use "Aromatic" fuel only. Now I was kidding with him asking him if they put perfume in their fuel so on long flights they wouldnt get overcome with fuel smell. Well it just stuck in our craws and we cant get it out of our minds til we find out. my question is what the heck is aromatic fuel? "

Monroe: "Good question Joe....You not only made me dig but I had to call my older brother in Mississippi to confirm what I thought. He was a Crew Chief on a B-17 in WW2. The B-17 as well as the P-47 and other large radial engines used 100/130 octane fuel. The way they got 130 octane was by adding lead and another additive ( Isooctane or Triptane) to 100 octane fuel. See the following statement:
[The fuels handbook, in the definitions section, says of octane, "Above the level of 100, the octane rating is based on the number of millilitersof TEL per gallon which is added to isooctane to give the same knock intensity as the fuel under test."}
That statement is taken from the following link that is a discussion of octane ratings:
http://yarchive.net/car/octane.html
Also taken from the discussion is this statement that confirms this mixture is referred to as "Aromatic":

(The triptane thread is very interesting. This jives with a conversation I had with a chemist affiliated with BP. I asked him what was in the Formula 1 "wundergas". He didn't know for sure but he suspected it to be a mix of a heavy aromatic to get the heating value up, triptane and lots of TEL to get the octane and flame propagation enhancers (proprietary compounds) to make the stuff burn fast enough to let the engines turn the RPM they do. He said he was positive, based on the smell, that a lot of triptane was involved.)

Also this statement refers to "Aromatic"base stock:
(Also, was the 145 PN fuel basically an aromatic base stock with lots of lead?)

I did find this to be an interesting statement also....since I'm sure I burned my part of it:
(The Allies consumed 19 Billion US gallons of 100/130 avgas in war2)

Thanks again Joe for your question....maybe the link above will give you some help.>>>Monroe"

Joe replies: "Thanks Monroe that answered it. Glad I was able to give you an excuse to call your brother and shoot the crap a while hehehe Joe"

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Question 15: "Hi there Monroe, Hope you don’t mind me butting into your in-box. Long time since we had contact. Hope that you can help as I have just had some more information come in about your old P-51 44-13978 YJ-W. Seems that when you completed tour in early February ’45 it was reassigned to Lt. Billy J Murray until 22 March ’45 when it suffered a crash landing with minor damage. The a/c was repaired within 8 days and then reassigned to F/O Harry A Morris who named it “Butch & Babe”. With both of these other pilots it was still coded YF-W. What is also known though is that before Morris, it had the name “Donna J”. As it was only you and Murray that had this one assigned, if it was not you who named it “Donna J” then it does not take Sherlock Holmes to deduce that it must have been Murray. Obviously I know that your P-47 was “Willie the Wolf” but I have no details of any name that might have been on the P-51. Any input that you can give on this one would be very much appreciated so that I can slot another little piece of history into place. Sincerely Peter"

Monroe: "Hello Peter, thanks for your E-mail and the information.....what a surprise to hear from you. Peter, I just cannot remember ever putting a name on my P-51D. However, I can assure you the name "Donna J" was not on it when I completed my missions. I have wished many times I had paid closer attention and taken pictures of my planes at that time. But, who would ever thought that 59 yrs later, at age 81, there would be an interest in the matter. I do want to compliment you and thank you for your Web site. You are doing a great job and I use your site a lot, especially since RCWarbirds.com put me on his site as a historical advisor. Thanks Peter and keep contact.>>>Monroe"

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Question 16: "Hi Monroe, I have a Byron P-40 that I am getting ready to paint and would like to enter it in Scale Masters competition. The P-40 that I want to model it after is the one that Lt. Sidney Woods flew when he was with the 49th Fg, 9th Fs in 1943. It had the word "Arizona" under the exhaust stack on the left side with a cartoon character of a rattle snake with a desert scene on both sides at the nose. Do you know where I might be able to get any photos of his P-40 done in this scheme? I have a Revell plastic model kit of his P-40, but do not know how accurate the decals are or the paint pattern on the model. Thanks, Jerry L. Orme Phoenix, AZ"

Monroe: "Jerry, I have searched the net over and I don't believe there is another picture of Lt. Sidney Woods' P-40E , Arizona, other than the picture on the box of the Revell kit you say you have. I am posting a link to that picture. I believe it may be accurate enough to do your scheme by. I know he is a great hero of your state, but there is not a lot of information about him until he was a Lt/Col , flying P-51s, in the European theater. Yet, I believe he had five E/A kills while he was flying P-40s.
Thanks Jerry for your question. I wish I could have helped you more.>>>Monroe"
http://www.kithobbyist.com/largescaleplanes/reviews/Revell/P-40E/P-40E_part1.htm

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Question 17: "Hello, I am intrested in modeling a P-40 that I have seen pictures of, caption to indicate it was part of the 13th Pursuit Group. I have been unable to find any reference to this unit so far and was wondering if the caption was incorrect. Could you help me get information on this unit and it's AO, and aircrfat history. Thank You, Barney Gaffney"

