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P-51 Mustang Survivors
44-73027 HB-RCW "Temptations"
Fritz Muller, Switzerland
P-51 Survivor 44-73027 HB-RCW
Status: Crashed/Destroyed - 98
NAA Type: P-51D-25NA
Serial #: 44-73027
Registry: HB-RCW
.. past:   N9146R
  N5747
  N51MP
  F-AZJM
  P-51 Mustangs Survivors  
History: 44-73027 HB-RCW "Temptations"
1950: 6th Dec. RCAF 9250 No. 416 Squadron, served as "PF 250"
1959: May 20, N9146R, Trans Florida Aviation
1960: N9146R, E.D. Weiner
1961: N9146R, Mario Villareal / El Paso Airmotive
1965: N9146R, Southwest Air Rangers
1965: N9146R, Harold Barlow
1966: N9146R, Haynes McClellan & John Percival
1970: N9146R, Roger Wolfe, race #12
1972: N5747, Robert Guildford / Mustang Pilots Club MPC
1974: N5747, forced landing at Mojave
1977: N5747 flown in Europe, Europe Garage Company, Phillpsburg NJ
1977: N5747, Oct 9, forced landing at Bakersfield CA - inflight fire, heavy damage
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1978: N51MP, Mustang Pilots Club, Bob Guilford
1980: N51MP, Restored at Chino CA using ex Philippine P-51, painted 361st FG, yellow nose blue camo
1980: N51MP, Oct 4, Crashed, destroyed at Lancaster, CA killing pilot Bill Barnes
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Rebuilt with TNI-AU airframe
1991: N51MP, William Speer, Racer #56
1992: Oct 26, N51MP, Gathering of Mustangs, Santa Maria CA - bare metal
1993: F-AZJM, sold to France, Christophe Jacquart, Flies as "Temptation"
1998: HB-RCW, sold, Fritz Muller, Altrenheim Switzerland
1998: Jul 2, HB-RCW, Oldy Air Service AF, Altrenheim Switzerland
1998: Sep 3, HB-RCW, Fatal crash in Swiss mountains, Gothard Pass, near Erstfeld, enroute to airshow at Ambri. Pilot Christian Schweizer and his son Daniel killed in crash.
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From Martin Kyburz, Swiss Mustangs, here is a synopsis of the events leading up to crash:

...this ship was then sold to Switzerland and received Swiss registration HB-RCW in July 1998 (colour scheme remained unchanged), but sadly it crashed on September 3rd, 1998 in the Swiss Mountains on a ferry flight over the Alps to attend an Air Show in southern Switzerland. The pilot (a very experienced professional pilot (chief pilot of Swiss Air Ambulance) and famous aerobatics pilot, and his son (also certified pilot) were killed instantly and the a/c was totally destroyed. Cause has been determined as follows: due to bad weather, coupled with fading daylight (thus causing time-pressure), the conditions caused disorientation and while trying to do a 180 turn in a valley, they went into a high speed stall and hit ground.

The pilot had done many performances in another Swiss based P-51D (Double Trouble Two, N51EA) but this was his first flight in HB-RCW...

The Last of the Wild Horses

P-51 Survivors book featuring images from Dick Phillips and John Dienst, with Mark Phillips. To order, goto The Last of the Wild Horses. You can order online. Price is $100 for pages and pages of P-51 Survivor history and photos. Over 2,500 photos! The late Dick Phillips shared hundreds of his P-51 images with us at MustangsMustangs over the last 25 years. If you can, help support his life-long passion. I recently ordered my copy.

Thank you!
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26 Images of   44-73027   HB-RCW   "Temptations" on file
Images of   44-73027
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Image Credits:
  Dick Phillips   Warbird Images  
  Ron Olson   Ron's Archive  
  Emil Strasser   courtesy Warbird Aero Press  
  Gerald Liang   courtesy Warbird Aero Press  
  Roger Wolfe    
  Martin Kyburz   Swiss Mustangs  
  Sid Roberts via Chris Luvara   Stick and Rudder Photo  
  Gary Maisack   Gary Maisack  
  Phil Juvet   Phil's Aviation Pics  
  Floyd Fowles    
  Baldur Sveinsson   Airliners.net  
  Christian Bechir   website  
  Gerhard Plomitzer    
  Ben Rogers   Duxford.org  
  Peter Evans    
  Harald Ludwig    
  Ed Trillet    
  Christophe Collin    
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