[aaatripp]

To Rick, Tom & others-----

Got it! Thanks for your patience, I finally found the answer to the "mystery a/c" involved in the belly landing picture in History in the Sky.

Here's the remark on this thread from 6 Oct 08:

4. To Rick----found the photo of the belly landing of ARSON'S REWARD. It is at the back of "History in the Sky" compiled by Capt. Arthur F. Brown. It must have been taken within weeks of 9 Aug (when Bud was shot down) due to the # of victories painted on the fuselage. The question would be---was this a/c #44-13948 and was it repaired, or did he receive #44-13948 as a new a/c shortly before he was downed by German a/a fire?

THE ANSWER: Thanks to Steve Blake's great new book on the 354FG, the a/c pictured is a brand new P51-D "Arson's Reward" (a/c# 44-13400) which was delivered to Capt. Wallace N. Emmer, OPSO of 353FS. Within days of delivery the plane was bellied in on 3 Aug 44 by Franklin "Bud" Rose, whose assigned a/c was FT-V "Dream Girl" (after Ed Regis was downed in FT-V "Rigor Mortis" (#42-106897) on 26 April 44). Bud Emmer was downed just 6 days later in another new P-51-D, FT-G "Arson's Reward" (a/c# 44-13948) north of Rouen, France, by a German 88mm AAA shell which hit his fuselage fuel tank (a lucky shot because the flt. had just changed altitude to evade flak).

As another note, there is evidence in other ref. sources that Joseph Sanchez flew a later FT-G (a/c#44-63768) which was lost in action on 30 Mar 45. For those of you curious about Emmer's "Peaceful Penguin" the a/c was listed as #43-6430 (typo, missing a digit) in Blake's book.

Hope that this clarifies your previous question.
Tripp