F-51D Mustang Korean War
Item #61044

Product Description

About the North American F-51D Mustang Korean War
Sketched out in a New York city hotel room in April 1940, the
North American Aviation Corporation NA73X went on to become one
of the best fighters to come out of World War 2. The U.S. Army
Air Corps gave it the title of P (for Pursuit) 51, and it was
named Mustang by the British. Of the several variations of the
Mustang, the P51-D is considered the definitive version and was
the first to have the bubble canopy. More "D" models were built
than any other variant, with a total of 9,603 being produced.
Armed with six .50 caliber machine guns, three in each wing, with
400 rounds for each inboard caliber machine gun and 270 rounds
for the other four, plus underwing pylons for auxiliary fuel
tanks of 1000lb bombs, the Mustang was a true fighter pilots
airplane. At the conclusion of WWII, Mustangs were in operation
all over the world, flying in several nations air forces.

When the Korean conflict broke out, hundreds of F (for fighter)
51's were in Japan awaiting scraping. Because they possessed the
slow speed maneuverability that was absent in the new jets then
entering service, the F-51 was ideal to work with Forward Air
Controllers (FAC's) on the ground in Korea. The major drawback to
this was the F-51's liquid cooled engine susceptibility to
anti-aircraft and small arms fire when attacking ground targets.
This caused the Mustang to have the highest loss ratio of any
aircraft in Korea. A total of 194 were lost in three years, with
only 10 being downed in combat with other aircraft.




Suggested Paint Colors

AS-12 - Bare Metal Silver
X-1 - Black
X-10 - Gun Metal
X-18 - Semi Gloss Black
X-2 - White
X-4 - Blue
X-5 - Green
X-6 - Orange
X-7 - Red
X-8 - Lemon Yellow
XF-1 - Flat Black
XF-10 - Flat Brown
XF-15 - Flat Flesh
XF-16 - Flat Aluminum
XF-3 - Flat Yellow
XF-49 - Khaki
XF-5 - Flat Green
XF-55 - Deck Tan
XF-57 - Buff
XF-62 - Olive Drab