North American P-51 Mustang - Notable Appearances in Media

Notable Appearances in Media

• Battle Hymn (1956) is based on the real-life experiences of Lt Col Dean E. Hess, USAF (played by Rock Hudson) and his cadre of U.S. Air Force instructors in the early days of the Korean War, training the pilots of the Republic of Korea Air Force and leading them during their first missions in F-51D/F-51Ks.
• Goodbye, Mickey Mouse (1982) is a historical novel by Len Deighton. Set in Britain in early 1944 it tells the story of the 220th Fighter Group of the US Eighth Air Force flying P-51's in the lead up to the Allied invasion of Europe. The Group is based at the fictional Steeple Thaxted airfield in Norfolk.
• The Tuskegee Airmen (1995), the story of how a group of African-American pilots overcame racist opposition to become one of the finest U.S. fighter groups in World War II, flying P-51s, although the 99th Squadron would have used P-40 and P-39 during their North African stint.
• Red Tail Reborn (2007), the story behind the restoration of a flying memorial plane.
• Red Tails (2012) is a George Lucas directed film about the Tuskegee Airmen of the 332nd Fighter Group, featuring P-51 Mustangs in their role as escort fighters.

In 1996, in the BBC Television series Decisive Weapons which was narrated by Sean Bean. The P-51 Mustang was the subject of a 30 minute episode entitled "The Cadillac of the Skies" in reference to its exceptional performance and how it started off as a British purchase as a low level attack fighter into the powerful long range bomber escort that it would eventually become in the Air War in Europe through a combination of being fitted with the Rolls Royce Merlin and the fitting drop tanks that allowed to escort the bombers of the United States 8th Air Force all the way into occupied Europe and back.