A special thanks to Lyric1 for his help in digging up a bunch of photos for this airplane. His discovery of the right side nose art was a real coup. I had to take a guess as to what some of the letters look like as they are partially obscured. Also there is some debate over the stripes on the airplane due to the wide variations in how the film used rendered them. This is an informed judgement call and any errors are my fault.
An additional thanks to Oboe for his outstanding pilot figure. I've modified it some, but the credit is his. Also to FTJR for the encouragement and the rest of you not mentioned for having taken this long journey with me.
I may tweak the spec maps a tad more for in-cockpit immersion but this is effectively how it will look regardless. This is an adoption of Larry's orphan.
P-51D-20-NA, s/n 44-63165
"Double Nuthin'"/"Gorgeous Ann" - #00
Maj. Grant Ronald Smith
325th Fighter Group, 318th Fighter Squadron
Mondolfo, Italy, c. March 1945
This is the P-51D-20-NA "Double Nuthin'"/"Gorgeous Ann" (s/n 44-63165) side numbered 00 flown by Maj. Grant R. Smith, Operations Officer of the 325th Fighter Group, 318th Fighter Squadron out of Mondolfo, Italy in 1945. The 325th was known as "The Checkertail Clan" and the 318th went by the moniker "The Green Dragons."
Smith saw combat flying P-40s and P-38s with the 18th FG at Guadalcanal, scoring two victories (2 x A6M). He survived being shot down and evaded capture by the Japanese. At the completion of his tour he rotated to the USA then deployed to the European Theater in April that year with the 325th. He took over a previously unnamed P-51D that was the mount of 318th Squadron Commander Major James V. Toner. "Double Nuthin'" was the name given the aircraft when assigned to Smith. The name "Gorgeous Ann" appears on the right side and is attributed to the airplane's Crew Chief, Staff Sergeant G. Goorman. Smith scored a victory over a German ME-109 making him the only member of the 325th FG with victories over both Japanes and Luftwaffe aircraft.
He was released from active duty in 1946 but remained in the Reserves being recalled to the U.S. Air Force in 1951.
His career was long and varied. Notably, he served in Southeast Asia as the CO of the 44th Tactical Fighter Squadron flying fifty-one missions over North Vietnam in the F-105D, and later flew F-111Es as the CO of the 20th Tactical Fighter Wing.
He retired in July 1975 with the rank of Brigadier General and passed away in 2001.
His decorations include the Air Medal with 14 oak leaf clusters (2 silver, 3 bronze), Army of Occupation Medal, Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal, Bronze Star with 1 oak leaf cluster, Distinguished Flying Cross with 3 oak leaf clusters, Legion of Merit with 2 oak leaf clusters, National Defense Service Medal, Purple Heart, World War II Victory Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Air Force Longevity Service Award with 6 oak leaf clusters (1 silver, 1 bronze), European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal with 3 bronze stars, the Air Force Outstanding Unit Award Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, and the Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal.
This airplane was originally skinned as Maj. Toner's aircraft by Larry but I have redrawn it as Smith's.
Note: The image with the "Gorgeous Ann" nose art did not have finalized Spec maps. It is posted to show the art only.
Offsite Gallery:
https://postimg.cc/gallery/y39M1gf
