1/48 Tamiya P-51D

Gallery Article by Ron Smith

 

Lt. Colonel John C. Meyer
352nd Fighter Group "The Bluenosers"

This is the plane of Lt. Colonel John C. Meyer.  This was his 3rd of 5 combat planes assigned to him during his combat career which spanned from WW2 through Korea.  He flew a P-47D, P-51B, this P-51D, another P-51D and finally an F-86A in Korea.  

 

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He was considered one of the most outstanding combat flying leaders.  On Dec 31/1944 he had his men delay New Years Eve celebrations so they could be prepared for a possible Jan 1 surprise attack by the Luftwaffe.  The attack did come in the early morning hours of Jan 1 1945, but Meyer had 12 Mustangs ready for patrol when enemy fighters arrived over the airfield.   Of the 12 Mustangs, 11 Mustangs shot down 10 Bf 109 as well as 13 Fw190 fighters with only 1 of their Mustangs being damaged by "friendly AA fire".  Meyer scored his 23th & 24th confirmed victories, received his 3rd DSC for leadership and the 487th Ftr. Squadron received the only DUC, usually reserved for Ftr. Groups, awarded to a Ftr. Squadron of the 8th AF. During the Korean War, Meyer directly oversaw the first F-86 vs. MiG-15 air to air combats and downed two MiG 15's.  In total Lt. Colonel John C. Meyer scored 26 air combat victories.

Not too much to tell about this model.  I built it OOB and even used the kit decals.  The Bare Metal Finish was done using Testors Metallizer.

Ron Smith

      

Photos and text © by Ron Smith