P-51D s/n 44-72107 First Flight

[Jack Cook]

It's hard to believe with the tenticles of the wixtopus reaching all over the world
that the first flight of a amazing P-51D restoration has been missed/overlooked.
Mike VBC and his crew at Midwest Aero latest work of art took to the sky on June
26, 2025. P-51D s/n 44-72107 was a WWII combat vet serving with the 77th FS
20th FG and flew 9 mission before VE-Day. On April 16, 1945 1Lt Walt Umla destroyed
a FW-190 while flying it. He later received the DFC.
It flew the following missions:
11 April 45 1Lt James Seymour
13 April 45 1Lt James Seymour - aborted
16 April 45 1Lt Walter Umla
17 April 45 1Lt Leo Kerns - ERTN oil actuator
18 April 45 1Lt James Seymour
19 April 45 1Lt James Seymour
20 April 45 2Lt Franklin Richter - ERTN Reason unknown
21 April 45 2Lt Franklin Richter
25 April 45 1Lt Charles Cunliffe
See it at Oshkosh!

[Mark Allen M]

From Midwest Aero Restorations Facebook page ...
https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id ... &sk=photos

[Thomas_Mac]

It did get a mention in the flyers thread but its great to see some pictures. Was worried this was going to have to wait until the end of the month.

[lucky52]

Just out of curiosity, for the P-51D, are the armor plates that were installed behind the pilots still around to be installed should the owner want one or did they in up in the scrap pile?

[Lynn Allen]

Thank you for the update and photos. I notice the P-51D Dallas Doll, who owns that one?

Lynn

[JohnTerrell]

Just out of curiosity, for the P-51D, are the armor plates that were installed behind the pilots still around to be installed should the owner want one or did they in up in the scrap pile?

I've seen a few original surviving examples of the armor plate in photographs shared over the years. I've also read that with at least a few restorations, the armor plate was reproduced using aluminum rather than steel, in order to reduce some weight. In the case of several Mustangs which have jump seats in the back, especially for static display, they'll install one of the molded "plastic" (I believe fiberglass?) replica armor plate/radio one-piece units, that I believe Roush makes (or made at one time), that simply attaches over the top of the aft cockpit section, making it appear to have the full WWII-stock armor plate/radio installation.

Thank you for the update and photos. I notice the P-51D Dallas Doll, who owns that one?

'Dallas Doll' is owned by Jon Vesely (who has owned a few different Midwest Aero-restored Mustangs over the years). The restoration was originally done for David Nock of the UK, but it was sold to Vesely early last year, before it went to the UK.

The latest Mustang to be completed by Midwest Aero, the subject of this thread, the 20th FG combat-vet 44-72107 (which, in the time following VE-Day, had the name 'B.J. Belle of the West' added), is owned by Mark and Missy Timken. I've seen it posted where there will be a surprise waiting for 20th FG vet Joe Peterburs at Oshkosh, where both he and the aircraft will be present for Warbirds in Review (I assume that surprise will be the offering of a flight in the aircraft). I saw some news coverage where he went for a ride with Isabel Rutland in her P-51D 'Marinell' from Duxford, back in April.

[lucky52]

Thanks John.

[Lynn Allen]

John, thank you for the intel...

Lynn

[Andy Marden]

How long was it with MidWest? The first photos I can find are from Nov23, but I guess much longer than that?

[Mark Allen M]

All of the Mustangs that have been replicated thru MidWest over the years are outstanding works of art, but I’ll bet not one piece of this aircraft ever saw combat in WWII (other than the data plate?). I can accept being wrong, but generally speaking, the “combat veteran” stuff always makes he raise an eyebrow when I see these pristinely constructed warbirds. No knocks on anyone really, but facts and truths are always superior to myths and wishful thinking. To each his own but in a world dominated by lies and deception, I stick with the “unpopular” truth side of this round blue ball.

[JohnTerrell]

How long was it with MidWest? The first photos I can find are from Nov23, but I guess much longer than that?

The restoration/rebuild started with Brent Meester (Odegaard Wings), and then Brian O'Farrell acquired it quite a while later as a partially-completed project in 2016. It must have been O'Farrell who then sent the project onto Midwest Aero, as I seem to remember seeing a photo or two of the project at Midwest Aero not too long after that, around 2016/17, which was also around the same time that the "Dallas Doll" project was getting started as well. Mark Timken then acquired it in 2022. On the MustangsMustangs website, there are several photos taken during the aircraft's restoration at Midwest, all dated November 2023, but some of those were taken well before then, especially the photo showing the fuselage being stripped down after arrival, so that it could be completely redone using WWII-accurate primer colors, rivets, and metal finishes. By October 2022, having been completely stripped apart and redone, the fuselage, externally was looking quite complete at Midwest, with tail, windscreen, and other elements installed. At that stage, both its fuselage and the fuselage of the 'Dallas Doll' project looked like twins sitting next to each other on their stands on the shop floor.

The aircraft had last served with the Dominican Air Force as FAD 1929, and there is a wonderful color photo of it as FAD 1929 if you do a quick Google search. It crashed in 1967, and the wreckage was eventually imported back to the US, which formed the basis of the project.