"Twilight Tear, Then & Now" (WIP)

[Bomber_12th]

I believe the cat is pretty much out of the bag on this one, so I thought I'd post a bit of early images and information about it.

This aircraft actually spurred the idea about doing a "Then and Now" set of Mustangs, and became the first project of those started, but one thing led to another, and "Cripes A' Mighty" ended up being finished before this project could be.

For a little bit of background:

This P-51D, an early-production P-51D-20-NA, is quite unique in that it is one of a very select few surviving Mustangs that actually saw combat use in WWII. 44-63864 was built early enough in the war, that upon arrival to England it was assigned to the 78th FG 83rd FS at Duxford. From there, the aircraft became the personal mount of Lt. Hubert "Bill" Davis. Lt. Hubert named the aircraft after the "1944 Race Horse of the Year", a filly named Twilight Tear. The aircraft was credited with shooting down three enemey aircraft - 1 Me-109 on March 2nd, 1945, and 2 Me-109's on March 19th, 1945 (67-years ago today!). Following the end of WWII, the aircraft, which remained in Europe, was sold to Sweden, where it became RSwAF Fv26158 F16 coded Red D, and later Green K. Following service in the Swedish AF, the aircraft was obtained by the Israeli AF. The aircraft was then later sold to William Lear Jr. who flew it from Tel Aviv to Athens, and then to Geneva, with the aircraft registered then as N251L in 1960. In the summer of 1963, the aircraft was to be ferried accross the Atlantic to the U.S., by pilot Roger Gaston Arnoult, but Arnoult, having never flown a P-51 before, crashed on landing at Reykjavik, Iceland. The aircraft was almost sold for scrap, but the remains were rescued by Petur Jonsson and Michael Valdimarsson in 1986. The remains were then purchased by Ron Fagen, of Granite Falls, MN, who sent the project to Tri State Aviation for a rebuild to completely stock and airworthy condition. The aircraft flew again for the first time since 1963, in April of 2011. Final detailing was conducted through a joint-effort by Fagen's Warhawks Inc. restoration company, and the then newly founded Aircorps Aviation restoration company. The aircraft was then showcased at the 2011 EAA Oshkosh Airventure air show, where it won the WWII Grand Champion award for the authenticity and complexity of the restoration.

This webpage is dedicated to this aircraft on the Fagen Fighters website: http://www.warhawksinc.com/twilight_tear.html
Here are a collection of images of the aircraft on display at Oshkosh last summer: http://s1103.photobucket.com/albums/g461/aircorpsaviation/EAA Oshkosh 2011/

Provided some amazing access to this aircraft, as well as some exclusive photographs, the project for FSX was born. Work on the aircraft as it is now, in its restored condition, is very near to being completed, and work on the depiction of the aircraft as it was during WWII is just beginning. Like the "Cripes A' Mighty, Then & Now", this project will yet again introduce a bit of a different cockpit look, completely accurate for the specific production-model type and in-field modifications (which were reproduced when the aircraft was restored).

First off for images, here are some of the exterior of the restored "Twilight Tear", very near complete. I'll also be posting some cockpit screens soon - it has avionics that are unlike those incorporated into my past restored-Mustangs, and reflect what the real aircraft actually does use (which is more sparse, and even less intrusive on the originality/complete stock look of the cockpit, and the avionics are easily removeable). It is extremely authentic inside this Mustang, and it is the only one in existence with a full-proper early-production P-51D-20-NA cockpit configuration. The model exterior is tuned so that the markings could be fully-accurately reproduced, without any short-cuts.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/Image1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/Image2.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/Image5.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/Image6.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/Image7.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/Image8.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/Image9.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/Image11.jpg

[stiz]

stunning work john! but i have to ask ... aint you sick of mustangs? :icon_lol:

[Bomber_12th]

Thank you Stiz, and I see your point. ; ) They're all different to me, and I just can't kick it.

As I mentioned in other threads, this type of project is only another way to keep busy on top of the P-39, A-36/P-51A/P-51B, and eventual Tony projects.

[fsxar177]

John,
One outstanding machine there!

I must ask, will the bare and polished version be included?? :)

Good work!

Joseph

[Bomber_12th]

If not with the package, the bare finish will certainly be provided as a free download. I'll likely be taking the bare textures adding a few more touches to them to make it into my own 'signature' personal transpot of sorts as well.

