# Flight of P-51 44-72028



## 44-72028 (Aug 22, 2018)

72028 was part of the 6,600 P-51D’s built at North American’s Inglewood, CA plant. It was built under USAAF contract # AC2378 with North American build # 122-31887. 72028 was finished and accepted by the AAF on 27-Dec-1944. It was delivered to Long Beach, CA on 29-Dec-1944 to be deployed to the Pacific Theater on 19-Jan-1945.

72028’s first assignment was to the 5th AF, 35FG, 40FS where it was assigned to pilots; Thomas J. Shotwell and Don Comstock. My Dad was Thomas “SHOT” Shotwell. During that time of the war there was an abundance of pilots vs. airplanes….so if you were not a famous or important person you had to share the airplane with another pilot. The other pilot that shared 72028 with my Dad was Don Comstock. Don was the senior pilot so he put his wife’s “name” on the left side of the a/c….”Marge”. My Dad had my Mom’s name, “Vivian” put on the right side. 72028 was based at Machinato Okinawa then to Irumagawa, Japan.

On 30-April-1946, a/c 72028 was assigned to the 49FG, 7FS at Chitose AFB, Japan. On 12 June 1946 a/c 72028, piloted by James A. Watkins was assigned to the 7th Fighter Squadron, 49th Fighter Group when it was involved in a mid-air collision with 44-73821 a P-51D-25NA piloted by John L. Eichar of the same squadron and group. The collision occurred in the area of 4 miles Northeast of Sapporo, the largest city on the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido. Both a/c landed safely. On 13 April 1948, 72028 was still assigned to the 49FG, 7FS but they moved to Misawa AFB, Japan. Then on 27 May 1948 72028 was assigned to AMC, Sacramento, CA. for disposal.

Now the flight of 72028 gets a little interesting. In the summer of 1948, Israeli purchasing agents were sent to the USA to search for aircraft to add to the newly formed Israeli Defense Force Air Force (IDFAF). They managed to acquire four Mustangs in the U.S. during the summer of 1948. These four were shipped to Israel in crates from New York aboard the cargo ship Enterprise, marked as agricultural equipment in order to bypass the American embargo on weapon sales to the Middle East. Along with the Mustangs on board were a pair of Piper Cubs and 18 Pratt & Whitney R-2800 engines for the IDFAF C-46s. The first two Mustangs, (No 190,191[72028]), were offloaded in Israel on 19-Aug-1948 and sent to the Central Maintenance Unit at Ma'aborot. 72028 was part of an original Swedish AF order but was diverted to Israel instead. By Sept. 17, the Mustangs were still not airworthy. Unskilled labor had unpacked the crates and damaged components, and no one had manuals. A few parts were missing, most notably the gun sights. Engineers removed the Revi sights from wrecked S-199s (Czech built Me-109) and installed them in the P-51s. Standard P-51Ds were armed with six .50-caliber Browning machine guns but shortages in wartime Israel restricted the first two Mustangs to four apiece, two in each wing. Originally 72028 was delivered to IDFAF as 2302/D-191 and assigned to 101 squadron on 17 Oct 1948. In November 1948 a/c 72028 was renumbered 2302/41 and still in 101 squadron. Both original Mustangs were sent to Herzelia and later to Castina (Hazor). During the War of Independence, D-191 (72028) wore the name “Judy” or “Gedy” on the left cowl, under the exhaust. Later when it was changed to ‘41’ it wore the name “Buzzy” under the right canopy.

The two assembled Mustangs participated in the last five months of the War of Independence. These were the most advanced fighters in service with the IAF during the war, with better performance than any aircraft available to the Arab side. With their long range, spanning the entire Middle East, they were used for reconnaissance besides their main role of strike fighter/interceptors. The first victory by an Israeli Mustang was not an Arab aircraft, but an RAF Mosquito which beforehand had flown uninterrupted over Israel, gathering intelligence beyond the ceiling of earlier IAF fighters. On 20-Nov-1948, after an earlier failed attempt, one Mustang was scrambled from Castina to intercept the intruder and shot it down. The first encounter with enemy aircraft came only on 5-Jan-1949, against Egyptian MC205s, with no casualties on either side. Two days later however, on the last day of the fighting, the two P-51Ds were escorting T-6 Harvard’s on a ground attack mission when they encountered six Egyptian MC205s and shot three of them down.

