A military start to service
Jumpin Jacques is a P-51D-20-NA model, built at the Inglewood
facility in California, USA. It was accepted by the United States
Air Force (USAF) on 21 December 1944 as 44-720035. In
January 1945, she was assigned to the 15th Air Force based in
Italy.
After the Second World War, she returned to the USA for
continued service. In storage for a couple of years, and
subsequently overhauled, in 1948 she was assigned to the 125th
Fighter Squadron, based at Tulsa. The unit was amongst several
placed on Red Alert in response to heightened tension at the
beginning of the Korean War in 1950.
From USA to Colombia and return to Europe
In March 1953, she was released from active duty with USAF, and
with her military career over, she was placed in storage in
Sacramento, California. She was sold in 1957 to Whiteman
Enterprises and registered with her new civilian US registration,
N5411V. She remained under them until 1981, when she was sold to a
new owner in Colombia.
After eight years in Colombia she was exported to France where
she was owned and operated by Jacques Bourret, based at St Rambert,
France.
When looking for a colour scheme for her, Jacques
Bourret came across a photo of Mustang named Jumpin Jacques
and couldn't resist adopting this as the new colour scheme.
The original Jumpin Jacques was flown by Lt Jacque Young of the 3rd
Fighter Squadron based in the Philippines.
Jumpin Jacques at East Fortune
Over the years Jumpin Jacques has appeared at many airshows
across Europe and with her gleaming polished exterior has become a
firm favourite. She has appeared at East Fortune in 2009 and in
2012.
Jumpin Jacques has never had a major rebuild and is almost
totally original as built in 1944, which makes her a rare and
special P51 Mustang. She still carries evidence of her battle
scars with repairs just behind the pilot's positions on both sides
of the fuselage, and puncture repairs to the fin.
Please note all
information is correct at the time of publishing. Flights and
timings are subject to change, prevailing weather conditions and
operational requirements.