Aim Higher Jets: GeminiAces North American P-51 Mustang 'Ding Hao' Diecast Model

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GeminiAces North American P-51 Mustang 'Ding Hao'

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Product Code: AHJ-4000

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Model Info

About this Aircraft

This GeminiAces P-51 is a 1/72 model that features the titles "Ding Hao." It was flown by James Howard.

Aerial combat during WWII was fought by ordinary men, performing extraordinary deeds. James Howard would argue that he was simply doing his job, but the bomber crews he defended on 11 January 1944 witnessed a hero at work!

Ferocious dogfights left Howard alone with a large number of vulnerable B-17 �Flying Fortresses�. Over 50 enemy fighters circled for the kill, but Howard repeatedly attacked them, repelling wave after wave of determined attacks. He showed little regard for his own safety in the face of overwhelming odds.

Bomber crews reported that they witnessed 6 enemy fighters fall to the guns of Howard�s Mustang, however the modest Howard did not report anything unusual on his return to base. Howard was to receive his nations highest award for valour, the Congressional Medal of Honour!

About the P-51 Mustang

The North American P-51 Mustang was an American long-range single-seat fighter aircraft that entered service with Allied air forces in the middle years of World War II. The P-51 became one of the conflict's most successful and recognizable aircraft.

The P-51 flew most of its wartime missions as a bomber escort in raids over Germany, helping ensure Allied air superiority from early 1944. It also saw service against the Japanese in the Pacific War. The Mustang began the Korean War as the United Nations' main fighter but was supplanted as a fighter by jets early in the conflict, being relegated to a ground attack role. Nevertheless, it remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s.

Despite being economical to produce, the Mustang was a well-made and rugged aircraft. The definitive version of the single-seat fighter was powered by the Packard V-1650-3, a two-stage two-speed supercharged 12-cylinder Packard-built version of the legendary Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, and armed with six aircraft versions of the .50 caliber (12.7 mm) Browning machine guns. Like most other fighters that used a liquid-cooled engine, its weakness was a coolant system that could be punctured by a single bullet.