1942, Lt. Louis Curdes was 22 years old.

Lt. Louis Curdes, The Story of “Bad Angel”: As told on the Pima Air and Space Museum

He arrived at his 82^nd Fighter Group, 95^th Fighter Squadron in April 1943 and was assigned a P-38 Lightning. Ten days later he shot down three German Messerschmitt Bf-109 fighters.

A few weeks later, he downed two more German Bf -109’s. In less than a month of combat, Louis was an Ace.

During the next three months, Louis shot down an Italian Mc.202 fighter and two more Messerschmitts before his luck ran out. A German fighter shot down his plane on August 27, 1943 over Salerno, Italy.

Captured by the Italians, he was sent to a POW camp near Rome, but soon released.

He signed up for another combat tour and was sent to the Philippines where he flew P-51 Mustangs.

In the Pacific Theater, Louis downed a Mitsubishi reconnaissance plane near Formosa, becoming one of only three Americans to have kills against all three Axis Powers: Germany, Italy, and Japan.

Pilot Lt. Louis Curdes in his P-51 Mustang “Bad Angel”.

While attacking the Japanese-held island of Batan, one of Louis’ wingmen was shot down. The pilot ditched in the ocean. Circling overhead, Louis could see that his wingman had survived, so he stayed in the area to guide a rescue plane and protect the downed pilot.

He noticed another, larger airplane, wheels down, preparing to land at the Japanese-held airfield on Batan. It was a Douglas C-47 transport with American markings.

He lined up his P-51 directly behind the transport, carefully sighted one of his .50 caliber machine guns and knocked out first one, then another of its two engines Taking the plane down.

The next morning, Louis flew cover for a rescuing PBY that picked up the downed Mustang pilot and 12 passengers and crew, including two female nurses, from the C-47. All survived. For the Full Story HERE

P-51 Mustang returns home to Kentucky Air Guard after 63 years

By Master Sgt. Phil Speck, 123rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs / Published April 26, 2019

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A P-51 Mustang arrived back on the flight line of the Kentucky Air National Guard Base here April 12, more than six decades after departing.

The Mustang, serial number of 44-74202, was once assigned to the unit as a military fighter aircraft from 1953 to 1956. Now, it was returning home as a fully restored civilian warbird to fly in the 2019 Thunder Over Louisville air show.

The P-51’s new owners, R.T. Dickson Jr. and his father, R.T. Dickson Sr., purchased the Mustang in 2012 after more than 50 years of storage and restoration.

The younger Dickson has been flying aircraft since the age of 3, when his father let him take the stick of a Globe Swift. He’s piloted a multitude of aircraft ever since, but the South Carolina resident said he was especially pleased to be flying the Mustang in Thunder.

“I’m very excited about it,” Dickson said on the tarmac of the Kentucky Air Guard Base, recalling how his appearance in the show came to be.

He met the Kentucky Air Guard’s Maj. Josh Ketterer, a C-130 Hercules pilot, in December 2018 during an air show planning conference that Ketterer was attending as a Thunder coordinator. Dickson noticed the Kentucky patch on Ketterer’s flight suit, and the two struck up a conversation. Dickson told Ketterer how his restored Mustang, now known as “Swamp Fox,” had once belonged to the Kentucky Air Guard.

“We started talking about the airframe, and Josh said, ‘You should come up for Thunder,’” Dickson recalled.

They both loved the idea of giving the aircraft a “homecoming,” and Ketterer talked to wing leadership about bringing this piece of aviation history back to Kentucky.

Tail no. 44-74202 was manufactured by North American Aviation and delivered to the U.S. Army Air Force on May 7, 1945. It was first assigned to 445th Fighter Squadron at Bakersfield Army Air Field, California, before being transferred to more than a half-dozen units in California, Colorado, Nebraska, New Mexico and Texas. It arrived at the Kentucky Air Guard in July 1953 and remained here until October 1956, when it was moved to McClellan Air Force Base, California. The following year, it was declared surplus property.

The aircraft was purchased at auction by a private individual in 1957 but was damaged a few years later in a landing accident, according to an article in Warbird Digest. For the next 50 years, the plane changed hands several times, although it remained unflyable until a major restoration project returned it to the air in 2012 as the Dicksons’ Swamp Fox, painted in honor of World War II pilot Will Foard, who was a member of the 357th Fighter Group.

The 357th scored more combat air-to-air victories than any other P-51 Group in the Eighth Air Force during World War II.

