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PREMIER P-51D MUSTANG RESTORATION
HONORING MEN & MUSTANGS OF THE 75TH
FIGHTER SQUADRON
North American P-51D 44-73437 received the paint scheme of ‘Miss Kitty III’, USAAF 75th Fighter Squadron, 23rd Fighter Group, based in the China-Burma-India Theatre during World War Two. This immaculate Mustang, which was restored by Casey, Haley, and Brady Odegaard, Odegaard Wings, and AirCorps Aviation, first flew in 2019.
Miss Kitty III was named by Capt. J. D. Rosenbaum of the 75th Fighter Squadron, 23rd Fighter Group. Captain Rosenbaum was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross with two Oak Leaf Clusters to his Air Medal, the Legion of Merit, and was honored with pilot’s wings by France and China for service to their air forces. The Miss Kitty namesake and lineage started with a P-40N, then the two P-51s, Miss Kitty II and III, and ended with an F-86 during the Korean war which was named Mrs. Kitty because by then Miss Lavinia “Kitty” Harris had become Mrs. Lavinia “Kitty” Rosenbaum.
Miss Kitty III and sister ship Lope’s Hope 3rd are housed at the Dakota Territory Museum located in Minot, North Dakota.
“The beauty of the clouds and the sun was surpassed only by the shadows of the airplanes on the clouds surrounded by a rainbow halo. If I had to do only one thing for the rest of my life, I think that would be it. It was what heaven should be like for fighter pilots.”
