Aces High Bulletin Board
General Forums => Custom Skins => Topic started by: oboe on July 17, 2021, 12:15:34 AM
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Lt Urban Drew's P-51D "Detroit Miss". Drew was assigned to the 375th FS of the 361st FG, whose members were known as the "Yellowjackets". During his combat tour, he flew 75 missions and rose to command the 375th squadron. He was credited with 6 aerial victories and one ground victory.
On September 18, 1944 he led a strafing attack on the largest aircraft to fly in World War II: the Blohm and Voss BV 238 seaplane. Drew and two other pilots strafed the giant aircraft in a single pass, setting it aflame before German anti-aircraft artillery could come into action. His most notable achievement, however, was a "double kill" on Luftwaffe Messerschmidt 262 jets at Achmer on 7 October 1944. Because of insufficient proof, he was not credited with the victories until 1983, when historians confirmed the validity of his claim. He received the Air Force Cross for this achievement.
Click for a larger image
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=403389.0;attach=34109)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=403389.0;attach=34111)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=403389.0;attach=34113)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=403389.0;attach=34115)
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Couple more shots.
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=403389.0;attach=34117)
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=403389.0;attach=34119)
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Outstanding Oboe. :aok
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:aok
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Just superb.
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That was the P-51 model i made as a kid, great work!
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Very nice work Oboe, great looking skin.
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Thanks guys, appreciate it. Has anyone seen Usch around lately? He asked for this skin back in 2017, when the P-51D slots were full. It appears he's not active on the board since April.
Drew's flying and tactics would've fit well here. To get his double jet kill, he and his wingman vulched a couple of Me262's as they were taking off from Achmer. His wingman was shot down by ground fire, but bailed out and survived the War.
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=403389.0;attach=34125)
There is also a painting of him involved in a 1v1 against a 109, "The Katzenjammer Kid by Troy White" (https://www.starduststudios.com/ben-drew.html) while he was flying a P-51B called Suzy-G (which was one of the Mustangs in the famous photo called "The Bottisham Four").
Apparently Detroit Miss had a supercharger problem after takeoff, so he returned to base and grabbed another aircraft, one normally flown by Frank Glankler. The fight spiraled down to low altitude, and the German tried to break out of the engagement. With only one .50 cal machine gun still operative, Drew was able to shoot the 109 down.
Another little fact I learned about him - he was the pilot flying E2*S in that famous "Bottisham Four" photo.
(https://bbs.hitechcreations.com/smf/index.php?action=dlattach;topic=403389.0;attach=34127)
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Excellent work. I know there has been some debate over the red paint on the vertical stab and canopy rail. That squadron used blue (see Croghan Cruiser). I wonder if Lyric has anything that can flesh this out for us.
A beautiful skin regardless. DEFINITELY will be popular.
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Very nice! ahss149 is my new desktop image. :)
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I met Drew when I was in college. He was a feisty guy. He was not afraid to pound down adult beverages and could charm the heck out of the ladies. He moved to South Africa and reportedly found a remedy for alcoholism but could never get it into widespread acceptance. Think it was some herbal thing from that region. Fuzzy details of things I used to know about him.
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Very cool. I've seen Francis Gabreski and Bud Mahurin at air shows, that's about it.
Drew sounds like a real handful. After flight school he was retained as a flight instructor, but that ended after he buzzed a troop column and he was sent to the ETO to avoid charges. He and another pilot, Bill Kemp, were known as the "Katzenjammer Kids" and it was understood these were the guys to fly with if you wanted to see action.
After his tour with the 361st, he transferred to the Pacific and flew P-47N's.
I never knew there was controversy about red vs blue trim - in all the profiles, model kits, and artwork I saw, the trim on Detroit Miss was always red. I knew about "Croghan's Cruiser" having blue trim; I just assumed that was in a different squadron. Strange!
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Very cool. I've seen Francis Gabreski and Bud Mahurin at air shows, that's about it.
Drew sounds like a real handful. After flight school he was retained as a flight instructor, but that ended after he buzzed a troop column and he was sent to the ETO to avoid charges. He and another pilot, Bill Kemp, were known as the "Katzenjammer Kids" and it was understood these were the guys to fly with if you wanted to see action.
