North American TF-51D 44-72990 United States Army Aviation

These are 1/72 scale decals for North American TF-51D Mustang, serial 44-72990, operated by the U.S. Army Aviation Materiel Command (AVCOM) at Edwards Air Force Base, California — a two-seat Mustang used as a chase plane alongside newer Cavalier Mustang variants during the Army's counterinsurgency aircraft evaluation programs of the late 1960s through the 1980s.

The TF-51D was a two-seat conversion of the P-51D Mustang, retaining the performance and handling of the legendary WWII fighter while adding a second cockpit for an instructor or observer. In U.S. Army service, the TF-51D found a new lease on life as a proficiency and chase aircraft, its piston-engine performance ideally matched to the speeds of the propeller-driven counterinsurgency (COIN) aircraft being evaluated at Edwards during this period.

The U.S. Army Aviation Materiel Command (AVCOM) was responsible for the development, testing, and procurement of Army aviation equipment, and operated a small fleet of Mustangs — including both TF-51Ds and remanufactured Cavalier Mustangs — in support of its COIN aircraft evaluation programs. The Cavalier Mustang, a modernized P-51 rebuild produced by Cavalier Aircraft Corporation, was assessed by the Army as a potential armed reconnaissance and close air support platform for low-intensity conflicts, and the TF-51D served alongside these aircraft as a familiar, capable chase and observation platform for test pilots and evaluators.

A fascinating late-life subject for the Mustang family, representing the type's unlikely second career in Cold War-era Army aviation testing. Please allow some time for decal printing and shipping.