BoeingFan7879
P-51C Mustang "Tuskegee Airmen"
Founded In 1941 during World War II, the Tuskegee Airmen were a group of African-American military pilots (fighters and bombers) who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). The name also implies the navigators, mechanics, bombardiers, crew chiefs, instructors, nurses, cooks, and other support personnel involved.
Before the formation of the Tuskegee Airmen, no African-American had been a U.S. Military pilot. In 1917, African-American men attempted to become aerial observers but were immediately rejected. African-American Eugene Bullard served in the French Air Service during the First World War because he wasn’t allowed to serve in an American unit. Instead, Bullard returned to infantry duty with the French.
All African-American military personnel in the United States trained at Morton Field and the Tuskegee Army Air Field and were educated at Tuskegee University located near Tuskegee, AL. The group consisted of five Haitians from the Haitian Air Force and one pilot from Trinidad. It also included a Hispanic or Latino airmen from the Dominican Republic.
The racially motivated rejections of World War I African-American recruits sparked more than 20 years of advocacy by African-Americans who wished to enlist and train as military aviators. Prominent civil rights leaders, including Walter White of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and labor union leader A, led the effort. Phillip Randolph, and Judge William H. Hastie. Finally, on April 3rd, 1939, U.S. Congress passed Appropriations Bill Public Law 18, containing an amendment by Senator Harry H. Schwartz, designating funds for the training of African-American pilots. The War Department put the money into funds for civilian flight schools willing to train African Americans.
After World War II ended in 1945, the U.S. Army sold off its military surplus. For only $1.00 ($16.90 today), Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, bought a P-51C aircraft parked on its campus in front of the engineering building. The P-51C was left alone in Montana, except for an occasional coat of silver paint. In 1965, when the University wanted to add a parking lot, restorer Lloyd Creek bought it from the University for $1.00, provided that he could remove it from the campus within 24 hours of notification of winning the bid. To move the P-51C promptly to Billings, Montana, necessitated the removal of the wings, which were sawed off with a circular saw. The wings were reattached to the fuselage when the aircraft arrived in Billings.
In 1970, frustrated with restoration efforts, Creek donated the P-51C to the CAF, which disassembled the aircraft and shipped it to the organization's home base in Texas. While awaiting restoration, the plane endured a hurricane, which exposed numerous parts of the aircraft to seawater damage. Several CAF volunteers attempted to rehab the plane in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Texas, Council Bluffs, Iowa, and finally, in the late 1980s, at the home of the Southern Minnesota wing of the CAF, which had just completed the restoration of the North American B-25 Mitchell bomber, Miss Mitchell. After noting the P-51C needed restoration, Don Hinz channeled his energy and talents into the emerging Red Tail project. The aircraft is now one of only four existing P-51C Mustangs. As one of the four flying Mustangs, it is worth $2.5 million.
For more information about the Tuskegee Airmen and this plane’s incredible story, check out the link below: www.tuskegeeairmen.org/
P-51C Mustang "Tuskegee Airmen"
Founded In 1941 during World War II, the Tuskegee Airmen were a group of African-American military pilots (fighters and bombers) who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). The name also implies the navigators, mechanics, bombardiers, crew chiefs, instructors, nurses, cooks, and other support personnel involved.
Before the formation of the Tuskegee Airmen, no African-American had been a U.S. Military pilot. In 1917, African-American men attempted to become aerial observers but were immediately rejected. African-American Eugene Bullard served in the French Air Service during the First World War because he wasn’t allowed to serve in an American unit. Instead, Bullard returned to infantry duty with the French.
All African-American military personnel in the United States trained at Morton Field and the Tuskegee Army Air Field and were educated at Tuskegee University located near Tuskegee, AL. The group consisted of five Haitians from the Haitian Air Force and one pilot from Trinidad. It also included a Hispanic or Latino airmen from the Dominican Republic.
The racially motivated rejections of World War I African-American recruits sparked more than 20 years of advocacy by African-Americans who wished to enlist and train as military aviators. Prominent civil rights leaders, including Walter White of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and labor union leader A, led the effort. Phillip Randolph, and Judge William H. Hastie. Finally, on April 3rd, 1939, U.S. Congress passed Appropriations Bill Public Law 18, containing an amendment by Senator Harry H. Schwartz, designating funds for the training of African-American pilots. The War Department put the money into funds for civilian flight schools willing to train African Americans.
After World War II ended in 1945, the U.S. Army sold off its military surplus. For only $1.00 ($16.90 today), Montana State University in Bozeman, Montana, bought a P-51C aircraft parked on its campus in front of the engineering building. The P-51C was left alone in Montana, except for an occasional coat of silver paint. In 1965, when the University wanted to add a parking lot, restorer Lloyd Creek bought it from the University for $1.00, provided that he could remove it from the campus within 24 hours of notification of winning the bid. To move the P-51C promptly to Billings, Montana, necessitated the removal of the wings, which were sawed off with a circular saw. The wings were reattached to the fuselage when the aircraft arrived in Billings.
In 1970, frustrated with restoration efforts, Creek donated the P-51C to the CAF, which disassembled the aircraft and shipped it to the organization's home base in Texas. While awaiting restoration, the plane endured a hurricane, which exposed numerous parts of the aircraft to seawater damage. Several CAF volunteers attempted to rehab the plane in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Texas, Council Bluffs, Iowa, and finally, in the late 1980s, at the home of the Southern Minnesota wing of the CAF, which had just completed the restoration of the North American B-25 Mitchell bomber, Miss Mitchell. After noting the P-51C needed restoration, Don Hinz channeled his energy and talents into the emerging Red Tail project. The aircraft is now one of only four existing P-51C Mustangs. As one of the four flying Mustangs, it is worth $2.5 million.
For more information about the Tuskegee Airmen and this plane’s incredible story, check out the link below: www.tuskegeeairmen.org/