Vincennes Posted June 29, 2018 Share #1 Posted June 29, 2018 I am doing some research on Oklahoma National Guard and Air National Guard P-51 (or F-51) Mustangs and I have run into a problem with tail numbers. I attach two photos of Oklahoma City and Tulsa NG (or ANG) Mustangs.The tail number on the OKC Mustangs (at Norman) follows the normal convention. They read 511368 and 511639 meaning the serial numbers are 45-11368 and 45-11639. If you look up those numbers on Joe Baughar's web page those are both P-51D Mustangs. OK, no problem there.But the tail number on the Tulsa Mustang is 44393, so the serial number should be 44-4393. But if you look up that number on Joe Baughar's web page it says it belongs to a Bell P-63C-5-BE Kingcobra. Obviously the Tulsa plane is not a Kingcobra.So what gives?Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted June 29, 2018 Share #2 Posted June 29, 2018 When you look at Baughar's list look at the production number blocks as listed to see if 44-4393 falls into a block of P-51's or P-63's. What Baughar has compiled is complicated and has taken decades to compile. Errors due happen. Send your photo to him for clarification. . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted June 29, 2018 Share #3 Posted June 29, 2018 P-63LongBeach P-63C (RP-63C) serial 44-4393, NX62822 survived a string of owners and spent most of its career with an all-red paint scheme, chromed spinner and clipped wingtips, and a large race number "28" on her aft fuselage. By 1990 she was flying with Stephen Grey's collection in a pseudo-Soviet paint scheme when she was written off in a fatal accident 4 June in France. So, Baughar's list is correct. The issue now is what is up with Ok ANG? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted June 29, 2018 Share #4 Posted June 29, 2018 I have run that tail number as 45-44393, 44-44393, 43-44393, 42-44393, 54-3939...nothing. How OK ANG came up with that number is beyond me. Ask Baughar. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincennes Posted June 29, 2018 Author Share #5 Posted June 29, 2018 P-59A; If no one can figure the problem out on this page I will contact Joe Baughar to see if he can shed any light on the problem with the Tulsa ANG Mustang tail number. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-59A Posted June 29, 2018 Share #6 Posted June 29, 2018 Paul, I have been wreck hunting crash sites for 20 years. I have used Baughar's list as a touch stone the whole time. The list is good, It may have flaws in details, but nothing major. I have been to a few P/F-51 crash sites and have some other books I can dig up, but I ran the numbers as I would in a primary search of a tail number. They came back as T-6, B-25, B-24 P-63 and B-29. Nothing in the block above or below was a P-51. I even looked for any conversions that may have been done in the 50's...Nothing. I am sure he has an answer for your problem, go straight to the horses mouth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincennes Posted November 19, 2020 Author Share #7 Posted November 19, 2020 I am still working on this problem. When I emailed Joe Baugher in July, 2018 I got this reply: "Might be 44-14393, but I am only guessing. Joe Baugher". That is a North American P-51D-10-NA Mustang, but that numbering system seems weird. I also contacted the OKNG Air Base Public Affairs in Tulsa and after an initial reply my next email from them said: "Nothing yet, still working resources. Hopefully someday :)" I have not heard back. Anybody got any new ideas? Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vincennes Posted March 29, 2021 Author Share #8 Posted March 29, 2021 FINALLY : THE SOLUTION I consulted Jeff Wilkinson who worked with the OK ANG wing historian many years ago to piece together a history of the aircraft the OK ANG had operated. They had several Mustangs with the "44-7xxxx" serial numbers that flew between 1947 and 1949, until replaced with the photo-recon version. The tail marking they used for the 44-7xxxx aircraft was the last digit of the year (4) then the last 4 digits of the serial number (4393). In the picture above, the number on the tail is 44393. But that made the entire serial number 44-74393. If you look that up in Baugher's list it is a North American P-51D-30-NA Mustang. I would never have figured out the number without Jeff's input. Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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