
P-51D LC-N
Overview
Make/Model: North American P-51D-20 Mustang
Serial Number: 44-72107
Year of manufacture: 1944
Project Duration: 5 years
Awards & Recognition: 2025 Oshkosh Golden Wrench & Reserve Grand Champion - World War II
This aircraft was built in 1944 at North American Aviation's Inglewood, California plant as a P-51D-20 and assigned serial number 44-72107 for the U.S. Army Air Forces. Following completion, it was shipped to the European Theater and arrived in England in March 1945, during the final months of World War Il, and was assigned to the 20th Fighter Group, 77th Fighter Squadron, based at Kings Cliffe, England. It was flown by at least five different pilots during its wartime service as LC-N . One notable mission occurred o n April 16, 1945, when 1st Lt. Walter Umla strafed buildings and enemy aircraft at Cham Airfield, approximately 30 miles northeast of Regensburg, Germany and was credited with destroying a parked Fw 190 on the ground.
LC-N, participated in the final nine missions flown by the 77th Fighter Squadron during the war. However, it only completed six of those sorties due to an unspecified mechanical issue on April 11 and a reported oil actuator problem on April 17. Its final combat mission took place on April 25, 1945, to Pilsen, Czechoslovakia, where the only resistance encountered was enemy flak.
After the war, in December 1946, 44-72107 was sold to Sweden, along with many other surplus Mustangs. It was re-designated J 26-071 in Swedish service. By the early 1950s, Sweden began divesting its Mustang fleet, and 44-72107 was one of 43 aircraft sold to the Fuerza Aérea Dominicana (FAD). It served there as FAD 1929 until it was written off following an accident in late 1967.
In the early 1980s, the remains of most FAD Mustangs, including 44-72107, were purchased by a private U.S. buyer and returned stateside. The remains of 44-72107 changed hands several times until Mustang Hangar LLC, under the ownership of Mark and Missy Timken, acquired the project from Brian O'Farrell, the original importer of the FAD Mustangs.
Midwest Aero Restorations, Ltd. is honored to work alongside the Timkens to restore this historically significant aircraft. Their commitment ensures that 44-72107 will once again fly — not just as a warbird, but as a tribute to the courage, sacrifice, and legacy of the Greatest Generation. Special thanks to the late S.R. "Syd" Edwards, one of the leading historians of the 20th Fighter Group.
Please scroll down and check out the gallery below for photos of the entire restoration journey.
LC-N’s Pilots
1st Lt. James E. Seymour
1st Lt. Walter E. Umla, Jr.
1st Lt. Franklin K. Richter
1st Lt. Charles S. Cunliffe
1st Lt. Leo H. Kerns
42-72107 photographed post-war in 1945
Wings after arrival from Odegaard Wings
Wings begin prepared for interior paint
Fuselage structural repair
Lower Oxygen bay floor restored
Wings coming together and wiring install
Fuselage structure restoration
Fuselage skinning complete
Tailcone structural rebuild
Tailcone structure in process
Tailcone reskinning completed
Horizontal Stab rebuild
Oxygen Bay area completed structurally
Fuselage wiring installation
Preliminary Canopy fitting
Wing painting completed
Fuselage squadron code review
Fuselage National insignia and squadron code application
Fuselage markings completed
First look outside after markings completion
Wing to fuselage mating
Wing to fuselage mating complete
Cockpit view
Engine arrival from Vintage V12s
Engine installation
LH wing gunbay installation
Cockpit view prior to floorboard installation
RH wheel well completion
Engine coolant tube installation
LH wheel well completion
Engine installation nearly complete
Prop installation
First engine runs
First engine runs and servicing
First engine runs and taxi testing
First engine runs and taxi testing
Nose markings layout
Nose markings layout and paintwork
Nose markings complete
Weight and balance
Ready for flight
Taxiing out
LC-N takeoff
LC-N in flight
Enroute to Oshkosh 2025