P-51B Mustang

North American P-51B Mustang     VF-B     43-6895
Col James A 'Goody' Goodson, 336th F.S., 4th F.G., 1944.

The legend that we know today as the Mustang did not begin with a very auspicious start. Initially fitted with the Alison engine, it was not until October 1942 with the installation of the Rolls-Royce Merlin 61 as fitted to the Spitfire and Hurricane that the outstanding performance of the aircraft was to show through.
Fitted with four 0.50" calibre Browning  machine guns and able to carry either long range tanks or bombs under the wing the P-51B Mustang was as at home whether it was in a fighter escort role or in ground attack mode.
It was in ground attack as a straffer that Col James Goodson was to excell, recording a total of fifteen kills in the Mustang while he served with the 336th Fighter Squadron as part of the 4th Fighter Group.
The P-51 like so many aircraft of World War II would continue to evolve with aircraft being retofitted with a blown canopy known as the 'Malcolm Hood' to improve pilot visibilty, before its most famous incarnation as the P-51D.
VF-B was fitted with the original fold down canopy and bares Goodsons scoreboard and the noseart of an eagle flying infront of a USAAF cockade. The white stripes painted on the wings and horizontal stabilisers are identification markings to prevent confussion with axis aircraft such as the Fw 190 with which it shared a similar wing shape.

Scale 1:72    Wingspan 6.17" (156 mm)    Base size 6.37"(162 mm) square (No. 4) 
Weight not including base 8.55 ozs (247 grams)

Total number of models produced 52