P51D Mustang USAAF - Capt. Abner M. Aust

Product description

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.

Abner Aust Jr. joined the 457th FS/ 506th FG as a P-51 pilot in October 1944. In March 1945
Aust’s unit deployed to Tinian followed by Iwo Jima where he was credited with five aerial
victories and three more ground aircraft during enemy airfield strafing. Abner Aust became the
last U.S. Ace of WWII when he scored his fourth and fifth victories on August 10, 1945. In 1963
Aust was promoted to Colonel and served as Command of the 33rd FW in Florida, 31st FW
Vietnam and 3rd Tactical FW South Korea.