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Monthly magazine about history and scale plastic modeling.

Strana 77

BUILT
P-51B-15-NA, s/n 42-106839, Lt. Robert Eckfeldt, 374
th
FS, 361
st
FG, 8
th
AF,
Bottisham, United Kingdom, June–July 1944
The 361
st
FG was established on February
10, 1943 and its pilots retrained on the P-47.
They moved to England to the Bottisham
base in November that year. The pilots of the
361
st
FG flew their first combat mission on
January 21, 1944. By May, the unit had already
re-equipped to the P-51s and moved to Little
Walden Air Force Base on September 26, 1944.
From early February until May 1945, the group
operated out of Chièvres, Belgium, and its
pilots destroyed 222 enemy aircraft in the air,
probably destroyed 11 and damaged 67 during
the combat deployment. Among the group’s
aces was Lt. Robert Eckfeldt, who scored three
aerial victories and destroyed four more enemy
aircraft on the ground. This is matched by the
seven symbols under the cockpit of his aircraft
named “Bald Eagle”, a nickname for the 22-year-
old pilot, referring to his thinning hair despite
his youth. “Eggie,” as his colleagues also called
him, was the son of an Army major general and
hailed from Belmont, Massachusetts.
INFO Eduard
77
November 2026

BUILT

P-51B-15-NA, s/n 42-106839, Lt. Robert Eckfeldt, 374 FS, 361 FG, 8 AF, Bottisham, United Kingdom, June–July 1944

th

st

th

The 361 FG was established on February 10, 1943 and its pilots retrained on the P-47. They moved to England to the Bottisham base in November that year. The pilots of the 361 FG flew their first combat mission on January 21, 1944. By May, the unit had already re-equipped to the P-51s and moved to Little Walden Air Force Base on September 26, 1944. From early February until May 1945, the group

st

st

operated out of Chièvres, Belgium, and its pilots destroyed 222 enemy aircraft in the air, probably destroyed 11 and damaged 67 during the combat deployment. Among the group’s aces was Lt. Robert Eckfeldt, who scored three aerial victories and destroyed four more enemy aircraft on the ground. This is matched by the seven symbols under the cockpit of his aircraft named “Bald Eagle”, a nickname for the 22-year-

old pilot, referring to his thinning hair despite his youth. “Eggie,” as his colleagues also called him, was the son of an Army major general and hailed from Belmont, Massachusetts.

November 2026

INFO Eduard

77

Info EDUARD