Help: Bob Johnson's P-47's
RWilkes698
AF".
My reasearch indicated Johnson had 4 P-47's that he named all coded "HV-P".
They were: P-47C "Half Pint" in which he was almost killed
P-47D-5 "Lucky" Lost 22 March 44 with other pilot
P-47D-15 "All Hell"
P-47D-21 "Penrod and Sam"
The Osprey book mentions another a/c named "Double Lucky" with there order
being "Half Pint" "All Hell" "Lucky" "Double Lucky" "Penrod and Sam"
I have never heard of this "Double Lucky". Johnson states in his autobiography
that "Lucky" his favorite A/C was lost on 22 March when he had I believe 21/22
victories.
If you can shed any light on this please do.
TIA
Rick
BTW on page 69 of the "P-47 Aces of the 8th AF" is a picture of Grabiski's
bubble-topped D with white invasion stripes with neat black pen stripping and
no black stripes. At least on the spine anyway. Pic is dated 5 July and a/c sn
is 42-26418. Can't see the underside stripes thou so I guess the debate
continues
fun...@mindspring.com
at the age of 78. He will be missed. He lived outside of Charlotte, NC and I
would call him up about evey 5-6 months and chat with him. He never was to
busy to talk and always had a story to tell. He died in Tulsa, Ok his boyhood
home. His nurse said, "He has taken his last flight."
Someone and I can't find the post wanted some info on Bob's P-47's. I looked
thru my notes and was going to call Bob in a few days to verify. As he usually
went home for the holidays. Since that is not possible now here is the info
per my notes I took while talking with him and other sources.
His first P-47 was Half Pint a P-47C-1-RE no codes (crash landed by Lt. J
Curtis prior to combat ops).
Second P-47 was All Hell a P-47-C-2-RE HV*P 41-6235 (Mar 43-26 Jun 43,
this is the a/c he was shot to pieces by a FW-190.)
Third P-47 was Lucky P-47D-5-RE 42-8461 HV*P (late Jun 43-22 Mar 44,
lost at sea with 2/Lt D. Stream)
Fourth P-47 was Double Lucky P-47D-15-RE 42-76234 HV*P (name was not
painted on, late Mar 44-late Apr 44)
He was transferred to the 62FS/56FG in May44.
Fifth P-47 was Penrod and Sam P-47D-21-RA 42-25512 LM*Q (a/c was named
for his crew chief Penrod and Bob's middle name Samuel, May 44)
SuperScale sheet 72-641 has 2 of Johnson's a/c on it including Double Lucky.
Hope the above info was helpful.
Wayne
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MODEL HAWK
> For those that haven't heard WWII P-47 ACE Robert S. Johnson died yesterday
>at the age of 78. He will be missed.
(snip)
> His nurse said, "He has taken his last flight."
>
>Someone and I can't find the post wanted some info on Bob's P-47's. I looked
>thru my notes and was going to call Bob in a few days to verify. As he
>usually
>went home for the holidays. Since that is not possible now here is the info
>per my notes I took while talking with him and other sources.
>
>His first P-47 was Half Pint a P-47C-1-RE no codes (crash landed by Lt. J
>Curtis prior to combat ops).
>
>Second P-47 was All Hell a P-47-C-2-RE HV*P 41-6235 (Mar 43-26 Jun 43,
>this is the a/c he was shot to pieces by a FW-190.)
>
>Third P-47 was Lucky P-47D-5-RE 42-8461 HV*P (late Jun 43-22 Mar 44,
>lost at sea with 2/Lt D. Stream)
>
>Fourth P-47 was Double Lucky P-47D-15-RE 42-76234 HV*P (name was not
>painted on, late Mar 44-late Apr 44)
>
>He was transferred to the 62FS/56FG in May44.
>
>Fifth P-47 was Penrod and Sam P-47D-21-RA 42-25512 LM*Q (a/c was named
>for his crew chief Penrod and Bob's middle name Samuel, May 44)
>
A great loss to avaition. He will definitely be missed. Guess there is still
no cure for life.