Monroe: "Hello Barney, thanks for your question. After extensive research, I have decided you are correct. The caption on the P-40 picture you saw is in error. I assume you are referring to the "presentation" by Vincent Dhorne. See link :
http://storage.mfa.free.fr/profile/p40n3.html
Or, you could have seen the picture on condorsrc.com website that has about the same caption. Vincent Dhorne may have taken his information from this picture. See link:
http://www.condorsrc.com/Planes/P40/
In my research I find no reference to a 13th Pursuit Gp, other than one that was sent to France in 1918 during WW1.
It is my opinion that P-40N-30 S/N 44-7071 flown by Maj. Ben Preston was assigned to the 15th Fighter Gp....45th or 46th Sq located at Makin Island. As the S/N would indicate, 44-7071 would have been delivered sometime in 1944. As this link will show, the 45th and 46th Sq. of the 15th Ftr Gp received P-40N Aircraft in Jan and Feb 1944. It appears they were the only USAAF Gp. that was flying the P-40N at that time. Also note, there is no 13th Pursuit Gp listed at this time.
http://pacific.valka.cz/airunits/usaf_fs.htm
Here are some other interesting links you may like to look at:
http://www.kithobbyist.com/p40warhawk/Variants/P-40N.htm
http://www.pioneeraero.co.nz/p-40n_version.htm
http://www.glorene.com/aviation/15thfg/
Sorry I couldn't be of more help.....Thanks anyway for your question.>>>Monroe "

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Question 18: "Monroe, I don't know if you can help me out here but I'll give it a shot. I am modelling an SBD-5 Duantless after a full-scale plane flown by the late Rear Admiral James "Jig Dog" Ramage. Historical data has him flying an SBD in a series of battles in the Phillipine Sea in June of 1944. I want to replicate the SBD he flew in those battles. Up until now I have only been able to find photos of other SBD's in his unit at the time, but not HIS plane. I just received a photo from a museum that shows him flying an SBD
in formation four months prior to these battles (March 1944).

Here's my dilemna... The before mentioned historical biography by Admiral Ramage has him stating that he was flying "41 Sniper" in Task Force 58, off the Enterprise. He refers to other planes like "85 Sniper", etc. in his story. I assumed that the "41" represented his aircraft designation number, which would be painted on the side of the plane. The photo I just received shows him flying SBD aircraft number "10" though. Is it possible that during the 4 months that passed between the photo in March of 44, he changed planes to number "41" instead? Or, does the callsign "41 Sniper" have nothing to do with the a/c designation number on the side of the
plane?

Here is a link to the biographical document written by Admiral Ramage recalling the events of the battle/s...
http://www.cv6.org/1944/marianas/marianas_3.htm Thanks, Tom"

Monroe: "Tom, I hate to do this to you, but it will be some time before I can do much serious research on your question. My wife is back in the hospital after a second Stem-cell transplant because of Leukemia and we are sitting around the clock at the hospital. I did a little research and found you have already done an outstanding job researching the subject...see the link to your site: http://www.renderwurx.com/rc/SBD/html/recon.htm
That is great. I guess if I knew the Navy better, it would be easier. Now, I am interested in the subject and would like to know the answer myself. Have considered calling the Admiral and discuss it.....I think he is still living in California.
Anyway Tom, I'm sorry I'm so tied up right now.....maybe I can work on it later. Thanks...Monroe"

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Question 19: "Sir, I was wondering if the aircraft during the war ever ended up with mismatched treads. Most of the tires we use on our models are either straight tread or diamond tread and every model I have seen has matching tires. I just wondered if it would be historically correct to have one wheel with diamond tread and the other straight. Thanks much, Hans"

Monroe: "Thanks Hans for your question. I am sure we never ended up with mismatched tread design on the fighter planes I flew. I think it would cause a real problem landing with tires with different skid resistance.....especially on wet or icy runways. As a pilot, I guess you don't pay a lot attention to the type of tires you have, but I think I would readily notice if I had mismatched tires. As I remember, all the planes I have flown have had the straight line type tread. I think that was the standard type tire tread at that time. Some of the heavy bombers may have had a different tread but I would doubt they would be mismatched from side to side. I talked with a friend of mine that worked on P-51s and later F_86s, and he said the same thing. In fact, he worked in the tire shop for awhile on the F86s and said they only used the straight line tread tires. In my research, I found the link below that points out some of the critical thing about tire maintenance and installation. I note that on dual wheels on an axle it does allow you to mix tire sizes within limits. Thanks again, hope it helps.>>>Monroe
http://www.goodyearaviation.com/img/pdf/aircraftmanual.pdf "

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Question 20: "Mr. Monroe, do you know where I can find pictures of a B-17 that was lost on May 19, 1944 named MISS DONNA MAE II? The pilot was Marion Reid. Any info on this plane in particular would be very helpful, because Im trying to make my B-17 as close to historically correct as possible. Thanks, Robert Phillips"

