North American P51D “Mustang”

North American P51D “Mustang” United States Army Air Force Spring 1945

North American Aircraft Company designers assembled the prototype of the Mustang, the NA-73, in a four-month period in 1940, but it wasn’t until the aircraft was fitted with the excellent Rolls-Royce Merlin engine that it became arguably the best fighter aircraft of the Second World War. Nearly 8000 of the D model were produced, among them Captain Harrison Tordoff’s Upupa Epops, as shown. This particular aircraft has recently been painstakingly restored to flying condition and may be seen at: www.flyingheritage.com.