There are books written and a movie made about this time in the IDFAF history…..it’s quite interesting. The Mustang fleet grew, flew and fought with distinction till they were replaced by jets in the 50’s. When they were obsolete they were relegated to becoming playground equipment for future Israeli aviators to play on while becoming curious about the mystery and magic of flight.

Between 1976-1982, Robert Lamplough recovered 72028 with 5 other Mustangs and delivered them to the British Aerial Museum, Duxford, UK. 72028 was given the code G-LYNE and restoration commenced.

Between 1982 and 2001, E. Noel Robinson, David Laight and M. C. Anderson from Tee-Side Airport in North Yorks, UK had control of 72028.

Between 2001-2006, 72028 was shipped to Jeremy E. Porter, Park Ridge, IL, USA to be restored as N51JY.

Between 2006-2010, 72028 was owned/controlled by Centerline Holdings as N514L.

In 2011 the fuselage was partially restored and in 2013 Odegaard Wings restored the wings, flaps and ailerons.

In 2014, Lance Ricotta acquired 72028 and it currently (June 2018) resides at Shafter Airport (AKA Minter Field) just outside of Bakersfield, CA while it is being restored to flying condition.

I have been working on this chronology for 20 years off and on....I would find a tidbit of information and start digging for more then reach a dead end and get frustrated and let it lay for a while. I’m 74 years old....I wanted to put this piece “out there” while I still can....constructive comments are welcome.

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## Wurger (Aug 23, 2018)




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## 44-72028 (Aug 23, 2018)

I got this response to my article on FaceBook yesterday;;; 
David Lee Chuck, before I start I would like to let you know that I highly appreciate and respect the effort that you put into finding out the history behind the Mustang 44-72028 that your late father flew, a man that I respect greatly. Let's begin, in any given time of her service in the IAF 72028 never ever carried the IAF serial number 2302/D-191/ black 41. From the first day that 72028 entered service on the 28th of June 1954 (the aircraft arrived aboard the ZIM ship Ramon on the 24th of June 1954 crate number 53) until the she was SOC (Stroke of Charge) on the 17th of March 1963. The 72028 but always was referred as 2341/White 41. As such, she never participated in the war of independance in 1948. She never served with the 101 Sqd, as by this time of 1954 the 101 Sqd was already operating French jets. She did participate in the Suez campaign, flying a total of 6 hours and 47 minutes with the 105 Sqd. She also served with the 107 Sqd and the 116 Sqd. Now you can ask yourself where comes the black 41/2302 that was a totally different airplane. Let me tell you, from May 1948 till March 1950, the 101 sqd operated 3 types of fighter planes at the same time on the flight line. Avia, Spitfires and Mustangs as such radio calling signs were given as follows. The Avias were given the numbers 19XX/01 to 09, the Spitfires 2X/10 to 39, and the Mustangs 23XX/40 to 59. This is why you could find Mustang 2301 having a radio call sighn black 40, Mustang 2303 calling sighn black 42, and Mustang 2309 calling sighn black 45. By March 1950, the Spitfires were moved to the 105 Sqd O.T.U and the Avias were retired and as such, the 101 Sqd became an homogenic Mustang Sqd. From then Mustang 2301 became black 01, Mustang 2302 became black 02, and so on. I include 2 photos of 2341/41 during her stay in the holy land. More photos of her will be included in the upcoming book as mentioned above. All the best, Alex.

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## Wurger (Aug 23, 2018)




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## Crimea_River (Aug 23, 2018)

Great story and welcome aboard.


