1944 North American P-51D Mustang “Sierra Sue II”

History

Built by North American Aviation in Inglewood, CA, in November 1944, 44-63675 was accepted by the Army Air Force on 27 November 1944 and shipped to Belgium on 29 January 1945.

44-63675 was assigned to the 402nd Fighter Squadron, 370th Fighter Group, 9th Air Force (Code ED-6) and 1st Lt. Robert (Bob) Bohna. Bohna named the plane “Sierra Sue II” after a girl in his high school. “Sierra Sue II” flew several B-17 bomber escort missions to Berlin, shot at a ME-262, and ended the war patrolling the skies over Paris.

Post World War II

1947 – 44-63675 was purchased in one of the last lots of P-51’s by the Swedish Government and assigned the Swedish Air Force number Fv26152 and re-designated J26.

June 1948 – 44-63675  arrived at her new station F4 near Ostersund, Sweden. She was assigned to the third squadron (colored yellow) and gained the nickname of “Gul Kalle” which translated means yellow K (a yellow K is painted on the vertical tail). She is assigned to pilot Sten Soderquist who flies her for the next four years.

October 1952 – Gul Kalle was transferred to F8 near Stockholm for use as a staff plane. Redesignated “Gron Kalle” which means green K (yellow K is repainted green). She also had the name “Kleopatra” painted on the nose.

18 September 1952 – Gron Kalle/Kleopatra was sold, disassembled, and shipped via the port of Malmo, Sweden to Nicaragua to serve in the Nicaraguan Air Force. Once in Nicaragua, she was reassembled and put into service at Las Mercedes Air Base near Managua as GN91.

1961 – GN91 is retired from service and eventually put on outdoor display at Las Mercedes.

Civilian History

30 July 1971 – GN91 was purchased from the Nicaraguan Air Force by Dave Allender of San Mateo, California and registered as N5452V and Race number 19. Allender made numerous modifications to the airplane and painted it bright red.

8 March 1977 – Race 19 was sold to Roger “Doc” Christgau of Austin, MN.

1977 – 1983 – Aircraft was restored to a stock Mustang configuration by Jack Cochrane in Hollister, California.

30 October 1979 – FAA registration changed to N1751D.

May 1983 – Sierra Sue departed Hollister, California for its new home in MN.  The airplane was eventually repainted as Sierra Sue II in a semblance of her World War II markings on the left side of the fuselage. The right side of the fuselage was painted to partially resemble her Swedish markings as Gul Kalle. Roger owned the airplane for more than 30 years and was a fixture at Midwest airshows during the ’80’s and ’90’s.

1 July 2011 – Sold to Paul Ehlen of Hamilton, Montana. Ehlen shipped the airplane to AirCorps Aviation in Bemidji, MN for a complete restoration to factory specifications.

17 September 2014 – Sierra Sue II’s first flight after a complete restoration by Air Corps Aviation.

May 2015 – Sierra Sue II joined the Wings of the North collection as the cornerstone of its new museum.

January 2024 – Purchased by current owner and based at Scottsdale, AZ.

Sierra Sue II is considered to be the most original and authentically restored P-51D Mustang currently flying today.  During its restoration, Air Corps was able to determine that only the engine mount, ailerons, and flaps were not original to the airframe as it left the North American Aviation factory in Inglewood, CA in 1944.

The aircraft was restored from the ground-up over a 3 year period by Air Corps Aviation to bring it back to exactly as it was in April 1945, with historical accuracy down to the most minute detail.  All original equipment including fuselage fuel tank, armor plating, and armament (demilled) has been reinstalled.  Sierra Sue II is as close to a combat ready P-51D as you will find.

Upon completion of the restoration, Sierra Sue II was flown to EAA Airventure – Oshkosh, WI where it was awarded the 2015 – Reserve Grand Champion WII award and a Golden Wrench award for Air Corps Aviation.