BuNo 124560Current Civil Registration Number N4901W
BuNo 124560 conducted operations in the Pacific with VC-3 aboard the USS Boxer during its service with the US Navy. This eight month cruise took place in 1954, not long after the fighting in Korea had subsided. After it was stricken from US Navy service in 1956, it became one of a select few F4U-5N/-5NL types taken on by the Honduran Air Force marked as FAH-601. It fought against El Salvador during the 1969 war and remained airworthy for another decade before being sold back into the United States.
Raymon Thompson gave the fighter a complete makeover including a new paint scheme depicting the approximate markings BuNo 124560 would have worn during its stint with VC-3 squadron. Thompson’s chief pilot Steve Bakke continues to maintain the Corsair to this day as an active participant on the North American air show scene.