P-51B/C/D skinpack by Emel, August 2010.

The Green Noses from East Wretham - 359th Fighter Group, 

is the fourth and final part of a major task trying to bring back in virtual reality form some of the most prestigious USAAF fighter units serving in Europe during the second world war. I can only regret that for the time being this will be the last skin pack coming out of my P-51 journey. The mighty project that began after the Christmas holidays 2009 is now drawing to a close. 

359th Fighter Group
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Over the 17 months the 359th was operational in Europe, 13,455 sorties were flown in 349 missions. The unit lost 125 pilots (the number includes escapees and evaders) and aircraft. Further 228 fighters were damaged. The 359th destroyed 255,5 enemy aircraft in the air and 121,33 on the ground. 335 locomotives were destroyed, 147 loco's damaged, 1346 railway cars were destroyed or damaged, 144 motor vehicles were destroyed, 924,807 rounds of 50 caliber ammunition expended. 487 5oo lb, 325 250 lb and 80 100 lb bombs were dropped.

359th (unit CO, Col Tacon) was the first to spot and give chase to the Me 163 rocket fighter and the first Me 163 kill was achieved by Lt Col John B Murphy. On 11 September 1944 the 359th Fighter Group was awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation plus six Battle ribbons for its participation in other major operations. 

Green Noses from East Wretham:
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1.  P-51B-5 43-6461 HOT PANTS of Lt Richard Rabb/Lt Wilson K Baker Jr, 370th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, July 1944.*

2.  P-51B-10 42-106702 CV + X of the 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, July 1944.**

3.  P-51B-10 42-106581 TOOTSER of Lt John S Keesey, 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, August 1944.

4.  P-51B-15 42-106809 of the 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, June 1944.

5.  P-51B-15 43-24798 Pistol Packin'- Mama of Lt Harry L Matthew, 369th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, October 1944.

6.  P-51B-15 42-106894 of Lt RAy S Wetmore, 370th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, June 1944.

7. P-51D-5 44-13669 Pegelin of Lt Glen C Bach, 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, July 1944.

8. P-51D-5 44-13390 DEVILESS 3 of Maj Nevin K Cranfill, 369th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, August 1944.

9. P-51D-5 44-13606 LOUSIANA HEAT WAVE of Lt Claude J Crenshaw, 369th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, September 1944.

10. P-51D-5 44-13762 MOOSE NOSE of Cpt Howard L Fogg, 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, July 1944.

11. P-51D-5 44-13762 COOKIE of Lt John T Gordon, 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, Autumn 1944.

12. P-51D-5 44-11222 EVELYN of Lt Frank Rea Jr, 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, March 1945.

13. P-51D-5 44-13893 CAROLINE of Cpt Thomas P Smith, 370th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, April 1945.

14. P-51D-5 44-13404 of Col Avelin P  Tacon Jr, CO of the 359th FG, East Wretham, July 1944.

15. P-51D-10 44-14131 of Lt Clarence M Lambright, 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, December 1944.

16. P-51D-10 44-141177 STINKY of Lt Joseph W Mejaski, 369th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, March 1945.

17. P-51D-10 44-14264 PAULINE of Lt Lee Patton, 369th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, February 1945.

18. P-51D-10 44-14733 DADDY's GIRL of Cpt Ray S Wetmore, 370th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, March 1945.

19. P-51D-15 44-15215 TORCHY of Flt Off Harley E Berndt, 369th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, March 1945.

20. P-51D-15 44-15277 CISCO of the 370th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, early Autumn 1945.

21. P-51D-15 44-15711 of Cpt John F Collins, 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, February 1945.

22. P-51D-15 44-15015 "BABE" of Lt Vernon T Judkins, 369th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, 1945.

23. P-51D-15 44-15717 WILD WILL of Lt Col James W Parsons, 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, February 1945.

24. P-51D-15 44-14127 WILD WILL of of Lt Col James W Parsons, 369th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, 1945?

25. P-51D-15 44-14965 NANCY of Col John C Randolph, CO of the 359th FG, East Wretham, November 1944.

26. P-51D-15 44-14965 LADY of Col John C Randolph, CO of the 359th FG, East Wretham, early April 1945.

27. P-51D-15 44-15102 JOSEPHINE of Cpt Jimmy C Shoffit, 370th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, 1945.

28. P-51D-15 44-15371 "HAPPY" of Cpt James L Way Jr, 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, March 1945.

29. P-51D-20 44-72208 DELECTABLE of Lt Emidio L 'Dago' Bellante, 370th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, April 1945.

30. P-51D-20 44-72366 HUBERT of Lt Rene L Burtner, 369th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, May 1945.

31. P-51D-20 44-72067 OLE' GOAT of Maj Goerge A Doersch, 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, April 1945.

32. P-51D-20 44-63776 KITTEN of Lt Goerge W Long Jr, 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, January 1945.

33. P-51D-20 44-63689 FRITZIE VI/POP my boy of Lt John T Marron, 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, January 1945.

34. P-51D-20 44-72425 GLORIA MAC of Lt Rober E McCormack, 369th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, March 1945.

35. P-51D-25 44-72746 of Lt Col Donald A Baccus, CO of the 359th FG, East Wretham, April 1945.

36. P-51D-25 44-73102 SCREAMIN DEMON II of Cpt Andrew T Lemmens, 370th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, 1945.

37. P-51D-25 44-14870 PETER E Jr. of the 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, April 1945.

38. P-51K-5 44-11685 JANET/ELVA MAY of Lt John D Cooley Jr, 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, 1945.

39. P-51K-5 44-11572 MICHIGAN MAULER of Lt Warner C Jennings, 369th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, 1944-45.

