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On March 6, 1945, Brig. General Ernest M. “Mickey” Moore, commanding officer of the 7th Fighter Command, and 24 pilots of the 47th Fighter Squadron (FS) of the 15th Fighter Group (FG), landed their North American P-51D Mustangs on South Field on Iwo Jima, just fifteen days after the United States Marines stormed Iwo’s black sand beaches. The battle for Iwo Jima continued to rage on for another twenty days as pockets of Japanese resistance were being eliminated. The remaining two squadrons (45th & 78th) of the 15th FG arrived on the next day, March 7th. After the engineers reconstructed Central Field, the 72nd FS of the 21st FG arrived on March 22nd, and the remaining two squadrons (46th & 531st) of the 21st FG arrived on March 24th. The 506th FG (457th, 458th & 462nd FS) Mustangs, the last Iwo Jima VLR Mustang Group, arrived on May 11th and May 13th after North Field was constructed.

During the last months of the war in the Pacific, 15th, 21st and 506th FGs flew VLR (Very Long Range) missions from Iwo Jima to Japan and back. Round trip, these grueling missions would cover anywhere between 1,300 to 1,500 miles, and last 7 to 8 hours. Initially, the Iwo Jima VLR Mustang Groups were tasked with escorting 21st Bomber Command Boeing B-29 Superfortresses that were bombing the Japanese Home Islands from the Marianas. Toward the end of the hostilities, their task changed to flying strike missions in anticipation of the planned invasion of Japan.

There are numerous modeling possibilities just within the three VLR Mustang Groups, as there are several aftermarket decal sheets available to a modeler. But the modeling possibilities do not start or end with the VLR Mustang Groups. The United States Navy was the first of the Allied air forces to bomb Iwo Jima on June 14, 1944. The Navy’s raids would continue until August 5, 1944, and were intended to disrupt the flow of Japanese combat aircraft from Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima to the Marianas during the battle for Saipan. Curtiss SB2C Helldivers, Grumman TBF/TBM Avengers and F6F Hellcats participated in these strikes. Top U.S. Navy ace David McCampbell, and Japanese Navy ace Saburo Sakai flew in these battles.

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7th Air Force Consolidated B-24J Liberators began bombing Iwo Jima from newly acquired Isley Field on Saipan on August 10, 1944, and would continue to bomb Iwo Jima from bases in the Marianas right up to the invasion. Boeing B-29 Superfortresses would also bomb Iwo Jima as “shakedown” missions in anticipation of the start of the bombing campaign against the Japanese Home Islands. And as has been well documented, after the United States Marines gained control of Iwo Jima, combat damaged and fuel starved B-29s would use Iwo Jima as a safe haven during the long over-water flights back to the Marianas.

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In addition to the VLR Mustang Groups on Iwo Jima, Consolidated PB4Y-1 Liberators and PB4Y-2 Privateers, Northrop P-61 Black Widows, and two Republic P-47N Thunderbolt groups would call Iwo Jima home during the last few months of the Pacific War.

Last, but not least, are the brave Japanese Army Air Force and Navy pilots who dueled in the skies against the Navy and 7th Fighter Command pilots in protecting Iwo Jima and the Japanese Home Islands. They flew in Kawanishi N1K2-J “Georges”; Kawasaki Ki-45 “Nicks”, Ki-61 and Ki-100 “Tonys”; Mitsubishi A6M5 “Zekes” and J2M3 “Jacks”; and Nakajima Ki-44 “Tojos” and Ki-84 “Franks”. They faced overwhelming odds against numerically superior forces.

So welcome to my little corner on the World Wide Web. In addition to building models, this blog will cover kit and aftermarket product reviews, reference materials and sites, some history of the brave pilots of both combatants and their air combats mixed in, Iwo Jima aviation art, and maybe a few book reviews. I hope you enjoy this blog and it becomes a resource for modelers, historians and aviation enthusiasts all over the world for years to come. Comments and criticisms are always welcome.