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We love airplanes with our favorite being the P51 Mustang. Considered by many authorities to be the best fighter plane to come out of World War II, the Mustang is regarded today as a classic of fighter design. It outperformed all other Allied fighters in speed, range, and maneuverability and became established as the principal Allied fighter plane. The Mustang is a single-seat fighter built by North American Aviation Corp. It was orginally designed at the request of the British Air Purchasing Commission of the Royal Air Force. The terms of the contract required completion of the prototype in only 120 days. The actual design and construction of the prototype was completed in 117 days! It first flew in October 1940 as the NA-73. The Mustang was one of the first planes to use the radical "laminar flow" airfoil, which has its maximum thickness well aft and results in greatly reduced drag and increased efficiency. It was powered by the Allison V-1710-39, 12 cylinder liquid-cooled engine of 1100 hp. Its top speed was 382 mph. The USAAF ordered a total of 460 of the airplanes after extensive testing. Flying with the R.A.F., the Mustang was used mainly for ground support and low-level strafing, and was soon recognized as an outstanding design. The R.A.F. experimented with the use of the more powerful Rolls Royce Merlin engine. Performance, particularly at higher altitudes, was so greatly improved, North American began a complete redesign of the Mustang. Top speed with the new Merlin engine was 441 mph. The USAAF ordered 2200 of these new planes. This model first went into service in 1943 as the P-51B Mustang. The P-51B was the first single-seat fighter able to accompany bombers into Germany and return. In 1944 the P-51D went into production with the still more powerful Merlin V-1650-7 engine, built by Packard Motor Car Company, incorporating a two-stage, two-speed supercharger. At this time, the rear of the fuselage was cut down and a beautifully streamlined "bubble" canopy was installed to provide better rear vision. The P-51D was the most widely produced model of the Mustang, 7,956 being built. Total production of all models was 15,576. Several later models of the Mustang were produced, but the "D" is the most famous of them all. They saw service in all theatres of World War II and later in Korea. The Mustang was the last of the piston engine fighters and has now been replaced by the jets. |
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