No other aircraft of WWII could fly as high, go as far, or fight as hard as the famed Mustang. Piloted by a record 281 Aces, this agile and ferocious dogfighter tallied more kills than any other Allied airplane. As the bombers of the Eighth Air Force fought their way deep into Hitler's Germany, it was the Mustang that cleared the skies of Luftwaffe fighters. The powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine gave the Mustang a speed of 445 mph. Re-styled with an aerodynamic bubble canopy for greater visibility, and outfitted with 6 fast-firing .50 caliber machine guns, the P-51 became the best fighter of the war.

The P-51K Mustang was essentially a P-51D with a different propeller. With war production at max capacity in Inglewood, NAA added P-51 production at their Dallas Texas plant starting with the P-51B. The new designation of the B models built in Dallas was P-51C.

When the P-51D began production, once again the Dallas plant was needed. Unlike the B models, when the D models were built in Dallas, their designation of "D" was kept. They were identified as built from the Dallas plant with the "NT" suffix. So a -5 block of a D model Mustang built in Dallas would be a P-51D-5NT. These were identical to a P-51D-5NA, built in Inglewood, Ca.

nicknamed Pictured here is a 1:72 scale replica of a USAAF North American P-51D Mustang fighter that was piloted by Captain D. R. Emerson. who was attached to the 336th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group, then deployed to RAF Debden, England, during 1944. Pre-order! Ship Date: 2025.

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 8-1/2-inches
Length: 7-1/2-inches

Release Date: ?

Historical Account: "Ace" - Donald was big hearted and wore a perpetual smile. He was soon endeared by his comrades as a friend and a leader. During 89 combat missions escorting bombers, strafing, etc., he destroyed seven enemy aircraft and wrought destruction on many trains, trucks, and other surface targets, becoming an "Ace" and a Captain in the Russian Shuttle mission. When his first tour ended he volunteered for a second.

On December 24th, 1944, the group flew an uneventful escort mission to Giessen. Upon returning to England they discovered Debden was closed for operations due to thick fog, so the group landed at Raydon. The pilots were extremely disappointed at not being able to return to their base for the annual Christmas celebration, where 250 British Blitz orphans were treated to a grand party. Debden base rallied to the occasion and sent a truck loaded with turkeys, cigarettes, whiskey, money, and blankets to the pilots at Raydon to help restore their Christmas spirit.

Unfortunately, the business the following day called for an escort mission, this one to the Bonn/Trier area. Thirty-plus Me-109s and Fw-190s tried to attack the bombers out of the sun but immediately engaged by the 4th group escort. Twelve enemy aircraft were destroyed, but one of the Group's pilots joined the ranks of the 'Missing In Action' list.

Donald became detached from the group and was seen to engage six Me-109s single-handed, downing two of them; and then, out of ammunition, he headed for home on the deck. He failed to return to base and was later found dead in the wreckage of his plane in Belgium, the victim of ground fire. He was buried in his flying clothes the following day at the age of 21.