[Bomber_12th]

Here is an assortment of images of the real aircraft.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/EAAAirventure2011PartOne1584.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/TT3.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/6015590431_47d5d0d408_o.jpg

The only known photo showing the artwork on the aircraft during WWII.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/284859_2040905855675_1035156510_31888287_207310_n. jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/252129_2040881175058_1035156510_31888238_2415863_n .jpg

Some early first-flight pics. Note that in order to make the paint stick, you cannot apply it to polished metal, so the metal has to remain a bit rough, so the paint has something to stick to. As can be seen in these photos, the cowling sections had been prepped for the application of the checker-board markings, though they had yet to be applied.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/226151_197130040345620_135466413178650_534358_5594 270_n.jpg http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/223941_197130003678957_135466413178650_534356_4354 456_n.jpg http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/267261_197130017012289_135466413178650_534357_8252 604_n.jpg

[Bomber_12th]

"Two Twilight Tears"

One of the things possibly worth mentioning, is the fact that this isn't the same airframe which was painted as Twilight Tear that used to be owned by The Fighter Collection and based at Duxford a few years ago. Through a mistaken identity-connection, that airframe was indeed believed to have been the original "Twilight Tear", but that was due to a, if I recall correctly, paperwork issue from its time in Israel (it seems all P-51's that entered into the Israeli AF ended up having their serial numbers shuffled around and re-assigned - one other case in-point also being, that the airframe used in the "Galloping Ghost" owned by Jimmy Leeward, that came out of Israel, was almost certainly not the same airframe as the original "Galloping Ghost" of the 40's that went into Israel, for this very same reason (despite the Israeli paperwork claiming that it was the same airframe)). Even though the name "Lt. Bert Lee" and two Japanese flags were found etched into the metal of the TFC Mustang, the same metal the Mustang was originally produced with in 1944 and never removed, not much thought was given to it at the time that all of the belief was around that it was the wartime "Twilight Tear". However, by about 2006/2007, with the owner of the wreckage removed from Iceland, being able to prove absolutely that it was in fact the original 44-46863, and photographic evidence showing the wartime Pacific-based P-51K-10-NT "Fragile But Agile" with the exact name "Lt. Bert Lee", as well as the same two Japanese flags, painted on the aircraft in the exact same spots, it became clear that the former TFC Mustang, which had now switched owners, was actually the wartime Pacific-Theatre vet, and by 2010 the aircraft was fully restored and painted in the markings it really did once have during WWII.

One of the interesting details about this, and that I have never seen brought up before, is that P-51K-10-NT's (quite early models) were manufactured with fabric elevators, where as by the time of P-51D-20-NA production, the elevators were all metal. The former TFC Mustang that was once thought of as being "Twilight Tear", had fabric elevators even up to the point that it was operating with The Fighter Collection (which the original Fragile But Agile had, being a P-51K-10-NT) - the aircraft now known to be the original "Twilight Tear" (or at least incoporating the remains of it), and the subject of this project, had metal elevators, as would be expected for it being a P-51D-20-NA (as "Twilight Tear" was).

[mikezola]

Thank you Stiz, and I see your point. ; ) They're all different to me, and I just can't kick it.

As I mentioned in other threads, this type of project is only another way to keep busy on top of the P-39, A-36/P-51A/P-51B, and eventual Tony projects.

Tony? Eventually? As in Ki-61? As beautiful as these Mustangs????

[Bomber_12th]

Yeah, the Ki-61...how nice/detailed it will be, will depend on the resource materials I can continue to secure.

[fsxar177]

Good history John...

In regards to NX79111, or 44-15651 and whether or not it was in fact the original "Galloping Ghost", one of the tell-tale factors is that it would have had to have been a rare surviving-15-NA Model. Furthermore, here's a few items of interest.

1.) Cliff Cummins was quoted as saying that the Israeli government attempted to purchase the aircraft (original GG), but that the US blocked the sale. As I understand it, it is reported that the aircraft was just intended for export. Dr. Cummins would have known best, I would presume? If this is true, and the aircraft remained intact, and stateside, I would say this was indeed the original Ghost.