Monroe: "Robert, thanks for your question. Sorry it took so long to answer.....been very busy with a sick wife. I have done some research and found there is some confusion as to the correct S/N of "Miss Donna Mae II" vs "Miss Donna Mae". However, the plane you are looking for that was lost on May 19th, 1944 definitely appears to be "Miss Donna Mae II" S/N 42-31540. Please see the MACR (missing air crew report) # 4946 below:
Missing Air Crew Reports - Sorted by Date

1 Matching Search Results, Records 1 to 1.

MACR # 4946 / Date 5/19 1944 / A/C Type B-17 / Serial # 42-31540 94 / Group Squadron 331

As you will see from the link below, others have been researching this aircraft.....you may find their comments interesting:

As you will see in the post "Moofy" had replied to " Fern Schellack" about " Miss Donna Mae II". I E-mailed Moofy for any information he has about the plane, including any pictures. I am forwarding two E-mails I received from him with pictures attached of A/C 42-31540. You may find the information interesting, yet somewhat confusing. But I hope it may help you to better understand the story behind "Miss Donna Mae II". Thanks Robert.>>>>Monroe"

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Question 21: "Built a Pica 1/5 scale P51 and it was modeled after George Preddy plane. It has brown on the top fusealoge and silver below. Is this correct of his colors? Thanks Jim Halpin "

Monroe: "Thanks Jim for your question. No, Maj. George Preddy's plane "Cripes A. Mighty" did not have any brown on it. His 352nd Ftr Gp was known as " The Blue Nosed Bastards Of Bodney". They had a light blue paint scheme from the nose back to the cockpit....please see the attached link of their A/C paint scheme: http://members.cox.net/cluster/wwii.htm
Also see this link to better explain the paint scheme:
http://www.fightingcolors.com/P-51_page.htm
It made a very beautiful colorful aircraft. Good luck...>>Monroe"

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Question 22: "Hi there, I'm not sure if this is the right source to contact, but I'm currently looking for a particular paint scheme...
It's a P-38, flown by William Web, of the 459th FS, 80th FG, in Chittagong, India... (plz take a look at the picture I included) I can't seem to find any better pictures of this particular aircraft... I hope you can help me... thanks a lot"

Monroe: "Thanks Jakob for your question. I cannot find a picture of William Webb's plane, however the picture that you have is fairly representative of the Squadron paint scheme. As you probably know, the squadron was known as " The Twin Dragon Squadron". I am attaching a couple of links that shows the paint scheme of Capt Walter Duke's P-38 "Miss-V" of the same Squadron. You may want to go more like it because the Green shows up more as it should be. Hope this helps...>>>Monroe

http://www.aikensairplanes.com/speccast/miss_v,__p-38_lightning.htm
http://piperpilot1.hypermart.net/PICTEXT_MISSV.htm"

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Question 23: "Greetings, Lt. Col. and thank you very much for your service to this great nation during WW II. I live in the NW and am doing research on scale details and demarcation for a 100" w/s F4U Corsair. Due to my own needs for this plane, I started drawing ideas for hand-building a scale flying prop. This gave birth to revolutionary (no pun intended) ideas for possibly making other props for various aircraft of WW II. My question is, where do I get spec's on the prop diameters, good photos and so on, for the props for these planes? Thanks for your time given to this. Karl. P-47, P-40, P-51, AT6, T-28, P-38, B-17, B-24, F3F, F4F. These seem to be favorites."

Monroe: "Karl, Thanks for your kind remarks about my service. If you fellows had been around at the time, I'm sure you would have done the same or even better. Your question " where do I get specs on the prop diameters for the for these planes" is a good one, but I don't believe there is an easy answer to it. As you can see from the following links, they were forever changing the type and length of the props trying to get better performance. Most all the props at that time were Hamilton Standard Hydromatic or Curtiss Electric. Some were the narrow blades and some were Paddle Blades. The length of the props on the P-47 varied from 13 ft 2 in. down to 12 ft. I'm not sure but I believe mine was a Curtiss Electric paddle blade. You can go to my page on rcwarbird.com and take a look at it. Maybe these links will give you some ideas as to the diameters to pick in your project:
http://www.p47advocates.com/thep47.html
http://home.att.net/~C.C.Jordan/P-38K.html
http://p47tbolt.tripod.com/designanalysis.htm
http://www.p47millville.org/history_p-47_thunderbolt.html
http://www.368thfightergroup.com/p47.html
http://www.aviation-history.com/lockheed/p38.html
http://www.p47advocates.com/messages/1076.html
http://www.aerofiles.com/_repub.html

You may also find this link on Ron Monsen's Desert Aviation web site interesting. He has been studying the various props for RC birds:
http://www.wright-flyer.net/desertaviation/engine.html

Thanks again Karl...don't think I was much help, but I appreciate your question.>>>Monroe"

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Question 24: "In a at6 texan did the training pilot sit in the front or rear seat? thanks Leo"

Monroe: "Leo, thanks for an easy one. The instructor sit in the rear seat and student in the front seat. There were duel controls and those instructors could take over anytime. Thanks.>>>Monroe"

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