{"nrhp_refnum":"99000254","name":"US ARMY Aircraft P-51D-25NA 44-73287","other_names":["Worry Bird","Mustang"],"category":"structure","location":{"address":"Capital Airport , 0.5 N of Jct. of IL 29 and Veterans Parkway","address_restricted":false,"city":"Springfield","county":"Sangamon County","state":"IL","lat":39.84098780700003,"lon":-89.67595266499995,"geom_source":"nps_gis"},"listed_date":"1999-03-11","is_nhl":false,"nhl_designated_date":null,"areas_of_significance":["Engineering","Military"],"significance_levels":["national"],"summary":{"what_it_is":"A single World War II North American P-51D-25NA Mustang fighter aircraft, serial 44-73287, manufactured at Inglewood, California in 1944 and delivered to the U.S. Army in March 1945. It is based at the Air Combat Museum at Capital Airport, Springfield, Illinois.","why_significant":"The nomination presents the aircraft as a representative example of the 8,202 P-51D Mustangs built between 1942 and 1945. It argues the P-51 marked the peak of propeller-driven U.S. fighter design and, as a long-range escort, shaped American air operations in Europe and the Mediterranean. The surviving text does not give the criteria or period of significance.","narrative":"A World War II fighter plane may seem an unusual entry among historic properties, but this North American P-51D-25NA Mustang, serial number 44-73287, is a documented structure at Capital Airport in Springfield, Illinois. Built at the company's Inglewood, California plant in 1944 and delivered to the U.S. Army in March 1945, it is an aluminum-skinned single-seat fighter powered by a Packard-Merlin V-1650-7 engine and a four-blade Hamilton Standard propeller. It was later modified with a rear seat and a GPS map screen. The nomination treats it as representative of the 8,202 P-51Ds produced and as the high point of propeller-driven American fighter engineering before jets took over. Its significance rests on the Mustang's long range, which allowed it to escort bombers all the way to their targets in Europe and the Mediterranean. Units such as the 332nd Fighter Group flew these aircraft in combat.","period_of_significance":null,"architect_builder":"North American Aviation, Incorporated","architectural_style":"OTHER: Fighter Aircraft","criteria":[],"status_note":"Based at the Air Combat Museum, Capital Airport, Springfield; modified with a rear seat and a GPS map screen; retains the original Packard-Merlin V-1650-7 engine.","vacant_flag":null,"machine_generated":true,"model":"claude-sonnet-5-5","prompt_version":"v1.0-2026-10-29","generated_at":"2026-10-29 02:55:37.018845-05","source_pdf":"https://s3.amazonaws.com/NARAprodstorage/opastorage/live/78/8940/28894078/content/electronic-records/rg-079/NPS_IL/99000254.pdf"},"photo":{"url_800":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000254/f6559a68af-800.webp","url_1600":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/media/99000254/f6559a68af-1600.webp","licence":"CC BY-SA 4.0","author":"ZLEA","credit_html":"<a href=\"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_American_NA-122_P-51D-25-NA_Mustang_%27Worry_Bird%27_(N951M,_USAAF_sn_44-73287,_cn_122-39746)_(12-11-2023).jpg\" rel=\"noopener\">ZLEA</a>, <a href=\"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0\" rel=\"license noopener\">CC BY-SA 4.0</a>, via Wikimedia Commons","source_page":"https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:North_American_NA-122_P-51D-25-NA_Mustang_%27Worry_Bird%27_(N951M,_USAAF_sn_44-73287,_cn_122-39746)_(12-11-2023).jpg"},"district":null,"sources":{"nps_snapshot_date":"2026-05-22","nara_catalog":"https://catalog.archives.gov/id/28894078","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Worry_Bird","wikidata":"https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q18643674"},"indexable":true,"url":"https://nationalhistoricalregister.com/illinois/sangamon-county/us-army-aircraft-p-51d-25na-44-73287-99000254/"}