JOHN FALLIS' N49FG

This P-40N-S, serial number 42-105861, left the Curtiss factory in August, 1943 and was sent to the 5th Air Force in the South West Pacific area. It served and fought with the 49th Fighter Group from August until May of 1944 when it was struck from the US Army Air Corps records and left at an airfield near Dumbu, New Guinea. Dumbu is on the East end of New Guinea and was involved in battles for control of that region against the Japanese forces. It is one of the few remaining P-40s to have actual combat experience, although no specific records for this aircraft have been found other than the Air Force records of its service dates and Fighter Group.

In 1974 it was recovered, along with other aircraft, by a team organized by the late Dave Tallichet and spearheaded by Charles Darby and Monty Armstrong. This airframe, along with several other P-40s and P-39s, was sent to California where it was stored by Tallichet's Military Aircraft Restoration Corporation. Number 105861 was then used as a prop in one of Tallichet's specialty restaurants using aviation themes. Many of the original P-40s missing parts such as tail feathers, cowlings and fairings were replaced by fiberglass.

In 1984 it was removed from the restaurant and donated to Louisiana State University who in turn stored it under Tiger Stadium until a new Louisiana War Memorial Museum was opened in Baton Rouge, featuring the World War II destroyer, the USS Kidd. The Kidd Museum acquired the remains from LSU, cleaned and painted it in the Flying Tigers scheme and hung it in their courtyard under a canopy to display near a statue of Claire Chennault, a Louisiana native.

John Fallis first made a purchase offer for the aircraft in 1997 and, after several rebuffs, finally acquired it after a trade for a replica used in the movie “Tora, Tora,Tora” and a sizable donation to the museum. Ownership came about on New Year's Day, 1998 and after 10 years of restoration the aircraft made its first test flight on Sunday, February 24, 2008.

The aircraft was completely disassembled and most of the sheet metal, along with every rivet, was replaced. This P-40N will once again fly in the colors of the “49'ers” with the N number N49FG. The most likely paint scheme will have the white tail, rudder, stabilizers and leading edge of 7th Fighter Squadron. Other surfaces are olive drab overall except for a blue spinner. Both the 7th “Screaming Demons” and 8th “Black Sheep” FS/49 FG were noted for risqué nose art, so it will be interesting to see what the finished airplane will look like when it arrives in Geneseo.

By Frank Schaufler and Seth Goltzer