Hi everyone! I figured all the top notch people here could guide me in the right direction. The other day my dad sent me an old black and white photo of an F-80 taken in May of 1946 at Hamilton Field, CA during Army Day. I’d sure like to be able to find some info out on this plane such as its service career. The tail number is clearly 485069 and has the numbers “PN-069” on the fuselage side. The U.S. star and bar doesn’t have the red bar in it yet so that tells me this is technically a “P” rather than an “F”-80. Does anyone know of a good internet-based resource site that could help me dig up some info (eg. where it was based? If this is an -A or -B variant? When was it retired? Did it turn into a drone, etc.)
Thanks!
Eric
This is the best site going for Serial Numbers (Army/Air Force/) and Bureau Numbers (Navy/Marine Corps).
http://home.att.net/~jbaugher/
This will tell you number what it was bulit as. To find out the individual history of that a/c will take more digging on the web…
Happy Hunting…
Welcome to the forum Warbird and thank you for the tip! I’ll give the site a try. It’s just a real neat picture and I’d like to find out more about it. My grandmother simply wrote on the back “Jet plane” as the description of it. I thought that was funny.
Thank you again,
Eric
WBNerd, let me join in welcoming you, and your first post shows you will be a welcome figure around here. I keep that site on my “Favorites” list (bookmarked, I think, is the correct term) because there is not a flying machine, guided missile or anything else with wings or fins and a serial number that this man has not put down, in order, for the past, what? Since the Wright Bros.? It is a truly remarkable site, that all modelers should have close to hand, if for no other reason than to make sure that the tail or BuNo. the kit or decal manufacturer has supplied you with, actually was assigned to the airplane you are applying the number to. I find it fascinating just to go throughthe list it year by year, especially during the Cold War, looking at all the early cruise missiles, like the Snark and the Mace and even air-to-air missiles, like the Falcon, which carried, for a short time, bomber and fighter designations (If I’m not mistaken, Snark was the B-62 and the Falcon was the F-90-something), and seeing just how many of these things, most of them losers, were actually purchased, built and flown. It also includes missiles like the Titan, which, even those that sent the Gemini spacecraft into orbit, carried tail numbers to each of them in the same sequence as the Phantoms that rolled out of the plants at the same time.
Tom
Pretty cool. There’s a A-4D here at NAF Atsugi that’s doing “Gate Guard” duty and as soon as I find a serial # on the thing or find out from the base I’m gonna see if maybe it was a Dragon Bird or Chippy (VFA-195)! - Calvin
I have had good luck with finding Bu Nos thru the Smithsonian Institute along with info on the aircraft in question with the use of their history cards. If you know the aircraft type/ maker, try their website.