The aircraft on display is a reconstruction, made up of components of several different aircraft and assembled as an exhibit. Its markings are those of the aircraft flown by Wallace E. Hopkins of Washington, Georgia, when he was deputy commander of the 361st Fighter Group, 8th Air Force, in England during World War II.
North American
P-51D Mustang
The P-51 was designed as the NA-73 in 1940 at Britain’s request. In 1942, tests of P-51s using the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine revealed much improved speed and service ceiling, and in December 1943, Merlin-powered P-51Bs first entered combat in Europe. Providing high-altitude escort of B-17s and B-24s, they scored heavily over German interceptors and by the war’s end, P-51s had destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft in the air, more than any other AAF fighter in Europe.