When the 8th Air Force; and in particular VIII Fighter Command, was founded in January 1942, everyone realized that the American pilots could expect no easy job. Reports that the RAF had passed on to the USAAC (later USAAF) left no doubt: the Luftwaffe was not a toothless kitten. To enhance the level of realism of their pilots, the 8th painted some of their P-51s to look like their opponents. The Bf109 was one of them
On the selected aircraft, a profile of the Bf109 was painted, at full size, in
the appropriate colors. Balkenkreuze were also painted in all required
positions. (Since these aircraft stayed well behind the front-line, the pilots
weren’t overly worried.) Apparently the result was not very convincing,
because the Balkenkreuze were repeatedly repainted in an increasingly larger
size.
Pilots were hand picked, based on the amount of beer and sausages they could
digest and their lack of humor. After a couple of crashes the daily
consumption of beer was drastically cut back.
Click on
images below to see larger images
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The model is a stock Revell P-51B.
The outline on the top wing was obtained by using the “camouflage decals” from a Fine Molds Bf109F-2, on the fuselage it was masked.
Markings and colors were ill-researched by the Americans, as they are closer to those seen on the Russian front a year before.
Enjoy the photos.
Rob Haelterman
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