Brewster Buffalo News

On Mon, 07 Apr 2008 11:11:09 -0400, Dan wrote:

When the aircraft is the sole surviving example I think it's proper
to restore it to as close to flyable as possible. I think it makes a
better presentation for those who aren't heavily into aviation history
to visualize

When BW-372 was at Pensacola and on track for restoration (before
hurricane damage to the museum put the Brewster on the back burner)
there was talk of giving it two paint jobs. It would be a USN F2A on
one side (presumably the starboard or right side, tee hee) and a
Finnish Air Force fighter on the other side.

Given that the FAF used a bent-leg cross, the hakaristi I think it is,
as its recognition signal, this would have given American viewers with
some slight knowledge of World War Two the astonishment of seeing the
same plane with an American star on one flank and an apparent swastika
on the other.

But that won't happen for the present. The Finns aren't going to
restore the plane. They're going to put it back together and protect
it from further deterioration, bless them. What a shame this didn't
start five years ago!


Blue skies! -- Dan Ford

Claire Chennault and His American Volunteers, 1941-1942
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