This was at the Warbirds field at EAA Oshkosh 2025. Please note that this restored Mustang includes some newer modern items in the cockpit and the wing tip lights that were not used on the original. Enjoy!
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Thanks for looking
This last photo from 2020 -As the Old Crow Flies
Written by Michael Kennedy in Features, Summer 2020https://tahoequarterly.com/features/as-the-old-crow-flies
Captioned “Still sharp at 98 years old, Bud Anderson continues to share his spellbinding stories of combat at air shows across the country, including the Truckee Tahoe Air Show, courtesy photo”
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Excellent walk around photos Stuart, thanks for sharing!
Cajun 
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No problem. Glad these might be interesting. Really enjoyed the EAA airshow this year! I highly recommend visiting Oshkosh at the end of July as always lots to see.
I recently found Scott Brown’s good tips here:
[P-51B Profile - Old Crow - Bud Anderson_ To Fly and Fight.pdf]
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Definitely on my bucket list!
Cajun
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One thing I’ve noticed about many of the 357th Mustangs is that many of them, especially the later P-51Bs were painted in the field at unit level . Take for instance your Father’s last B model, a B-15 . As you can see, the canopy framing is natural metal. The reason for such is that in late 1943, Army Air Force planes were leaving the factory in Natural Metal Finnish, his bird being no exception. If you take a look at one of Jeff Ethel’s books , you will see a P-51C model named “Lil Kitten”. This Mustang started out life unpainted, was painted in the field O.D., had its upper surface invasion stripes overpainted in what looks to be Medium Green. As for British paints being used, my guess is that the 357th used anything that resembled green /Olive Drab that its crew chiefs could lay their hands on . I really love the P-51s of the 357th for this very reason, being that so many are a hodge-podge of O.Ds and various greens. In other words pick just about any green within reason that you want to use. Model Builder John Swearingen
This information was given by Bud in response to a question about fuselage invasion stripes on his P-51B. Sometime in July 1944 the word came down to remove the stripe from the upper surfaces. (per Merles first book) I completed my last mission of my first tour on July 11. I do not recall if I flew the B model Old Crow with the upper stripes removed or not. It is probably unlikely that I did. When the upper stripes were removed you can find anything you want as an example, some went half way up the side of the fuselage to the top of the bar in the the star and bar insignia and others went up to the bottom of the star and bar. If he likes it with the stripes half way up go ahead, who is to say it is actually wrong?? But to be sure that it is historically accurate, I would suggest that he stick to the full invasion stripes. Bud Anderson
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I used to really drink that back in the day!
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Nice photographs. I have not had a chance to visit EAA Oshkosh but looking at all the photographs from every year it’s only getting larger and better, especially now that Reno Air Races are no more.
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