anyone know how to find the pilot who flew this P-47D in the MTO?

[oldcrowcv63]

I attended the National Aviation Day at the Weight Brother's Memorial yesterday and there was a big RC a/c expo going on. I took this photo of a RC P-47 and asked the builder if he had the name of the pilot, squadron and group. He hasn't told me the squadron or Group yet but he does have that info. What he lacks is the name of the pilot. Any ideas I can pass on? He says the plane was flown out of an allied airbase near Pisa, Italy.

 

[mhuxt]

Best I can do is 527FS, 86FG. Seems to be a "much modelled" aircraft though, some have it with 4 kills.

Unit homepage here, might have something hidden away...

War Diary

 

[oldcrowcv63]

Thanx Mhuxt! Appreciate the info.

 

[stona]

I asked my friend Nigel Julian about this very aircraft a few years ago. Here's what he had to say in 2010.


"Rabbit" of the 527th FS is one of those P-47's that appears regularly on flight sim skins, decal sheets and there's also a diecast model of it around. However, I've not yet been able to find a photo of the actual aircraft. It must be a case of not seeing the wood for the trees, as for decals to be produced etc there must be photos of at least the nose art knocking around the web. That's assuming of course, your asking about the bubbletop. There was a razorback named Rabbit which was flown by Manuel Pidcock of the 527th FS.
As always, don't rely on a colour profile to be correct. Its merely a representation of what the aircraft "could" have looked like unless its based on a series of photos of the actual aircraft.
Some general details regarding the 527th FS,86th FG P-47's
Red ring on the forward part of the cowling and possible red cowling fins also.
Anti glare stripe would have been olive drab.
Squadron number is reported as being "88" and this would have been black. Red and white bands on the empennage. Late war there are photos of 86th FG aircraft with just red bands over nmf.
Neatness of application of these bands varied, with the aim of keeping aircraft flying operations ranking over artistic preferences.
Various sources list Rabbit as being a D-25 or D-27 model. Both these batches were factory fitted with the Hamilton propeller, which may have had its hub painted red in the case of Rabbit.
I wouldn't be surprised to find that Rabbit carried the 527th squadron emblem on its starboard cowling.
Rabbit, like Jawbone, is usually listed as being unidentified. This is due to the groups signature red and white bands being painted over the serial number on the rudder. However, this number was usually repainted further forward on the fuselage, and this enabled identification of "Jawbone" when the son of one of the pilots sent in some photos to P-47 Heaven last year.

It might be worth enquiring on his SIG (P-47 Heaven) to see if any more is known today.

Cheers

Steve