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## bobbysocks (Aug 23, 2018)

great story and welcome to the forum. its really awesome your dad's plane survived and you are able to see and be a part of it. my dad's probably ended up as a piece of aluminum cook ware. in the ETO planes were shared even if you were famous. the senior pilot got the privilege of having it assigned to them and naming it. but pilots flew a rotation of several missions on and several days of R&R. while they were off the plane was flown by others even if you were Kit Carson or Chuck Yeager. there were always more pilots than planes. my father's first plane was shot down while Paderborn airdrome with Fred McCall at the stick. his last plane survived the war but not the smelter. there is a picture of Kit Carson's last Nookie Bookie being dismantled for scrap....


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## P-51-44-72028 (Jun 9, 2019)

After more research I think there was only one #41....when the a/c was natural metal it was numbered in black, to contrast the natural metal....when the a/c was camo (dark) the number 41 was white, to contrast the dark camo...

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## fubar57 (Jun 9, 2019)

Just found this thread. A great story


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## pbehn (Jun 9, 2019)

fubar57 said:


> Just found this thread. A great story


Me too, I cant see how my local airport is involved, it isn't a hotbed of vintage airplane restoration Tee-side is Teesside I presume, an RAF airfield in WW2 then called Middleton St George.


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## Webs (Mar 16, 2020)

This aircraft became 2341 in Israel with radio number 41 painted on its side. Confusingly, the second Mustang in the IDF/AF (D-191 then 2302) at first had radio number 41 painted on it, but this is not that airplane.

Can anyone interpret the typewritten lines after the handwritten line that indicates the assignment to Sacramento AMC on 27 May 1948? I'm trying to track the history.


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## Snautzer01 (Apr 12, 2021)

44-72028 said:


> 72028 was part of the 6,600 P-51D’s built at North American’s Inglewood, CA plant. It was built under USAAF contract # AC2378 with North American build # 122-31887. 72028 was finished and accepted by the AAF on 27-Dec-1944. It was delivered to Long Beach, CA on 29-Dec-1944 to be deployed to the Pacific Theater on 19-Jan-1945.
> 
> 72028’s first assignment was to the 5th AF, 35FG, 40FS where it was assigned to pilots; Thomas J. Shotwell and Don Comstock. My Dad was Thomas “SHOT” Shotwell. During that time of the war there was an abundance of pilots vs. airplanes….so if you were not a famous or important person you had to share the airplane with another pilot. The other pilot that shared 72028 with my Dad was Don Comstock. Don was the senior pilot so he put his wife’s “name” on the left side of the a/c….”Marge”. My Dad had my Mom’s name, “Vivian” put on the right side. 72028 was based at Machinato Okinawa then to Irumagawa, Japan.
> 
> ...


North American P-51 Mustang . A picture of 44-73821 a P-51D-25NA piloted by John L. Eichar

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## SaparotRob (Apr 12, 2021)

44-72028 said:


> 72028 was part of the 6,600 P-51D’s built at North American’s Inglewood, CA plant. It was built under USAAF contract # AC2378 with North American build # 122-31887. 72028 was finished and accepted by the AAF on 27-Dec-1944. It was delivered to Long Beach, CA on 29-Dec-1944 to be deployed to the Pacific Theater on 19-Jan-1945.
> 
> 72028’s first assignment was to the 5th AF, 35FG, 40FS where it was assigned to pilots; Thomas J. Shotwell and Don Comstock. My Dad was Thomas “SHOT” Shotwell. During that time of the war there was an abundance of pilots vs. airplanes….so if you were not a famous or important person you had to share the airplane with another pilot. The other pilot that shared 72028 with my Dad was Don Comstock. Don was the senior pilot so he put his wife’s “name” on the left side of the a/c….”Marge”. My Dad had my Mom’s name, “Vivian” put on the right side. 72028 was based at Machinato Okinawa then to Irumagawa, Japan.
> 
> ...


I wanted to give you a “bacon” but that didn’t seem kosher.


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## SaparotRob (Apr 12, 2021)

I really should check the dates on posts before I reply.


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