Strana 33
P-51D-20, 44-63984, Maj. James B. Tapp, CO of 78th FS, 15th FG,
7th AF, Iwojima, May 1945
P-51D-25, 44-73407, Maj. James B. Tapp, CO of 78th FS, 15th FG,
7th AF, Iwojima, Summer 1945
During attacks on Tokyo vicinity airfields on
May 25, 1945, the 7th AF Mustang pilots fired
unguided HVAR rockets for the very first time.
A quartet of thusly armed Mustangs was part
of a force that included initially some 128
fighters, but 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 aerial combat. This was
his 7th kill, while his first four happened during
the first escort mission of B-29 Superfortresses
bombers over Japan on April 7, 1945. Margaret
IV sported the early unit marking, with yellow/
black spinner, six-inch black band around the
nose, yellow/black strips on the horizontal and
vertical tailplanes, and black outlined yellow
wing tips, with “The Bushmasters” unit badge on
both sides of the forward fuselage.
Maj. Tapp became the first USAAF ace to gain
all his kills during VLR missions. His fifth victim
was a Ki-61 on April 12, 1945. Unfortunately, Tapp
also damaged the Mustang of his wingman,
Lt. Fred W. Whitte, who bailed out, but his pa-
rachute didn’t open, and the pilot died. With
a total of eight confirmed kills and two damaged
enemy aircraft, Maj. Tapp ranked second among
Mustang pilots of the VII Fighter Command. The
Margaret V replaced Margaret IV in the line of
Tapp’s aircraft and wore the late squadron mar-
king with yellow wing and tailplane tips and
yellow propeller spinner. Unit badge was not
painted. Curiously part of the black vertical tail
band remained painted on the vertical stabilizer.
KITS 07/2025
INFO Eduard
33
July 2025