P-51D-5-NA, s/n 44-13761
"Happy Jack's Go Buggy" - MC*I
Major Jack Milton Ilfrey
20th Fighter Group, 79th Fighter Squadron
July 1944
"Happy Jack's Go Buggy" (s/n 44-13761) coded MC*I was the P-51D-5-NA flown by ace Major Jack Milton Ilfrey, C.O. of the 79th FS, 20th FG.
During his first tour in P-38 Lightnings he ran low on fuel after losing a belly tank while flying support for Operation Torch. Forced to make an emergency landing in Portugal, a neutral country, he realized he would be interned until the end of the war. When asked to show a Portuguese pilot how the P-38 operated Ilfrey used it as an opportunity to take off again and head for Gibraltar (the Portuguese pilot blew off the wing when Ilfrey rammed the throttles up). It caused a minor diplomatic kerfuffle but with the help of Jimmy Doolittle he returned to combat duty becoming the first ace in the P-38.
He became squadron commander of the 79th but was soon busted from Major to Second Lieutenant--though he retained his billet, making him the lowest ranking officer ever to hold that post (he was re-promoted shortly thereafter). In two combat tours, he flew 142 missions and scored 7.5 confirmed victories and two damaged, survived a mid-air collision with an ME-109 (he landed safefly, the 109 did not) and a bailout in occupied France forcing him on a harrowing journey back to friendly lines. He also landed his P-51 in enemy territory to rescue his wingman, Lieutenant Duane Kelso.
His awards include the Silver Star, Distinguished Flying Cross with 5 Oak Leaf Clusters (OLC), and Air Medal with 13 OLC.
Post-war he left the military and returned to his native Texas where he went into banking. He wrote his autobiography, named after his famous P-38 and P-51 ("Happy Jack's Go Buggy"), in 1947. It was finally published in 1979 before being revised and expanded in the 1990s. After an adventurous life he died in 2004 at the age of 84. (Some sources say he was born in 1918 but in interviews he states 1920.)
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Originally skinned by Fencer it has been completely redrawn for AH3. There are numerous guises the airplane had while flown by Ilfrey. I went with one that has invasion stripes under the wings and black theater bands on top (there is at least one color photo of it in this scheme to support this).
CLICK TO VIEW. THE OFFSITE IMAGES LOOK BETTER THAN THE BBS VERSIONS BELOW.
Here is the original:
