There’s a new sheet in the works from Barracudacals that fans and family of the 362nd Fighter Group will enjoy. It has a couple of planes that were on the 1998 IPMS/USA Nationals sheet (George Rarey’s “Damon’s Demon” and the yellow-cowled version of Col. Joe Laughlin’s “5 By 5”), one that was on an Eagle Strike sheet but in an earlier version (Gene Martin’s “Bonnie Lynn,” a later scheme than on his original “Bonnie”) and a couple that have never been done – namely, Wilfred Crutchfield’s “Kentucky Colonel” and Ralph Sallee’s plane. We call Ralph’s plane “Super Rabbit,” although it has no name written on it. And, working with Ralph, we stumbled across one of the hazards of this kind of research.
Ralph sent a photo of the left side of the plane – great for developing profiles or doing decals. But, when we asked him about the names in the crew block, he said he’d check it against the nose art on the RIGHT side of the cowling. That’s right – there was art on both sides of the nose. The right side had a map of the U.S. with “1950” written above it, with the home states of Ralph and his crew colored in and small names and cartoons on them. We’ll have to do a bit of guessing at what they were and how they were colored, but this was truly a uniquely marked airplane.
Ralph sent a couple of photos – I’ll put ‘em up here when the sheet’s done. I’m hoping to have the sheet done by the 362nd FG reunion in October. Thanks, Ralph!
Flat Spins and Milk Runs 