2.) There is a chance that merely the original NAA Data Plate went to Israel, with another airframe., and possibly that airframe returned, and later became Dr. Cummins racer?

3.) Jimmy believed he possessed the original Ghost

Regardless, she was probably the most colorful of the racing mustangs in history, and sported more combinations of modifications as well, particularly in canopies. Gone, but not forgotten, long live Jimmy and the Ghost!

Joseph

[Bomber_12th]

I'm sorry for adding that bit in there about "GG", Joseph - number three on your list of points is certainly what mattered most in regards to the aircraft. I'll always miss watching Jimmy fly at Oshkosh (the only opportunities I ever had, to do so).

I was going back through some of my bookmarks, and this is a photo posted to Airliners.net, showing the remains of the crashed 44-63864 being recovered in 1980. Although severely damaged (the pilot was killed in the landing accident in 1963), you can still easily make out the wings and the tail from the Mustang: http://www.airliners.net/photo/North-American-P-51D/2029453/L/&sid=1f6971e605ec1777a274bb65811f02a2

And another lovely photo of the completed restoration, taken at Oshkosh last summer: http://www.airport-data.com/aircraft/photo/655856L.html

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/nose-headon.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight Tear/nose-headon2.jpg

[fsxar177]

John,
No reason for apology. The legend of NX79111 has always been good discussion!

Joseph

[Bomber_12th]

I thought it would be worth mentioning too, that often times when you see swastika kill-markings applied in the way they are on Twilight Tear, you will get people saying that they are backwards and incorrectly applied (as would commonly be the case), but as the wartime photo of the aircraft shows, this was in fact the case on this particular aircraft.

BTW, the OD/green-painted tanks that look rather strange mounted to the aircraft in some of the photos from Oshkosh last year, are M-10 Chemical/Smoke tanks, that were used during WWII for dispensing anything from tear gas to smoke screens (though I have never seen any evidence of P-51's using them during WWII, let alone any 78th FG Mustangs, I have seen photos of P-40's and A-20's having them mounted). When you look at the drop tank controls within the cockpit of a P-51, you will see referene to "Chem. Tanks", as you used the drop tank arming switches in a slightly different way in order to activate them, and thus when you hear reference to "Chem. Tanks", these are them. I think they were only presented with the restoration to help boost the 'interesting' and 'attention to detail' factor.

[Bomber_12th]

The restored version of 'Tear is now in beta, and with the research and study of the original wartime photos complete, the plans for reproducing the aircraft as it was photographed in March of 1945 are now set.

Here are some screenshots of the beta-candidate. The modern avionics fitted within this aircraft are extremely minimal, just Com and Transponder heads, mounted in an easy-to-remove boxed-in panel assembly. The use of these two specific avionics heads has become a bit of a trend amongst some of the most authentic warbird restorations, as they are likely the least intrusive when compared to similar options, and they can be added into the cockpit without compromising the authenticity of the cockpit. The only modern aspects of the cockpit which remain fixed (just like the real-world example), are the phone and mic jacks and avionics circuit breakers (but they are presented in a way that looks correct for the period). The modern avionics panel is even mounted to the original/authentic radio bracket/panel in the cockpit, using the same mounting-holes as originally provided on this very panel when manufactured at NAA. When displaying the aircraft on the ground, when you open the gun bay the modern avionics panel is removed, so that the cockpit is as stock, for display purposes, as it can be.

[Bomber_12th]

More work-in-progress, this time with a wartime-flavor. When the aircraft was photographed in March of 1945, just after it had accumulated its third kill, it still had the N-9 reflector gunsight fitted (as original from the factory, being an early-production P-51D-20-NA), and it also had not yet been fitted with the tail warning radar set (the restored aircraft is as it was either later in the war, or post-war/summer of '45, when the aircraft, by that point, had been modified with the addition of a K-14 gunsight and the tail warning radar set). Note within the screenshots the N-9 gunsight fitted and no tail warning radar set fitted.

[skyhawka4m]

Amazing work John!!

