Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Custom Skins => Topic started by: Vraciu on August 07, 2020, 02:59:03 AM
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A huge thanks to Lyric1 and Waltz41 (http://www.506thfightergroup.org/462ndfightersquadron.asp) for their research assistance. Both of these gentlemen could not have been more helpful putting up with my queries for more and more information. :salute
Lt. Charles Frank Seale / Capt. Stanley C. Zagorsky
P-51D-20-NA "The Shawnee Princess" / "Empire Commuter" (640)
S/N 44-72620
506th FG, 462nd FS
Iwo Jima - July 1945
This is the P-51D-20-NA (s/n 44-72620) "The Shawnee Princess" / "Empire Commuter" flown by Lt. Charles Frank Seale and Capt. Stanley C. Zagorsky of the 506th FG, 462nd FS based on Iwo Jima in the Summer of 1945. The 506th was one of the Very-Long Range (VLR) Mustang Groups assigned to escort B-29s over Japan. The elements, weather, enemy opposition, mechanical irregularities, logistics, and vast expanses of open ocean were just some of the challenges faced by these fighter pilots. Though they did not have the opportunity to chalk up the victory totals of their European counterparts these brave young men established decisive air superiority over the Japanese home islands in the last months of the war.
This Mustang carried nose art on both sides: Captain Zagorsky named the plane “The Shawnee Princess” which appeared on the left while 1st Lt. Seale named it “Empire Commuter” which appeared on the right. Profiles depict the airplane with six kill flags but this is incorrect. Mission and victory marking spacers were pre-painted by this squadron, but as neither Zagorsky nor Seale were credited with any victories the six white markings on the top two rows remained blank.
Seale himself had a close call when he had to bail out near Chichi Jima on 13 July 1945 (some sources say this was in 44-72620 while others say it was a different aircraft). This island was the focus of James Bradley's book "FLYBOYS" about the execution and cannibalism of five of eight American POWs held there. It was here, in Sept. 1944, that [future U.S. President] Lt. (j.g.) George H. W. Bush bailed out of his TBM "Avenger" after being hit by anti-aircraft fire during a bombing mission where he was later rescued by a submarine.
Lt. Seale explained, "The guy in front of me (Lt. Marklin a new replacement pilot to our Squadron, it was his 1st mission) blew up and shrapnel went into my engine--I think it tore up my coolant line--I started overheating about twenty minutes later and had to go for a swim."
A second P-51 later bore the name "The Shawnee Princess" with the side number 618.
This is the third in my series of VLR Mustangs. The other two can be found here:
Pete Nowick's #599 of the 506th FG, 458th FS - https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,400576.0.html
Harold Marx's "Tiny Gay Baba" #234 of the 21st FG, 46th FS - https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,400632.0.html
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=400847.0;attach=32997)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=400847.0;attach=32993)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=400847.0;attach=32995)
Sorry for the poor resolution on this one, but the screenshot was taken from pretty far away:
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=400847.0;attach=32999)
Offsite Gallery:
https://postimg.cc/gallery/mPzMTZS
(https://i.postimg.cc/7GjLYjZZ/MODahss78.png) (https://postimg.cc/7GjLYjZZ) (https://i.postimg.cc/FYTYC8FC/MODahss50.png) (https://postimg.cc/FYTYC8FC)
(https://i.postimg.cc/XpcGdXRb/MODahss47.png) (https://postimg.cc/XpcGdXRb) (https://i.postimg.cc/2b16YCmt/MODahss58-Nose-Art-RH.png) (https://postimg.cc/2b16YCmt)
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:aok
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Great looking skin Vraciu, interesting story too.
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Nice job V :aok
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Very nice. Good read too.
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Nice work.
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Very nice skin, V. The close up shows a nice variation in the glare on the nose/spinner - a subtle effect but important I think for a convincing bare metal effect.
Nice compositional touch on the runway shot, showing the ocean in background for an Iwo-based Mustang.
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Thanks all. Much appreciated.
I taxied all over the Island to get that shot, oboe. :rofl
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Just a quick for-the-record comment: I forgot to trim the yellow paint around the serial number and tweak the font. I'll fix that before submission. :bhead
Any other errors I'll fix as they're pointed out.
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Update to the tail to correct some errors and make the paint look better (thanks, Devil505). I left the tail entirely yellow originally because the primary source photo I used made it hard to differentiate the metal from the yellow paint around the serial number. That is now fixed.
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=400847.0;attach=33013)
(https://i.postimg.cc/H81Myt2X/MODahss99.png) (https://postimg.cc/H81Myt2X) (https://i.postimg.cc/bZrZdMh4/MODahss95.png) (https://postimg.cc/bZrZdMh4)
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That’s a good looking bird!
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Nice improvement.
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Thanks, gents. :salute
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Oh, that metal :aok :aok :aok :aok
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Oh, that metal :aok :aok :aok :aok
Thanks, Dolby. I always have you in mind when I do these. Glad you approve. :)
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Nice work! Thanks for giving the VLR pilots some love!
A quick little side note to his mission if anyone is interested, this is a transcribed letter from Seale to his wife, explaining his ordeal.
Letter # 85 July 13, 1945
Dot darling – Yesterday was Friday the 13th, and it turned out to be quite an eventful day for me. It finished with another ripcord to add to my collection.
Now before I go any further, I am alright, and none the worse for wear, excluding a slightly sunburned nose. Only a few days ago you wrote me of reading about a pilot from here being picked up at sea and you added that was the sort of stunt you expected from me. Well, darling, I fulfilled your expectations – what more could you ask from your devoted husband?
