Warbird Information Exchange

Jim H.
Newly minted B-25 pilot
Congrads .........post pictures

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Don't touch my junk!!

I don't have stats, but I'd guess more kills were made by the Bs & Cs than the D's, which came in near the end of the war. Does anybody have dates of each entering service and victories by each?

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Hello Bill, Dick Phillips should have that answer...

Lynn

Ds were in combat with the 8th AF by June 44 and just starting to reach
the 354th FG also. the 15th Af groups starting getting them in late summer. The 14th AF groups still were using bs along with Ds were the war ended.

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Don't touch my junk!!

Under assembly in Chino...





Looks far better in this scheme than in the old red "Super K" scheme! Never cared for the name "Princess Elizabeth" either, but I suppose there might have been some kind of UK connection.

so what's the deal with the bent prop that came over with the 51? they (were) sitting on the hangar floor next to her last weekend.

Didn't see it. Did it look like it was bent during engine operation or during loading/unloading? Could it just be spare parts?

The bent prop was a spare,we were told to ship it with the mustang.

Been in storage for ages.

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We salute the Rank,not the Man.

That is a fine looking airplane. I wouldn't trade my Spitfire but I sure would like to have one of each, sort of like a golfer has more that just one club in his bag. The B & C have more of the "way it was" aura than the D, I think the early Spits are prettier than the Griffon ones, though the the late 21-24 series Spits are a formidable looking and performing piece of machinery. All my time( not enough) is in D's, I recall Jeff Ethel"s report that the B was harder to fly, perhaps less stall warning or faster approach. Does anyone know, is the wing different? Years ago, a B owner wanted to trade flights with me, but his airplane was single seat and I was pretty low time and had not flown Mustangs yet, so I declined.

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Bill Greenwood
Spitfire N308WK

Thats a fine example of a P-51B/C.

She seems to be in good company!

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"Hindsight is usually 20% off!"

My understanding was that the D-model was the first where the .50s in the wing actually stood upright which was done to alleviate a problem with jamming that the earlier models had. The early model Mustangs had the guns sitting at an angle so that the wing could be built thinner.

You mean the Harley behind the nose of the Mustang?

Any word on when it will be delivered to it's new home? I really want to see it, soon.

Tim

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www.tailhookstudio.com

Bdk, are you saying that the D had a thicker wing? I had never heard of that.

There was of course the leading edge extension at the root and various changes that affected the aerodynamics of the fuselage. Some P-51B/C pilots considered the D harder to fly; a few never liked it. It may have depended on what one is used to. Almost any P-51 warbird pilot would have a lot more D than B time.

Your pics remind me why I miss hanging around Chino. You poke your head in a hangar many days and find two or three surprises, each of which would make your day if seen individually.

August