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Re: New Picture of Captured P-38?
Ok, I'll give two reasons why I think this is the P-38 captured by the Italian A/F.
When you blow up the picture, you can barely see the Star insignia on the top of the left wing. This is the early insignia ,with just a white star on a blue background, without the white bars that were added
In February of 1943, one national insignia was removed from the upper right and lower left wing surfaces. This P-38 has no markings on the upper right wings
In June - September 1943: It was determined that the shape of the insignia was an important distinguishing feature, so a horizontal stripe was placed in the background with a thin red outline. This P-38 has no horizontal stripe.
All this points to a P-38 in the Feb-June 1943 timeframe,which is when the P-38 landed on Sardinia. If the SM-79 was in the post Sept 43 (AKA after the Italian surrender) time frame, the P-38 would have different markings
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