P-51D-25 MUSTANG
82th FS Big Dick
CFS3 - V4.00.164

This aircraft was built by Gregory SARGE Pierson using version 4.00.164 of the AvHistory 1% Assembly Line process.  It is based on the MS stock P-51 and has been repainted by John BRAVO/4 Whelan as Big Dick.



"Big Dick" squadron code MX-U is a P-51D-25 tail number 44-64147 in the livery of  Major Richard A. Hewitt. He was C.O. of the 82nd Fighter Squadron fromMarch to June, 1945



The Crew Chief was S/Sgt. Phil Doloway, Asst. C.C., Sgt. Herb Trantham and the Armorer was Cpl. John Montgomery. This aircraft survived the war and was eventually sold to Italy.



Richard A. Hewitt flew a total of 144 combat missions, combining a total of 400 hours of combat in the P-47 Thunderbolt and P-51 Mustang fighter aircraft.

During his combat tours with the 82nd, spanning over two years, he was credited with 8.3 victories. He was promoted to the rank of Major was awarded the Air Medal with 17 oak leaf clusters, awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with 4 oak leaf clusters, and the Silver Star.

Almost all Block-25 and subsequent Ds had underwing hardpoints not only for bombs and fuel tanks but also for various types of rocket launchers. These included zero-length stubs for six 5-inch rockets or as many as ten if no drop tanks were carried.

Alternatively, "Bazooka" tubes could be carried in triple clusters. There were a few field conversions to special armament fits, examples including two tanks and six 100-lb bombs, four 100-lb bombs, plus 36 fragmentation bombs, or four 75-Imp gall drop tanks. CBI aircraft usually had a direction-finding loop antenna ahead of the fin.

The P-51D began to arrive in Europe in quantity in March of 1944. The 55th Fighter Group was the first to get the P-51D, trading in its P-38s for the new bubble-topped fighters. The change from the torqueless twin-engined P-38 to the single-engined P-51 did cause some initial problems, and the lack of directional stability caused by the presence of a full fuselage tank took a lot of getting used to.

However, once their pilots became fully adjusted to their new mounts, they found that the P-51D possessed a marked edge in both speed and maneuverability over all Luftwaffe piston-engined fighters at altitudes above 20,000 feet. However, Luftwaffe pilots considered the Mustang to be rather vulnerable to cannon fire, particularly the liquid-cooled Merlin engine which could be put out of action by just one hit.

The Mustang was the only Allied fighter with sufficient range to accompany bombers on their "shuttle" missions in which landings were made in Russia after deep-penetration targets had been attacked from English bases.

The Mustangs also participated in low-altitude strikes on Luftwaffe airfields, a rather dangerous undertaking as these fields were very heavily defended by flak.

BEAR
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NOTE: This is it till after Christmas while Gregory & I take a break to spend more quality time with our families.

Merry Christmas from AvHistory
Gregory Pierson & Kevin McLean