P-51D Mustang 'Contrary Mary'
Built too late to see combat service in World War Two, P-51D 44-84847 was one of the last Mustangs constructed at North American Aviation’s Dallas, Texas, plant. Details of her post war service career are limited, but there is photographic evidence, from September 1951, of her serving with the 45th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron at Kimpo, South Korea, during the Korean War.
By late 1951 the 45th TRS were replacing their aging Mustangs with RF-80 Shooting Star jets, and so 44-84847 was shipped back the US to serve with the Air National Guard until around 1956. Around this time she slips off the radar until January 1999 when she re-appears in North Dakota as a restoration project. The airframe moved to Chino, California for a full restoration with the decision made to modify her to two-seat TF-51D configuration.
North American TF-51D Dual-Control Mustang
Year of Manufacture: 1945
Powered by: Packard Merlin V-1650-7
This dual-control P-51 Mustang is the only of its type in the UK
