Seeking Smoke II information

[tiger1]

Hi guy`s- in one picture of f 104 in SEA the Smoke II is shown With Crew chief markings
on l/h side fwd of the air inlet,but the photo is so grainy You can only see the C/C marking-the name is unreadable;question is -does anybody know who was the Crew chief on Smoke II?

[rschaap]

Try this old post. Col. Tom Finney's (pilot of Smoke II) eldest son is on this forum under "FIREBALL" you will see his post. Good Luck.

http://www.warbird-photos.com/gpxd/view ... 4+Smoke+II

[FIREBALL]

Unfortunately, at this time, I do not know who the Crew Chief was for my Dad's 104 for the short time it was at Udorn in Thailand before the shoot down.
I do know my Dad's Crew Chief at George AFB in California before deployment was MSgt. Jerry McCall. He has since passed away. My Dad's wingman that day, Capt. Sam Cottrell, has also since passed away. I am in contact with one other fellow who served with my Dad. I will email him and if he knows who it was I will notify you.
I don't have an image enhancement function on my little Chromebook. Perhaps you know someone who could clear up that old photo?
I will get back to you here if/when I have the answer to your question.

[tiger1]

Ok-thanks from an old Crew chief(F-5b RNoAF)

[FIREBALL]

tiger1: I wanted to let you know I hadn't forgotten you and your question regarding who my Dad's Crew Chief was that you asked, almost six months ago now. A friend of mine (he's in his mid 80's now) who served with my Dad and I have been researching your inquiry, with not too much luck. The problem is twofold: 1) A lot of the men who were present that day almost 50 years ago have since passed away, and 2) Those that are still alive are becoming quite old and simply don't remember. We even managed to track down the fellow who pulled the wheel chocks away from my Dad's 104 that day and he wasn't certain who the Crew Chief was. Right now we are about 90% sure it was a fellow named Mark Pomerinke, rank unknown. His last name appears that it might match what can barely be seen in that grainy photo. But so far we can't locate him or a family member. We're receiving conflicting information from different sources. We've even attempted to retrieve written records from Udorn RTAFB with no success thus far. So, would you like us to continue our efforts, or do you think we should "throw in the towel" on this one? Please let me know. Thank you.

[tiger1]

Thank You so much for the effort-but i think You can throw in the towel-I have painted C/C J. McALL on my Smoke II....Brgds Daniel

[FIREBALL]

Tiger1: Copy that. Enjoy your model!