OSHKOSH -They were nicknamed after a fast horse and in a way, that's exactly what the P-51 Mustangs were.
Designed to escort bombers in the skies over Europe, Mustangs and their daredevil pilots helped win World War II.
"I felt like me and that Mustang could take on anything Germany had," said Clarence "Bud" Anderson, 97, this week at EAA AirVenture.
Not many P-51 Mustang pilots are still around, and even fewer aces are alive. The number of living triple aces —aviators who shot down 15 or more enemy planes — is even smaller.
Anderson notched 16¼ aerial victories during two tours of combat against the German Luftwaffe in Europe. His plane "Old Crow" —nicknamed after the whiskey — carried the Oakland, California,native through 116 missions without getting hit by enemy aircraft or ground fire.
When asked during a forum at AirVenture about the best and worst features of the P-51 Mustang, Anderson said the fuel tank in the back of the plane made it a bit unstable, but the plane also "got me back after 480 hours" in combat.
175 Mustangs still flying
This year AirVenture is saluting military fighter planes including the P-51 Mustang at a weeklongevent that draws the largest number of warbirds in the world. During Thursday's afternoon air show as many as 25 P-51s will fly in formation to commemorate Anderson and other Mustang pilots.
There are only around 175 Mustangs still flying, with roughly 150 of those in the U.S. About 100 other Mustangs are on display in museums.
More than 15,000rolled off North American Aviation assembly lines in California and Texas during World War II. The "P" stood for pursuit. Itwas the first long-range fighter escort, thanks to external fuel tanks, for bombers traveling from England to drop ordnance over Germany.
It also was used in China and the Pacific, though late in the war. Famous P-51pilots included Chuck Yeager, who later broke the sound barrier, and the Tuskegee Airmen.
After World War II, they were used during the Korean War and byAir National Guard units throughout the 1950s. Butby 1957 they were replaced by jet fighters, and the military sold off all its remaining Mustangsfor $755 each. Now P-51s sell for prices ranging from $1.2 million to $3.5 million depending on the model, condition, authenticity and restoration requirements, said Bill Fischer, executive director of EAA Warbirds of America.
"It was America's first long-range fighter that could protect bombers into the heart of Europe," Fischer said Wednesday at AirVenture. "The P-51 Mustang is the most iconic of World War II fighters."
Tony Buechler of Waukesha has brought his P-51 each year to AirVenture since buying it 34 years ago. When he bought it, hisMustang was painted in the scheme of Lt. Col. John Meyer, commander of the 487th Fighter Squadron and a World War II ace who died in 1975. He kept the painting as an homage to Meyer and other Mustang pilots like Anderson, whom Buechler has gotten to know over the years.
"My first plane ride was in the back seat of a P-51 owned by a friend" in the late 1970s, said Buechler. "I always wanted to own one. That flight sparked an interest in me to fly."
Buechler spends roughly seven hours maintaining his Mustang for each hour it flies, including engine overhauls.
"That's better than the military where it was 14 to one. But this is quite good;I don't have to service the guns," said Buechler.
Paul Draper of Livonia, Michigan,flies a P-51 painted in the colors of Anderson's plane featuring "Old Crow" painted next to a red and yellow checkerboard pattern on the plane's nose next to thepropeller. The plane is owned by Jack Roush, theowner of NASCAR team Roush Fenway Racing.
Draper, like many of the current P-51 pilots, took a 12-hour training course in Mustangs in Florida in addition to his pilot's training. Draper isat the controls of "Old Crow" during air shows this week atAirVenture.
Noted for its maneuverability, Mustangs can reach speeds of more than 400 mph. When he's up in the air, Draper thinks about what it was like for the men who flew Mustangs against an enemy intent on shooting them down.
"There's a lot of thinking about the guys who flew them, the aces, and being able to fly them before the public. The sights, the smells, the sounds, it keeps history alive," said Draper.
Anderson, who is appearing at AirVenture this week to sign copies of his book"To Fly & Fight — Memoirs of a Triple Ace," recalled the nervousness he felt when he first went into combat. Those feelings of anxiety lessened as he spent more hours in the air.
After his first combat tour with the 363rd Fighter Squadron of the 357th Fighter Group, he was sent to a military psychiatrist who told Anderson he did not have to return to war.
"I said 'Yeah, I know. But I want to go,'" Anderson said while sitting between two P-51s painted as "Old Crow" with tiny swastika flags on the fuselage signifying the number of planes he shot down.
"I could tell you I was doing it for my country, but it was the camaraderie, the guys you know in training," Anderson said.
