First you hear it, somewhere in the sky. It commands attention, you look up and keep looking as it grows louder. Then there it is, a fast moving silver and red aircraft maybe streaking along the mountains to the west or dropping down to the airport.
It is the famed World War II fighter, the P-51 Mustang, with it’s powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine driving it to speeds as high as 440 mph. This specific Mustang is the definitive version, a P-51D with the two-speed supercharged engine and armed with six .50 caliber Browning machine guns.
This P-51 is the premier aircraft in the collection of the Palm Springs Air Museum. One of the most iconic aircraft of World War II, this plane has been painted and dedicated to the famed “Red Tails,” the Tuskegee Airmen of the 332nd Fighter Group. These men were the elite and very first all African-American squadron. Look closely along the canopy. You will see inscribed the name of Lt. Col. Bob Friend.
Lt. Col. Friend is now 97 years old, and to this day you can often find him here at the museum as well as making appearances across the country. In the air as a ‘Red Tail,” his aircraft in World War II was also a P-51D, and to honor the Colonel, this plane became his, complete with the nose art of bathing beauty “Bunny,” painted by famed aviation artist Stan Stokes. The entire aircraft, now nicknamed “Bunny,” duplicates the Colonel’s aircraft he flew in the war.
Friend flew in World War II in Europe as Combat Operations Officer at the squadron and group levels, flying 142 combat missions during his service. He flew wing on Colonel Benjamin Davis (later General Benjamin Davis, the first African American General in the U.S. Air Force). He continued on to a commission in the Army Air Corps, and its successor, the Army Air Forces.
His career with the Air Force included serving as Assistant Deputy of Launch Vehicles, working on important space launch vehicles such as the Titan, Atlas and Delta rockets and the Space Shuttle. He served as a Foreign Technology Program Director where he identified and monitored research and development programs related to national security. He was also the Director of the Unidentified Aerial Phenomena Program, tasked with investigating unidentified flying objects.
Friend retired as a lieutenant colonel from the Air Force in 1971 and then his expertise was utilized to oversee the design and production of space products for the Space Shuttle program, to lead a company that creates components for the International Space Station, and to direct research and development for USAF weapons and missile programs.
The Palm Springs Air Museum is dedicated to such inspiring individuals as Lt. Col. Bob Friend, and sharing their history. Indeed, among the more than 300 men and women docents here, you will find the quiet heroes who stand among us. Those who stood at Guadalcanal to those who flew to the edge of outer space. These people are the very special living history among the many exhibits and amazing aircraft at the museum.
Now when you hear that special sound in the sky, you know so much of what it represents. Discover more at the Palm Springs Air Museum.
See more of photographer Ian L. Sitren's work at www.PalmSpringsPhotographer.com. All photos copyright Ian L. Sitren, used with permission.
