Strana 53
42-46285, Lt. John Miller, 7
th
FS, 49
th
FG, Dobodura, New Guinea, summer 1943
Capt. James G. Curl, 66
th
FS, 57
th
FG, Tunisia, April 1943
This aircraft, named Typhoon McGoon, became
a “servant of two masters” when Lt. Claude
Kinsley first flew it and John Miller later took
over. Kinsley first had a little monkey wearing
a flight helmet painted on the nose and later
added a name inspired by Al Cap’s comic strip
Li’l Abner, which featured a colorful character
named Earthquake McGoon. As he himself noted
in one of his letters, most of his colleagues
named their planes after girlfriends or wives,
and since he didn’t have any at the time, he
decided on something different. Before the
monkey was painted, the previous nose art
was apparently painted over with green color.
The aircraft also gradually showed signs of
repairs and underwent some marking changes.
The panel in front of the root of the left wing
was painted with a fresher shade of Olive Drab,
followed by a touch-up in a different (darker)
shade of green beneath the tactical number
16 which was later reshaped. During summer
1943, when Miller took over the aircraft, the
letter “K” was added, presumably to quickly
distinguish these older aircraft from the newly
delivered P-40Ns.
James Gardner Curl was born on December 8,
1919, in Columbus, Ohio. After his enlistment
and pilot training he was sent to North Africa
as a pilot of 66
th
FS. He later led this squadron
until his move to 52
nd
FG in early 1944. There he
changed Warhawk for Mustang and led 2
nd
FS.
On April 18, 1943, the 57th Fighter Group made
its name in the aerial battle which is known
today as The Palm Sunday Massacre. On that
day forty-six Warhawks with RAF Spitfires
flying top cover swept in with blazing guns.
Junkers transports, with troops and supplies on
board, blew up in midair or crash-landed. Allied
pilots claimed 75 planes destroyed, including
58 of Ju-52’s and 15 Bf 109s and 110s plus two
Italian fighters. The formation of 47 Warhawks
of 57
th
FG was let by Capt. James Curl flying
his personal Warhawk named Buckeye Blitz.
He himself shot down two Ju 52s and one Bf 109.
He also damaged two more Ju 52s. Next day he
was promoted to Major rank. On March 19, 1945,
Maj. Curl’s P-51D (44-14474) was hit by Flak
during a strafing mission on the Schwabstadl
airfield from where Me 262 were operating. Low
altitude and high speed made bail out impossible
and Curl crashed and died.
KITS 08/2026
INFO Eduard
53
August 2026