North American P-51 Mustang

When I went to the Coys International Historic Festival meetings in the 1990s Robs Lamplough was usually in attendance with one or more of his collection of historic cars, and he usually turned up in one of the historic aircraft that he also collected. Once or twice I remember that it was a WW2 Supermarine Spitfire, but in 1999 he came in aircraft pictured below.

It's a North American P-51 Mustang, registered as G-BIXL. This aircraft, 44-72216, was delivered in January 1945 to the 352nd Fighter Group then based in Bodney, Norfolk, and was assigned to Captain Ray Littge who named it 'Miss Helen' after his fiancé Helen Fischer. The 352nd were redeployed to Belgium and then back to Bodney, and after Ray Littge returned to the USA the Mustang was reassigned to Captain Russell Ross. At the end of the war 'Miss Helen' was flown to Germany with other surplus Mustangs, and it was bought by the Swedish Air Force in 1948. When the Swedish Air Force had no further use for the aircraft it was sold to the Israeli Air Force, and in 1978 it was discovered in a kibbutz at Ein Gedi by Robs Lamplough. He bought this and several other aircraft and shipped them to Duxford where this was the aircraft that was chosen to be restored for his own use. It was only when restoration was under way that its historical significance was realised. In 1989 it was one of the aircraft used in the film 'Memphis Belle' where it was painted in the livery show above which Robs Lamplough kept until 2000 when it was repainted in its 352nd Fighter Group colours.