Pappy Boyington livery

[grim_reaper68]

Hi

Could you please add Pappy Boyington liveries. 

[RichCotte]

57 minutes ago, grim_reaper68 said:

Hi

Could you please add Pappy Boyington liveries. 

Are you referring to the "White 86" Lucybelle from the publicity shoot (which he never actually flew) or "White 883" which is one of the aircraft assigned to the squadron that is reportedly the one he flew most often?

[grim_reaper68]

Seems Pappy has got the 740, the 883 and the 86 number

[Andrew8604]

...and pilot-figure models of all these guys!  I'm joking...but it would be cool, at the same time. 

[Saxman]

On 6/20/2025 at 4:26 PM, grim_reaper68 said:

Seems Pappy has got the 740, the 883 and the 86 number

White 86 was a publicity plane that wasn't even part of the squadron pool, but was brought in specifically for that shoot. He sat in it exactly one time for that photo, and never flew it in combat.

The aircraft he's confirmed to have flown are 17740, 17883, and he was shot down flying 17915. Those are the only BuNos I've ever been able to find records for, though he most likely flew others (from what I gather, 883 and 915 were delivered only about a week before he was shot down).

[mytai01]

I believe the actual type Boyington flew was the F4U-1A with the two rail canopy, non-water cooled R2800, and possibly a modified (removed) arrester hook.  

 

 

 

Vought F4U-1A Corsair, BuNo 17883, of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, the commander of VMF-214, Vella Lavella end of 1943

Vella Lavella was occupied by the Empire of Japan in the early stages of the Pacific War. The Land Battle of Vella Lavella was fought between Allied and Japanese forces from 15 August to 6 October 1943. After a landing at Barakoma on 15 August, American troops advanced along the coasts, pushing the Japanese north. In September, New Zealand troops took over from the Americans and they continued to advance across the island, hemming in the small Japanese garrison consisting of 250 Japanese personnel, who were a mix of soldiers evacuated from New Georgia and sailors who had been stranded on the island,^[2] along the north coast. On 6 October, the Japanese began an evacuation operation to withdraw the remaining troops, during which the Naval Battle of Vella Lavella was fought. Following the capture of the island, the Allies developed it into an important airbase that was used in the reduction of the main Japanese base at Rabaul. Subsequently, Barakoma Airfield on Vella Lavella was the home base for VMF-214, the "Black Sheep", led by Gregory "Pappy" Boyington.^[3]

Edited June 29 by mytai01

[Saxman]

53 minutes ago, mytai01 said:

I believe the actual type Boyington flew was the F4U-1A with the two rail canopy, non-water cooled R2800, and possibly a modified (removed) arrester hook.  

 

 

 

Vought F4U-1A Corsair, BuNo 17883, of Gregory "Pappy" Boyington, the commander of VMF-214, Vella Lavella end of 1943

Vella Lavella was occupied by the Empire of Japan in the early stages of the Pacific War. The Land Battle of Vella Lavella was fought between Allied and Japanese forces from 15 August to 6 October 1943. After a landing at Barakoma on 15 August, American troops advanced along the coasts, pushing the Japanese north. In September, New Zealand troops took over from the Americans and they continued to advance across the island, hemming in the small Japanese garrison consisting of 250 Japanese personnel, who were a mix of soldiers evacuated from New Georgia and sailors who had been stranded on the island,^[2] along the north coast. On 6 October, the Japanese began an evacuation operation to withdraw the remaining troops, during which the Naval Battle of Vella Lavella was fought. Following the capture of the island, the Allies developed it into an important airbase that was used in the reduction of the main Japanese base at Rabaul. Subsequently, Barakoma Airfield on Vella Lavella was the home base for VMF-214, the "Black Sheep", led by Gregory "Pappy" Boyington.^[3]

The thing to keep in mind is that Navy and Marine squadrons for the most part didn't have personal aircraft like the USAAF. VF-17 and a few CAG birds were rare exceptions. Pilots flew whatever airframes happened to be available (and in the case of carrier squadrons, whatever order they happened to be spotted on the deck because the crews didn't have time make sure the aircraft were spotted so each pilot got "their" plane).

In the case of the Marines, those aircraft were often not even assigned to a particular squadron. Instead, it was quite common that every squadron at that particular airfield would draw aircraft from the same shared pool. So 17883 may have very well been flown by VMF-214 on one mission, and VMF-124 on the next.

So there was no such thing as "Pappy Boyington's Corsair." Merely Corsairs that happened to be flown in a sortie by Boyington. And as I said before, he's confirmed to have flown sorties in both 740 and 883, and was shot down flying 915.

[mytai01]

Then make liveries for all known aircraft...but, more importantly...make the F4U-1A...

Edited June 29 by mytai01