I have a signed Laurier print entitled "Not my turn to die" that depicts Bob
Johnson flying his badly shot-up "Half Pint" with an out of ammo Fw-190 on the
wing, pilot rendering a salute before banking away. Supposed to be a
historically-accurate incident.
His exploits are legendary. Rest in peace Col Johnson.
Happy modeling; Modelhawk
Wonder who Modelhawk is? Check out my HOME PAGE and find out:
http://members.aol.com/MODELHAWK/Modelhawk.index.html
S. Tomblin
I was fortunate enough to meet Bob back in June of '95. I'm sorry to
hear that he has passed.
Steve
RWilkes698
never having met him.
Rest in Peace
Val R. Mahan
to mind a couple of questions about Penrod and Sam, however.
>He was transferred to the 62FS/56FG in May44.
>
>Fifth P-47 was Penrod and Sam P-47D-21-RA 42-25512 LM*Q (a/c was named
>for his crew chief Penrod and Bob's middle name Samuel, May 44)
While the Arii box art shows this aircraft with a yellow rudder,
other, more recent representations of this plane show it with a red
rudder to match the nose. I would have thought that a yellow rudder
would have been correct, per Dave Schilling's frequently photographed
aircraft. Any thoughts on this?
Also, given the time-frame, would Penrod and Sam have had invasion
stripes at some time during its career?
Finally, I would have bet the the name Penrod and Sam derived from a
book of the same name written by Booth Tarkington. This book would
have been published sometime after 1914 and presumably been familiar
to many WWII veterans. Perhaps a little double-meaning word-play was
intended. As it happens, I'm presently re-reading Penrod, the
predecessor to Penrod and Sam -- still pretty funny, but REALLY not
pc.
Val
Bill Paul
wrote:
I'm pretty sure the rudder should be yellow. According to " The Mighty
Eigth" Col. Johnson became the Ops officer for the 62nd in May'44 and
recieved Penrod and Sam about the same time. Also the 62nd adopted
the yellow rudder in March. I did did a model of Penrod and Sam
with the yellow rudder and later was lucky enough to have Col Johnson
to autograph it for me. We got to talking about the aircraft and he
seamed pleased with the markings I had done, then again he was
probably too much of a gentleman to tell me I was wrong. As far as
the invasion stripes go, Col. Johnson left England for the US the day
of the Invasion ("Thunderbolt" Johnson&Caidin). More than likely the
aircraft flew missions with invasion stripes painted on, but with
another pilot flying it.
-Bill
scot...@postoffice.worldnet.att.net
and Sam markings on it available out there?
Thanks:
Scott Thompson
Joe Hegedus
>
> Does anybody know if there is an aftermarket decal sheet with the Penrod
> and Sam markings on it available out there?
>
> Thanks:
> Scott Thompson
I think the markings for "Penrod and Sam" were included in the
Aeromaster 1/48 US Aces Sheet, one of the "Special Editions".
They are also included in usable quality in the Otaki, early ARII, and
(I think) AMT releases of the P-47. If you can't find a set, drop me a
line and I'll see if I have a spare.
Joe
fun...@mindspring.com
I agree with Bill, Bob took me He DIDNOT have invasion strips on it while
he flew it. He always fussed about the fact after his last victory. Higher
ups pulled him off the line and shipped him home to do the War bond drive
thing. He said, Why, when the thing I trained for is taking place now?"
They said we need back home. The last time I spoke to him in person about
18 months ago you could tell he was still hot about it. But he would tell
it with a big sense of humor. He was a very funny man.
wayne
HMills16
that propelled me to a career in military aviation. I was inducted into the
"Gathering of Eagles"with Bob and had the great oppertunity to meet him and
visit with a true warrior. Gabby was at the same table and I was in Hog
Heaven! America has lost a truly great warrior.
Hugh Mills
LTC, USA ret