A P-51D Mustang, a wartime motorcycle and reenactors in US uniform, photographed at North Weald in Essex. The aircraft is North American P-51D-20-NA 44-72035, civil registration G-SIJJ.
She was built in 1944. After the war she served in the US Air National Guard and later in Colombia, then returned to Europe in 1989, where she was restored in France. Peter Teichman's Hangar 11 Collection at North Weald bought her in 2002 and registered her as G-SIJJ in 2003.
In this scheme she represents 'Jumpin' Jacques', the Mustang flown by Lt Jacques E. Young of the 3rd Fighter Squadron in the Philippines in 1945. The P-51D was the definitive long-range escort fighter of the Second World War, giving Allied bombers fighter cover deep into occupied Europe. She is still with the Hangar 11 Collection but is now painted as 'Tall in the Saddle'.
The polished metal sits against the olive and khaki of the motorcycle and uniforms, and that contrast is what holds the frame together.
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