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Gabreski P-47D


Rob Colvin

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Quick question......the area of fuselage behind the head armor under the canopy on Gabreski's p-47d.......what color is it? I have seen it as cockpit/interior green, natural metal, black, and part of the camouflage. What is the rundown?

 

thanks   

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I'm just going on what I think it should be but if you'll bear with me, you might agree.

 

I believe these aircraft were delivered from the factory in natural metal with OD anti-glare panels running from the tail to the nose. Consequently, the area in question would be included in that OD anti-glare panel paint.

 

When the 56th camouflaged their aircraft, they closed the canopy and painted their scheme around it. Therefore you will see both OD and natural metal showing beneath an open P-47D(bubbletop) canopy.

 

Hope this makes sense.

Edited by Juggernut
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Here is what I observed looking at pictures...I believe that they removed the canopy when they painted the camo. I have seen a picture or two in black and white that shows the gray/green demarcation line go across the spine and under the canopy. It makes sense because the canopy is unpainted bare metal.

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No, Not Olive Drab, Ocean Grey. The 56 never used OD antiglarepanels. They used RAF paint for there  jugs. That's all I gonna say. But do what you Like.

 

I never said they did.  After the order to remove camo paint from aircraft was issued, all P-47's were delivered from the factory in overall natural metal finish with OD anti-glare panels from tail to prop...  That is a fact.  There is an area behind the armored headrest that remained OD when these aircraft were camouflaged.  When the 56th FG painted their aircraft, all they did was close the canopy (and mask it) and paint the aircraft leaving a remnant of the old OD anti-glare panel intact underneath the canopy.  The practice is photographically evident in many of the 56th photos of the P-47M's that have natural metal showing showing around the cockpit where the canopy was closed when it got painted.

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I never said they did.  After the order to remove camo paint from aircraft was issued, all P-47's were delivered from the factory in overall natural metal finish with OD anti-glare panels from tail to prop...  That is a fact.  There is an area behind the armored headrest that remained OD when these aircraft were camouflaged.  When the 56th FG painted their aircraft, all they did was close the canopy (and mask it) and paint the aircraft leaving a remnant of the old OD anti-glare panel intact underneath the canopy.  The practice is photographically evident in many of the 56th photos of the P-47M's that have natural metal showing showing around the cockpit where the canopy was closed when it got painted.

Yup, now I see it when I look at pictures.

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I always liked this particular Gabreski mount over the last P-47 he flew and crashed in. The white invasion strips on the wings never had the black applied in between the white stripes? I recall another great fwd 3/4 view of this same aircraf with silver unpainted lower horizontal-tailplanes. A really unique bird for sure. Please let us know about the productive reasoning for under the canopy paint you finally come up with. Interesting topic. Nothing like period photos to conduct your research over. Well done.

 

Troy

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  • 2 weeks later...

Sorry to ask a newb Gabreski question but is it confirmed that the stripes on the topside of the wings were white only?

And the ones on the fuselage were black / white on underside only, with the topside white stripes having a black outline?

Would the wing white stripes have this black outline too?

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