3393RP
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3393RP
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The pilot in the photo posted below is WWII ace Louis Curdes, who was one of just three pilots in the war to shoot down a German, Italian, and Japanese aircraft. He was also credited with the "kill" of an American C-47 transport in the Pacific.
Curdes was strafing an airstrip on an island that was occupied by the Japanese, and his wingman was shot down and ditched in the ocean. While he circled his wingman, Curdes saw a US Army C-47 setting up for a landing on the island. Unable to raise the other pilot on the radio to warn the crew not to land, he carefully shot out both its engines. The C-47 diched near the raft of his wingman, and Curdes saw the life raft of the C-47 join his wingman's.
Unable to contact rescue aircraft, he returned the next day followed by a PBY Catalina, which landed in the water and rescued the eleven C-47 occupants and his wingman. When they returned to base, Curdes discovered a nurse he had gone out with two days earlier was a passenger on the C-47. They married in 1946, and were together until Curde's death in 1995.
That's why he has a US flag on his aircraft next to the marks signifying his other shootdowns.
There's a replica of his aircraft, Bad Angel, at the Pima Air & Space museum.
.
The pilot in the photo posted below is WWII ace Louis Curdes, who was one of just three pilots in the war to shoot down a German, Italian, and Japanese aircraft. He was also credited with the "kill" of an American C-47 transport in the Pacific.
Curdes was strafing an airstrip on an island that was occupied by the Japanese, and his wingman was shot down and ditched in the ocean. While he circled his wingman, Curdes saw a US Army C-47 setting up for a landing on the island. Unable to raise the other pilot on the radio to warn the crew not to land, he carefully shot out both its engines. The C-47 diched near the raft of his wingman, and Curdes saw the life raft of the C-47 join his wingman's.
Unable to contact rescue aircraft, he returned the next day followed by a PBY Catalina, which landed in the water and rescued the eleven C-47 occupants and his wingman. When they returned to base, Curdes discovered a nurse he had gone out with two days earlier was a passenger on the C-47. They married in 1946, and were together until Curde's death in 1995.
That's why he has a US flag on his aircraft next to the marks signifying his other shootdowns.
There's a replica of his aircraft, Bad Angel, at the Pima Air & Space museum.
.
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