[John P]

Sometime in 1944, my Dad volunteered to join a flight of lend-lease P-39s on the way to Russia. He could never remember the exact date, but it had to be after March 1944, since that's when he got his fighter pilot's wings. While over the Med, he says, a Macchi 200 attacked the formation. Where it came from and what it was doing there, nobody knows. Dad shot it down, and when his flight landed, he took a Jeep to find the wreck.

He shipped the top cowling section home to his folks! It's been hanging in the (leaky) garage ever since.

After years of "trying to get around to" building a Macchi 200, I finally finished Pacific Coast's 1/32 scale one. So here it is on top of that (severely weathered) cowling! (The bullet holes are NOT all from the shoot-down - several GIs decided to use it for target practice after Dad got it back to base):

The event is something I wish I could find out more about, but no records were saved, and Dad couldn't remember particulars. Oh well.

Anybody building a full size MC.200? Got a cowl for ya!

 

[John P]

bump.

 

[beeblebrox]

That is very cool, John. :thumbsup:

 

[Guest]

Excellent finished model plus a wee slice of personal history thrown in, can't go wrong with that methinks :thumbsup:

Very nicely done sir !

Go easy

 

[miniature sun]

Fantastic John, but never mind a full size one....how about a tiny one to sit on the cowl of the 1/32nd one!
Seriously though your work just keeps getting better.

 

[John P]

Aaaaand, the official "scrapbook" entry for my website:

http://www.inpayne.com/

(click the first line in "Latest Changes")

 

[The-Nightsky]

JOHN THATS fRAKKIN AWESOME!!!!!!Talk about a conversation peice!! :thumbsup:

 

[rokket2001]

Wow! Very col! Great model, great history, great combo! Way to go!

 

[machine shop to]

Way cool bit of real history with a personal connection to it!

to(m)

 

[KUROK]

John, that is something special!
Are you saying your dad shot down a Macchi with a P-39?
It's my understanding the P-39 didn't do much in that part of the world except get shot down. Was he in his P-47???

 

[John P]

No, he was part a flight of P-39s being delivered to Russia as Lend Lease aircraft. They flew from Richmond, Virginia, to Newfoundland, Iceland, and Southern France, to Rome, where the Russian pilots would pick them up. In France, the planes’ guns were armed up in case they ran into trouble. On the last leg of the flight, a group of Italian fighters attacked them, and Dad nailed a Macchi.

I've told this is "improbable" because the MC.200 was totally obsolete by 1944 and replaced with MC.202s and 205s. And yet, here's the evidence! Not mention Italy had surrendered long before mid-1944! Very confusing, and Dad could never remember dates and details enough to fill in the blanks.

 

[Griffworks]

Meh, I don't care 'bout the historical perfection of the piece. I know what I like and like your display, John. Pretty kewel!

 

[The-Nightsky]

Naw....If I remember correctly after Italy Surrendered there were still "Factions" fighting against the Allies.So it is indeed probabale and due to the evidence put forth it is factual.

 

[Roguepink]

Beautiful model, John, and a great piece of history to go with it. Well done.

 

[ilbasso]

Great display! Displays such as yours are a very powerful way to honor the history of the piece and to remind us that we are in fact modeling REAL things!

I just got a surprise in today's mail - a package from my son who's a pilot in the Army in Afghanistan. He sent me this lovely presentation of a flag that was flown on a recent combat mission where he was the pilot. It's the perfect backdrop as I work on my 1/35 Blackhawk - which will have the same aircraft number as the one he flew in this mission.

 

[John P]

Nifty!!