Browse Items (18 total)

This blog was a way for the administrator to document her journey and process through this project. The topics vary from her grandfather, the late Colonel Joseph Laughlin, to what she learned not to do in her search for information. She hopes it…

P47_propellor_Museum.JPG
The propeller on the engine of a P-47. The engine, a Pratt and Whitney R-2800, helped to determine the size of the plane. The engine was covered with metal plates known as a cowling. During combat, the cowling cover was color-associated with the…

P47_Museum_under_wing.JPG
This insignia was introduced in 1943. The blue and white gloss insignia was referred to as the "star and bar" and was standard on all planes in the U.S. military in WWII. It was painted under both wings to help ground troops avoid friendly fire. The…

P47_extra_armor(1).JPG
The P-47 Thunderbolt was a heavy fighter aircraft, maxing out at 17,000 lbs. Part of this weight was owed to the extra protection given to the pilot. Armor plates were installed behind the seat and on each side of the cockpit below the window. In…

Press_Release_in_Newspaper_scan1.jpg
In this article, the recent successes of Colonel Joseph Laughlin in France are described. It includes the details behind a Ninth Air Force record-setting flight that was Colonel Laughlin's idea as payback to the Nazis for all that they had done so…

Laughlin_up_close_in_cockpit.JPG
Colonel Laughlin gives a toothy grin as he settles into the cockpit of his P-47. Notice the suit and tie visible under his flight suit.

Laughlin_Press_Release_1.JPG
This press release, also found in a partial article from a Nebraska newspaper also in this collection, describes the recent successes of Colonel Laughlin in France. It includes the details behind a Ninth Air Force record-setting flight that was…

Laughlin_P47_Destroy_Decal.JPG
Accounts were kept of what pilots destroyed in combat. To tout those successes, pilots would have the record painted on their planes, with tallies next to each symbol for tanks, trucks, and locomotives. The Nazi flags represented downed enemy…

Laughlin_in_front_of_plane.JPG
Although he was known as a very jovial person, Colonel Laughlin had a serious side that he never really showed in front of cameras. Here he looks out with a very severe and serious expression while standing in front of his final P-47 in his flight…

Laughlin_in_front_of_original_P47.JPG
Colonel Laughlin talks and smiles as he poses in front of his first P-47. Although he had already been called Five by Five (for looking five feet tall and five feet wide) the elephant with the four leaf clover was a surprise. Captain George Rarey…
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