This is a repaint for the P-51D included in the Base and Full versions of the Reno Air Races expansion for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The repaint depicts the restored P-51D Mustang USAAF Ser. No. 44-72035, registered as G-SIJJ, owned by Peter Teichman and operated as part of his Hangar 11 Collection based at North Weald in the UK. It is painted in the markings of "Tall-In-The-Saddle", a P-51D of the 99th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group, one of the units of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, based at Ramitelli Airfield in Foggia Italy 1944-45, flown by Capt. Wendell Lucas and Lt.Col. George Hardy.
This repaint features an almost complete reworking of the original product textures, and includes all new cockpit, wheel well, landing gear and landing gear door textures, all custom to match the real aircraft with the correct colors and other details. A full set of stencils are present across the exterior of the aircraft, specifically matching this restoration.
This aircraft was originally manufactured as P-51D-20-NA USAAF Ser. No. 44-72035 and delivered to the USAAF on December 21, 1944. It was delivered to the Mediterranean Theatre of Operations (MTO) and served with the 31st Fighter Group based at Mondolfo Airfield near Fano, Italy. It remained in Europe after VE-Day, and was eventually shipped back to the United States in October 1945 and placed into storage. In 1947, it was pulled back out of storage and overhauled for service with the Air National Guard. Among many other ANG assignments, it served with the Oklahoma Air National Guard 125th Fighter Squadron. In 1953 it was released from active duty and enterred storage at McClellan AFB in 1956. In 1957, it was one of numerous P-51Ds sold surplus at the great McClellan AFB auctions, purchased for $1,100 by Whiteman Enterprises of Pacoima, California, and registered as N5411V. At the time, the aircraft had only 1,083.15 hours total-time. The aircraft would pass through a number of civilian owners over the next few decades, including a brief stint operating in Colombia, registered as HK-2812P and -2812X. After returning to the US in the late 1980s, it was acquired by Frenchman Jacques Bournet and relocated to St. Rambert, France, where it was restored in the Pacific Theatre markings of "Jumpin Jacques" and re-registered F-AZMU. The Mustang was sold to its current owner, Peter Teichman, in 2002, and has been based at North Weald Airfield in the UK, as part of Teichman's Hangar 11 Collection. In addition to being a popular sight at airshows throughout the UK and Europe, Teichman has invested a lot in returning the Mustang to an ever more original wartime configuration, including a stock cockpit. In 2016, the aircraft was refinished in the markings of "Tall-In-The-Saddle", a P-51D of the 99th Fighter Squadron, 332nd Fighter Group. For many years, Peter Teichman wrote about the possibility that the aircraft had served with one of the units of the Tuskegee Airmen, citing the indication of red paint found around the inside of the tail, as well as partial records that showed that it had been sent to the MTO. Initially, when painted in 2016, it was even presented as being the original wartime "Tall-In-The-Saddle", and Lt.Col. George Hardy was flown over to England to see the aircraft first-hand. However, in 2018, a historian had the aircraft's original full wartime records pulled, and it was discovered that it had actually served with the 31st Fighter Group, not the 332nd (the 31st FG also used red on the tails of their Mustangs, but striped, not solid).
A couple of notes about the textures:
- While the canopy framing has been repainted to black, matching the real aircraft, there are two screws at the rear of the canopy which remain green. The reason why they must remain this way is because the same texture is also used by other 3D screws around the cockpit which need to remain green.
- The yellow wing bands do not extend onto the bottom of the flaps, because that is how they are on the real aircraft as well.
VERSION 1.4 (hopefully the last update required) - removes the mipmaps that some textures were mistakenly saved with in my previously-updated version of this repaint.
not seeing this in the sim after putting the mod in
9 months ago
Just to clarify, this isn't an entire aircraft, it is just a livery, so you have to own/have installed either the Microsoft/Asobo Reno Air Races product, or the base/generic P-51D by Mircorosft/Asobo, available through the in-game Marketplace. It won't work with any of the other Mustang products. In order to find the paint scheme, you have to select the generic Microsoft/Asobo P-51D, and then look through the liveries to select it.
9 months ago
Bomber12th
Aron963
Beautiful, thanks so much! Can I put a vote in for Miss Helen and Upupa Epops?
2 years ago
Thank you! Those are two great choices and among some of my favorites that I would like to do. "Upupa Epops" will of course be quite a challenge with the checkerboard nose - as is, this is one of the most challenging models to paint. In the immediate future, a couple that I have planned include G-CMDK (Don Blakeslee markings) and N376TM "Miss Kitty III".
2 years ago
Bomber12th
LegibleSphere
Thanks for this! It looks fantastic. Will download and install - it makes me want to fly the plane again, it’s sadly been gathering dust 😀
2 years ago
This is my second repaint for the model, and I plan to do many more. Right now I'm averaging about one a month.
2 years ago
Bomber12th
Dopster198