June 24, 1944 - just 18 days after D-Day - P-51 Mustangs of the 355th Fighter Group took to the skies over France to patrol and protect Allied troops. Facing the remnants of the Luftwaffe, pilots ...

Join WWII P-51 ace Col. Joe Peterburs at the American Heritage Museum's Historic Aviation Weekend, September 13-14, 2025.

It was thanks to former WWI pilot Tommy Hitchcock that the P-51 entered U.S service — and changed the skies over Europe forever.

If the standard P-51 was the Allied answer to the Bf-109 and the Fw-190, then its dive bomber cousin was a similar match for German dive bombers like the Ju-87 Stuka.