NZ2411 was delivered to the RNZAF in August 1945. It was assembled but with the end of World War II not needed. In early 1946 the aircraft was encased in a rubberised cocoon where it remain until 1952. To give the reservist Territory Air Force a combat capability, NZ2411 and other stored P-51s were removed from their cocoons and handed to TAF squadrons. On December 22, 1953, NZ2411 crashed at Tongaporutu i on a flight from Ohakea to Whenuapai after the pilot became disorientated in cloud and lost control. Photo from: Air Force Museum of New Zealand