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386th Fighter Squadron
Founded :
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386th Fighter Squadron
| Aces for : 386th Fighter Group | ||
| A list of all Aces from our database who are known to have flown with this squadron. A profile page is available by clicking the pilots name. | ||
| Name | Victories | Info |
| Paul P Douglas Jr | 8.00 | The signature of Paul P Douglas Jr features on some of our artwork - click here to see what is available. |
| Aircraft for : 386th Fighter Squadron | |||
| A list of all aircraft known to have been flown by 386th 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 : 386th 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 | ||||
 Lieutenant Colonel Michael D Cannon Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by Lieutenant Colonel Michael D Cannon | Lieutenant Colonel Michael D Cannon Joining the Hell Hawks in January 1945 he notched up a n impressive 48 combat missions before the end of the war, flying his P-47 Haulin Ass II on ground attack and strafing missions during the push through Germany. | ||||
  General Paul Douglas Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by General Paul Douglas
| General Paul Douglas After joining the military as a Private in 1940 Paul Douglas transferred to the USAAF for pilot training, arriving in Europe to join the 268th Fighter Group. Flying P-47 Thunderbolts, he was credited with 8 air victories and destroying 27 enemy aircraft on the ground. On two occasions he shot down three enemy aircraft on one mission. He commanded the 396th Fighter Squadron and became deputy commander of the 386th Fighter Group, flying a total of 136 combat missions in World War II. He later commanded the 36th Fighter Group in Belgium, France and Germany. Paul Douglas later flew 101 combat missions in the F-105 in Vietnam, and in all completed over 6000 flying hours as a command pilot, and is one of the most highly decorated Air Force pilots. Douglas died on December 26, 2002. He is buried in the Central Texas State Veteran’s Cemetery in Killeen, Texas | ||||
 1st Lieutenant Matt Ruper DFC Click the name or photo above to see prints signed by 1st Lieutenant Matt Ruper DFC | 1st Lieutenant Matt Ruper DFC Flying with the Hell Hawks from June 1944 to the end of the war he completed 106 combat missions including Market Garden and the Battle of the Bulge and survived being shot down by ground fire during a low level strafing mission. | ||||
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