Frenesi P-51D 44-13318

P-51D

NORTH AMERICAN


	NORTH AMERICAN P-51D Frenesi P-51D 44-13318 Flown by Maj. Tom Hayes 364FS, 357FG 8AF Hayes flew an early D model without a fin fillet.
	FS2002/2004
	JRLucariny FSDS V3 Model
	Download/DonationWare
	Fev/2006

Frenesi P-51D 44-13318
Flown by Maj. Tom Hayes
364FS, 357FG 8AF

Hayes flew an early D model without a fin fillet. Serving one tour in the Pacific theater and 2 victories, Hayes was transferred to Yoxford, England in 1944 where he added 9 more victories to his score within a total of 85 missions. He remained in the Air Force after the war and retired as Brigadier General in 1970.
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P-51 Mustang
The North American P-51 Mustang was a successful long range fighter aircraft which entered service with Allied air forces in the middle years of World War II.
The P-51 was used mostly as a bomber escort, in raids over Germany; it was a key factor in the defeat of the German Luftwaffe and, by the middle of 1944, gave the Allies complete air superiority over Germany. It also saw significant service against Japanese air forces in the Pacific War, and was the main fighter for the United Nations in the early stages of the Korean War. The P-51 was replaced by jets in Korea but remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980's.

The definitive version of the single-seat fighter was powered by a single two-stage supercharged V-12 Merlin engine and armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 machine guns.

Genesis
Shortly after World war II began, in 1939, the British government established a purchasing commission in the United States, headed by Sir Henry Self. Self had earlier sat on the (British) Air Council Sub-committee on Supply (or 'Supply Committee') along with Sir Wilfrid Freeman, who as the 'Air Member for Development and Production' was given overall responsibility for RAF production and research and development in 1938.

Self's many tasks was to organise the manufacture of American fighter aircraft for the RAF. At the time, the choice was very limited. None of the US aircraft already flying reached European standards, only the Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk came close. With the Curtiss plant running at capacity already, even that aircraft was in short supply.

North American Aviation (NAA) President Dutch Kindleberger approached Self with the idea of selling the British a new medium bomber, the Mitchell.

Instead, Self asked if NAA could manufacture the Tomahawk under licence from Curtiss. (North American was already supplying their Harvard trainer but were otherwise underutilized).

Kindleberger's reply, however, was that NAA could have a better aircraft with the same engine in the air in less time.

As executive head of the British Ministry of Aircraft Production, Freeman placed an order for 320 aircraft with North American in March 1940.

Fortuitously, three months later on June 26 1940 MAP also awarded a contract to Packard to build Merlin engines under licence. And in September, MAP increased the first production order by 300.

P-51D Frenesi
JRLucariny FS2002/2004 Model

DRAWINGS
”WALK AROUND P-51D”
squadron/signal publications
Walk Around No. 7
Pg. 3