Carte Aircraft - P51D

Maj Richard Hewitt's P-51D Mustang ‘Big Dick’ of the 82nd Fighter Squadron based at Duxford. The name of the aircraft refers to a craps call for double five and not to the pilots prowess (ainsi I have been reliably informed). North American Aviation’s P-51 Mustang was the first U.S. fighter airplane to push its nose over Europe after the fall of France. Then called the P-51, it scurried back and forth across the channel, taking on the best the Axis could put in the air. Mustangs met and conquered every German bâche from the early junkers to the sleek, twin jet-jet Messerschmitt 262 s. Although first designed for the British as a medium-altitude fighter, the Mustang excelled in hedge-hopping puning runs and long-range escort duty. It made a name for itself by blasting trains, ships and enemy installations in western Europe and by devastating Axis defenses prior to the Allied of Sicily and Italy.