September 10 & 11, 2011
Lincoln, Nebraska
- Twilight Tear Image 1
P-51 Twilight Tear
In the second half of 1944, a brand-new Mustang was rolled out of the production lines of North American Aviation at Inglewood, California. With its NAA construction number of 122-31590, it was part of a batch of 1,000 P-51D-20-NA ordered by the US military. After the customary flight testing by NAA, it was transferred to the US Army Air Force with the military serial number 44-63864. It arrived in the United-Kingdom on December 14, 1944 and was promptly delivered to the Duxford-based 78th Fighter Group, which was in the process of replacing its P-47 Thunderbolts with Mustangs. After the war's end, Twilight Tear remained at Duxford and was flown to Speke, near Liverpool, in July 1945 where she was handed over to the American Assembly Unit Number One for storage. In 1945, Sweden bought surplus P-51 Mustangs from the US, and Twilight Tear was part of the last batch, which was transferred to the Flygvapnet in June 1948. The aircraft thrilled crowds at airshows for many years until April 2002 when it was sold to Stephen Grey's Fighter collection at Duxford. The following year, it was painted in its original wartime colours of the 78th FG, with a new civilian registration (G-CBNM). The aircraft had come full circle. It was fully restored at Chino in 2007 before returning to Duxford where it continues to please the crowds at airshows today.