Dickson has now traveled around the nation with Swamp Fox, which has given him an opportunity to learn more about the history of the P-51. While in Louisville, he stopped by the Kentucky Air Guard’s “Heritage Hall” and saw photos of his aircraft when it was assigned here.

“The most awe-inspiring thing that has come out of (owning this aircraft) is meeting the men and women that flew them,” he said.

“It’s a very visceral experience to fly. It’s loud, it vibrates, and it has smells — the fuel, the oil and the hydraulics. It’s a neat experience to convey to people that haven’t been inside something like this.”

He said the South Carolina Air National Guard’s 169th Fighter Wing has adopted him, partly because they share the name Swamp Fox. Recently, the unit hosted a family day that gave hundreds of people the chance to see the aircraft up close.

“We had kids crawling all over this thing, and I had the opportunity to take some kids up into the cockpit,” he said. “It’s really interesting to inspire the next generation.”

Ketterer finds inspiration in the Swamp Fox, too.

“As a Guard unit, we have a lot of family legacies around,” he said. “Having a legacy aircraft here that our families worked on is pretty special. We’re delighted about R.T.’s generosity of sharing his plane with us and bringing it back to its roots.”

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. — 

The North American P-51 “Mustang” was a single-engine, air-superiority fighter and bomber escort which served the Army Air Corps during World War II in all theaters. The sleek design was built around the massive V-12 engine driving an even larger propeller. The aircraft was famously used in the European theater to escort massive formations of allied bombers striking deep in to the heart of the Third Reich. 

According to official Tinker history documents and photographs, the Oklahoma City Air Depot conducted maintenance and modifications to 25 Mustangs from Jan. 1951 to Dec. 1953. 

The P-51 was generally armed with six .50 cal. machine guns, three in the leading edge of each wing root. It could also carry up to 2,000 pounds of external stores including bombs, rockets and long-range drop tanks. The V-12 engine is very efficient at high altitudes which allowed it to remain with striking bomber formations. There were five distinct versions of the Mustang beginning with the P-51A, P-51B, P-51C, P-51D with high-visibility bubble canopy, and P-51K. There were also multiple reconnaissance variants and even a Twin-Mustang; two P-51s joined together with a center wing and flown by one pilot, known as the P-82. 

The all-black pilots of the 332nd Fighter Group were trained in Tuskegee, Alabama, and flew P-47 Thunderbolt and multiple versions of the P-51 Mustang. The “Red Tailed” Tuskegee Airmen gained not only fame, but the everlasting respect of the bomber crews they escorted over Europe by attaining one of the lowest combat loss rates of any escort unit in the European theater. 

The P-51 had moved from front-line service to a dependable, but aging mount with the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserves by the time the Korean War kicked off. The Air Force was quickly transitioning in to the jet age by this time, but soon found it still needed tough aircraft like the F-51 which could handle rough airfield and maintenance conditions. The F-51 Mustang was put in to the fight flying from airfields in Japan and the Korean Peninsula in support of United Nations troops.  Some of the Air Force’s most recognizable combat leaders at the time and in later years, such as General Daniel “Chappie” James Jr., flew the Mustang during their early careers. The final operational F-51s were retired from service with the Air National Guard in 1957.

Manufacturer: North American

Aircraft type: P-51

Nickname: Mustang

Crew: 1

Power plant: One Rolls Royce/Packard-Merlin V1650 in-line V-12 piston engine creating 1,490 horse power

In-service dates: 1940-1957

Number produced: 14,068

Tinker connection: Maintenance and preparation for Korean War use

The Mustang was among the best and most well-known fighters used by the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War II. Possessing excellent range and maneuverability, the P-51 operated primarily as a long-range escort fighter and also as a ground attack fighter-bomber. The Mustang served in nearly every combat zone during WWII, and later fought in the Korean War. Af.mil

Origins
In 1940 the British approached North American Aviation to license-build Curtiss P-40 fighters for the Royal Air Force. North American offered to design a better fighter, which flew as the NA-73X in October 1940. Production of the aircraft — named Mustang I by the British — began the following year.

Mustangs for the USAAF
In the summer of 1941, the USAAF received two Mustang Is under the designation XP-51. Although flight tests of the new fighter showed promise, the USAAF did not immediately order the Mustang. After the personal intervention of Gen. Hap Arnold, however, the USAAF retained 55 Mustangs from a British order. Most of these became F-6A photo-reconnaissance aircraft, which equipped the first USAAF Mustang units, the 154th and 111th Observation Squadrons in North Africa in the spring of 1943. 

