Lieutenant Colonel Louis Houck, from Todd, North Carolina, enlisted in July 1940 and served as a pilot with the 365th Fighter Group of the Ninth Air Force, also known as the “Hell Hawks.” Houck was commander of the 387th Squadron from May 1943 until October 1944.

Houck wore his customized devil's helmet on missions over Europe, flying his P-47, “The Screamin' Weamie.” The nose art of his plane depicted a demon brandishing a pitchfork. Despite his extravagant appearance he was described by a group member as quiet, introverted and respected.

In 1944 Houck was responsible for almost entirely destroying a retreating German convoy in France. The convoy had been transporting gasoline and ammunition and its smoking wreckage was captured on camera shortly afterwards. Lieutenant Colonel Louis T. Houck destroyed destroyed 90% of this convoy in one pass somewhere in France.

After the war Louis relocated to Pleasant Valley, New York. He passed away on July 24, 2004 at the age of 87. Lieutenant Colonel Louis Talmadge Houck lies in rest at Arlington National Cemetery. Lest We Forget.

On August 20, 1945, during the end of WW2, Charles H. Zimmerman wanted to achieve the ultimate U.S. carrier-based fighter, leading him to create the Vought XF5U (also nicknamed The Flying Flapjack) it was the successor of the wooden V-173 (Flying Pancake), the XF5U feature 2 × Pratt & Whitney R-2000-7 radial piston engines with massive 16 foot diameter propellers, it was estimated to have a top speed of 425 mph and due to its aerodynamic efficient high-lift disc design it could have theoretically take off at low speeds of 40 mph and theoretically out-turn most fighters during low altitude dogfights, allowing for quicker takeoffs and engagements, it featured 6 × 50. Caliber machine guns, but some variants were designed to have 4 × 20 autocannons and can carry 2 × 1,000 pound underwing bombs but ultimately, it never flew due to severe propeller vibration issues, significant development delays, and shifting post-war military priorities leading to the project being canceled in March 17, 1947

ORIGINAL CAPTION: "Crew chief S/Sgt Gerald Bentley of Gainesville, Texas, inspects the oil lines on a North American P-51 at an 8th Air Force base somewhere in England. Underneath is assistant maintenance chief T/Sgt Paul A. Fick of Fremont, Ohio, who is checking the hydraulic pump."

NARA 342-C-K-002110_001

One of several Blenheim photos from the IWM archive. Photo by Flt. Lt Bertrand John Henry Daventry, Royal Air Force official photographer

Source

Sgt. Joseph T. Sipkovsky ASN: 35029797 (72nd Liaison Squadron (??) of Lorain Ohio, inspects German Me 109 fighter plane.

Source:NARA

• Fairchild XF-1/YF-1/F-1A former Fairchild 71 passenger and cargo aircraft later C-8/C-8A
• Beechcraft F-2/F-2A former Beechcraft Model B18S nine passsenger variant and UC-45
• Douglas XF-3/F-3A former A-20A and A-20J/K Havocs
• Lockheed F-4/F-4A former P-38E/F Lightnings
• Lockheed F-5A to F-5G former P-38G to P-38L

43-12102 was the 10th production P-51B-1-NA which became the testbed for the bubble canopy that would be fitted to the P-51D and later variants. Some notable features of it's lineage of being a P-51B is that the wing is clearly the earlier variant with a different wing root and has the flush 4 gun setup rather than the slightly protruding 6 guns that the later D had.

Also, as far as I'm aware by the time of the bubbletop P-47s and P-51s, production had switched to bare-metal rather than camouflage, and the green bubbletops seen in the ETO in 1944 were largely painted at a squadron level with US or RAF paints (whichever was available) particularly in the lead-up and during the invasion of France.

inb4 'that's a P-51D' comments