Well guys, here are the final photos of my 1/48 Tamiya P-51D flown by John C. Meyer. To me half the fun is the history behind the people and the machines, so here is a very brief history of John C. Meyer.
John C. Meyer was the 4th ranking US ace in Europe during WWII with 24 confirmed ait to air victories, including one German Jet. He was an aggressive hunter with total confidence in his own abilities, was a smart pilot and an imaginative combat leader. In fact, one of his college professors said that John C. Meyer had the best mind of any student he ever taught at Dartmouth.
John C. Meyer graduated from flying school in July 1940. His first missions were flying P-40s out of Iceland on routine convoy patrols. Meyer then went on to command the 487th Squadron of the 352nd Fighter Group, where he established a reputation as a no-nonsense commander who demanded as much from himself as he did of his men. He scored his first victory November 26, 1943 flying a P-47 Thunderbolt (he would score too more kills in the Jug). His group left their Jugs behind and converted to the P-51 Mustang in April 1944.
He earned the first of his three DSCs on May 8, 1944. ![Thumbs Up [tup]](/emoticons/icon_smile_thumbsup.gif)
He was leading a flight of eight P-51 Mustangs flying escort duty for a large formation of heavy bombers. A big formation of enemy fighters was spotted attempting to intercept the bombers, which Meyer and his flight immediately attacked, which dispersed the Germans. Somehow, Meyer and his wingman became separated from the rest of his flight. He spotted 15 enemy fighters closing in on the bomber formation while he and his wingman regained altitude. Meyer immediately attacked, shooting down two of the Luftwaffe fighters and breaking up their attack. He then shot down another fighter before heading back to base in England, low on fuel and ammunition.
On November 11, 1944, Lt. Col. John C. Meyer was awarded an Oak Leaf Cluster to his Silver Star for shooting down three Bf109s and one FW-190. Ten days later he earned his second DSC while leading eleven P-51 Mustangs in a battle east of Leipzig against 40 Luftwaffe fighters. He maneuvered his formation intoa position which allowed them to surprise the enemy formation, whereby he shot down three FW190s in the process.
Meyer earned his third DSC on January 1, 1945 during the Luftwaffe's desperate Operation "Bodenplatte", the mass strike on Allied airfields in Belgium and Northern France. He had earned a reputation of being able to "think like a German" and had a hunch that the Luftwaffe might gamble on New Years Day to catch the allies sleeping off New Years hangovers. As the deputy commander at the time he postponed the 487th Squadron's New Years party by one day, which proved to be a very wise decision. As Meyer was leading a flight of 12 P-51s off the runway, their airfield was attacked by about 50 enemy fighters. He took off with full wing tanks and managed to shoot down one FW190 right after having raised his landing gear. A 45 minute melee ensued, whereby he shot down another FW190. The 352 Fighter group was credited with destroying 23 Luftwaffe fighters that day, which earned the 487th Squadron a Distinguished Unit Citation.
After completing his 200th combat mission on January 9, 1945, he was en route to Paris to make a radio broadcast when he was seriously injured in an automobile accident that ended his WWII career. He would not see combat service again until 1951 in Korea. During the Korean War he added two jet victories to his tally as a Colonel in the 4th Fighter Wing.
After the Korean war, Meyer went on to serve in the Air Defense Command, led SAC divisions and commanded the Twelfth Air Force. Later he went on to be director of operations on the Joint Staff, then was Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force before finally being assigned as Commander In Chief, Strategic Air Command as a 4 Star General. Meyer retired in July of 1974 and unfortunately suffered a fatal heart attack in December of that year. ![Sad [:(]](/emoticons/icon_smile_sad.gif)
He was the only Air Force officer to be awared the Distinguished Service Cross three times (the DSC was the predecessor to the Air Froce Cross, and 2nd only to the Medal of Honor). ![Approve [^]](/emoticons/icon_smile_approve.gif)
My submission for this build is his P-51D "Petie 2nd". Believe it or not but this aircraft is still flying!! In 1945 this plane went on to serve in several Air National Guard units until it was sold as surplus for $755 ![Shock [:O]](/emoticons/icon_smile_shock.gif)
in 1957. It was owned by Robert Fulton in CT in 1963, bought by Gordon Plaskett in CA for restoration in 1983. In 1985 it was purchased by it's current owner Anthony Buechler of Wisconsin. He has flown this P-51 for over 1400 hours in the past 14 years, it has never been raced, nor has it ever been wrecked. It's on it's third engine now and can be seen at most EAA Airventure shows at Oshkosh Wisconsin during the last week of July.
Here are my completed pics of this beautiful warbird. The first three are in my spray booth, the last two in it's final resting place, proudly displayed in my new display case. ![Cool [8D]](/emoticons/icon_smile_cool.gif)
I would like to thank Jay (jboutin) for sponsoring this Group Build, it was very enjoyable! ![Big Smile [:D]](/emoticons/icon_smile_big.gif)