On March 6, 1945, the first P-51 Mustang touched down on Iwo Jima at Airfield no. 1 with 7th Fighter Command Brigadier General Earnest M. “Mickey” Moore in the pilot seat. Twenty-six Mustangs followed from the 47th Fighter Squadron, 15th Fighter Group, and became the first of nine P-51 equipped squadrons from three different fighter groups to be based at Iwo Jima for the VLR, or Very Long Range missions to Japan. However, at this time, the plans were still under development for the first VLR mission, which would not occur until just over one month later. While the last details of the long-range missions were still being finalized, the Mustangs immediately began combat operations on their new home. The 47th FS P-51s first started flying Combat Air Patrol (CAP)…
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Flight Journal (Digital) - 1 Issue, January - February 2022