Author Topic: F4U-1A, VF-17 no.3 Lt.(jg) Frederick James "Big Jim" Streig  (Read 1069 times)

Offline whiteman

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Big Jim seems like a favorite amongst VF-17 fans, he's the image of what a pilot with from the Jolly Rogers should look like. He finished the war with 5.5 kills and shot down the first Ki-61 "Tony" in the South Pacific Islands which was also his first full victory. In that engagement on November 11, 1943 he looked up saw boxed wings and thought it was the Hellcats, only to look down and see they were below him. "It was the whole Japanese force coming in from Rabaul and Buka toward the carries". Big Jim radioed the C.I.C. on the Bunker Hill and told them "hold theirs hats because all spam was about to hit the fan!" He and Danny Cunningham managed to get above the strike and the Tony went into a 30 degree dive from 20,000 to 10,000 ft, they were able to overtake him rapidly at which the Tony went into a 45 degree dive to 200 ft. Big Jim opened up fire at 300 ft and the Ki-61 exploded just above the water.

He tallied 2.5 Zekes, his final kills on January 27, 1944 to become an ace. He was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Gold Stars and an Air Medal with six Gold Stars upon his arrival home. He served in the Navy till he retired in 1969 as a Commander and was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal.

Streig's plane is the only one we can confirm had the red outline around the insignia, that came from his own mouth and has been reiterated by his son. Pictures of his plane the outline is much more muted than the others photoed with it, along with a photo of the plane stateside on a barge that it's clearly not blue. I don't know how or why his manged to fly until march 1944 with it red, maybe he liked it and know one wanted to be the one to change it.



bigjim1 by whitemanLS1, on Flickr
bigjim by whitemanLS1, on Flickr
« Last Edit: May 16, 2021, 04:38:19 PM by whiteman »

Offline Devil 505

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Re: F4U-1A, VF-17 no.3 Lt.(jg) Fredericj James "Big Jim" Streig
« Reply #1 on: May 16, 2021, 04:18:13 PM »
Great job.
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Offline Vraciu

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Re: F4U-1A, VF-17 no.3 Lt.(jg) Frederick James "Big Jim" Streig
« Reply #2 on: May 16, 2021, 07:01:16 PM »
Nice work.  I would consider dialing back the vertical line shading on the fuselage a tiny bit but that's just me. 

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Offline Vraciu

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Re: F4U-1A, VF-17 no.3 Lt.(jg) Frederick James "Big Jim" Streig
« Reply #3 on: May 16, 2021, 07:03:25 PM »
Are the cowl flaps on the upper left side supposed to be mismatched with the fuselage?
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Offline whiteman

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Re: F4U-1A, VF-17 no.3 Lt.(jg) Frederick James "Big Jim" Streig
« Reply #4 on: May 16, 2021, 07:38:56 PM »
Are the cowl flaps on the upper left side supposed to be mismatched with the fuselage?

Yes they are.


Offline lyric1

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Re: F4U-1A, VF-17 no.3 Lt.(jg) Frederick James "Big Jim" Streig
« Reply #5 on: May 16, 2021, 09:29:27 PM »
 :aok

Offline Greebo

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Re: F4U-1A, VF-17 no.3 Lt.(jg) Frederick James "Big Jim" Streig
« Reply #6 on: May 17, 2021, 01:49:00 AM »
Very nice Whiteman, and good observation on the cowl flaps.

Offline Arlo

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Re: F4U-1A, VF-17 no.3 Lt.(jg) Frederick James "Big Jim" Streig
« Reply #7 on: May 17, 2021, 09:09:19 AM »
 :D :salute :cheers: :old:

Offline Vraciu

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Re: F4U-1A, VF-17 no.3 Lt.(jg) Frederick James "Big Jim" Streig
« Reply #8 on: May 17, 2021, 11:18:53 AM »
Yes they are.

(Image removed from quote.)

Excellent.   Just making sure.   That's an interesting quirk.   :cheers:
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Offline FTJR

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Re: F4U-1A, VF-17 no.3 Lt.(jg) Frederick James "Big Jim" Streig
« Reply #9 on: May 18, 2021, 12:50:51 AM »
Nice job
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Offline Nefarious

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Re: F4U-1A, VF-17 no.3 Lt.(jg) Frederick James "Big Jim" Streig
« Reply #10 on: May 30, 2021, 07:59:13 AM »
Quite possibly my favorite color scheme of any WW2 fighter. Love the "tri-colorish" F4U's. <S>
There must also be a flyable computer available for Nefarious to do FSO. So he doesn't keep talking about it for eight and a half hours on Friday night!