This is another skin for Devil5O5's May FSO. Thanks to Lyric1 and Devil5O5 for their help on this one.
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Capt. William DeForest
P-51B-5-NA "Myrtle" aka "Old Number 7" (QP*7)
S/N 43-7061
52nd Fighter Group, 2nd Fighter Squadron
Madna, Italy, c. September-January 1945
P-51B-5-NA (S/N 43-7061) "Myrtle" -- also known as "Old Number 7" -- and coded QP*7 was part of the first batch of P-51s delivered to the 52nd Fighter Group's 2nd Fighter Squadron in April of 1944. It was flown by several pilots and scored at least eight victories. During its service life this Mustang flew more than 125 combat missions and 778 hours (over 600 of those in combat) without damage or accident.
It's first pilot, Capt. Arthur Johnson, named her "Marie" with the fuselage code of QP*M. He achieved ace status and scored six victories in this airplane while racking up 256 hours. When Johnson was assigned a new P-51D (also named "Marie"), 7061 then became the mount of Capt. William DeForest. DeForest renamed the aircraft "Myrtle" and received the code QP*7. DeForest flew the aircraft for 200 hours before he himself also moved on to a P-51D. Crew Chief S/Sgt. Vincent Reagan then handed over maintenance duties for 7061 to S/Sgt. James Lynes, Jr. The aircraft was flown by a number of pilots racking up an additional 200 hours and two victories.
By December of 1944 it was the oldest airplane in the squadron and became a training aircraft for new pilots transitioning to the Mustang under the care of Sgt. C.G. Jones. Referred to lovingly as "Old Number 7" the aircraft was brought back to frontline status by Jones receiving approval for it to fly another 180 hours. It returned to combat in January 1945 flown by Lt. Thomas Hoover.
This P-51 was held in high regard by the members of the squadron and they (unsuccessfully) petitioned the USAAF to send her home for a war bond tour. Its fate is unknown.
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I've been unable to locate a picture of the left side. I used the "Myrtle" nose art from DeForest's P-51D and drew it with white. The style and color are the same as many of the Group's OD P-51Bs. Since the Ace of Spades from "Marie" was carried forward it is my thinking that the Myrtle name may have been retained for awhile. The black P-51D nose art used by DeForest on his D model might simply be a copy of the B's white nose art. I'll leave it up to the judgement of the forum whether or not to remove it entirely.
