ENTER THE 'SHARK'

摘要

For many years, the UK airshow scene lacked a P-51 Mustang in authentic RAF colours. Since the start of the 2015 season, thanks to Shaun Patrick, the gap has been filled. Shaun's P-51D G-SHWN is, of course, no stranger to UK or European events. In fact, it is one of the longest-serving active European warbirds, having originally been imported into Europe from the USA by Anders Saether in 1986, painted as Old Crow and operated by the Scandinavian Historic Flight. In its new guise, the P-51 has become an extremely popular attraction with its No 112 Squadron 'shark-mouth' colour scheme. It has also been operating with the Boultbee Flight Academy at Goodwood, which has had a very busy year offering customer rides in the aircraft. In 2012, Shaun Patrick purchased Old Crow for what he describes as "a fair price for an airworthy, serviceable Mustang", and it was flown from Sweden to Shoreham Airport in Sussex. A major overhaul was commenced there, while a totally new colour scheme was chosen by the owner and applied by Airtime Paint at Bournemouth Airport. Researched by Steve Atkin, this is based on a No 112 Squadron, RAF Mustang.