On September 13th, 1943 1Lt. Joel Thorvaldson of the 8th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter
Group was behind the stick of P-40N 42-104977 when he was shot down during a fight with
Jap fighters in the vicinity of Tsili Tsili Airfield, New Guinea. Thorvaldson was able to belly
her in AOK near Finschhafen, but the ship burned when a flare Thorvaldson fired to attract
the attention of friendly aircraft set the grass in the field ablaze. Thorvaldson made it back
to his outfit within about a week's time, but the remains of 42-104977 stayed put in that field
in New Guinea for more than sixty years before they were recovered in late 2004/early 2005.

(A more complete account of this incident will be presented here in the future.)


Here's the original 42-104977 while in service with the 49th Fighter Group.
This same photo appears in 'Protect & Avenge - The 49th Fighter Group in WWII'.

Here's the caption from that book:

"New P-40N of 8FS 2Lt Merle Wolfe, aircraft #40 sn 2104977, flown to Marilinan Bay."


The Unawriter's Lair - Larger Image

Australian Mike Spaulding obtained the wreckage of 42-104977 and incorporated parts
from the wreck into a P-40N build that he was working on, also lending 42-104977's identity
to the project. The completed ship first took to the air in late 2008 and was finished in
markings that were loosely representative of a Kittyhawk flown by 80 Squadron RAAF.

This is apparently all that was left of the original 42-104977.


Posted by 'gizmo60' on the Ubisoft Forums


Posted by 'gizmo60' on the Ubisoft Forums


Posted by 'gizmo60' on the Ubisoft Forums

Here's a shot showing the Hawk in the late stages of assembly. See more HERE...


Found on Mapio (Photographer Unknown) - Larger Image

The 'new' 42-104977 as flown by Mike Spaulding, seen at Bundaberg Airport in 2011.


Wal Nelowkin photo - Larger Image

The Hawk suffered a gear collapse upon landing at Mareeba Airport the following August
but was repaired and was flown by Spaulding for a few more years before he sold the aircraft
to John Davis of Englewood, Colorado in 2014. Davis refinished the aircraft in a dark green
over gray paint scheme adorned with a sharkmouth and the name 'Five x Five', and held on to
the Hawk for only a couple'a years before selling her in 2018 to Thom Richard of Kissimmee,
Florida where she currently resides. Richard kept the paint job largely intact, altering only
minor details, adding the AVG 'flying tiger', and renaming the ship 'American Dream'.

Here's the Hawk as flown by John Davis, named 'Five x Five', captured at
Centennial Airport, Colorado in August of 2016 by Paul Gordon.
See more of Paul's photos HERE...


Paul Gordon photo - Larger Image

While still down in Australia, the Hawk had been modified to a dual-control configuration, and
Thom Richard flies the ship as part of his Warbird Adventures flight school and air museum, not
only offering casual rides as well as more thrilling 'take the stick for a few minutes' flights, but
also providing full-blown flying instruction for pilots who wanna learn to fly a WWII fighter.

Posted on TripAdvisor by Paul S. - Larger Image

I don't normally put an image on the same web-page twice, but I make an exception here
because this is a rather significant point which seems to have been overlooked by some.

This photo adds a bit of mud to some already murky waters. P-40N 42-104977 is often
associated with the names 'Punkins' and '(Mister) Five by Five', as well as with the plane-
in-group number '55', presumably because of a wartime photo that shows Joel Thorvaldson
with a P-40 that carries those names and that number. Problem is, the P-40 in that photo is
a P-40E, not a P-40N, and therefore is not 42-104977. Also, despite its association with the
number '55', 42-104977 is identified in 'Protect & Avenge' as being "aircraft #40". The P-40N
flown by Sammy Pierce, named 'Kay the Strawberry Blonde' on the left side of the nose, and
'Haileah Wolf' on the right, wore #55. Ships were sometimes reassigned and/or renumbered
for various reasons, and it's possible that 42-104977 was renumbered at some point. But if
Pierce's #55 was still around when Thorvaldson was shot down on September 13th, 1943, then
42-104977 most likely did not carry the number '55'. And now we finally come to the name
shown in this photo: 'Wilkie's Wonder', which may possibly be a reference to the 1940
Republican nominee for President of the United States of America, Wendell Willkie.

Regardless of the name's significance, its presence on 42-104977's 'bathtub' makes it
clear that the long-held association between 42-104977 and the names 'Punkins', '(Mister)
Five by Five', and the number '55' is quite likely invalid. More digging is required...


Posted by 'gizmo60' on the Ubisoft Forums

Mike Spaulding and 'BU-B' depart Mareeba Airfield, August of 2010.


Cyril Head photo - Larger Image See more of Cyril's photos HERE...

This pair of photos was taken by Dave White at the Wide Bay
International Airshow in August of 2011. See more of Dave's photos HERE...


Dave White photo - Larger Image


Dave White photo - Larger Image

The following three photos of 'American Dream' were taken by Hugh Dodson at
Sun'n Fun in April of 2019. See more of Hugh's photos HERE...


Hugh Dodson photo - Larger Image


Hugh Dodson photo - Larger Image


Hugh Dodson photo - Larger Image

These next three were taken by Christopher Murkin at
Oshkosh in July of 2019. See more of Christopher's photos HERE...


Christopher Murkin photo - Larger Image


Christopher Murkin photo - Larger Image


Christopher Murkin photo - Larger Image

Some more shots from Oshkosh 2019, by 'shelbj7w1' on Flickr.
See more from 'Shelb' HERE...


Photo by 'shelbj7w1' - Larger Image


Photo by 'shelbj7w1' - Larger Image


Photo by 'shelbj7w1' - Larger Image


Photo by 'shelbj7w1' - Larger Image


Photo by 'shelbj7w1' - Larger Image

These next three photos were taken by Mike Fizer and included in an online article
written for AOPA Pilot by Barry Schiff. See that article and more of Mike's photos HERE.


Mike Fizer photo - Larger Image


Mike Fizer photo - Larger Image


Mike Fizer photo - Larger Image

A shot of the rear cockpit, from a great article that can be found
in a few places around the interwebz. Here's one of 'em...


Anthony Hayes photo - Larger Image

A couple'a randoms from around the net, thrown in just 'cuz I likes-em.


Posted by 'PhotoCouple' on Trip Advisor - Larger Image


Chad Oneil Myers photo - Larger Image

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