Hobby Master Archive

Hobby Master 1/48 Air Power Series HA7704 P-51D Mustang 78th FS/15th FG Iwo Jima, April 1945 “Margaret IV”

1/48 scale pre-finished Die-cast metal with a minimum of plastic. Professionally painted. All markings pad applied for superb results. Cockpit slides open. Comes with a pilot that can be removed. Comes with display stand. Can be displayed with landing gear up or down.

Later in WWII the Allied bombers were flying deep into Germany but suffered tremendous losses because of the lack of range the fighter escorts had. German fighters would wait beyond the range of the Allied fighters and then attack the vulnerable bombers. Once the P-51 called Mustang by the British had the Allison engine replaced with a British Merlin it possessed the high performance that had been lacking. With drop tanks the P-51 had the range to escort bombers all the way to Berlin and back.

In November 1944 the 15th FG began receiving their new P-51D-20/25 Mustangs. One of three squadrons within the 15th FG was the 78th FS who were called the “Bushmasters” after a very poisonous snake from Central America. The P-51’s from the 78th were numbered 100 - 149. On April 7, 1945 the 15th and 21st FG’s departed Iwo Jima on their first VLR mission (Very Long Range) escorting B-29 bombers all the way to and from Tokyo. The P-51’s were equipped with two 110 gallon drop tanks that would give them the required fuel for the round trip mission. These tanks normally were dropped once they reach landfall. There were slightly more than 100 Mustangs guarding approximately the same number of B-29’s when they encountered Japanese aircraft whose goal was to destroy the bombers. Out of approximately 110 to 125 aircraft sent to intercept the bombers lost 71 confirmed kills as well as 44 damaged with 30 of these were probably destroyed. On the 7th Major James Tapp flying his P-51D “Margaret IV” named after his wife, had 3 confirmed kills and on April 12, 1944 he scored again. This made Tapp the first USAAF pilot to become an Ace while flying over Japan. Major Tapp’s final tally was 8 confirmed and 2 damaged. Six of his victories came while flying “Margaret IV”.

Specifications for the North American Aviation P-51D Mustang Tasks - Dive-bomber, bomber-escort, ground-attack, interceptor, photo recon.

The photo recon variant F-6D carried two cameras in the rear fuselage, usually a K17 and a K22, one looking out to the left and one looking down at an oblique angle. Most F-6Ds carried a direction- finding receiver, serviced by a rotating loop antenna mounted just ahead of the dorsal fin. Most F-6Ds retained their armament.

Number of P-51Ds converted to F-6Ds - 126 Number Produced All P-51 Variants - 14,819 Dimensions Wing Span - 37 ft (11.27 m) Length - 32 ft 3 in (9.82 m) Height - 13 ft 8 in (4.16 m)

Weight Empty - 7,125 lb (3,232 kg) Gross - 10,100 lb (4,581 kg) Maximum Take-off - 11,600 lb (5,262 kg)

Performance Engine - Packard Merlin two-staged supercharged V-1650-7, 12 cylinder V engine 1,695 hp. Maximum Speed - 437 mph (703 km/h) Ceiling - 41,900 ft (12,771 m) Range - 950 miles (1,529 km) Maximum Range - 2,300 miles (3,701 km)

Armament (6) .50 caliber MG Maximum External Bomb Load - 2,000 lb (907 kg) Or (4) .5 inch rockets.