ID please on a Mustang - Barksdale or?

[Chris Brame]

Currently on eBay:

I think it might be the one at Barksdale, but that one has a standard "D" fin while this one has a tall "H" or Cavalier fin?

[JohnB]

I can tell you where it isn't...
Not many bases have a B-17 and Mustang.
Not Lackland, their Mustang is an H, and I have never seen red on their B-17.
So, Barksdale is a good guess. The background is similar to old photos of their collection.

The B-17 might be wearing remnants of a fire bomber scheme and not a rescue or drone scheme from the '50s. If so, that points to the early '80s.
If taken earlier...the '50s, the Mustang would have been fresh out of surplus and not have the tall tail.

[quemerford]

TF-51D?

[junkman9096]

TF-51D?

Well, that canopy does appear to be somewhat "plump".

[JohnTerrell]

The photo was taken at Eglin AFB, and would have been sometime near/around 1980. It is a Cavalier Mustang, serial no. 68-15796, which was one of two Cavalier Mustangs built for the US Army. It was used as a chase plane for the AH-56 Cheyenne attack helicopter project - last operating from Fort Rucker, Alabama. https://mustangsmustangs.com/p-51/survi ... l/44-13571

This is how it looks today, displayed indoors at Eglin. Its Cavalier extended tail fin cap (which was a copy of the NACA extended tail fin cap), was replaced with a standard tail fin cap in 1984: https://www.flickr.com/photos/23711298@N07/49658088173

[Chris Brame]

Thanks John!