BUILT

P-51D-20, 44-63984, Maj. James B. Tapp, CO of 78th FS, 15th FG, 7th AF, Iwojima, May 1945

During attacks on Tokyo vicinity airfields on May 25th, 1945, 7th AF Mustang pilots fired unguided HVAR rockets for the first time.

A quartet of thusly armed Mustangs was part of a force that included initially some 128 fighters, but only a mere 67 aircraft found their

mark. The flight of HVAR armed Mustangs was led by Maj. James Buckley Tapp, who hit a hangar with his rockets at Matsudo Air Base,

and then shot down a Ki-44 Tojo in combat.This would be his 7th kill, while his first four came about during the first escort mission of

Superfortresses over Japan on April 7th, 1945. These up to eight hour missions came to be known as VLR (Very Long Range) missions,

and Maj. Tapp became the first USAAF ace to gain all his kills during these VLR flights on April 12th, 1945. With a total of eight confirmed

kills and two damaged, Maj. Tapp is the second ranked Mustang pilot in the Pacific area during World War Two. Symbols applied by the

ground crew of Margaret IV on the right side of the fuselage below the cockpit further indicate that this Mustang flew a total of nine combat

missions to May 25th, 1945, during which the pilot destroyed five enemy aircraft.

Accessories used:

Cat. No. 644031 P-51D-15+ LööK 1/48 (Brassin)

Cat. No. 648061 HVAR rockets 1/48 (Brassin)

Cat. No. 648486 P-51D exhaust stacks w/ fairing 1/48 (Brassin)

Cat. No. 648487 P-51D Hamilton Standard propeller 1/48 (Brassin)

Cat. No. 648494 P-51D wheels diamond tread 1/48 (Brassin)

Cat. No. 648495 P-51D undercarriage legs BRONZE 1/48 (Brassin)

Cat. No. 648522 P-51D cockpit 1/48 (Brassin)

Cat. No. 648532 P-51D 165gal fuel tank 1/48 (Brassin)

INFO Eduard - March 2021

eduard

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