P-51 Mustang

The P-51 Mustang was one of the main US fighters in World War II.

History
The orgins of the Mustang date back to April of 1940. The British Purchasing Commission, led by Sir Henry Self, traveled to the United States to purchase fighter aircraft for the RAF. In 1940, the best fighters the United States could offer were the Bell P-39 and the Curtis P-40. Henry traveled to California and made a visit to North American Aviation. The company had already sold the British an excellent trainer, the AT-6 Texan or as the British called it the Harvard. Sir Henry asked James H. "Dutch" Kindelberger if he could produce the P-40 under contract for them. He turned down the offer, instead stating that his company could build a better airplane for them. At the time North American was doing a little work on this airplane, using the knowledge of the already ongoing air war in Europe. Kindelberger also had visited the Messerschmidt plant in Germany. The British agreed and born was the idea of the P-51 Mustang. Lead by Raymond Rice and Edger Schmued, they started immediately and in a mere 127 days, the NA-73 was built. On October 26, 1940, the NA-73X made its first flight. During the fifth flight the plane made an emergency landing due to the pilot not selecting the right fuel tanks. Flight testing resumed after the airframe was repaired. around April, 1941 the plane was named "Mustang" by the British, while the American name remained "Apache". The Mustang incorporated many new designs new to aircraft design, the most important being the Laminar flow wing. What that means is the thickness of the wing is near the wingtip and the wing root. the middle section is the thinnest part of the wing, reducing drag considerably.

Mustang 1 version
The Mustang 1 was originally flown as photo reconnaissance aircraft by the British. due to the original Allison V-1710 engine, this Mustang had a poor performance at higher altitudes. It was usually armed with 4 50. cals. It was at this time that the United States sought an interest in the Mustang and took two machines off the production line. By the time trials were done, the United States had entered the war and kept a batch of 55 Apache (Mustang) A's.

A-36: a dive bomber
In April of 1942, the United States Army Air force ordered the first of 500 A-36's as a ground attack airplane! It was different from the fighter in many ways. The structure was reinforced for the extra G's it was going to take in a dive, dive brakes were added to the top and bottom of the wings and bomb racks were added to carry two 500lb bombs under the wings. Armed with usually 6 50. cals, two in the nose and 4 in the wings. These aircraft joined the 12 Air force in Africa but arrived to late to see action in that theater. They were then transferred to the 27th fighter bomber group. This group operated over Sicily during June of 1943 til the end of 1944, preforming surprisingly good service. It also flew with the 311th Fighter Bomber Group in the CBI theater.

P-51A
The first version to be purposely built as a fighter, the P-51A Mustang was ordered in August of 1942. About the only differences from the A-36 were the removal of the dive brakes, and the removal of 2 of the 50. cals from the nose. A more powerful Allison engine was also used on the A, rated at 1,200hp, taking it up to speeds of 412mph at 10,000 feet. This made it the fastest plane at medium altitude (10,000ft to 15,000ft). Unfortunately, the 50's were placed at an angle in the wings, causing jamming problems after heavy maneuverings. Most of the Mustangs A's were shipped to the CBI, where they performed escort to the B-24 Bombers stationed there.

The B and the C
The first Merlin Mustang. The Rolls-Royce Merlin was used on many famous planes like the Supermarine Spitfire and the Avro Lancaster. The RAF decides to try fitting a Mustang out with the Merlin 60, producing 1,600hp. The same engine used on the Spitfire Mk IV. This turned the Mustang into a world beater. First trails of the Mustang X (as it was called)commenced in October of 1942. At the same time, the Americans were performing the same trials with a Packard licensed built Merlin. Called the XP-51B, it first flew in November of 1942. This version was able to fly almost 80mph faster then the Allison engine versions. An order was placed for 2,000 of these. Since North American couldn't keep pace, a Dallas plant was opened. This is where the P-51C was built. The C was the same plane, just it was built at the Dallas plant. Later in the production run, a fuel tank was added to the fuselage, behind the pilot. while upsetting the centre of gravity, it gave the Mustang the necessary range to fly to "Berlin and back". A couple were also used for reconnaissance, called the F-6C



The D: the Definitive version.
The P-51D. Hailed as one of the greatest fighter aircraft built, this Mustang differed from the others in a couple of ways that made it the fighter to beat. First the real fuselage was cut down and a bubble canopy was put in its place. this enabled the pilot to see nearly 360 degrees, giving him an advantage in spotting the enemy first. The second significant change would to revise the armament. In place of the 4 50. cals, 6 were put in the wing and this time they weren't angled, solving the jamming problem. The D equipped no less then 14 of the 18 Fighter Groups of the 8th Air force and equipping most Fighter Groups in the Mediterranean including the Tuskegee Air force. More maneuverable, faster and better at climbing were some of the Mustangs advantages over the Bf-109's and FW-190's. Even the Jet fighter,the ME-262, couldn't match the Mustang, despite being 100mph faster then the Mustang. By the wars end the Mustang had ranged over Europe, gaining air superiority over the Luftwaffe and in the process shooting down 4,000 German aircraft. Flown expertly by men like "Bud" Anderson,Chuck Yeager, Lee Archer and George Preddy, the Luftwaffe had no where to run.

By the end of the War, the Mustang was starting service in the Pacific, escorting B-29's on their raids to Japan.

In game
P-51 Mustangs are seen in the game Call of Duty 2, in the level of Hill 400, and The Battle of Point du Hoc right in the end of the Hill 400 level, when we can hear Sgt. Randall screaming "Look at the markings! Friendlies!"

McCloskey asked, "Who are they sir?" Jack Randall replied, "P-51 Mustangs. Angels of the sky."

The North-American P-51 Mustang: From 1940 to 1980, Dominique Breffort, Andre Jouineau, Zure 2003. ISBN 2-913903-81-9