Pilots
of the P-51 Mustang
Pilots
of the P-51 mustang were very impressed with its handling ability and heavy
impact it made with its machine guns and later bombs. The P-51 was a respectable
force to be reckoned with over Europe and in the Pacific it would be overshadowed
by the P-38 Lightning and F4-Corsairs.
George
E. Preddy
One of the most respected pilots of the P-51 was George E. Preddy of the
352nd fighter group and 8th Air Force. He tried to join
the USAAF in the summer of 1940, while passing all test he had to wait for
an opening. He would join the Army National Guard to pass his time and gain
experience. In April 1941 he reported to flight school and graduated in December
of 1941. He was sent to australia with the 9th squadron, 49th
pursuit group. In August of 1942 he flew a number of combat missions and damaged
two Japanese planes, he then had a mid-air collision which killed on his squadron
mates and left Preddy in the hospital for several weeks. In December 1942
he was sent to Massachusetts were he ran into an old friend were he had him
pull some strings and Preddy was reassigned to the 487th fighter
squadron, part of the 352nd fighter group. He would become the
top Mustang ace of WWII. Preddy was fast on his way to becoming the top ace
overall in Europe before tragedy struck. On Christmas day 1945, Preddy and
ten other p-51's were on a patrol. They were vectored to the formation of
enemy planes, during the ensuing battle Preddy downed two Bf-1-09's. Then
him and his wing-man Lt. James Cartee, were vectored to an unknown number
of bandits near Liege. Preddy saw an FW-109 on the deck and at treetop height
pursued it. As they roared over American troops, Preddy was hit by friendly
gun-fire and upon crashing was killed. Preddy would be the third ranking American
Ace of the European war with 26.83 victories all in his plane the Cripes
A’ Mighty.
Chuck
Yeager
