Freshly arrived in South
Korea to fight an entirely
new war, F-51D-30-NA
USAAF 44-74512 had
been given a rapid
overhaul along with
dozens of others at
various facilities in the
USA before being placed
on ships and rushed
to the combat zone. It
appears the Mustang
went immediately into
combat without any form
of squadron marking
yet added. The tank
under the left wing is
a napalm tank while
the one under the right
wing is a 110-gallon
unit. These overhauled
Mustangs, many coming
out of storage at Kelly
Field, were flown to
the different overhaul
facilities (at Burbank
Airport, Lockheed and
Pac Aero were both overhauling Mustangs along with Grand Central Aircraft at nearby Glendale). Even the paint on the propeller is pristine
— something that would quickly become eroded with exposure to the dirt and gravel airstrips. Insides of the clam shell doors have been
painted green along with a fresh anti-glare black panel atop the fuselage. This aircraft would be assigned to the 40th Fighter Interceptor
Squadron, 35th Fighter Interceptor Wing. It would be shot down by anti-aircraft fire on 11 March 1951 and crash-landed near Chunchon.
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