{"id":3007,"date":"2024-01-17T13:01:28","date_gmt":"2024-01-17T03:01:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/vintageaviationnews.com\/?p=86529"},"modified":"2024-01-17T13:01:28","modified_gmt":"2024-01-17T03:01:28","slug":"the-corsairs-of-baa-baa-blacksheep-confusion-in-numbers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vibewire.com.au\/?p=3007","title":{"rendered":"The Corsairs of Baa Baa Blacksheep \u2014 Confusion In Numbers"},"content":{"rendered":"

On September 21st, 1976, the famed TV series Baa Baa Black Sheep<\/em> first aired on television in the United States. But FLYING MISFITS, which was the two-hour pilot episode (actually known as Episode 0) premiered on Tuesday, September 21, 1976. The series’ first one-hour episode (Episode 1), BEST THREE OUT OF FIVE, appeared three days later on Thursday, September 23, 1976.<\/span><\/p>\n

It was a seminal moment for many of us who follow vintage military aviation today, especially if we were kids at the time. Here to tell a little of the story about the making of that show, and the aircraft involved is Stephen Chapis, revisiting an article  “Poor Little Lambs” that he originally wrote some years ago (Warbird Digest #49 – July\/August 2013 – Click HERE<\/a> to buy that issue) We at Vintage Aviation News<\/strong> thank him, and all of the other contributors who made this piece possible!<\/p>\n

**UPDATE**<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Baa Baa Black Sheep book is currently in the works, the expected release date is spring-summer of 2024<\/span>. If you would like to be notified and get your copy before anyone else, please click <\/strong>HERE<\/strong><\/a><\/h3>\n

Confusion In Numbers<\/strong><\/h2>\n

By Stephen Chapis<\/p>\n

During the course of my research for the upcoming and as yet unnamed Baa Baa Black Sheep<\/em> book I have found that there is often confusion about the exact identities of Tom Friedkin’s F4U-4 and John Schafhausen’s F4U-7.  This confusion is directly related to their prominently displayed N-numbers under the horizontal stabilizers.  I did not address this issue specifically in the book, because it wasn’t germane to the overall story, so I thought I would do so here.<\/p>\n

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John Schfhausen taxis 133710 at NAS North Island- Steve Guilford<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Of the eight Corsairs flown in the series, Friedkin’s -4 and Schafhausen’s -7 were the only ones to wear their N-numbers, N97353 and N33714 respectively, in large bright white stencils.  The other half-dozen fighters wore much smaller numbers in black, which made them difficult to discern in period photos let alone on television.  It is unclear when the confusion first took hold, but over the decades these registration numbers led many to believe that the -4 was BuNo 97353 and the -7 was 133714.  As a matter of fact, errors persist to this day on two prominent websites.  So, how did this all happen?<\/p>\n

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