* = FT-363 note:

"I was just reading the information that you have on your "every man a tiger" website. I have been doing some research into RF80a FT-363, which my grandfather AMN 3rd Class James Petersen was a crew chief on at Kimpo 1952-1953.

Your website under plane categories lists FT-363 with unknown name, pilot, and tail color. I don't know all of this information, but I do know that the plane was not named, and that the tail color was the yellow stripe (C-flight). It survived the war and was shipped back to the US and used as a training aircraft. It was unfortunately involved in a 2 plane crash either in New Mexico or Oklahoma and destroyed in 1974. Also - and I'm not 100% positive of this, but I believe that the pilot assigned to her was Capt. Rigsby.

The aircraft was originally an F-80 fighter in Naha, Okinawa in 1949. It was then sent to Korea in 1950 with the 16th fighter Squadron, where she sustained massive gunfire damage in 1951. It was then delivered in 1952 to Kimpo and converted to an RF80a assigned to my grandpa at the 15th. It was unique with some Japanese or Korean script painted under the cockpit, but no one I know can tell me what it says.

Unfortunately grandpa passed in 2015 and is not around to answer any other questions I had for him. But he was insanely proud of that plane and told me many stories of the damage to her when it first came to him and how he had to replace several panels before she was ready to fly again.

If you are updating your information, I hope that this helps!"

Sincerely,
Jennifer