Corgi AA27709 North American P-51D Mustang, ‘Moonbeam McSWINE’, William T. ‘Bill’ Whisner Jr, 1945 - DieCast Model Aviation, for ages 14+

Bill Whisner rose to prominence as the regular wingman of famous fellow US Ace George Preddy, but he became a respected ace in his own right

His most successful day came on 21 st November 1944, when he shot down five FW190 fighters on the same mission over the synthetic oil refineries at Merseburg, with a further two probably destroyed, all in a frantic 20 minutes of combat

He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for that incredible achievement

Whisner was awarded a second DSC on New Year s Day 1945, when airfield Y-29 Asch in Belgium was attacked by 65 enemy fighters during the Luftwaffe s Operation Bodenplatte raid

Taking off in his usual Mustang Moonbeam McSWINE , Whisner noticed enemy aircraft approaching the airfield and, as soon as his undercarriage had retracted, he started firing at a Focke Wulf Fw190