40. P-51K-5 44-11636 CHICAGO of Lt Arnold E Mettel, 368th FS, 359th FG, East Wretham, 1944.


*this aircraft was later flown by Lt Wilson Baker who landed in Sweden after running out of fuel on 4 August 1944.
** This aircraft was flown by several pilots first assigned to Lt Robert V Beaupre and then cpt John B Hunter. Lt Lester Hovden lost his life in this aircraft during a dive-bombing attack in France on 10 August 1944.

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'White Star, Red Star'

Not all fame was glorious though. On 18 March 1945 a group of the 369th Fighter Squadron took part of an escort mission to Berlin. At some point near the target area part of the group became separated and thus cpt Cox the leader of 369th FS found himself flying north down the river Oder leading the rest of his group towards Stettin. Unidentified aircraft were spotted and an engagement resulted over the airfield of Zackeric, North of Kstrin. Several enemy aircraft were damaged and shot down and some of the parked aircraft being strafed. Soon it was discovered that the enemy aircraft had in fact been Russian Yak and La fighters. Lt Bryce H. Thompson from the Yellow Flight had initially dived on what he had identified as an Me 109, but closing in he realised it was not. Breaking off the attack he found that he in turn was fired on. Making a quick 360 degree turn he managed to pull up beside his pursuer and recognised it as a Yak-9. He waggled the wings of his Mustang, pointed to the star and waved at the Russian pilot who hesitated and then waved back. At least 8 Russian fighters were downed in this engagement. One Yak by Lt. McCormack, Cpt. Cox three 190s (La's?), Lt. Burtner one Soviet fighter (?). Lt Robert Gaines, the leader of Yellow Flight shooting down one, initially identified as a 109 (Yak?) near Werbellin Lake. Maj Cranfill also shooting down two Yak-9s. Three Russian fighters were also strafed on the ground, two of them set on fire and the third ground looping after landing. The 359th retired without losses.
  The infuriated Soviet Leader Marshal Joseph Stalin ordered all Russian pilots taking part in the incident to be shot, and demanded President Franklin D. Roosevelt to have all American pilots involved to be executed as well. In the end one American pilot, Lt. Robert Mcintosh, was court-martialled. He was eventually fined a dollar, given a carton of cigarettes and transfered home. Some pilots considered him lucky, for they remained in England for months after the war, completing their tours and worrying their fates. But nobody was 'hanged' in the end and the incident died a quiet death.    

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Notes on the skins & template:
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The mighty project with the Mustang began soon after the Christmas holidays of 2009. On the road there were many mysteries concerning the technical details of the Mustang. While trying to reveal the secrets I received many times help from others who have more experience and knowledge than I could ever hope to have of a specific aircraft. I'd like to thank fellow skinners at Mission 4 Today, particularly Jarink, Jorjus and Rudi Jaeger and others at M4T for their valuable help in showing some of the basic differencies between the Mustang varients and for pointing out some of the "do's and do-not-do's" with the details of the Mustang. 

As far as personal emblems, nose art and individual squadron markings of the US fighter units were concerned it was not possible to obtain sufficient information to cover every detail or the original colour of this artform. Many times I would find several different versions of a specific emblem, all claiming to be historical, on other times no adequate information was found at all. The latter problem became especially apparent when trying to solve if an insignia existed on both sides of the fuselage or not. At best any markings, emblems and nose art of these skins should be concidered semi-historical, but at least they are original, complete redrawings and not copied from existing sheets.

When drawing the panel lines and rivets for the P-51D I used alongside the original void-files information based on Robert Peczkowski's North American P-51D Mustang by Mushrom model publications, plus numerous photographs both from books and the internet. Some of the erratic panel lines plaguing the original P-51D void bmp's were thus cleared. When converting the P-51D to the B and C (Malcolm) I relied mostly on the original Void although some considerable corrections to the panel lines - especially on the canopy details on both the Malcolm and the original bird cage version - were made here too. And last, I redesigned a set of new internal/mechanical textures for the P-51 mustang, which I'm glad to introduce with these skins. I hope you enjoy these skins.   

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Only the B and D models are included in this pack, there are no Malcolm-canopy versions. This pack includes 56 skins. 40 fully marked, 8 generic, and 8 blank skins. Slip the BMP files into their proper folders in your Il-2 Sturmovik/Paintschemes/Skins folder. The skins should work the next time you start the game. Happy flying!

A poster of the 359th Fighter Group Insignia is also included.

The template was redrawn from the original P-51B/C and D void files. Also Introducing a new mechanical layer, this time with my own little touch.

All colours, markings, and nose art are redrawn interpretations from what can be seen in the colour profiles of Osprey Aviation Elite Units, 359th Fighter Group by Thomas G Ivie and USAAF Colours 4, American Eagles, P-51 Mustang units of the Eighth Air Force by Roger Freeman. 

All written information based on Osprey Aviation Elite Units, 359th Fighter Group by Thomas G Ivie, Classic Colours, American Eagles, P-51 Mustang units of the Eighth Air Force by Roger Freeman and Planes and Pilots P-51 Mustang from 1940 to 1980 by D. Breffort and A. Jouineau.

Additional information regarding the aircraft of the 359th FG was also received from individual persons, Cheruskerarmin and and Jarink from Mission 4 Today. And from www.littlefriends.co.uk. Thank you to you all and to all those whose names may not have been mentioned but who have been part of the 'Mustang project'.

Emel

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These skins are not to be uploaded further without my permission. You are permitted to use and publish the skins in this pack with IL-2 Sturmovik missions & campaigns, also you may rework these skins for your private use. No commercial use in any form is permitted with my Il-2 Sturmovik skins. Please do not remove credits. Thank you for downloading these skins and happy flying.

Contact me:

PM at A&A Paintworks
or at
Mission4Today
or email: emel@elisanet.fi