North American P-51 Mustang

"P-51" redirects here. For other uses, see P-51 (disambiguation).

P-51 Mustang
P-51D nicknamed "Tika IV" of 361st Fighter Group with underwing drop tanks
General information
TypeFighter
National originUnited States
ManufacturerNorth American Aviation
Primary usersUnited States Army Air Forces
Number builtMore than 15,000[1]
History
Introduction dateJanuary 1942 (RAF)[2]
First flight26 October 1940[3]
RetiredRetired from military service 1984 (Dominican Air Force)[4]
VariantsNorth American A-36
Rolls-Royce Mustang Mk.X
CAC Mustang
Cavalier Mustang
Developed intoNorth American F-82 Twin Mustang
Piper PA-48 Enforcer

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed by James H. Kindelberger of North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The commission approached NAA to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, NAA proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was completed on 9 September 1940, 102 days after contract signing, achieving its first flight on 26 October.[5]

The Mustang was designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine without an export-sensitive turbosupercharger[6] or a multi-stage supercharger, resulting in limited high-altitude performance. The aircraft was first flown operationally and very successfully by the RAF and as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). In mid 1942, a development project known as the Rolls-Royce Mustang X, replaced the Allison engine with a Rolls-Royce Merlin 65 two-stage inter-cooled supercharged engine. During testing at Rolls-Royce's airfield at Hucknall in England, it was clear the engine dramatically improved the aircraft's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft (4,600 m) without sacrificing range.[7] Following receipt of the test results and after further flights by a number of USAAF pilots, the results were so positive that North American began work on converting several aircraft developing into the P-51B/C (Mustang Mk III) model, which became the first long range fighter to be able to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters.[8] The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.[9]

From late 1943, P-51Bs and P-51Cs (supplemented by P-51Ds from mid-1944) were used by the USAAF's Eighth Air Force to escort bombers in raids over Germany, while the RAF's Second Tactical Air Force and the USAAF's Ninth Air Force used the Merlin-powered Mustangs as fighter-bombers, roles in which the Mustang helped ensure Allied air superiority in 1944.[10] The P-51 was also used by Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean, Italian, and Pacific theaters. During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed to have destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft.[a]

At the start of the Korean War, the Mustang, by then redesignated F-51, was the main fighter of the United States until jet fighters, including North American's F-86 Sabre, took over this role; the Mustang then became a specialized fighter-bomber. Despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After the Korean War, Mustangs became popular civilian warbirds and air racing aircraft.

  1. ^ "North American P-51D Mustang". National Museum of the United States Air Force. 20 April 2015. Archived from the original on 22 November 2016. Retrieved 22 October 2016.
  2. ^ Scutts, Jerry (13 November 1995), Mustang Aces of the Ninth & Fifteenth Air Forces & the RAF (book), Bloomsbury USA, p. 47, ISBN 9781855325838.
  3. ^ P-51 Mustang Fighter, Boeing.
  4. ^ Hickman; Kennedy, "World War II: North American P-51 Mustang", Military History, About, archived from the original on 1 July 2014, retrieved 19 June 2014
  5. ^ "The North American P-51 Mustang: A "Little Friend" with a Big Impact". The National WWII Museum | New Orleans. 24 May 2020. Retrieved 5 November 2023.
  6. ^ Haight, John M. (1970). American aid to France (1st ed.). New York: Antheneum. pp. 210–222. ISBN 978-1131644110.
  7. ^ Kinzey 1996, p. 57.
  8. ^ Kinzey 1996, p. 56.
  9. ^ Kinzey 1997, pp. 10–13.
  10. ^ Gunston 1984, p. 58.
  11. ^ Tillman 1996, pp. 78–79.


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