[Bomber_12th]

Thank you, John! I'm currently putting the finishing touches on the cockpit of the WWII example. It is the only example of an early production P-51D-20-NA for and flight simulation that has been done authentically as it would have been without any field-modifications. The N-9 reflector gunsight was used on the P-51D from the first production model all the way into P-51D-20-NA (and D-20-NT) production. On P-51D-15-NA production, the back-up ring a bead gunsight was deleted, and the N-9 gunsight bracket was re-designed since it no longer had to have the mounting extensions for the ring-sight, so although the N-9 sight is fitted to the wartime Twilight Tear, it does not have the back-up ring and bead sight like the P-51D-5-NA's from Little Friends II. It makes for a unique sight, to see the N-9 fitted to a cockpit configuration that is quite a bit late in production (though it does have the earlier switch-panel configurations - i.e. the pre-rocket controls and pre-tail warning radar configuration).

Another unique item on this aircraft, is a 100"-span type Manifold Pressure gauge, something that, until only last fall, I had no idea was actually used on Mustangs during WWII, and is actually authentic! Most people, including myself, have probably been quite used to seeing the 75"-span type Manifold Pressure gauge fitted within Mustangs, no matter the make or model. Every once in a while I would see a 100"-span type fitted within a restoration, but I had long thought that the 100"-type was only introduced after WWII on ANG and USAF examples, and seeing it fitted within a Mustang sporting WWII markings I had thought was not correct. However, within original North American Aviation and USAAF documents from 1944, I came to find that the gauge was switched from the 75"-span type to the 100"-span type during P-51D-15-NA production and on all later models. The reason for this, was that when the VIII Fighter Command in Europe, in the summer of '44, introduced 100/150 grade fuel for the first time, the WEP output for the Merlin engine, running this fuel, surpassed the limit of the 75"-span gauge (though the USAAF only cleared its Merlin Mustangs up to 72" on WEP, at first, and then 75" on WEP, where as the British cleared its Merlin Mustangs up to 81" on WEP, running 100/150 fuel). For the same reason, until the RAF got its hands on P-51D's (which were all of the later-type, already fitted with 100"-span gauges) they replaced the 75"-span MP gauges on their Mustang III's (P-51B's) with +25 lbs boost gauges (= 81" Hg).

[Bomber_12th]

Getting closer. The documentation and final testing will take another week or two in order to complete.

As mentioned earlier, this aircraft is an early production P-51D-20-NA, that came off the assembly line at Inglewood, CA in early December of 1944. From this point, and all the way to late-March 1945, when it was photographed with the third kill-marking on the canopy frame, the aircraft had an N-9 reflector gunsight installed, and did not have the tail warning radar set installed (which didn't arrive into P-51D production until very late D-20-NA's and D-25-NA's). The aircraft was also built before the introduction of the rocket control system and rocket launcher supported wings. I have chosen to depict the wartime aircraft as it was when photographed in late-March 1945. By the time its service with the USAAF was done, the aircraft had been updated in the field, following techinal orders for installing the K-14 gunsight and the tail warning radar, onto the earlier airframe which hadn't been built at the factory with those items yet in mind. The aircraft, in its restored state, retains those final updates, just as they were.

Looking around the cockpits of the two versions of the aircraft, you can see how the same basic core remained, though a number of features changed. For instance, not only was the N-9 sight removed, and the K-14 sight added, but due to the location of the K-14 gunsight control box, the landing light indicators also had to move, as did the compass correction card. The re-positioning of these items are actually illustrated and instructed through the technical order documents for the in-field installation of the K-14. With the change in gunsight, also came a change in throttle lever. With the installation of the AN/APS-13 tail warning radar set, the previous G-Band, radio audio, and radio detonation switch panel was replaced with the panel designed for use with the radar set, featuring the controls for activiating and using the tail warning radar, and the radio detonation and G-Band controls were deleted as a result. The indicator for the tail warning radar was mounted to the top left-side of the instrument panel shroud (standard position), and the warning bell was mounted to the radio fuse and circuit panel on the lower right-hand side of the cockpit.

