Thanks to Devil505, Perdue3, Greebo, and all the rest of you who helped me kick around the OD issue over on the thread with Janie in it.
https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,400351.0.htmlI also have to thank Lyric1 for his photo research and interpretation help some three-plus years ago. (Wow.)
https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php/topic,385906.0.html We skinners would be sunk without you, sir.
Finally, additional thanks to Devil505 for his step-by-step flap texture guide.
Maj. Howard "Deacon" Hively, Lt. William Bradford Hoelscher
P-51D-15-NA (QP*J)
S/N 44-15347
4th FG, 334th FS
Debden, UK 1944-45
This P-51D-15-NA coded QP*J was the mount of Maj. Howard "Deacon" Hively while he was the CO of the 334FS, 4FG from June-Aug 1944. It is the only 4FG P-51D to have been painted in olive drab (the underside was natural metal). Deacon, an RAF Eagle Squadron member, served continuously from 1 September 1941 until the end of the war in 1945 flying Spitfires, Thunderbolts, and Mustangs. An ace with 12 aerial victories and 2.5 aircraft destroyed on the ground, his adventures (including the first shuttle mission to Russia) are too numerous to list here. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross, the Distinguished Flying Cross with six Oak Leaf Clusters, the air Medal with seven Oak Leaf clusters, and the Purple Heart.
He later retired to West Virginia and spent most of his time traveling throughout the States visiting his old friends from the 4th Fighter Group. While visiting one in Florida in 1982, he accidentally fell out of the boat they were using to see the sights and died of a heart attack before he could be rescued.
This Mustang was later flown by Hively's successor Louis “Red Dog” Norley before being passed to Lt. William Bradford Hoelscher. Hoelscher scored the 4th FG's last victory--and was himself the last man of the group to have been shot down.
While Hoelscher was pursuing an Me-262 jet fighter, shrapnel from flak bursts damaged his wing root, tore part of his tail away, and punctured his coolant system. Fully aware that he was seriously damaged and in jeopardy, he kept after the Me 262 and continued firing short bursts. He saw the German go out of control and begin to burn and smoke. "The jet rolled over on its back,” he wrote.
Second Lieutenant Gordon A. Denson, who was behind Hoelscher in his P-51D (“Priscilla”), wrote, “I saw a large explosion near the edge of the aerodrome under us, where the Me 262 went down out of control on his back.”
With the cooling system of his airplane damaged, Hoelscher was forced to bail out but evaded capture. He was not officially credited with this kill, unfortunately, leaving him with 2.5 aerial victories in WWII (and multiple aircraft destroyed on the ground). He later flew F-86s in Korea scoring 1.5 victories and then A-1s in Vietnam.
He retired from the Air Force in 1970 and died in 1984.
Some of these images don't have quite the resolution I wanted, but they're enough to give you the general idea so I've included them as well.
