Warbird Information Exchange

Replica of Iowa air ace's WWII warbird to nest at Grout

By PAT KINNEY, Courier Business Editor
WATERLOO --- A World War II warbird will soon grace the inside of the Grout Museum's $11.5 million Iowa veterans' history expansion.

A lifesize replica U.S. Army Air Force North American P-51D Mustang fighter plane arrived at the museum this week and was being assembled Friday for eventual permanent display in the atrium of the museum. That entrance also will feature a re-created bow of the USS Juneau, the U.S. Navy cruiser on which Waterloo's five Sullivan brothers fought and died during the war.

The replica Mustang will be a re-creation of the fighter flown by World War II air ace Robert W. Abernathy of Mason City.

The museum addition is scheduled to be open late next year.

Al Sweeney, project coordinator for the Grout, said when the addition's cube-style atrium was designed, "we wanted something that was really visually striking," in the interior, besides the bow. "The (Grout) board members thought it would be nice to hang an airplane in that two-story structure. The one fighter plane most associated with World War II is a P-51D."

The Mustang, one of the finest fighter planes of the war, was introduced in the war's closing years to provide long-range support for Allied bombers as they hit Nazi targets on the European continent. It also saw service in the Pacific

A P-51 also fit within the space available. Navy carrier planes, for example, had wingspans too wide to fit in the space.
This is the fuselage of the replica World War II P-51 Mustang fighter plane to be displaed at the Iowa veterans addition to the Grout Museum. It is shown here inside the construction area.
RICK CHASE / Courier Staff Photographer

"I did a lot of research on all the different planes through World War II. After World War II, in Korea and Vietnam, the jet fighters are much, much bigger than in World War II," Sweeney said.

The plane was designed by Military Aircraft Restoration Corp. of California, the same company which manufactured a replica version of the P-51 flown by the famous "Tuskegee Airmen" and on display at the Des Moines International Airport, near the Iowa National Guard air facility.

The Grout's replica Mustang, made of metal frame and Fiberglas, is much lighter than the metal genuine article and does not have a motor.

Sweeney said the Grout wanted to use the plane color scheme and insignia of an Iowa pilot, and found one in Abernathy. Museum historian Bob Neymeyer interviewed him for the museum archives. Abernathy also provided the Grout with actual combat footage shot from the camera at one of the gun installations on his plane. Abernathy said the cameras were used to confirm planes shot down or "kills" and went on when pilots pulled the trigger.

Abernathy, a native of Pulaski, Tenn., who worked for Northwestern Bell in Mason City after the war, was a captain in the 353rd Fighter Group of the U.S. Eighth Air Force.

One of Abernathy's victories was over a German Messerschmidt ME-262 jet fighter, one of the first operational jet fighters of the war. He downed the jet in his propeller-drive P-51 while escorting U.S. Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress bombers in a bombing mission over Berlin. The German jets were much faster but not as maneuverable as the P-51.

"I slipped up on him when he wasn't looking," Abernathy said, while the German was attacking B-17s. "I took out after him. He went (south) to Switzerland to evade me. I kept me eye on him until he was no bigger than a speck. He couldn't see me. He was making another pass (toward the B-17s) and I pulled the trigger first, and he bailed out. I followed him down and he broke his leg when he hit the ground."

He later learned the identity of the German pilot, who was an ace with more than 20 kills to his credit. Abernathy flew three years in Europe in Republic P-47 Thunderbolts and P-51s, and was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross and the Air Medal for his service. He also obtained a signed picture of the pilot, who visited nearby Clear Lake after the war.

Grout officials said Abernathy's air combat footage from his gun camera also will be displayed at the museum.

The Grout addition, named for the Sullivans is designed to be a museum and research archive of Iowans' role in U.S. wars since the Civil War. It will contain historic and interactive exhibits from various eras.