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Armor Plates for a P-47
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…
Insignias of Destruction on Colonel Joseph Laughlin's P-47, Five by Five
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…
The P-47 with Bubble Top Canopy in the National Museum of the United States Air Force, redone as Colonel Joseph Laughlin's Five by Five
The P-47D that sits in the National Museum of the United States Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, was painted to represent the P-47 flown by Colonel Joseph Lyle Laughlin, Five by Five. The museum's curator, Jeff Duford, put forth several pilots for the…
Colonel Joseph Laughlin's Call Sign on the Fuselage of His P-47, Five by Five
The call sign reads as "B8-A". The "B" is for the 379th Fighter Squadron; the "A" is for the 362nd Fighter Group; and the "8" is the plane number within the squadron. This was Colonel Laughlin's call sign in early 1945.
The Original Nose Art of Colonel Joseph Laughlin's P-47, Five by Five
The cowl color of P-47s fresh from the factory was black. They did not require a new color until they were to enter combat. However, Colonel Laughlin was so enamored with his nose art that he asked his crew chief to salvage the cowl off of every…
Press Release Concerning Colonel Joseph Laughlin and the Bombing of Bremen Airport
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…
Colored Illustrations of Colonel Joseph Laughlin and Five by Five by Captain George Rarey
Captain Rarey's renderings were very important to Colonel Laughlin and the airmen of the 362nd. Colonel Laughlin was so enamored with his nose art that he asked his crew chief to salvage them off of every plane he flew. His crew chief, Sergeant…