Note that there is a circular cover plate on the lower right-hand side of the instument panel. The reason for this, is that the panel was initially designed for use with the manual primer pump, as seen in the P-51D-5-NA, but by the time of the P-51D-15-NA, the manual pump was deleted and an electrical primer was added, with a toggle switch added to the center electrical panel. Despite this, the panel was changed right away to support this, so the panel continued to be manufactured with the main hole and mounting holes manufactured into it, and as each P-51D-15-NA or early model P-51D-20-NA rolled of the assembly line, a cover plate was screwed into place covering this. Mid-way through P-51D-20-NA production, around the same time there was a large amount of changes introduced (including the rocket control system, K-14, etc.), the panel was re-designed and the oxygen flow gauge was re-positioned near to where the manual primer pump was once fitted.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/tt_ww2_1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/tt_ww2_2.jpg

Here's a direct comparison between the wartime depiction, in its early configuration, and the restored depiction, in its late-war and current configuration.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/tt_ww2_9.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/tt_ww2_10.jpg

[Bomber_12th]

And here are some more external screenshots of the wartime depiction of the aircraft.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/tt_ww2_3.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/tt_ww2_7.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/tt_ww2_6.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/tt_ww2_5.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/tt_ww2_11.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/tt_ww2_8.jpg

[Bomber_12th]

BTW, can anyone recommend a machine gun firing effect that is available for free use (with link or file name to download)?

[fsxar177]

If you don't have any success with an effect, let me know.


Joseph

[Bomber_12th]

Making use of the two-stage two-speed supercharger.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/cockpit_high_alt.jpg

[DaveQ]

BTW, can anyone recommend a machine gun firing effect that is available for free use (with link or file name to download)?

I use Rob Barendregt's cannon effects, the FW190 version is available at Flightsim.com here (http://www.flightsim.com/kdl.php?fid=132912). They are great but there are some issues - the trigger is the carb heat switch, and they must be removed if you want to use the aircraft with FS Recorder. Here are my settings in the [Lights] section (mine's the Me262 version but the numbers are the same whichever you use):-

[LIGHTS]
Types: 1=beacon, 2=strobe, 3=navigation, 4=cockpit
light.0 = 4, 1.00, 0.00, 1.80, fx_ws_vclight
light.1= 1, 3.7, 7.5, -1.75, Me262Cannon
light.2= 1, 3.8, -8.1, -1.7, Me262Cannon
light.3= 1, 3.7, -7.3, -1.75, Me262Cannon
light.4= 1, 3.9, 6.7, -1.8, Me262Cannon
light.5= 1, 3.9, -6.5, -1.8, Me262Cannon
light.6= 1, 3.8, 8.3, -1.7, Me262Cannon

DaveQ

[Bomber_12th]

Thank you, Dave! I didn't know that anyone had already tied such effects to any of the Warbirdsim Mustangs - I was going to try and be helpful by providing all of the location-points for the effects, but there you have them! Thank you!

[dougal]

Simply stunning work!

Question.... Why were/are the rudders never polished as per the rest of the aircraft and tail?

I think the rudder almost spoils the overall image, but there is no doubt a technical reason for this?

[Bomber_12th]

Dougal, thank you very much for your post and question! The rudders were fabric covered, so they were always painted with dull-silver dope. Early on in P-51D production the elevators were also covered in fabric too. The wings were also never bare-metal from the factory, but also painted in dull-silver dope/paint. The reason for that, is that North American wanted to increase the efficiency of the wing as much as possible, by making the wings as smooth as possible. So the wings were filled with putty (that varied in thickness over various defined regions of the wing), sanded smooth, and then painted dull-silver to match the bare metal finish that was the standard in USAAF aircraft production at the time (interestingly, when the switch came from producing aircraft with OD paint schemes, to producing them in bare-finish, Curtiss elected to paint their P-40's silver, instead of leaving them in natural metal). The ailerons, flaps, gear doors, and wing fuel tank panels did not receive this wing treatment, and were left in natural aluminum. Because of the filled and sanded wings, there was next to no trace of rivets remaining on the wings, and even the majority of the panel lines completely disappeared. Keeping this finish on the wings intact, was so important to North American Aviation, that they actually had specific and detailed instructions as to what could be done to repair the finish, in the field, should it start to chip/come off. All of this combines into what is the authentic look that the aircract had during WWII.

