These walk-around photos were taken at Flygvapenmuseum at Malmen outside Linköping in 2017 and 2019. They show a North American P-51D Mustang, designated J 26 in Swedish service — widely regarded as the finest Allied fighter of the Second World War and one of the most elegant piston-engine aircraft ever built. The Mustang's combination of long range, high speed and excellent handling at altitude transformed the air war over Europe from 1944, enabling American heavy bombers to be escorted all the way to their targets deep inside Germany. Sweden acquired 161 Mustangs between 1945 and 1948, purchasing surplus USAAF aircraft in three batches to equip F 16 at Uppsala, F 4 at Östersund and F 21 at Luleå. The Swedish Air Force found the Mustang an outstanding fighter, and the type served until the early 1950s when it was replaced by the jet-powered J 29 Tunnan. Individual 26020 has a particularly well-travelled history. Built in 1944 with USAAF serial 44-63992, it was delivered to the US 8th Air Force in Britain as a P-51D-20-NA and subsequently acquired by Sweden in 1945, where it served with F 16 at Uppsala bearing the code blue A. In 1952 it was sold to the Israeli Air Force along with a batch of surplus Swedish Mustangs, where it served marked as 2353 and later 58. In 1965 it was returned to Sweden as a gift, and is today displayed at Flygvapenmuseum in its Swedish Air Force colours.