 In 1944, 100 P-51Ds were shipped from the U.S. in kit form to inaugurate production.From February 1945, CAC assembled 80 of these under the designation CA-17 Mustang Mark 20, with the first Australian-built aircraft flying on the 29 April 1945 and the first aircraft was handed over to the RAAF on 31 May 1945.The remaining 20 were kept unassembled as spare parts.