[Bomber_12th]

After discussing and showing some screenshots of the cockpit on the wartime "Twilight Tear" with some guys that know more than I do, both privately and on a forum dedicated to P-51 research, I was able to get the cockpit confirmed as being accurate to the early model P-51D-20-NA, with only a couple of minor exceptions which have now been addressed. One of these items is related to the landing gear lever. I was once under the impression that most were painted interior green and red, as most all of the authentic restorations have them finished this way, and one of the original gear lever engineering drawings has this exact paint finish specified, plus I have also seen the IG and Red gear levers in preserved un-touched examples such as at the Netherlands Military Aviation Museum and at the Crawford Aviation Museum (but these are both very early models). However, checking over all of the WWII-era and immediate post-WWII era cockpit photos I have of P-51D-20-NA variants, every last one of them clearly shows the landing gear lever painted all-black. The wonderfully preserved P-51D-30-NA at the NASM (which has remained internally un-restored and un-modified since production, with only 200 flight hrs on it), also has an all-black gear lever. As a result, and from the discussions I had, it was decided to change the gear lever on the WWII variant of 'Tear to being all-black, which seems 99.9% certain that that is how it was on the aircraft (and also how it is portrayed on the restored aircraft today). Another item brought up was the positioning of the signal light in the cockpit, but this was confirmed to be accurate as is for the production model depicted. The only other item brought up, was whether or not the Schick Johnson manufactured seat should be painted dark dull green, or left as interior green. Evidence shows that both finishes were used on these seats during WWII, and efter experimenting with a DDG finish on the seat, I decided to revert back to the IG finish for a better balance (and to also not prevent the idea that the IG seat in the restored 'Tear is not authentic - the seat could be painted either way, and be correct).

I was doing some more high-altitude flying again recently. At 36" MP (throttle has to be almost to the stop at this point) and 2400 RPM, at 35,000 FT, with high blower running, I was indicating an average of about 285-kts ground speed, or nearly 330 mph - so not bad!

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image1-3.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image2-3.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image3-3.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image4-3.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image5-3.jpg

(Note above, the correct for the P-51D-20-NA canopy roller for the aerial antenna - there were a few different designs of these rollers used during P-51D production)

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image6-3.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image7-3.jpg

[Bomber_12th]

These photos are some of the most amazing insights into the look of a WWII era P-51D cockpit (all of the variants shown in these photos are P-51D-20-NA's). These photos were taken in the immediate post-war years, after the aircraft had been bought by the Swiss AF. There are only a few differences within the cockpits from that of how they were within USAAF hands, and that just includes some of the placards and the guards that were fabricated and installed by the manual drop tank levers. Although the signal light and floor-mounted receivers have been removed in these aircraft, you can still make out where they once were (including the fact that a two of those pictured, also still retain the mounting bracket for the signal light). The cockpit on the wartime "Twilight Tear" falls sort of in-between those seen in these photos, for historical-related reasons, but is closest to the one in the first two photos (though the examples in all of the photos have had K-14 gunsights and related throttles and controls installed). Note the black gear levers in all of these D-20's.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/J-2052Cockpit_b-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/J-2052Cockpit_a.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/J-2018Cockpit_b-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/J-2018Cockpit_a-1.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/J-2002cockpit_a-3.jpg

[Bomber_12th]

As a result of the beta testing, I got some good feedback about the metal finish. It was felt that I had it too shiny or too reflective, so I went back and revised the alpha channels and spec maps to try and come to a more correct look that those testing the aircraft would feel is closer to how the aircraft looks in the period photographs.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image9-3.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image10-2.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image11-2.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image12-2.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image13-2.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image14.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image15.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image16.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image17.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image18.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Twilight%20Tear/Image19.jpg

[fsxar177]

Good-day,
Lovely comparison photos John! It's just fantasitc that we can literally put ourselves in a functioning cockpit of a war-time mustang, and fly it!

To think, these young chaps getting the throne of this wild pony, with comparably little hours in respect to today's standards. Must have been some experience.

Thank-you for preserving the feeling John!

Joseph

[Bomber_12th]

Besides the drop tank lever guard panels that the Swiss AF added into their Mustangs, another item I like is the landing gear handle placards that they designed for their use, which actually replaces one of the cover panels altogether, on side of the trim column. They also replaced all of the limit/restrictions placards with their own, but kept all of the placards relating to the serial number/production model. In another set of photos from the cockpit of another Swiss AF/former USAAF P-51D, they actually added metal stirrups to the rudder pedals. The Swiss AF also didn't use drop tanks, so the drop tank selections on the fuel selector placards have been blacked out.