In March 1942 the USAAF accepted the first production P-51A fighters. Although excellent at lower levels, the P-51A’s Allison engines severely limited performance at high altitude. The USAAF employed P-51As in the China-Burma-India theater, where most combat took place at low altitude. 

In April 1942 the USAAF ordered an attack version equipped with dive brakes and bomb racks, the A-36 Apache. A-36s entered combat in June 1943 and served in North Africa, Italy and India. 

A Winning Combination
In the fall of 1942, Mustangs in the United States and Great Britain were experimentally fitted with British Merlin engines. One in the United States flew a remarkable 441 mph at 29,800 feet — about 100 mph faster than the P-51A at that altitude. Mass production of the Merlin-powered P-51B and P-51C soon followed (nearly identical, North American produced the “B” in Inglewood, Calif., and the “C” in Dallas, Texas). 

In December 1943 the first P-51B/C Mustangs entered combat in Europe with the 354th Fighter Group “Pioneers.” By the time of the first U.S. heavy bomber strike against Berlin in March 1944, the USAAF fielded about 175 P-51B/C Mustangs. Along with P-38 Lightnings, these P-51s provided sorely needed long-range, high-altitude escort for the U.S. bombing campaign against Germany. 

“Bubble-top” Mustang 
The P-51D incorporated several improvements, and it became the most numerous variant with nearly 8,000 being built. The most obvious change was a new “bubble-top” canopy that greatly improved the pilot’s vision. The P-51D also received the new K-14 gunsight, an increase from four to six .50-cal machine guns, and a simplified ammunition feed system that considerably reduced gun jams. 

The P-51D arrived in quantity in Europe in the spring of 1944, becoming the USAAF’s primary long range escort fighter. The versatile Mustang also served as a fighter-bomber and reconnaissance aircraft. Few Luftwaffeaircraft could match the P-51D — by the end of the war, Mustangs had destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft in the air, more than any other USAAF fighter in Europe. 

P-51Ds arrived in the Pacific and CBI theaters by the end of 1944. In the spring of 1945, Iwo Jima-based P-51Ds started flying long-range B-29 escort and low-level fighter-bomber missions against ground targets in Japan. 

Continuing Development
North American eventually developed a considerably lightened Mustang, which became the P-51H. With a remarkable top speed of 487 mph, it was 50 mph faster than the P-51D. Although it was in production before the war ended, the P-51H did not reach frontline units in time to see combat. 

With the last of 555 P-51Hs completed in 1946, the production run of the Mustang ended with over 15,000 of all types built. 

Korean War
Although Mustangs continued in service with the newly-formed U.S. Air Force and many other nations after the war, more advanced jet fighters relegated them to secondary status. Many of the USAF’s Mustangs (redesignated the F-51) were surplused or transferred to the Reserve and the Air National Guard (ANG). 

At the start of the Korean War, however, the Mustang once again proved its usefulness. After the initial invasion, USAF units were forced to fly from bases in Japan, and F-51Ds could hit targets in Korea that short-ranged F-80 jet fighters could not. Mustangs continued flying with USAF, South Korean Air Force (ROKAF), South African Air Force (SAAF) and Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) fighter-bomber units on close support and interdiction missions in Korea until they were largely replaced by F-86F jet fighter-bombers in 1953. 

Epilogue
F-51s flew in the Reserve and ANG until they were finally phased out in 1957. Obtained from the West Virginia ANG in 1957, the aircraft on display was the last Mustang assigned to a USAF tactical unit. It is painted as the P-51D flown by Col. C.L. Sluder, commander of the 325th Fighter Group in Italy in 1944. The name of this aircraft, Shimmy IV, is derived from the names of his daughter, Sharon, and his wife, Zimmy. 

TECHNICAL NOTES: 
Armament: Six .50-cal. machine guns and 10 5-in. rockets or 2,000 lbs. of bombs
Engine: Packard-built Rolls-Royce Merlin V-1650 of 1,695 hp
Maximum speed: 437 mph
Cruising speed: 275 mph
Range: 1,000 miles
Ceiling: 41,900 ft. 
Span: 37 ft.
Length: 32 ft. 3 in.
Height: 13 ft. 8 in.
Weight: 12,100 lbs. maximum 
Serial number:44-74936