Aeromaster 48-393: 4th Fighter Group - the Early Days part IV

The 4th Fighter Group is one of the premier units of the USAAF/USAF and one of the few that are still around and still flying fighters. Based at Seymour-Johnson AFB they are the main operators of the F-15E Strike Eagle.

This unit was the first in country, made up of some pilots fromt he Eagle Squadrons and initially flying Spitfires. Their P-47s were OD over neutral grey and since it had a similar planform to the FW-190, these planes all had white forward cowlings, and stripes on the tailplane flying surfaces. All of these planes had red surround insignia.

All of the options on this sheet are either C models or early Ds. This means that most kits will need some modification. For instance, an additional cowl flap was added during D production which means most kits will need the lower one filled in. These also had no wing racks and generally had a more shallow keel than what is provided with the Tamiya kit.

First up is 'Bevoapabml' flown by Peter Lehman with the 336 FS in January 1944. This is a P-47C-5.

Next is Lee Glover's P-47D-6 'Sondra Lee' with the 336 FS in January 1944 as well.

Finally, we have 'Lilliput', a P-47D-5 with the 334 FS as flown by W.B. Morgan in September 1943.

Decals are nicely printed and my experience with old Aeromaster sheets, this one from 1998, is generally quite good.