Lt T B O'Bannon of Germantown, PA. 7th PRG. Mount Farm. sun bathing atop F-5 Lightning.Killed in crash near Mtount Farm. He took an F5A to make a test flight with a Mosquito and Spitfire. While in a power dive the elevator trim tab push-rod broke causing the tail of his a/c to break off.

Failed to Return (FTR). Lockheed F-5A-3 Lightning 42-12778 31st PRS, 10th PRG, 9th AF . 7th May 1944. Belgium. Pilot Fred Kay Hayes. KIA. MACR 5534.

Photo by renowned photographer Bob Astrella:

Robert was an Army veteran of WW II stationed in Oxford, England, whose photography includes works published in Britain: The First Colour Photographs, and includes aircraft photos at The War Plane Museum in Cambridge, England. He was a retiree of Eastman Kodak Co.

 

Size - LARGE 255mm by 205mm

 

Provenance: Print from the collection of late M L Gibson - provided by the photographer Bob Astrella.