P-47D 'Frigid Midgit'. Pilot 2nd Lt. Jack Hallett 394 FS 367FG St. Dizier France March 1945
The 'natural metal' of the wing sections was due to repair after 2nd Lt. Hallett crashed inbetween two trees after attempting to 'buzz' three of his Squadron who were crossing a small swing-bridge on their way to the airfield at St. Dizzier. He was test-flying a Thunderbolt as the 367th had only just received three of them for assessment prior to being assigned them to replace their P-38 Lightnings.
As Hallett himself said of the Thunderbolt (after only 45 minutes in it), "When you pulled back the stick in a P-38 the plane would go up whereas the P-47 had a much higher wing-load... I pulled back on the stick and the attitude changed but the altitude did not!". As he passed over the guys on the bridge he managed to crash the brand-new unit inbetween two trees. Hence the bare aluminium wings, fitted as a replacement for the ones he'd irrepairably damaged!
True story.
