Hobby Master 1/48 Air Power Series
HA8517
P-51C "Alice-Jo" flown by Pilot Capt. Wendell Pruitt, 302nd FS, Ramitelli, Italy 1944 
 
General Background
Later in WWII the Allied bombers were flying deep into Germany but suffered tremendous losses because of the lack of range the fighter escorts had. German fighters would wait beyond the range of the Allied fighters and then attack the vulnerable bombers. Once the P-51 called Mustang by the British had the Allison engine replaced with a British Merlin it possessed the high performance that had been lacking. With drop tanks the P-51 had the range to escort bombers all the way to Berlin and back.