Hobby Master Archive

Hobby Master 1/48 Air Power Series HA7734 P-51D Mustang “Gentleman Jim” 44-14937, 363rd FS, 357th FG, 1944

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.

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.

In late 1944 Captain James W. Browning of the 357th FG, 363rd FS returned for his second tour. On Feb. 9, 1945 while piloting Gentleman Jim he failed to return. An eyewitness said he saw an aircraft collide with an ME-262 and Browning’s dog tags were found with the wreckage. Due to his fine manners Chuck Yeager and Bud Anderson nicknamed him ‘Gentleman Jim’. Captain Browning had 7 aerial victories and his decorations included 3 Distinguished Flying Crosses, the Purple Heart, eight Air Medals and the French Croix de Guerre.