CAC Mustang A68-1 (c/n 1326, the Royal Australian Air Force's first Australian-assembled P-51D in 1945) was later used as a ground target to assess blast damage during British atomic bomb tests at Emu, South Australia in 1953. Fourteen years later, a group of Adelaide enthusiasts worked in primitive conditions in the desert, in intense heat, to get it airworthy for a ferry flight to Adelaide. Here is A68-1 arriving in triumph at Parafield Airport, Adelaide on 6 December 1967, flown by Tony Schwerdt. This Mustang is still flying in Alabama. Photo: Geoff Goodall

GEOFF GOODALL'S AVIATION HISTORY SITE www.goodall.com.au