A public relations writer took quite a lot of details of my little adventure, so you may ready about this in the news before you get this letter. I hope you won’t jump to any hasty conclusion, dear - - I am definitely OK.
Now perhaps you’d like to get the story firsthand. I was returning from a raid on Chichi Jima when my engine got rough and began to deteriorating, and my coolant boiled out. You know these engines won’t run without coolant and I became painfully aware of it, so I went over the side. Nice trip down – nice dip, and nice boat ride back!
I was in my little dingy almost three hours, and planes were circling over me all the time until I was picked up. I vomited up the excess sea water in my stomach, and laid back in my cradle to await the rescue. After about two hours of waiting, I pulled the cover over me to keep out the sun and spray – and dozed off! Some time later, I was awakened by a light impact on my back. The rescue vessel had sneaked u, thrown me a rope, and scored a direct hit. I had drifted to within five miles of a small island that still had some Japs on it. On board the ship, I got a shower, some dry clothes, and some sunburn salve. Soon, I was in another sack, in the Captain’s bunk to be exact, and dozed until supper time. So my usual daily quota of “sack time” was not seriously interrupted.
Now, just a bit of the rather unpleasant details of the reason for bail out. On the target, we were making diving, rocket-firing passes, more of less in a string. The plane in from of me blew up on the diving run, and I flew through some of the debris before I could avoid it. Some of the flying metal must have been picked up by my coolant scoop, causing a puncture of a coolant line. I didn’t realize anything was wrong until 20-25 minutes later, when my coolant began boiling over. It was too late then to take corrective measures, so I went over the side.
I understand I am entitled to a membership in the “Sea Squatters” Club, and I am sending my application tonight.
….
I love you, Frank
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Nice work! Thanks for giving the VLR pilots some love!
A quick little side note to his mission if anyone is interested, this is a transcribed letter from Seale to his wife, explaining his ordeal.
Letter # 85 July 13, 1945
Dot darling – Yesterday was Friday the 13th, and it turned out to be quite an eventful day for me. It finished with another ripcord to add to my collection.
Now before I go any further, I am alright, and none the worse for wear, excluding a slightly sunburned nose. Only a few days ago you wrote me of reading about a pilot from here being picked up at sea and you added that was the sort of stunt you expected from me. Well, darling, I fulfilled your expectations – what more could you ask from your devoted husband?
A public relations writer took quite a lot of details of my little adventure, so you may ready about this in the news before you get this letter. I hope you won’t jump to any hasty conclusion, dear - - I am definitely OK.
Now perhaps you’d like to get the story firsthand. I was returning from a raid on Chichi Jima when my engine got rough and began to deteriorating, and my coolant boiled out. You know these engines won’t run without coolant and I became painfully aware of it, so I went over the side. Nice trip down – nice dip, and nice boat ride back!
I was in my little dingy almost three hours, and planes were circling over me all the time until I was picked up. I vomited up the excess sea water in my stomach, and laid back in my cradle to await the rescue. After about two hours of waiting, I pulled the cover over me to keep out the sun and spray – and dozed off! Some time later, I was awakened by a light impact on my back. The rescue vessel had sneaked u, thrown me a rope, and scored a direct hit. I had drifted to within five miles of a small island that still had some Japs on it. On board the ship, I got a shower, some dry clothes, and some sunburn salve. Soon, I was in another sack, in the Captain’s bunk to be exact, and dozed until supper time. So my usual daily quota of “sack time” was not seriously interrupted.
Now, just a bit of the rather unpleasant details of the reason for bail out. On the target, we were making diving, rocket-firing passes, more of less in a string. The plane in from of me blew up on the diving run, and I flew through some of the debris before I could avoid it. Some of the flying metal must have been picked up by my coolant scoop, causing a puncture of a coolant line. I didn’t realize anything was wrong until 20-25 minutes later, when my coolant began boiling over. It was too late then to take corrective measures, so I went over the side.
I understand I am entitled to a membership in the “Sea Squatters” Club, and I am sending my application tonight.
….
I love you, Frank
:aok
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Fantastic.
Great info.
I have a soft spot for the VLR gang. Unsung heroes.
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Thanks for posting that Waltz41, an interesting read.
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Outstanding V. With your history on the bird and Waltz added history the aircraft is a story within itself.
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Thanks Hajo. Yeah, between Lyric1 and Waltz41 there aren't many knowledge gaps left unfilled.
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You guys are welcome.
Another little side story..... Lt. Marklin, as mentioned, basically had his P-51 explode mid air. Many years later at a reunion, Seale was talking to a crew chief and somehow that mission came up. The crew chief told him that he was pretty sure that was the first mission they used rockets on, and that was also why they went to Chichi, more of a training run for them. He said he thought that the probable cause for Marklin exploding midair on the attack run was most likely a faulty wiring of the rocket launchers. They were brand new and basically the men had little training on them being installed.
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This is amazing.
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Thanks, PC. And thanks for the other compliments as well.
Good info, Waltz. Poor Marklin. Dang.
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While discussing one of Oboe's Mustangs I discovered an error in my description. This is a -25 not a -20.
Lt. Charles Frank Seale / Capt. Stanley C. Zagorsky
P-51D-25-NA "The Shawnee Princess" / "Empire Commuter" (640)
S/N 44-72620
506th FG, 462nd FS
Iwo Jima - July 1945