Speaking of the landing gear lever placard, I would love to know how many out there have noticed that it is secured via staples in the Warbirdsim Mustangs? Despite the fact that the placards were produced even with the cross-hairs for placements of rivets to secure the placard (like the others), they seemed to have almost always been secured instead through use of brass staples. - Just a unique little detail (like the safety-wired lock-nuts that can also be found accurately used in specific areas of the cockpits of the Warbirdsim D-models).

The main thing I want to do with a wartime example like 'Tear, is show them exactly as they were, during WWII, which has never been done before for a flight simulator platform. Most efforts always try and depict examples that were manufactured too late and didn't serve in WWII, or end up mixing things together, from one variant or another, or adding something that they've seen in a photo from a restored example, which was never there except for on that one restored aircraft, etc. I also want to illustrate why it is a certain way that it is - how the cockpits are configured for one purpose or another. I enjoy these types of projects where you can also see how the cockpit on one of these aircraft looked, almost "straight out of the box", or in-service early on, and what changes were made, and how they were done, in the field, to upgrade them to more advanced standards later in the war. It also helps to show just how authentic warbird restorations are getting these days, and providing that option to not only re-live what it was like to fly the aircraft during a specific time in WWII, but what it would be like to jump in the aircraft that actually exists today, in its real-life form.

[MartinM]

Do you think that you could be doing the Swiss Air Force textures for me too? This would be highly appreciated.

Cheers
Martin

[Bomber_12th]

Martin, I'll definitely make sure to do that! They won't be able to be included in the product, but I will make them available for download.

[Smashing Time]

I shot the 'Tear' with Ed Shipley at the controls before her redo at GML 2007. Ed Shipley and Jim Beasley put on a nice performance in the early stages of the Horsemen act.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XM6Nuri9Bcs

[Bomber_12th]

Thank you for posting that, Rick! I still make a point now and then to pop-in your DVD from the GML event. It's too bad that Jim is no longer part of the Horsemen routine, having dropped out after 2010.

That 'Tear' is of course the airframe which has now been properly identified as "Fragile But Agile" and registered and painted as such. When the aircraft was owned by The Fighter Collection and painted as "Twilight Tear", there weren't any photos known to exist of the left-side of the aircraft, or any real clear views of the nose either, so the checker board markings, nose art, and kill markings on the canopy were all produced from best guesses and a little imagination, based on photos of other aircraft in the squadron. By the time of the paint application, around this time last year, when the restoration work on the airframe that was proven to be the actual "Twilight Tear" was completed, that terrific photo showing the left side of the aircraft, as I posted on the first page of this thread, had been found, and a real effort was made to copy the markings exactly. That's why there are some distinct differences in the way the markings look on one compared to the other.

[Smashing Time]

Well I as always I'm behind the times. So the The Fighter Collection's 'Tear' is now "Fragile But Agile" ?
What was the present 'Tear' flying as?

[Bomber_12th]

