1:48 Hobby Master P-51D Mustang Capt. Abner M. Aust, Jr. Iwo Jima, 1945

General Background

Later in WWII the Allied bombers were flying deep into Germany but suffered tremendous losses because of the lack of range the fighter escorts had. German fighters would wait beyond the range of the Allied fighters and then attack the vulnerable bombers. Once the P-51 called Mustang by the British had the Allison engine replaced with a British Merlin it possessed the high performance that had been lacking. With drop tanks the P-51 had the range to escort bombers all the way to Berlin and back.

The Aircraft

Abner Aust Jr. joined the 457th FS/ 506th FG as a P-51 pilot in October 1944. In March 1945 Aust’s unit deployed to Tinian followed by Iwo Jima where he was credited with five aerial victories and three more ground aircraft during enemy airfield strafing. Abner Aust became the last U.S. Ace of WWII when he scored his fourth and fifth victories on August 10, 1945. In 1963 Aust was promoted to Colonel and served as Command of the 33rd FW in Florida, 31st FW Vietnam and 3rd Tactical FW South Korea.

Specifications :

Tasks:	Dive-bomber, bomber-escort, ground-attack, interceptor, photo recon
Number Produced All Variants:	14,819
Dimensions
Height:	13 ft 8 in (4.16 m)
Wingspan:	37 ft (11.27 m)
Length:	32 ft 3 in (9.82 m)
Weight
Empty:	7,125 lb (3,232 kg)
Gross:	10,100 lb (4,581 kg)
Maximum Take-off:	11,600 lb (5,262 kg)
Performance
Engine:	Packard Merlin two-staged supercharged V-1650-7, 12 cylinder V engine 1,695 hp.
Maximum Speed:	437 mph (703 km/h)
Ceiling:	41,900 ft (12,771 m)
Range:	950 miles (1,529 km)
Maximum Range:	2,300 miles (3,701 km)
Armament	(6) .50 caliber MG
	Maximum External Bomb Load – 2,000 lb (907 kg)
	Or (4) .5 inch rockets