This is 11-victory ace Colonel (later Major General) Charles McCorkle's P-51B-10-NA (42-106941) "Betty Jane" of the 31st FG, 15th AF, USAAF, coded CM-M as it appeared in Italy, 1944.
Born in Newton, N.C., in 1915, General McCorkle received his secondary education in local schools and graduated from the Columbian Preparatory School, Washington, D.C. in 1932. He then entered the U.S. Military Academy, graduating in June 1936. A year later he graduated from Advanced Flying School at Kelly Field, Texas and was assigned as pursuit pilot to the 24th Pursuit Squadron, Albrook Field, Panama Canal Zone.
Following assignments as a squadron commander at California's Moffett and Hamilton fields and as a deputy group commander at Paine Field, Wash., he moved, at the start of World War II, with the 54th Fighter Group (P-39s) to Harding Field, La., and then to Alaska. He assumed command of the 54th on June 3, 1942. The 54th received the Distinguished Unit Citation for service during the Aleutians Campaign; and returned to the United States in early 1943.
In July 1943, McCorkle took command of the 31st Fighter Group (Spitfires, later P-51s) in Sicily. He participated in air actions during the landings at Salerno and Anzio, fighter support of air attacks in Italy and Central Europe and in other typical missions assigned to fighter organizations during that period of time. When he returned to the United States and a new assignment as chief of staff of the First Fighter Command at Mitchel Field, N.Y., he was credited with 11 enemy aircraft destroyed in flight (five in the Spitfire VIII and six in the P-51B).
He would go on to a lengthy post-war career retiring as a Major General. General McCorkle's decorations include the Silver Star, Legion of Merit, Distinguished Flying Cross, Air Medal with 22 oak leaf clusters, Air Force Commendation Medal, and the Purple Heart.
This skin was originally created by Player1. It has been updated for AH3. I preserved much of his work on the tail stripes even thought it would have been easier to redraw them than it was to cut them out of the single-layer original bitmap and clean them up. This is in keeping with my desire to pay homage to the original skinner when possible.
