A Mustang’s Biography
Peter’s “Jumpin’ Jacques” is a P-51D-20-NA, built at North American’s Inglewood factory in California. Accepted by the USAAF on December 21, 1944, with the tail number 44-72035, she was originally planned for the Eighth Air Force in England, but this was changed. Leaving California on January 4, 1945, she arrived in New Jersey on January 10. She left by boat on January 24, bound for Italy, where she would be assigned to the 332nd Fighter Group. Known today as the “Tuskegee Airmen,” the 332nd FG was the first all African-American Fighter Group. During the war, the group was known as the “Red Tails,” for their brightly-painted aircraft tails. Mustang 44-72035 entered combat in March 1945, flying bomber escort and ground attack missions over Germany, Austria and Czechoslovakia. During this time, she received some battle scars—holes from bullets that went right through the aircraft skin. She still carries the corresponding field repairs from those scars.
The 332nd FG remained in Italy until the summer of 1945, returning their newer aircraft to the USA for continued service. Aircraft 44-72035 returned to the USA on October 10, 1945, and was placed into storage. In January 1947, she was overhauled and sent to her first ANG assignment with the 125th Fighter Squadron of the Oklahoma ANG in Tulsa. She flew with several other ANG units, including squadrons in Nevada and Idaho. With the escalation of the Korean War, 44-72035 was transferred to the USAF and had “U.S. Air Force” applied above the serial number on the vertical fin, and “FF-035” applied on the fuselage below the cockpit. Evidence from these markings is still visible in the metalwork.
On March 12, 1953, 44-72035 was sent back to the ANG, and in October 1956, she was retired from military service and placed into storage.
Less than a year later, she was sold to Whiteman Enterprises of Pacoima, California, for $1,110. (Adjusted for inflation, that is less than $10,000 in today’s money!) She was registered as N5411V on September 25, 1957, with just under 1100 total flying hours. She wore an all-yellow paint scheme for the 24 years she was owned by Whiteman Enterprises, until in December 1981, she was sold to Humberto Escobar of Bogata, Colombia. After 8 years in South America, she was exported to France in August 1989 for Mr. Jacques Bourret. Coming across photos of “Jumpin’ Jacques,” he painted his newly acquired Mustang in her current scheme.
In 2002, Peter Teichman brought “JJ” to England, where he updated the paint scheme, declaring it to now be “absolutely authentic.” While preparing her for repainting, Peter discovered red paint underneath some of the yellow paint (from its time as N5411V). A little bit of investigation revealed this was original Red Tail paint.
BACK TO THE ORIGINAL UNIT
Peter says owning a warbird is a “big labor of love, and I consider myself a custodian of history. I want to make sure these airplanes are passed on to the next generation, so we look after them very, very carefully.” He goes on to say, “I am a flier, and I like to think my Mustang is sweeter and faster than other Mustangs. It’s a stock airplane and handles like a stock airplane.” In 2009, Peter flew his
P-40 to Prague, Czech Republic to fly in the movie “Red Tails.” Unfortunately, “Jumpin’ Jacques” was unserviceable, so it stayed in England. While on set, he met Roscoe Brown and Lee Archer, two of the original Tuskegee Airmen. Since that meeting, Mustang 44-72035 has begun an exciting new chapter in its life with its original paint scheme as a Red Tail Mustang of 332nd Fighter Group and is now named “Tall in the Saddle.” The Hangar 11 team worked closely with RAS Completions of Biggin Hill, along with 332nd Fighter Group Historian Craig Huntly, in tracing the aircraft’s history and delivering an absolutely accurate scheme. This is WW II flying history preservation at its finest!
The author would like to thank to Mr. Peter Teichman and Mr. Kurt Young for taking time out of their busy schedules to be interviewed for this article. Also, thanks to the Air Commando Association (specialoperations.net) for information on the 3rd ACG.
Peter Teichman shows the business end of the Tuskeegee “Tall in the Saddle” Mustang. Not a sight the German pilots wanted to see! (Photo by John Dibbs/facebook.com/ theplanepicture)