About that Shark mouth on the 151 Jet…
The 371st Fighter Group’s 405th Fighter Squadron “Damn Yankee,” Republic P-47D-16-RE Thunderbolt serial number 42-76099, sports a hungry mouth on its engine cowling – the eye is obscured by propeller blade. The aircraft is pictured here awaiting fuses for 500-lb bombs beneath the wings, likely at Advanced Landing Ground A-6 (Beuzeville Airfield, aka La Londe), near Ste-Mère-Église, France sometime after D-Day in the summer of 1944. This P-47 shows numerous symbols below the cockpit windscreen for bombing, fighter sweeps and top cover missions flown. It served on with the squadron until at least until October 8, 1944 when it was badly damaged in a taxiing accident at Dole/Tavaux Airfield (Y-7), France. (Image via Major Tom Silkowski, 190th Fighter Squadron, Idaho ANG).