Is that what you meant to say by use of the phrase "BS fakter" (sic, 'factor' in Creole)?
GHWB was known to have mostly flown the Avenger, 'tis true, but every pilot would have experience in at least a small number of different planes. He might have simply horned in on some unknown crew's pranked photo opportunity, even if he'd never flown that type of plane.
I have to believe there was a risk of punishment for participants willfully damaging a good propeller, if it had been found out. Being front and center amidst the evidence pretty well puts a person in line for such punishment, unless a person believed himself to be in a protected class, as GHWB likely would have.
Wasn’t really making a judgment on whether the holy prop pic was faked. Just noting the things that made it likely Bush41 didn’t do it. The Japs had a plane mounted 20MM cannon that could have made a hole like that——but not likely in the air since that damage wouldn’t have taken any power. The “horned in” part is about where I am. There is nothing in “Flyboys” about Bush41 limping in with a damaged plane and it is a pretty comprehensive treatment of Bush41’s pilot time.
Without knowing where that airfield is I can’t guess whether there might have been a ground attack but the building in the background doesn’t look very “south seas island.”
I exercise my prerogative to mangle words from my Chickasaw Gramma. But I guess I could fake Creole when needed