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.

In the summer of 1945 P-51D Mustang 44-72587 number 619 was assigned to the 462nd FS/ 506th FG stationed at Airfield 3 on Iwo Jima. The aircraft was shared by 1st Lt. William G. Ebersole and 2nd Lt. James R. Bercaw. Ebersole was the youngest member of the 462nd FS and flew twelve missions with ten of them being VLR missions. Lt. Ebersole was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross. Rumor has it P-51 “Hon Mistake” received the name after shooting up an outhouse while a Japanese soldier was using the facility.

Specifications for the North American Aviation P-51D Mustang The main difference between the D variant and the K variant was the use of the Aeroproducts propeller on the K instead of the Hamilton Standard propeller that was unavailable around the time of these P-51s being produced. However some K’s will be seen with Hamilton Standard because of field changes.

Hamilton Standard Prop - 11 ft 2 ins, 4 blades, some were cuffed and some weren’t and had square tipped blades (paddle blade) Aeroproducts propeller - 11 ft , 4 blades Total K built - 1,500

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 HA7744A P-51D Mustang “Hon Mistake” 1st Lt. William G. Ebersole 462th FS, 506th FG, 7th AF, Iwo Jima, 1945 with pilot signature plate

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.