After his tour with the 361st, he transferred to the Pacific and flew P-47N's.
I never knew there was controversy about red vs blue trim - in all the profiles, model kits, and artwork I saw, the trim on Detroit Miss was always red. I knew about "Croghan's Cruiser" having blue trim; I just assumed that was in a different squadron. Strange!
Yeah, his wingman got killed on his last mission in the N and I think it really bothered him.
Cruiser and Miss are both E2 which had blue trim. The red is the popular choice but may not be accurate. I can't say either way but perhaps Lyric can.
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https://www.britmodeller.com/forums/index.php?/topic/235045559-p-51d-detroit-miss-squadron-colours/
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That was the P-51 model i made as a kid, great work!
I think we all built that one. I think I built a dozen of them in all sorts of custom schemes. Named a few after girls I liked and such.
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I love the sheen on the aft fuselage. That is so well done. Also the belly detail with the gear doors and center wing panel.
Just good stuff.
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Thanks!
I had a time deciding on the height of the D-Day invasion stripes also. Many profiles show them with a gap of bare metal between the Star & Bar insignia, but some show them extending up to the insignia. I found no photos of his plane that show the top of the stripes, but a few B&W photos of other 361st FG '51s that do. I'm guessing of course, but I think its possible both could be correct - at some point they extended, and at another point they were trimmed, leaving the gap of bare metal between insignia and the top of the stripes.
Wow as far as red v. blue, this stuck out to me from your link:
This plane has popularly been depicted as having red on those areas over the years. I’ve seen restored planes, illustrations and models all using that scheme... but I have to ask myself “why?” since there are no colour photos of Detroit Miss (or even showing the tail itself) - why are folks using red?
Ive purchased a set of decals from “lifelike decals” for Drew’s plane, and they have indicated the squadron colours as actually being a medium blue! This seems correct since 375th FS’s colours are indeed blue. I even contacted the imperial war museum to confirm the FS colours and they replied stating blue.
Just when I thought I’d wrapped the mystery up, I was browsing through a book “Mustang aces of the 8th Air Force” and it states that Drew’s plane used 374th squadron colours (red?)!! Why would a senior figure in the 375th fs be flying using colours from another squadron? What is their source for this information anyhow?
Very interesting. I also don't doubt at some point the rudder was painted - I think near the end of the War, they really went in for extensive color coding and had the time and the paint.
Like you say, perhaps Lyric can find something definitive.
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But why change the letters and not the colors? :headscratch:
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Did Lt. Drew change squadrons? That could be the answer.
I've seen examples of Luftwaffe pilots changing squadrons and not changing the squadron colors on their personal aircraft.
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All the service history I can find for him say the same - shipped out from US for ETO after being a flight instructor, assigned to 375th FS and rose to command a flight and later the entire squadron.
He did seem to fly a lot of different planes, but that's probably normal.
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Thanks!
I had a time deciding on the height of the D-Day invasion stripes also. Many profiles show them with a gap of bare metal between the Star & Bar insignia, but some show them extending up to the insignia. I found no photos of his plane that show the top of the stripes, but a few B&W photos of other 361st FG '51s that do. I'm guessing of course, but I think its possible both could be correct - at some point they extended, and at another point they were trimmed, leaving the gap of bare metal between insignia and the top of the stripes.
Wow as far as red v. blue, this stuck out to me from your link:
Very interesting. I also don't doubt at some point the rudder was painted - I think near the end of the War, they really went in for extensive color coding and had the time and the paint.
Like you say, perhaps Lyric can find something definitive.
Sorry have not been on much have had visitors. Just a quick look for colour photos of this group first finding that I had posted before.
(https://i.imgur.com/Tpr38xah.jpg)
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Sorry have not been on much have had visitors. Just a quick look for colour photos of this group first finding that I had posted before.
(https://i.imgur.com/Tpr38xah.jpg)
Found a 78th fighter group aircraft with the same red tip on the vertical stab.
(https://i.imgur.com/hZIBDkrh.jpg)
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Love seeing these new P-51s Oboe! Keep it up! Great Bare Metal Finish work! Top Notch!