Hello, I was wondering how do I find the bureau numbers on USN and USMC aircraft of world war 2; F4U, SBD, F4F, F6F, etc. The reason I'm asking this in the modelling thread is because I'm hoping to display these with paper slip with the BuNo, unit, location and type. Thanks in advance, Matti from Finland
https://www.history.navy.mil/content/dam/nhhc/research/histories/naval-aviation/pdf/APP09.PDF or US Navy and US Marine Corps Military Aircraft Serial Numbers and Bureau Numbers--1911 to Present
Thank you, but I meant that they do not (seem to) have any BuNo on them, only the unit number/code, which aren't often in those databases. Matti
Look very carefully at photos of the planes. Bureau numbers on USN, USMC, and USCG aircraft were usually found on the vertical stabilizer and very small, like about 2-3 inches and once the US was involved in the war, supposedly in non-contrasting colors, usually black, but just a often found in contrasting white. Above the bureau number you'll see in letters of the same size, the service, USN, USMC, or USCG. If you do not see the number or what could be the number you have probably banged up against a wartime censor who probably blurred the whole thing out. Generally in photos, the number, unless a close up, shows up as just a black or white line barely recognizable as a number, but it's there. And on rudders themselves, usually even with the bureau number you'll find the aircraft type/designation, e.g. F4F-4, F6F-5, and so on.
