Well folks – when North Korean forces attacked the Republic of Korea on Sunday, June 25, 1950, the United States Air Force had to act quickly and turned to the North American F-51 Mustang to fly close-support missions against the communist forces, because
– the P-51D (by then designated F-51D) was available in fair numbers stored in Japan – leftovers from the first years of Occupation – these aircraft actually were destined for salvage/scrapping, but were quickly made flyable again and put into action over Korea, both as fighter-bombers and as Tac Recon ships (RF-51D’s).
– the USAF theater commander, Lt. Gen. George Stratemeyer, requested that F-47s be sent. But, due to the shortage of spare parts, budget limitations and logistical complications, his request was denied (actually it was decided that the USAF didn’t need ‚another obsolete aircraft type’ in this theatre, this because of a nearly complete focus by the Air Force on strategic nuclear bombing in the post-World War II years, and the transition to jet-powered aircraft).
The Mustang was one of the best fighter planes of World War II because of its range, speed, and maneuverability. Rendered obsolete by the latest jet-powered fighters, the F-51 gained a new life during the Korean War as one of the Air Force’s principal ground attack aircraft. The Mustang had better range and payload than the jet-powered Lockheed F-80C Shooting Star and could be operated from rough airstrips close to the front. As a result, a small number of Mustangs were retrieved from storage in Japan and more F-51s were shipped from Air National Guard units in the U.S. By August 11, 1950, six fighter units had transitioned from F-80s to F-51s. Many pilots were not excited about the change. The historian of the 8th Fighter-Bomber Group, the last of the six units to complete the conversion, wrote that “A lot of pilots had seen vivid demonstrations of why the F-51 was not a ground-support fighter in the last war, and weren’t exactly intrigued by the thought of playing guinea pig to prove the same thing over again.”
For World War II Thunderbolt pilots who flew the F-51 in Korea, the F-47 was definitely the better plane for ground attack. The F-51 was derisively nicknamed “Spam Can” and left many pilots in Korea wishing they were flying the Thunderbolt instead. Colonel Bill Meyers, who flew Thunderbolts in World War II, admits that every time he took off on a mission in Korea in his Mustang, he would pray, “Please, God, make this a Thunderbolt.”
HTH
Martin
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