With the overwhelming number of votes in favor of P-51Bs….
OK, so three votes out of five. It's a 60% majority!
"Alice-Jo" of the 332nd FG "Red Tails." An ace of the 325th Fg (whose name escapes me at the moment) told me that they were very upset to find out the 322nd was getting their "hand-me-down" P-51B/Cs as they got their Ds. Two different aces of the 325th flew as "break in" wing commander for the 332nd to be sure they got the right information, as a result of this.
Wendell Pruit, pilot of "Alice-Jo" was a member of "The Gruesome Twosome," the most succcessful two-plane element of the group.
I remember when he came to Planes of Fame several years ago and told us of how, after he had flown his tour in Italy, he came back to the US, and was assigned to Randolph Field, Texas, where - when he went to the snackbar - he was told to go around to the back, while German POWs had lunch in the dining area.
Three Guys Replicas decals. SNJ metalizer paint.
Nice story, nice model.
Count me in as another fan for the P-51B/C. It's the "GT" to the P-51D's "roadster look", and I always think the GT's looked far more elegant.
This is the same aircraft that Kermit Weeks has at his Fantasy of Flight museum over in Polk County, FL ('bout an hour and a half west of of here). I have several pics of it [somewhere]. There's different nose art on it, though..."Ina the Macon Belle" adorns his. Nice lookin' model.
That's the other half of "The Gruesome Twosome."
Fortunately, for us all, we're in a far better place today.
Lessseee, in model-building...a ton each of Mustangs and Spitfires, both beautiful a/c...with the Spit a bit more-so..
Yes indeed. To both points.
Another fine Mustang.
Tom, I'm on the fence: the B model is certainly a beautiful aircraft, but I can't say I like them more than the D model. So I guess my vote shouldn't count unless you want to give BOTH types a half vote. LoL! I actually think I like the early D models without the strake on the tail. (I HOPE "strake" is the correct term for the stabilizing extension. That's the word my failing memory came up with.)
Anyway, another fine offering, Tom!
I just checked: Yes, "strake" is the correct term.
Actually (at least here in the US, it's "dorsal fin."