jankees Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 As the result of correspondence between two armourers of No. 4 Servicing Unit at Ondonga, on New Georgia in the Solomon Islands, and a pen-friend who was a tuberculosis patient at Christchurch Hospital in New Zealand named Gloria Lyons, it was decided to adopt her as a unit mascot. At that time 4 (SU) aircraft carried code letters, so one P-40N-1, NZ3148 coded 'G', was duly christened 'Gloria Lyons', and this name was painted on the lower engine cowls. Gloria1 (0006) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr Gloria 3 (0001) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr Gloria1 (0003) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr After this aircraft was written off due to a crash landing on February 9th, 1944, another candidate was found in NZ3167 ( This a/c has often been listed as having been NZ3188), a P-40N-5 that was also sign written with the name. This aircraft was also to be written off (two weeks later) after being hit by enemy ground fire while on a strafing mission to northern Bougainville on May 17th, 1944. The pilot, F.O. Charlie Woods, who co-incidentally was involved in the loss of the first 'Gloria Lyons', was forced to bail out into the sea. A third P-40 (an N-20), NZ3220, was selected as the next candidate, and was duly marked. The cumulative scores and missions of the three 'Gloria Lyons' P-40s were painted on the fuselage of NZ3220. These were 55 Yellow bomb symbols representing strike missions, and two and a half Japanese flags representing victories over enemy aircraft. Gloria 3 (0003) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr Gloria 3 (0002) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr Gloria 3 (0001) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr When it returned to New Zealand in late 1944, it was repainted in the Foliage Green/(NZ) Sky Gray scheme, but the markings were retained. Somehow it escaped being scrapped and was sold to John Smith, a collector, who stored on his farm in Mapua. After his death last year, it was discovered as a barn find, together with a Tiger Moth, P-51, a Mosquito and another P-40. She is currently undergoing restoration. As a footnote, the fourth and last 'Gloria Lyons' was an F4U-1A, NZ5233, which was written off after a landing accident at Torokina on June 15th, 1944. Slapping paint on flightsim models you'll find all my FSX/P3D repaints here and all my MSFS repaints here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillD22 Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 Outstanding liveries, series of shots, and fascinating historical note although the "Gloria" name seems to have been an unlucky one for all but the last aircraft!:cool::cool::cool::cool::D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peer01 Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 Great paints, story and pics JK :cool::cool::cool: [sIGPIC][/sIGPIC] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NMLW Posted December 17, 2022 Share Posted December 17, 2022 Nice history of the P-40s. Fine job on the paints and pics. :cool: :cool: :) Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jankees Posted December 18, 2022 Author Share Posted December 18, 2022 and why not add the Corsair as well? F4U Gloria (0006) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr F4U Gloria (0002) by JanKees Blom, on Flickr Slapping paint on flightsim models you'll find all my FSX/P3D repaints here and all my MSFS repaints here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rupert Posted December 19, 2022 Share Posted December 19, 2022 Great Gloria shots and a wonderful history lesson as well. Thank You! Michael Being an old chopper guy I usually fly low and slow. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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