Quick Overview

1:72nd scale Corgi die cast North American P-51D Mustang flown by James Goodson, USAAF 4th FG, 336th FS, RAF Debden England June, 1944. Having seen action with the RAF's No. 133 Sqn. (which later became the 336th FS) prior to the establishment of the 4th FG in September 1942, Goodson was one of the most experienced and highest-scoring American pilots in the ETO on the morning of D-Day, June 6th 1944. He had claimed 15 strafing kills and 14 aerial victories by the time he fell to flak in this very Mustang while strafing the German airfield at Neubrandenberg on June 20, 1944.

CO of the 336th FS at the time of his demise, Goodson spent the rest of the war as a POW. Designed to meet an RAF requirement for fighter-bomber and reconnaissance aircraft, the P-51 Mustang was first flown on October 26, 1940. This versatile aircraft was capable of escorting bombers on long-range missions, engaging in dogfights, and dropping down to destroy German targets on the ground. At least eight versions of the P-51 were produced, but it was the definitive P-51D that gave the Mustang its classic warbird appearance. Britain and the US both tested the airframe with the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, which gave the aircraft tremendous performance gains. The Truman Senate War Investigating Committee called the Mustang "the most aerodynamically perfect pursuit plane in existence."

• Maj. James Goodson