P-51D Mustang “Moonbeam McSwine” N51VL v1.0
This is a repaint for the P-51D included in the Base and Full versions of the Reno Air Races expansion for Microsoft Flight Simulator. The repaint depicts the restored P-51D Mustang USAAF Ser. No. 44-12473 (actually 44-73656), registered as N51VL, owned and operated by the Warbird Heritage Foundation based at Waukegan, Illinois. It is painted in the markings of “Moonbeam McSwine”, the personal mount of Captain William T. “Bill” Whisner Jr., of the 487th FS, 352nd FG, 8th Air Force, based at Bodney, in Norfolk, England, and at Asch, Belgium, 1944-45.
This repaint features an almost complete reworking of the original product textures, and includes all new cockpit, wheel well, landing gear and landing gear door textures, all custom to match the real aircraft with the correct colors and other details.
This aircraft was originally manufactured as P-51D-25-NA USAAF Ser. No. 44-73656 and delivered to the USAAF on March 29, 1945. It was shipped to England, but arrived too late for assignment before the war ended in Europe. Shipped back to the US, it served in the post-war years with several different Air National Guard units, including in Texas, Virginia, Colorado, Minnesota and California. In 1956, it was sold surplus onto the civilian market at McClellan AFB, and in the 1960s it was rebuilt with Cavalier modifications by Trans Florida Aviation and later served with the El Salvador Air Force as FAS 406 from 1968-1974. When sold back into the US, it adopted the serial number 44-12473. The aircraft was acquired by Gordon Plaskett in 1975, registered as N2151D, and restored in the markings of “Moonbeam McSwine”. Then, following seven years of ownership with Chris Williams, the Mustang was purchased by Vlado Lenoch in 1988. During the time Lenoch owned the aircraft, he flew it in many airshows around the country and even raced it at Reno in ’97 and again in ’99, when he won 1st place in the Bronze race, and participated in qualifications but did not race in 2000. After 25 years of ownership, Vlado Lenoch sold the Mustang to Fred Akary, of France, in 2013, who registered it as F-AZXS, and the aircraft became a popular attraction at airshows around Europe and the UK for the next several years. Following Vlado Lenoch’s death in a Mustang accident in 2017, the Warbird Heritage Foundation was able to acquire “Moonbeam McSwine” through a trade with Akary, which saw the Mustang brought back to the US in 2018 and re-registered as N51VL.
