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October 1942. A painter cleans the tail section of a P-51 Mustang fighter prior to spraying with olive-drab camouflage. North American Aviation plant, Inglewood, California. View full size. 4x5 Kodachrome transparency by Alfred Palmer.
This is not THE photo taken at 1942, it's probably a reprint of the original negative.
[This is the original transparency. It is not a print. And Kodachromes don't have negatives. - Dave]
The B-25 in the left background, tail #113178 (or 41-13178) crashed and burned at March Field in Southern California on June 30, 1943. The one on the right, #113180 (or 41-13180), was part of the 340th bomb group, 57th Bombardment Wing, Twelfth Air Force operating in Italy when it was shot down by antiaircraft fire on April 28, 1944. Three crew members, including the pilot were killed; the other four made it back to the base.
...judging by the incline on the spine.
I didn't suppose that color photography looked that good these days
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