North American F-6K-15-NT Mustang, Recon Mustang in Israel

[yoyolast 1,708]

 

Introduction

The F-6K-15-NT was an armed reconnaissance variant of the P-51K Mustang. While it isn't significantly different compared the the P51Ds that served with Israel, the Israeli Air Force did in fact operate at least one example of this specific Mustang variant and it could therefore make for an interesting addition to the tree.

 

Disclaimer: In terms of this aircraft's specs I have written them in this suggestion to be exactly the same as the P-51D-20-NA in Israeli service. This is done largely due to the fact that it appears to have received a D variant propeller in Israeli service and due to the fact that there isn't really any indication that it featured any improvements to it's performance like the ones found on the P-51D-30 or the Chinese P-51K, though this is of course up to the developers to reconsider.

 

 - An old image of F-6K number 39 from it's later years in the Israeli Air Force Museum in Hatzerim. By the time it was put there on display it lost it's original paint scheme compared to the title image which was probably taken in Nevatim air base.

 

Background and  acquisition

Due to the lackluster information on this specific airframe I chose to also go over some background on this specific airframe. The F-6K that served with the Israeli Air Force was the production serial 44-12843, making it a part of the batch of 43 F-6Ks which were produced in February-March of 1945 designated as F-6K-15-NT. The F-6K was essentially an armed reconnaissance variant of the P-51K Mustang, distinguished by it's onboard camera equipment and the portholes it had on the side and bottom of the fuselage for the cameras to see from. These aircraft were originally intended to be delivered to the 8th air force of the USAF to fight in both the European and Pacific fronts of WW2, however very few examples of this variants were actually sent and 44-12843 was not one of them. This specific F-6K's fate in it's initial years is largely unknown and it is simply assumed that it remained in a storage crate right up until the moment it was acquired by the Israelis since that was the fate of many of the F-6Ks that were never sent to war, at least until they were bought for civilian use or were scrapped. Many sources wrongly believe that this Mustang was one of the S-26 reconnaissance Mustangs that were purchased from Sweden, however that was not the case for this specific airframe, and the most likely reason that it ended up with Israel was that it was probably purchased by Al Schwimmer (One of Israel's primary agents in America at the time) while it was still in a storage crate and was later smuggled out of the country at some point. Regardless of the exact way that this Mustang ended up in Israel, it arrived in the port of Haifa on the 28th of June 1954 and was immediately pressed into service with the Israeli Air Force.

 

 - A picture of the F-6K after it's transfer accident in the Israeli Air Force Museum.

 

 - A second picture of the accident showing the broken tail.

 

Service in the IAF

Seeing as this specific airframe was delivered only in mid 1954 it led a pretty short service life. In the Israeli Air force it received the identification number 2339 which was shortened to just 39 and was put into service with the 116th squadron (back in those years it was known as "The Flying Wing" squadron). During it's service it appears to have never actually been utilized as a reconnaissance aircraft, instead it was utilized in exactly the same way as the rest of the IAF's Mustangs. The F-6K was used in combat during the Sinai campaign of the Suez Crisis in October of 1956 and was retired from service shortly afterwards along with the rest of the IAF's Mustangs.

 

 - The F-6K sitting in one of the IAF museum's storage hangers mostly disassembled due to it's poor condition.

 

The F-6K as a display piece

After retiring from service most of the 116th squadron's Mustangs were sent to the Bedek aviation company to be stored, sold or scrapped, however Mustang number 39 was actually kept as a display piece and put up on a pedestal in the entrance to Tel Nof air base which was the home base of the 116th squadron at the time. In 1986 when the 116th squadron moved to Nevatim air base, the Mustang was taken with them and put as a memorial display outside of that air base. Finally, in 1991, the Israeli Air Force museum in Hatzerim acquired the aircraft, but by that time it was already in pretty rough condition so it was placed in the "scrapyard" area behind the museum and not along with the main displays. Unfortunately during one of the attempts to move the aircraft around the museum it's tail broke off leading to it remaining as a proper wreckage for many many years. Attempts were conducted since the late 90's to bring it back to a display worthy state but the museum staff weren't able to do so successfully. In 2009 the civilian Israeli aviation company "El-Al" agreed to repair the aircraft as a donation to the museum and successfully completed the renovation in December of 2014. Since then the F-6K has been placed on a pedestal at the entrance road to the Israeli Air Force museum where it still exists to this day.

 

 - The display pedestal in the Israeli Air Force museum.

 

 - close up of the writing on the display aircraft, confirming it's identity as a F-6K Mustang.

 

 

Specifications

 

Type: Armed reconnaissance aircraft

 

Country of origin: USA

 

Wing span: 11.27 meters

 

Length: 9.75 meters

 

Height: 4.16 meters

 

Powerplant: Packard V-1650-7 engine rated at 1,590 hp

 

Max speed: 700 kph

 

Max altitude: 12,700 meters

 

Range: 3,200 km

 

Weight: Empty - 3,230 kg, Fully loaded - 5,260 kg

 

Armaments: 6x12.7mm M2 Browning machineguns with a total of 2,080 rounds. Despite being a recon Mustang it clearly had hardpoints and as forementioned it was used just like the rest of the Mustangs in the IAF, as such it's secondary armament options should include bombs in weights of 250, 500 and 1,000 lbs carried in pairs as well as up to 6x5 inch rockets.

 

 

Sources

Spoiler

https://sky-high.co.il/2021/05/31/מוסטנג-39/

http://cgibin.rcn.com/jeremy.k/cgi-bin/gzUsafSearch.pl?target=44-12852&content=

http://www.forgottenprops.warbirdsresourcegroup.org/p51dk-mustang-4412001-4413000.html

https://www.mustangsmustangs.net/p-51/survivors/serial/IDFAF39

https://www.goodall.com.au/warbirds-directory-v6/north-american.pdf

https://www.iaf.org.il/182-16762-en/IAF.aspx?indx=1 (for specifications)

https://user-1723486.cld.bz/israeli-air-force-battle-1948-2018/122/ (for the illustration)

 

Edited May 21, 2022 by yoyolast

[leroyonly 4,310]

Open for discussion. 

[Milocat 4,848]

We have the French armed recon Mustang so we should get the Israeli one too.  +1.

[mytipcreamin 35]

+1  a better performing mustang for us to play with

Edited August 9, 2022 by e621enjoyer

[CokeSpray 7,272]

Suggestion passed to the developers for consideration.