It's a bit of a long story. Both airframes came out of the Israeli AF, of which all of the IAF Mustangs had their identies swapped and paperwork mixed while in the Israeli AF, all essentially in an effort to erase the previous traceable histories of the aircraft. There was no identity with the airframe that TFC owned, other than a Swedish data plate mounted on the tail, which the serial number, through paper work, tied it to being 44-63864. When this was established, the belief was therefore that the aircraft was the actual wartime "Twilight Tear". A strange oddity was found, however, when the aircraft was stripped of paint to be painted in the markings of 'Tear'. The name Lt. Bert Lee was found scribed into the original metal, just below the canopy of the aircraft, on the left side, and near to it were two Japanese flag "kill-markings" also scribed into the metal. This was cause for some question and curiosity, but the plans went forth and the aircraft was promoted as the original "Twilight Tear", as that was the best they knew about it. However, some real questions began to be asked shortly there after, as the wreckage of a former IAF Mustang, that had crashed en-route to the U.S. in 1963, had been recovered and was under restoration. The identity on this one, through a good number of sources of evidence found in the aircraft wreckage, was 44-63864, and this simply couldn't be argued. By 2007, even before the TFC machine came to the U.S. for the GML event, there was an effort to find out who Lt. Bert Lee was, and find out the true identity of the airframe. Lt. Bert Lee was tracked down, and although he had passed away, his family was contacted. A photo of the Mustang that Bert Lee flew in the Pacific, clearly showed the exact same name and kill markings scribed into the metal, just as could be seen, clear as day, on the TFC Mustang. It was also found, that while the aircraft was used by another pilot, later on, the aircraft was given the name "Fragile But Agile". In 2007, when the aircraft came over for the GML event, it went to Fighter Rebuilders immediately after, for a full restoration. At the time, it was said that it was being restored for The Fighter Collection, but as it was sold soon after the restoration was initiated, I think the plan all along was to provide the best opportunity to correct the identity of the aircraft, which couldn't come at a better time than during the process of rebuilding it. Both parties ended up having to prove the identities for each airframe, to both be registered under the FAA, with the now known true 44-63864 being registered as such, and the former TFC machine provided the serial number 44-12016, believed to be correct to it. By late 2010, the restoration of the former TFC machine was complete in its new identity, believed to be its original, as "Fragile But Agile" (a combination of the markings that were on it when Bert Lee flew it, as well as a later pilot), a P-51K, so it is also configured now as a P-51K, with the proper prop blades and nose cone (the only one of its kind). It is based in Texas, as part of the large flying warbird collection owned by Tom and Dan Friedkin. 44-63864, the actual original "Twilight Tear", owned by Ron Fagen here in Minnesota, completed restoration early last year, and that is the one I have depicted for this product.

As I've mentioned before, there is an interesting detail that supports all of this even further, that hasn't ever been talked about. The original "Fragile But Agile" was a P-51K-10-NT, which is quite an early variant, and had fabric elevators. The former TFC Mustang, now restored as "Fragile But Agile", as it is believed to have originally been, had farbric elevators all the up until its recent restoration. The original "Twilight Tear" was a P-51D-20-NA, that had metal elevators, and that was what the wrecked example from Iceland, proven to be the original "TT", had.

[Bomber_12th]

This, a section of a larger photo, shows the scribed name of Lt. Bert Lee in the original wartime metal on the former TFC "Tear", photographed while it was at GML2007. As mentioned in my previous post, there was already research being done on Bert Lee and the true identity of the aircraft, even then (though it was kept quiet). I had also seen another image that showed the two Japanese flags also scribed in the metal, but I have since lost it.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/name_scribed.jpg

And for comparison, here is an original wartime photo of Lt. Bert Lee's Mustang - between this photo and the scribed letters and flags on the former TFC Mustang, there was not the smallest difference between them.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/Image3-17.jpg

Unfortunately, all of the wartime photos of the aircraft only show the left side, and none exist of the right. In all of the photos, the tail number on the rudder ends with an 8, however the best they could figure, since everything pointed to this aircraft being 44-12016, was that when that section of the tail number was re-applied after the stripes were painted on the rudder, was that it was mistakenly painted as an 8. Within the markings on the restored example, they have it duplicated with 44-12018 on the left side, and since that last section of the tail number wouldn't have been removed/re-painted on the right side, it reads 44-12016.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/BertleeP-51K.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/44-12016_7926_jk1.jpg

The end results of the extensive research and restoration efforts from both parties, are two absolutely stunning P-51's.

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/44-12016_7927_sd3.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/295726_182132521858531_142314292507021_420484_5673 530_n.jpg

[rgatkinson]

Absolutely stunning John. Your dedication and attention to detail is to be applauded :applause:

I note that the "Tear" like a lot of other ETO Mustangs have reversed swastika kill markings. I was wondering, is there any special significance to this? Is it human error on behalf of the orginal artist(s) or is it a very early example of censorship and/or political correctness?

Taff.

[MartinM]

Martin, I'll definitely make sure to do that! They won't be able to be included in the product, but I will make them available for download.

Thank you. Much appreciated!

[Bomber_12th]

Thank you Taff!

Regarding the application of the swastikas as kill markings, I wouldn't know if there really was some intention for applying them backwards when done, or not.

[Bomber_12th]

Up-coming May/June issue of Warbird Digest

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/156223_392159080804794_150466438307394_1309774_238 518375_n.jpg

http://i7.photobucket.com/albums/y282/Bomber_12th/305667_392158397471529_150466438307394_1309771_855 551194_n.jpg