Well folks.....
this is P-51D-25-NA 44-72917..... thee are some blanks in the CV of this aircraft, but lets talk facts:
it was an a/c that was deployed to the ETO but never saw assignment to any frontline unit, i.e. it never went beyond BAD-2 (Base Air Depot Warton, UK) and was RETUS in September 1945. Put into storage, it later was issued to the ANG and served with 170th FS IL ANG - it then was among the aircraft earmarked for delivery to the Korean War Theatre aboard USS Boxer. After arrival it initially served with an USAF unit, most probably the 18th FBG, but records are not available - during the hostilities, this aircraft was then transferred to the ROKAF but after the war ended was returned to the USAF, and immediately transferred to the Philippine AF, where it was assigned code "410" - in 1958 it was one of the 6 ex-Philippine AF P-51's assigned to the PRRI (Rebel) Airforce in Indonesia to fight along A-26's against the regular Indonesian Air Force. For this purpose, all markings were removed. '917 survived this episod and returned to the Philippines, where again Philippine National markings were applied, but they differed slightly from the 'official' markings, being smaller in size. By that time, the P-51's were being phased out of service in the Philippines and the aircraft was put on display in Manila, with nickname "Skipper" (as seen in the photo).
Enter CAC Mustang A68-192
This RAAF Mustang came to the civil scene as VH-FCB in 1958 and was re-registered PI-C651 in 1969.... it suffered a crashlanding at Manila Airport on 19th October 1973 resulting in heavy damage to the fuselage. The aircraft was rebuilt, using the center section of 44-72917 which was removed from display for this purpose around 1975 - briefly registered VR-HIU in Hongkong, it soon adopted registry G-HAEC (OFMC) under which it still is active in the UK, currently owned by Rob Davies. It was used for various movie projects and saw a myriad of colour schemes, but today flies as "Big Beautiful Doll".
http://www.warbirdregistry.org/p51regis ... 68192.html
Martin
Login
Register
FAQ
Search
try again.... 
