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| USAAF 5th AF 8th FG 35th FS   c1944 via Kieth Hopper |
Pilot 1st Lt. Charles A. Cours, O-797820 (survived) Crashed April 30, 1944 MACR none Aircraft History Built by Lockheed Aircraft Corporation (LAC) in Burbank. Constructors Number 1357. Delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force (USAAF) as P-38H-5-LO Lightning serial number 42-66846. Disassembled and shipped overseas to the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) and reassembled. Wartime History Assigned to the 5th Air Force (5th AF), 8th Fighter Group (8th FG), 35th Fighter Squadron (35th FS). No known nickname or nose art. Mission History On April 30, 1944 took off from Nadzab Airfield piloted by 1st Lt. Charles A. Cours on a training flight to practice strafing runs. Near Nadzab, this aircraft hit a tree and was damaged. The plane continued to fly for about five miles before crashing into a hillside. Pilot Cours survived the crash and returned to duty. Wreckage Afterwards, the crash site was located by American forces and photographed. Keith Hopper adds: "I purchased some photos on Ebay recently that were advertised simply as, "WW2 Aircraft Crash". The wreckage appeared to be P-38, the grassy slope looked like Port Moresby and the personnel looked like hot, thirsty American ground crews along way from home. I was intending to seek opinions from this group as to the identity of the wreckage (only a certain number of P-38s ended up on Moresby hillsides), but when I scanned the photo at 1200dpi and enlarged it, something jumped out at me. Stenciled under the starboard tail plane stub wing was "P-38H 42-66846" . It doesn't get any easier than that!" References USAF Serial Number Search Results - P-38H-5-LO Lightning 42-66846 35th Fighter Squadron History PNG Museum Aircraft Status Card - P-38H Lightning 42-66846 Thanks to Keith Hopper for additional information Contribute Information Are you a relative or associated with any person mentioned? Do you have photos or additional information to add? Last Updated
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