Mustang 'Little Zippie' Giclée Art Print

Original illustration of a North American P-51D-10 Mustang of the 479th Fighter Group based in Wattisham, Suffolk (436th Fighter Squadron) named ‘Little Zippie' and flown by 20 year old Pilot F/O Raymond Earl King of North Braddock, Pennsylvania. 

On the 13th January 1945 at just before 15:30, whilst returning from an escort mission, King was shepherding a friend in a fellow P-51D which had developed engine problems. King’s aircraft (44-14574) developed mechanical problems of its own and he had to put the aircraft down in the sea a mile or so short of the Clacton-on-Sea coastline and awaited rescue in the water. Despite a boat already in the area picking him up within ten minutes, King is thought to have quickly succumbed from hypothermia in the icy January waters of the North Sea. A large piece of the aircraft, including the bulk of the cockpit section forward, was recovered in 1987 only 400m out to sea. Today the Mustang, along with many of King's personal belongings, can be seen at the East Essex Aviation Society Museum, housed in the Martello tower at Point Clear, not far from Clacton, Essex.

This illustration by Rob Wisdom is a high quality Giclée art print on cotton-rich fine art paper.

12x16" print shown. Cropping and title position (if applicable) may differ slightly on 'A' size prints.