P-61 Night Fighter A-2

This is a Bronco 1761, which I believe is one of the last A-2 contracts. The pilot is Al Jones and this was a symposium at the Museum of Flight in Seattle this last Saturday. As you can see, the cuffs are missing and Al said they were pretty bad so he cut them off. Other than that, the jacket is all original. You can see the three German swastikas on the back for his three victories. One Stuka, one Ju-88 and one Me-410. The Stuka victory was while flying a Beaufighter in the RAF before he transferred to the AAF.

P-61 pilot A-2s are rare, so I was gushing pretty good when he let me take pictures of it.

Stony said:

This is a Bronco 1761, which I believe is one of the last A-2 contracts.

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What a great jacket, 1761 is the last A-2 contract ... and he must be one of the smaller sizes.

Thanks for taking the effort to get some shots of it Stony, and nice that the Owner can still wear it and that he's still going to parties.

Not that i'd ever like to see it for sale but i just wonder what kind of price that would fetch...

Very cool Stony. Did Al say which NFS he flew with? P-61 crew are a rare breed having flown combat mostly at night. A couple weeks ago I met a crew (pilot and r/o) that flew with the 422 NFS which was a pretty distinguished squadron having quite a few firsts for a night combat outfit. Check out how young the pilot looked in this photo. These cats were really fun to talk with and had a ton of stories about the black widow and flying at night. Have to admit I have a special interest in NFS since my dad flew night combat in Korea.



Here's a short bio on the 422nd:
The primary aircraft for the 422 NFS was the Northrop P-61 Black Widow, which it flew in the European Theater of Operations. Between March 1944 and September 1945 the 422 NFS was stationed at various locations throughout England, France, Belgium, and Germany.
The Green Bats established a combat record unmatched by any other night fighter squadron in World War II. Noteworthy firsts of the 422 Night Fighter Squadron included: first Night Fighter Squadron to be operational in the European Theater of Operations; first to fly the P-61 in the European Theater; first U.S. Night Fighter Squadron to achieve a kill; first to bring down a buzz bomb; first with three kills in one night, by one crew; first to carry bombs; first night fighter ace team; and most night fighter kills in the U.S. Army Air Force. The 422 NFS was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation and the Fourragere of the Belgium Croix de Guerre for action during the Battle of the Bulge.

Any one interested in the P-61 should try and visit Reading, PA where they're restoring a P-61 back to flying condition. It'll be the only black widow flying in the world when completed. Very cool!

Grant said:

Very cool Stony. Did Al say which NFS he flew with?

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Looks like it was one of the units in Italy. When I'm home at lunch today I'll grab the one P-61 book I have and see if I can identify that squadron patch.

~Swing

wowwwwwwwwwwww

many thankssssss

great photos

the back paint is splendid

can you imagine the feeling of this man, wearing proudly his jacket.

by the way, i like this way to cut the knits; it's another look.
and if i remember well i already saw period photo of jacket like this.

thanks for sharing

byeeeeeee marcel

Very cool! Great to see him still enjoying the jacket. Thanks for showing it.

Swing said:

Grant said:

Very cool Stony. Did Al say which NFS he flew with?

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Looks like it was one of the units in Italy. When I'm home at lunch today I'll grab the one P-61 book I have and see if I can identify that squadron patch.

~Swing

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414th NFS

byeeeee marcel

try this link, and visit the archives

i remember i already present this link and also photos some months ago

http://www.google.be/imgres?imgurl=http ... 4Qaz99HiCw

byeeeeeee marcel

Cool jacket (MOD), cool plane, cool squadron and even cooler pilot! Thanks a lot Stony!!

P-61 pilot with a Capri bell.

I will call Al and ask him for more details about his squadron, etc. He also had some original photos of when he flew with the RAF in the Beaufighter. He lives about 3-4 miles from me and we have a tentative date to go golfing.

Stony said:

I will call Al and ask him for more details about his squadron, etc. He also had some original photos of when he flew with the RAF in the Beaufighter. He lives about 3-4 miles from me and we have a tentative date to go golfing.

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oupsssss sorry

sorry i think i was in the PM section


disreagarddddddddd

Very cool thanks Stony.

Wow, you were lucky to get to meet him!

Jealous...

We got to see the P-61 (and donate toward its restoration) at this year's WWII weekend. A picture:

Grant said:

Any one interested in the P-61 should try and visit Reading, PA where they're restoring a P-61 back to flying condition. It'll be the only black widow flying in the world when completed. Very cool!

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Hey Stony any word yet on the "signature" from Al ????
Johnny
[email protected]

Hate to bug you but my buddy sent me the cards and am hoping we can work this out soon, thanks and have a great weekend !

Hey Stony any word yet on the "signature" from Al ????
Johnny
[email protected]

Hate to bug you but my buddy sent me the cards and am hoping we can work this out soon, thanks and have a great weekend !
Hey Stony any word yet on the "signature" from Al ????
Johnny
[email protected]

Hate to bug you but my buddy sent me the cards and am hoping we can work this out soon, thanks and have a great weekend !

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I sent Al an email, but haven't heard back from him yet.

O.K. thanks dude, I'll wait for your reply then..................
Johnny

I just talked to Al on the phone and he said "OK" to signing your cards. However, these are for personal use only and there will be no signing of multiples. Go ahead and PM me and I'll send you my mailing address.

Cheers,

Stony

At Reading I noticed more than a few ass holes asking vets to sign multiple copies of books, posters and photos. They were obviously dealers out to make a buck on these guys.