P-47D 43-25555 HV-U of the 61st Fighter Squadron assigned pilot currently unknown. Shadow on nose is from the photo-ship, and flying wing is Lt. Robert J Rankin’s 42-74662 HV-H “Wicked Wacker Weegie”.

Bare metal P-47D razorback

new plane 

“The Bug”, flown by Captain Arlie Blood of the 510th FS,405th FG,9th Air Force. Blood’s career was a rollicking one, including two bail outs where he was too low for his chute to open properly, a time with the French Resistance, and a narrow escape from a Nazi firing squad.