On January 16, 1945, an event occurred that gave the Japanese military a chance to become much more familiar with the Mustang. On that day, 1.Lt. Oliver E. Strawbridge of the 26th Fighter Squadron, 51st Fighter Group, was hit by enemy gunfire and landed at the Japanese-held Suchin airfield in China. Some sources indicate he made a wheels-up landing, while others contend he landed his airplane normally. Pictures of the aircraft in Japanese hands show no obvious sign of damage or repairs. Had Strawbridge made a belly landing, the damage to the propeller and belly intake would have been very complicated for the Japanese to repair. One can therefore assume that the P-51 was captured intact.
In any case his aircraft, a P-51C-11-NT nicknamed "Evalina", was rapidly seized by Japanese troops. Whatever damage the aircraft had taken was repaired rapidly. Hinomarus were painted over the American stars but the rest of the aircraft was left in its original scheme.
“Evalina” was flown back to the Japanese Army Air Inspection Center in Fussa (now Yokota Air Base) by Yasuhiko Kuroe, a 30-victory ace.
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Evalina was later transferred to the Akeno Flying Training Division for further evaluation and mock combat against fighters such as the Ki-43, Ki-61 and Ki-84. In mid-April 1945, Kuroe was placed in charge of a “flying circus” composed of captured Allied aircraft. The group toured Japanese fighter units to train pilots how to fight the opponent's aircraft.
