Hobby Master Archive

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.

Fred E. Hutchins was born in Georgia and graduated from flight training on April 29, 1943 at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama. He joined the 302nd FS of the 332nd FG at Ramitelli, Italy in December 1943 just before the 302nd flew its first combat mission on February 5, 1944. During his time in WWII Lt. Hutchins had 4 P-51 Mustangs and all wore the name “Little Freddie”. By the end of WWII Freddie Hutchins was a Captain and went on to fly in Korea and Vietnam. For his service he was awarded the DFC and a Purple Heart along with several other awards.

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

Hobby Master 1/48 Air Power Series HA7718 P-51D Mustang “Little Freddie” Capt. Freddie Hutchins 332nd FG, 302nd FS THIS IS A SPECIAL COMMISSION FOR AND AVAILABLE AT: VLAD’S TOY.COM ONLY 500 WORLDWIDE Also there will be a limited number of this model available at Historic Aviation Pete’s Collectibles Collectable Jets

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.