Robert Davies' N.A. P-51D Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll"

Robert Davies and the Woodchurch Warbirds Museum in the United Kingdom are the owner and operators of this beautiful North American P-51D (CAC-18 MK.22 - A68-192) Mustang "Big Beautiful Doll" which is available for airshows, flybys and film. "Big Beautiful Doll" has been flown in the films; Memphis Belle, Empire of the Sun, Saving Private Ryan and Red Tails.

The P-51 Mustang is almost universally regarded as the best fighter to emerge from World War II. Talk to Bob Hoover, Chuck Yeager, Bud Anderson or any of a hundred other military test pilots, and they’ll tell you the airplane was nothing less than a stroke of genius when it was introduced in 1942. Today, Mustangs are the most common type of warbird operating on the civil scene in the USA and may be viewed at virtually every airshow in the country.

The P-51 was designed and built by North American Aviation after the British government approached them to build P-40 Warhawks under license. North American believed they could design a better fighter, and the British government gave them 120 days to prove it. 102 days after the order was placed, the first Mustang was completed, flying for the first time on October 26, 1940. The prototype and subsequent P-51A utilized the Allison V-1710 liquid cooled engine. Lacking an effective engine supercharger, the Allison provided insufficient power for the high-altitude environment the P-51 was designed to operate in. By replacing the Allison engine with a Rolls-Royce V-1650 Merlin engine that had a two-stage supercharger, the necessary power and performance was gained. The Merlin engine, which was built in the U.S. under license by the Packard Motor Car Company, was installed in all further P-51 models from the “B” through the “H” versions.

The P-51 was the United States supreme air-superiority fighter in the European Theatre of Operations (ETO) during WWII. It served as a fighter-interceptor, Bomber-escort and fighter-bomber. With the powerful Merlin engine and droppable fuel tanks, the Mustang was able to penetrate deep into German territory where no previous Allied fighter had been able to go. The P-51 could escort bombers to all but the deepest targets inside Germany. With a fighter escort, fewer bombers were lost to the Luftwaffe’s fighters. Reichmarschall Hermann Goering, Supreme Commander of the Luftwaffe said “ When I saw Mustangs over Berlin. I knew the war was lost.”

The P-51 was considered by many to be the finest fighter that the U.S. produced and flew in WWII accounted for almost half the enemy aircraft destroyed in Europe by U.S. fighters. The Mustang was equipped with six .50 caliber machine guns and incorporated the advanced K-14 lead computing gun sight. The unmistakable scoop on the underside of the Mustang is the air inlet for the coolant radiator and oil cooler.

A combined total of over 15,500 Mustangs were produced. The greatest number of Mustangs were built as the “D” model, with over 8,000 built. Today less than 150 Mustangs remain flyable or restorable to flying condition.

Robert's P-51D Mustang was originally built in 1951 in Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft Company and was mothballed after 4 hours flying and put into storage. It was sold to F.C. Braund in April, 1958 who registered the Mustang as VH-FCB, and flew it for a number of years in Australia. It was flown regularly until taken over by Jack McDonald, who operated the aircraft from 1961 to 1964. In 1966, the aircraft was acquired by George A Scholey, Manager of a Mine in the Philippines.

It was stored in a warehouse in Manila until it was shipped to Hong Kong in 1976, together with a large number of spares and major components from an ex-Philippines Air Force PAF410, American built P-51D Mustang S/N 44-72917. This aircraft and the wreckage from the A68-192 was then acquired by Mal Rose, Ray Hanna and others, who were all flying for Cathay Pacific out of Hong Kong.

All the components from both aircraft were moved to Hong Kong and it was totally re-built using the major components from the 44-72917. However, it was decided by the new owners to keep the original Australian identity, even though the major components were from 44-72917 and only a few minor components from the original aircraft A68-192. After final assembly and engine runs in Hong Kong, the aircraft was put on a pallet for shipment to the U.K. on February 28, 1985, and was registered in the U.K. as G-HAEC.

From 1985 to 1997 it was based at Duxford, near Cambridge, England and operated by Ray Hanna of the Old Flying Machine Company, until acquired by Rob Davies in 1997. It is now painted as "Big Beautiful Doll" as flown by Colonel John D. Landers, Commanding Officer of the 78th Fighter Group, based at Duxford during 1944/1945.

Photo Gallery

Contact