Recent small drawing ~ The Iowa Beaut Graphite on gray paper 8 x 10 Completed 2014 Collection of Mark Adams This 355th Fighter Group (8th Air Force) P-51B Mustang had an interesting history. The plane started out as Man O War, belonging to 8-victory ace Lt. Col. Claiborne Kinnard of Franklin, Tennessee. As an aside, the pilot in my Vietnam F-4E Phantom painting, Chico the Gunfighter, as a young man worked postwar for Claib and his brother at their plant in Franklin. The plane was next assigned to Lt. Robert E. Hulderman, who named it The Iowa Beaut. Hulderman was not an ace - his final score was an Me 410 damaged - but he retained Kinnards victory markings on the plane as you can see in my drawing. He later had a P-51D nicknamed The Iowa Beaut II. No further info on his hometown that I know of, though Id guess he was either from Iowa and/or knew a girl from there. Hulderman logged 58 missions and 264 combat hours in all. Maj. Lee Mendenhall is flying the plane in my drawing. Ace Maj. Fred R. Haviland, Jr., of Tampa, Florida, also used The Iowa Beaut for several of his six victories, but it was not assigned to him. Lastly, Capt. Kenneth Rafferty was KIA flying this Mustang on 11 Sept 44. After strafing an enemy airfield, Rafferty and his element leader were returning home at minimum altitude. Both were hit by a heavy and accurate flak barrage after flying over a small German town. Rafferty and The Iowa Beaut spun in at low level.
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 17:37:23 +0000
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