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388th Fighter Squadron Founded :
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388th Fighter Squadron
| Aircraft for : 388th Fighter Squadron | |||
| A list of all aircraft known to have been flown by 388th Fighter Squadron. A profile page including a list of all art prints for the aircraft is available by clicking the aircraft name. | |||
| Squadron | Info | ||
Production Began : 1943 Number Built : 15683 | Thunderbolt Alexander Kartveli was a engineer with Seversky Aircraft who designed the P-35, which first flew in 1937. With Republic Aviation Kartveli supervised the development of the P-43 Lancer. Neither of these aircraft were produced in large numbers, and neither was quite successful. However, the Republic Aviation P-47 Thunderbolt, also nicknamed the Jug, was quite a different story. The Jug was the jewel in Kartvelis design crown, and went on to become one of the most produced fighter aircraft of all time with 15,683 being manufactured. The P-47 was the largest and heaviest single seat fighter of WW II. The P-47 immediately demonstrated its excellent combat qualities, including speed, rate of climb, maneuverability, heavy fire power, and the ability to take a lot of punishment. With a wingspan of more than 40 feet and a weight of 19,400 pounds, this large aircraft was designed around the powerful 2000 HP Pratt and Whitney R-2800 Double Wasp radial engine. The first P-47 prototype flew in May of 1941, and the primary variant the P-47D went into service in 1943 with units of the U.S. Armys Eighth Air Force. The Jug had a maximum speed in excess of 400 MPH, a service ceiling in excess of 42,000 feet, and was heavily armed with either six or eight heavy caliber machine guns. With its ability to carry up to a 2,500 pound bomb load, the Jug saw lots of use in ground attack roles. Until the introduction of the N model, the P-47 lacked the long range required for fighter escort missions which were most often relegated to P-51 Mustangs or P-38 Lightnings. In his outstanding painting entitled Bridge Busting Jugs, noted aviation artist Stan Stokes depicts Eighth Air Force Jugs in a ground attack mission in the Alps in June of 1944. The top P-47 ace was Francis Gabreski who had flown with the 56th Fighter Group, the first unit to be equipped with the P-47. In August of 1943 Gabreski attained his first aerial combat victory (over an Fw-190) and by years end he had reached ace status with 8 confirmed victories. As Commander of the 61st Squadron, Gabreski continued to chalk up victory after victory, and on seven different occasions he achieved two victories during the same mission. However, in July of 1944 Gabreski damaged the prop on his Jug during a low level attack on an airfield near Coblenz. Forced to make a crash landing, he was captured and remained a prisoner of war until Wars end in 1945. Following the War Gabreski returned to military service with the Air Forces 4th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in Korea. Flying the F-86 Sabre Jet, Gabreski attained 6.5 more aerial victories in 1951 and 1952 becoming an ace in two different wars | ||
| Signatures for : 388th Fighter Squadron | ||
| A list of all signatures from our database who are associated with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking their name. | ||
| Name | Info | |
 1st Lieutenant Lavern R Alcorn Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by 1st Lieutenant Lavern R Alcorn | 1st Lieutenant Lavern R Alcorn Joining the Hell Hawks just after D-Day he was shot down by ground fire over occupied Falaise in August but with the help of French civilians evaded capture and returned to his unit. He finished the war with 79 combat missions and scored two aerial victories in April 1945. | |
 1st Lieutenant Jay A Harrington Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by 1st Lieutenant Jay A Harrington | 1st Lieutenant Jay A Harrington Flying from March 1944 opne of his first missions was the hit on the marshalling yard at Haiger. He flew missions on D-Day, the major strike on St Lo and throughout the advance from Normandy to the final days in Germany up to the end of the war. | |
 Lieutenant Colonel Ralph F Kling Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by Lieutenant Colonel Ralph F Kling | Lieutenant Colonel Ralph F Kling Joining the 365th in May 1944 he flew over D-Day and Normandy shooting down an Me109 on 2nd July. His luck ran out in September when he was hit while strafing and bailed out of his burning P-47 Poppie. He was captured becoming a POW at Stalag Luft III. | |
 Lieutenant Colonel Archie F Maltbie DFC Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by Lieutenant Colonel Archie F Maltbie DFC | Lieutenant Colonel Archie F Maltbie DFC Flying with the Hell Hawks from May 1944 he was forced to bail out in August after shooting down an Me109 which exploded. Evading capture he returned to the unit. As well as ground attack missions he also downed a Ju88 on 15th March 1945. | |
 Lieutenant Colonel William H McChessney Jr DFC Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by Lieutenant Colonel William H McChessney Jr DFC | Lieutenant Colonel William H McChessney Jr DFC One of the original pilots of the Hell Hawks, joining in August 1943, he flew two sorties on D-Day, Market Garden, Bastogne and Operation Bodenplatte in his P-47 Judy Ann. He finished the war with 121 combat missions and a Ju88 destroyed. | |
 Lieutenant Colonel Carl R Riggs Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by Lieutenant Colonel Carl R Riggs | Lieutenant Colonel Carl R Riggs From November 1944 until the end of the war he completed 56 combat missions including the Battle of the Bulge and on 1st January 1945 was wounded during the Luftwaffe attack of Operation Bodenplatte but returned to combat shortly after. | |
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