Tag: North American P-51D Mustang

Kit News: Eduard Includes Decals for 542 “Fighting Lady” in its 1/72nd North American P-51D Mustang ProfiPACK Boxing

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Eduard recently released the 2nd ProfiPACK boxing of its popular 1/72nd North American P-51D Mustang kit. Most of decal options are of fighter aces; Lt. Col. John D. Landers’ Big Beautiful Doll, Lt. Col. John C. Meyer’s Petie 3rd, Maj. Leonard K. Carson’s Nooky Booky III, Lt. Col. Glenn T. Eagleston’s P-51D-20-NA, and Capt. Fredie F. Ohr’s “Marie”.

Eduard

But it also includes decals for 542 Fighting Lady, a P-51D-20-NA assigned to the 457th Fighter Squadron, 506th Fighter Group. Neither of the pilots assigned to fly Fighting Lady were aces.

Eduard

542 Fighting Lady was assigned to 1st Lt. Ralph Gardner and 2nd Lt. Chester Jatzcak. Below is a nice close up picture of the pin up art that adorned the fuselage.

542 Fighting Lady (506th Fighter Group Association/Dr. John Benbow)

While the quality of the below photo is not the best, it does clearly shows the position of the name Fighting Lady on the nose below the engine exhaust stacks and the elegant design of the Mustang’s nose.

Unknown ground crew member lying on the wing of Fighting Lady (506th Fighter Group Association/Dr. John Benbow)

Norma Jatczak, 2nd Lt. Chester Jatczak’s wife, was of the belief that the plane’s name was “Broadway Gal”. Unfortunately, the 506th Fighter Group Association does not have a photo to substantiate her belief. Eduard suggests in its instructions that the name of the plane was changed from Fighting Lady to “Broadway Gal” at a later date.

2nd Lt. Chester Jatczak crouched on the wing of “Fighting Lady” (506th Fighter Group Association via Norma Jatczak)

Please note the photo below does not have the name Fighting Lady on the nose yet. This photo was most likely taken in June of 1945 as the plane has a solid green tail instead of the initial squadron markings of diagonal green stripes on the tail.

1st Lt. Ralph Gardner in the cockpit of Fighting Lady (506th Fighter Group Association/Dr. John Benbow)

I interviewed Ralph Gardner at the 2013 506th Fighter Group Reunion in Chino, California, but did not think to inquire about whether the plane had the name of “Broadway Gal” at one point in time, or whether the name was on the right side of the nose. The photo below appears to dispel the notion that “Broadway Gal” appeared on the right side of the nose.

1st Lt. Ralph Gardner flying Fighting Lady (506th Fighter Group Association/Dr. John Benbow)
457th Fighter Pilots in front of Fighting Lady – Front row left to right; Lts. Alan Kinvig and George Hetland; Back row left to right; Lts. Ray Miller, Martin Ganschow, Ralph Gardner and Larry Grennan (506th Fighter Group Association via Ralph Gardner)

1st Lt. Gardner was credited with an aerial victory on June 10, 1945.

Thanks to Eduard for including decals for an Iwo Jima VLR Mustang in this boxing!

Photo(s) of the Week; Engine Removal

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This photo is the companion photo to the last Photo(s) of the Week I posted recently; just taken from the right side of the plane. Ground crew have just hoisted the Packard built Rolls Royce Merlin engine after disconnecting it from the engine mounting framework and other connections. Very cool photo!

USAAF/National Archives via Fold3

This is 172, a 47th Fighter Squadron, 15th Fighter Group, P-51D Mustang. 7th Fighter Command ground crew worked under very challenging conditions. Just keeping the engine and machine guns clear of sand and the volcanic grit was a constant battle.

The official USAAF caption to this photo reads: Mechanics removing engine from a North American P-51 “Mustang”. Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands.

Photo(s) of the Week; Early Primitive Maintenance

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A 47th Fighter Squadron P-51D Mustang, number 172, receives either engine maintenance or an engine replacement in an outdoor setting on Iwo Jima with another Mustang coming in for a landing in the background. This looks as if this may be a major periodic overall maintenance as engine work being done, the wing root fairing is removed, the machine guns are removed, the canopy is removed, and it appears that work is being done on the radiator as well.

USAAF/National Archives via Fold3

Early on, all maintenance and repairs were done outdoors. The construction of maintenance hangers would come later. The single antenna on this Mustang indicates that this maintenance was done shortly after 47th Fighter Squadron arrived on Iwo Jima as the twin Uncle Dog antennae have yet to be installed.

Please also note that the right tire has an oval tread pattern and the left tire has a diamond tread pattern. Different tread patterns were a fairly common occurrence, so important to check your photo references.

The official USAAF caption to this photo reads: A mobile repair unit of a 7th Fighter Command Service Group repairs a North American P-51 damaged in a landing on the rugged Iwo Jima airstrip. Soft spots, cross winds and roving clouds of volcanic dust make landings on Iwo Jima unusually hazardous. In the background another P-51 fighter comes in for a landing.

Photo(s) of the Week; All Important Maintenance

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USAAF/National Archives via Fold3

An armorer cleans the blast tubes on a 47th Fighter Squadron P-51D Mustang while other maintenance is being performed. The official United States Army Air Force caption to this photo reads: Armorers cleaning 50 cal machine guns on wing of North American P-51 “Mustang”. Iwo Jima, Bonin Islands.

The sand and volcanic grit was a constant problem for ground crew on Iwo Jima. With their pilots spending a majority of a very long mission over the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean, 7th Fighter Command ground crew spent long hours maintaining their Mustangs to prevent a pilot from having to bail out over water due to engine failure. This post is dedicated to all the ground crewmen who served on Iwo Jima.

Photo(s) of the Week; Combat Air Patrol (CAP)

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All three Iwo Jima VLR Mustang Groups were tasked with flying combat air patrols around Iwo Jima to protect the island against attacks by the Japanese. The photo below shows three 462nd Fighter Squadron, 506th Fighter Group Mustangs on combat air patrol around Iwo Jima. The closest Mustang, 626, is being flown by 1st Lt. Edward Linfante. The middle Mustang, 602 “Meatball” is being flown by 1st Lt. Edward Bahlhorn, and third Mustang, “Little Joe”, is being flown by 2nd Lt. Jesse Sabin. Really nice photo.

Three 462nd Fighter Squadron Mustangs flying Combat Air Patrol around Iwo Jima (506th Fighter Group Association via Ed Linfante)

Mt. Suribachi was the central orbit for all CAPs. Starting with North and every 45 degrees clockwise around the compass 10 miles is an orbit point each with a code name as shown on the diagram below.

Combat Air Patrol Diagram from 506th Fighter Group Indoctrination Handbook

In the event of an air raid during the time the CAP flights were airborne, they would join their respective squadrons at the designated orbit points when Agate Base on Mt. Suribachi announced “All flights Kalamazoo”. When Agate Base announced “All flights fluorescent”, all flights except the CAPs would return to Iwo Jima.