The Tail Designations on a P-47

The Tail Designations on a P-47

The P-47 tail was painted to represent the type of plane, the Fighter Squadron, and the Fighter Group it was a part of

The markings on the vertical stabilizer of a plane had two distinctions. The bottom stripe delineated what type of plane it was; the black stripe was on all P-47s in the war. The tip of the fin designated which fighter group the plane belonged to; fins in the 362nd Fighter Group were painted red. The rudder was painted in the color of the plane's fighter squadron; yellow was the color of the 379th Fighter Squadron. The horizontal stabilizer had similar distinctions. The number below the stripe on the vertical stabilizer is the plane's serial number. The number shown is the serial number from the plane Colonel Joseph Laughlin was flying in early 1945.

Republic Aviation Corporation

National Museum of the United States Air Force

United States Air Force

1940s