Update on Mustang ‘Little Rebel’

Thanks to its owner, Steve Stead, we can show you some photos of the status of North American P-51D ‘Little Rebel’. On 6 March 2022 Scramble reported on its arrival at FAST Aero in Brasschaat, Belgium.

This Mustang is former USAAF 45-11495 (c/n 124-48248). It is painted in the colours of Mustang 44-13737 ‘Little Rebel’, a so-called ‘blue-noser’ with code ‘PZ-W’ as was flown by Charles ‘Buck’ Pattillo, one the pilots of 486th FS, one of the three Fighter Squadrons in the USAAF 352nd Fighter Group.

On arrival the fighter was still registered in the US as N5551D, but this registration was cancelled on 23 May 2022. It has recently received the fitting Belgian registration OO-PSI.

And although ‘Rebel’ had only flown 88 hours since its restoration, the team at FAST has decided to partly disassemble the P-51 for thorough inspection. The engine has been removed and so were the main undercarriage legs.

But these activities are obviously necessary. In the words of Stead: ‘Sometimes going forward entails going back’. But we can hardly wait to see her flying again!

Photos: Steve Stead