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.

Pictured here is a 1:48 scale replica of a USAAF North American P-51D Mustang fighter that was nicknamed "Daddy's Girl", and flown by Major Ray Wetmore, who was attached to the 370th Fighter Squadron, 359th Fighter Group, then deployed to East Wretham, Norfolk, England, during 1945. Sold Out!

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

Release Date: August 2023

Historical Account: "Daddy's Girl" - Ray Shuey Wetmore (September 30th, 1923 - February 14th, 1951) was a quadruple ace of the United States Army Air Forces over Europe during World War II. He was credited with 21.25 victories in aerial combat. He was killed in an accidental crash of an F-86 at or near Otis Air Force Base.

Upon commissioning in March 1943, he joined the new 359th Fighter Group, which was sent to England in October that year. Flying with the 370th Fighter Squadron, in February and March 1944, Wetmore scored his first 4.25 victories flying the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt.

After retraining to fly a North American P-51 Mustang, Wetmore achieved the title of ace, shooting down two Bf 109s on May 19th, 1944. He flew an aircraft bearing the legend "Daddy's Girl". There were several planes with this title in the 359th Fighter Group at that time. All of Wetmore-s fighters - a P-47D, a P-51B and a P-51D - bore this name. By the end of May 1944, the number of Wetmore's victories had reached 8.25. In a little over a year of military activities, Wetmore had shot down 15 enemy aircraft and been promoted to the rank of captain.

The two tours of duty that Wetmore served made him a witness to the downfall of the Luftwaffe. On November 27th, 1944, Wetmore and Lieutenant Р. York engaged in a skirmish with almost a hundred Bf 109 fighters to the north of Munster. As Wetmore himself said later: "To defend ourselves, we had to attack." Three Messerschmitts were shot down in the battle. The Americans escaped the battle without losses.

Wetmore's next success was on February 14th, 1945, when he shot down three Fw 190s in one day not far from the Dummer lake airfield. His wingman took down a fourth enemy plane. In total, the entire 359th Fighter Group recorded 4.5 victories on that day. Wetmore achieved his last victory on March 15th, 1945, near Wittenberg, destroying an Ме-163 rocket fighter. While he was chasing the Me 163, the air speed indicator on Wetmore's P-51D showed 600 miles per hour. In total, Wetmore completed around 142 combat flights throughout World War II. His final score was 21.25 destroyed, one damaged in aerial combat and 2.33 ground victories. It is the highest score in the 359th Fighter Group and eighth best of all American flying aces in the European Theater. On VE Day, he was a 21-year-old major.