Official Website of The Last of the Wild Horses
The Story
Dick Phillips (my father) was a P-51 Mustang historian and photographer for over 60 years. He collected a massive photo collection of aircraft, but none more than P-51’s. He became the world’s foremost authority on civil Mustangs. His lifelong goal was to publish a book highlighting the history of every Mustang that was ever held in civil hands. After a serious stroke in 2016 I started planning on how I could help him finish his project.
I had been going to airshows almost my entire life with him, and I learned about aviation photography from him. It was about this time when I realized just how much info he thought the book should have. I started going through his thousands of Mustang photos and sorting which ones to use. Next it was time to format the text. I quickly realized that I needed a lot more info. I had his P-51 notebook that he had passed around to many of the noted P-51 Historians.
It was about this time in 2020 that he passed away. I wanted to publish the best book ever on this topic and knew he and John had been working on this endeavor for a long time. I reached out to John in hopes of getting this done. Almost 4 years later and here we are. Mark Phillips (November 2023)
Dedication
This manuscript is dedicated to the memory of the late Mr. R. A. “Bob” Hoover, who was considered by many to be the “World’s Greatest Pilot”. In fact, General Jimmie Doolittle considered Bob to be the “best stick and rudder man of all time.” During the many major air shows of my past, I was always dazzled by his flying brilliance. Also, this endeavor is dedicated to my friend, talented display pilot and Mustang enthusiast the late Mr. Vlado Lenoch. Also, it would be remiss on my behalf not to acknowledge my rewarding relationship with my mentor the late Mr. David W. Menard. Before I close, I want to give credit where credit is due. Without the passionate dedication of the late Mr. Richard “Dick” C. Phillips, this manuscript would have never been written. Dick was commonly referred to by many aviation enthusiasts as “Mr. Mustang”. As early as the summer of 1966, Mr. Phillips began to collect photographs, slides and information concerning civilian North American P-51 Mustangs, in hopes of creating a book about the subject.
–John L. Dienst, 2023.
Photo Gallery
Exclusive Content
CF-WWH / N5789 (ill) / N511D / N20JS / N7496W / N51DT / A68-175 Between 20 November 1952 and 8 November 1955 the aircraft last saw service with the RCAF’s 23 “City of Brisbane” (F) Squadron (Citizen Air Force). Initially, the airplane was purchased by an agricultural pilot from Narromine New South Wales who flew it to his Base at Narromine. “The Mustang remained parked on the airfield unregistered for several years until resold.” After several ownership changes, in 1965, the aircraft was sold to Mr. Edward G. Fleming of Skyservice Aviation, of Camden. The airplane was transferred to the Aircraft Museum of Australia in 1966. After the failure of the museum, the disassembled airframe was taken over by Skyservice Aviation who were partners in the failed museum. It was assembled at Camden, cleaned and repainted with Skyservice adertising. “The Mustang was displayed at the Roselands shopping center in January 1967, after which it was returned to Camden.” The aircraft was crated and sold to Mr. Robert Diemert of Carmen, Manitoba, Canada, and registered as CF-WWH. Subsequently, the aircraft was grotesquely modified as a four-seat aircraft using a Canadair CF-100 canopy. “The other unique design change to the aircraft consisted of the installation of, ‘one of four Merlin engines that Mr. Diemert had salvaged from a derelict Avro York. The York used a Rolls-Royce Merlin 24 with a single-stage blower so it was shorter and lighter than a regular V-1650-3/-7/-9, but still fitted the Mustang engine mounts with a lot of empty space behind.’” All of the unique modifications to the airplane were accomplished at Carmen, Manitoba, by Mr. Edward G. Fleming of Calgary, Alberta, Canada. The finished product was named “Miss Behave” (Both). On 18 May 1971, the Mustang was sold to a buyer located in New York State, and for a short time, carried the spurious registration number N5789. Later, to facilitate the registration process of the airplane, the Mustang adopted the Military Serial Number of the P-51D 44-74950, as well as the registration number of the P-51D N511D. (This fated Mustang was destroyed during a fatal accident on 25 August 1971 at Palmdale, California.) On 5 August 1975, Mr. John Silberman of Sherborn, Massachusetts, sold portions of the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation CA-18 Mustang MK. 23 A68-175 to Mr. Arthur S. Vance of Sebastopol, California. Also, during 1975, the cockpit of A68-175 had been returned to stock condition by Mr. Silberman. The aircraft was eventually registered as N20JS and named “Black Cat” (Both). The airplane, “was rebuilt around the main part of a CA-18 fuselage, which carried the CAC Construction Number of 1500, i.e. A68-175, and therefore its identity.” The CA-18 Mustang was sold in 1984 to the Floridian Mr. Selby Burch who named it “Bumble Boogie” (Both) and finally registered it as N7496W. In 1993, the Mustang was purchased by Mr. Dick Thurman and restored by Mr. Peter and Richard Lauderback of the Stallion 51 Maintenance Operations, Inc. of Kissimee, Florida. During the restoration process, the Mustang’s top longerons and associated skins were replaced by Stallion 51 Maintenance and the aircraft received the markings of the 352nd Fighter Group’s “Slender, Tender and Tall” (Both). In 1997, the aircraft won the Reserve Grand Champion WWII Warbird award at Sun-N-Fun. Flyable.
Exclusive Content PHOTOS
