SEPTEMBER 23, 2024 – A Commemorative Air Force P-51 Mustang made a short, two day stop at the Sioux City, Iowa airport in September.
The airport in Western Iowa is one of the last stops of the 2024 flying season for the aircraft and crew of the iconic World War II fighter plane.
Retired Air Force Reserve F-16 pilot, Pete Scholl volunteers as a P-51 pilot with the Commemorative Air Force when he is not flying for a major airline.
The retired Lt. Colonel said he has been flying since he was a teenager. Scholl’s resume includes a 20 year career in the Air Force Reserve’s 944th Fighter Wing at Luke Air Force Base near his home in Phoenix, AZ.
Scholl describes the CAF as a flying museum that seeks to educate and inspire, by telling the stories about aircraft and aircrew from the time period.
The U.S. Army Air Corps P-51 served on active duty during the 1940’s and continued service in Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard units into the 1950s.
“We keep these airplanes flying to be a memorial to the World War Two generation,” Scholl commented during his visit to Sioux City.
According to their website, the Commemorative Air Fore was first organized in 1957 when they acquired a single P-51.
Shortly after starting up in the late 1950s, the group of veteran aviators made it their mission to, “Save an example of every aircraft that flew during World War II.”
While in Sioux City, local enthusiasts were able to purchase a ride on the CAF P-51 dubbed “Gunfighter”.
Scholl said, money raised from giving rides goes directly to funding the maintenance and preservation of CAF aircraft.
While the Mustang flew around the airport this week, local history buffs could imagine a time when the sight, and unique sound of P-51 fighters were once part of the airport atmosphere.
After WWII, when the Iowa Air National Guard’s 174th Fighter Squadron was first organized at the airport in 1946, the unit was originally equipped with P-51s. The Iowa ANG unit didn’t permanently give up flying Mustangs until turning-in their F-51’s in 1953.
After two more appearances in Texas this October, the CAF P-51 operators say the aircraft will be moved to Florida for the winter.
During the winter break Scholl says the aircraft will undergo more extensive maintenance before reappearing at airshows and flying events in the new year.
A complete list of events featuring the P-51 and other historic aircraft can be found on the CAF website, along with information about requesting CAF aircraft for airshows or events.
Story by Senior Master Sgt. Vincent De Groot
185th Air Refueling Wing, Iowa Air National Guard