[zed550]

think i saw something on little friends maybe a picture?..anyway ben drew who flew detroit miss may have piloted this machine,will have too check up on this unless somebody beats me too it

[bsmith13]

P-51B E2-S flown by Lt Abe Rosenberger. Lost September 1944, Lt Robert Geck KIA.

No record of who flew 44-13339 P-51D E2-S on a regular basis, nor its fate.

44-13926 flown by Lt Abe Rosenberger. Lost August 1944, Lt Don Dellinger KIA.

No record of who flew 44-14497 P-51D E2-S on a regular basis, nor its fate.

44-14803 P-51 D E-2S lost Jan 1945. Capt Alton Snyder Jr POW. No record of who flew this aircraft on a regular basis.

The Dragon blue E2-S is tail number has a tailnumber of N151BP, which looks more like a modern FAA registration number than a WWII tailnumber to me. If this model represents a Mustang that makes the current airshow circuit, that would make sense

The olive green E2-S has a tail number of 44-13926, making it a model of the last E2-S to see combat (as far as we know...).

A quick note on USAAF tail numbers. The actual number on the model of the green E2-S is 413926. The first 4 was dropped, as it didn't seem likely to those in power that there would ever be a "5" needed. The first two numbers represent the year the aircraft was manufactured; thus, 44 = 1944. The last series of numbers represents the production number. Put another way, 44-13926 was the 13926th aircraft accepted into US military service in 1944.

[duxford]

Here is a line from The Mighty Eighth by Roger A. Freeman (p.292): "361st P-51B, C, D & K, metal finish with some field application of dark green camouflage. On a few P-51s camouflaged in 1944, insignia blue patches applied."

[SKUNKY]

Originally Posted by bsmith13

The Dragon blue E2-S is tail number has a tailnumber of N151BP, which looks more like a modern FAA registration number than a WWII tailnumber to me. If this model represents a Mustang that makes the current airshow circuit, that would make sense

It does...The "BP" in the reg # are the initials of its owner, Bob Pond...The aircraft belongs to the Planes of Fame Museum.

[stalag8611]

Check out a publicaton, "Aircraft of WWII", by Stewart Wilson and published by Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd (Australia) in 1998. Pay particular attention to the cover where, directly below the autor's name, you'll spot the famous Blue P-51D. I've had the book for a number of years, it;'s full of useful information, but until the current kerfuffle about the accuracy of the color I never gave the cover's art work by artist Don Stephens a second thought. Then, like spotting a familiar name in the news, out jumped our friend.
Does it solve the mystery of the correct color? I doubt it, but it sure makes the discussion a bit more lively.

[Cardinal]

Today I assembled my Dragon P51D Big Beautiful Doll that I mentioned at the beginning of this thread . Of the many Dragons with 'fiddly bits', this one was possibly the easiest to assemble, but did still require some white glue on the landing gear and on one of the 'removable' plastic flaps.

I would have to agree with those of you (like Planenuts and Skunky) that believe that Dragon make the best looking Mustangs out there. The detail is superb and it just looks like the real deal - a very piece of die-cast.

Now that I have at least one version of the Dragon, Corgi, Gemini Aces and Matchbox versions of this aircraft I can voice the following opinion:

• Dragon make the best looking P51 with the highest level of detail
• Gemini make a P51 with great heft and superb detail with the best level of fit and finish (metal flaps)
• Corgi make good 'shiny' P51s that are 'purty' to look at
• Matchbox made a excellent value for money version with good detail and the best 1/72 scale pilot out there

Overall winners - all of them, with Dragon and Gemini neck and neck for realism and attention to detail .

[ZS-VAN]

Great synopsis Cardinal. Now we just need you to review Aero Art, IXO & Witty! I reckon that you do make a good point that all are winners. We wouldn't have bought them if they weren't!

[stalag8611]

Originally Posted by stalag8611

Check out a publicaton, "Aircraft of WWII", by Stewart Wilson and published by Aerospace Publications Pty Ltd (Australia) in 1998. Pay particular attention to the cover where, directly below the autor's name, you'll spot the famous Blue P-51D. I've had the book for a number of years, it;'s full of useful information, but until the current kerfuffle about the accuracy of the color I never gave the cover's art work by artist Don Stephens a second thought. Then, like spotting a familiar name in the news, out jumped our friend.
Does it solve the mystery of the correct color? I doubt it, but it sure makes the discussion a bit more lively.

Duh, perhaps those of us own the Blue E2-S should have gotten out the powerful magnifying glass and read the script on the port side of the fusilage just ahead of the cockpit. The script says "Planes of Fame". This, coupled with the number on the rudder, N151BP, leads me to conclude that the aircraft with this color scheme never saw action in the skies over Europe. More likely, it belongs at the Planes of Fame air museum in Chino, CA. I was doing a close up examaination of my Gemini P-51B against my Dragon P-51 models when I finally spotted the difference. The Gemini model is better executed IMHO, except for the placement of the stand.

[planenuts]

Originally Posted by stalag8611

This, coupled with the number on the rudder, N151BP, leads me to conclude that the aircraft with this color scheme never saw action in the skies over Europe. More likely, it belongs at the Planes of Fame air museum in Chino, CA.

A picture is worth a thousand words........look at the second plane in the picture........it's E*2S in all it's glory in olive drab

[Canucklehead]

Originally Posted by Canucklehead

There was an explanation for the blue color on the old forum. The guy who owns that Mustang (air show bird) wanted to paint it like the green one, but only had black and white photos. When they checked the government records to see what paint color it should be, the records listed the color # as whatever olive drab was back in the 40's, but the # had since changed to mean the color of blue. Since it was a black and white photo, how were they to know? The Dragon releases have the green one for the actual fighter, and the blue one for it's air show cousin.
I know it sounds a bit far fetched, but I think that's the jist of it.

Did anyone even read my post? I'm used to being ignored everywhere else but I thought this place was different.