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Professionally recreated, this is a real blueprint - made directly from a
vellum master - Measuring a generous 42"x 30".
North American P-51 Mustang.
The idea that led to the Mustang's full development came to British and American
technicians almost simultaneously. In Great Britain four Mustangs were given to
Rolls-Royce...
Many things have been said and written about the Mustang - that it was the
best combat plane of World War II, that it was the plane that marked the
transition
← Acknowledgements and Bibliography
Continued from above... marked the
transition from piston-engine fighters to jet fighters, that it was the plane
that gave the Allies final supremacy in the skies. The truth is perhaps slightly
obscured by all these claims.
The North American P-51 Mustang was the product of two highly advanced
technologies: the American aircraft industry, which in 117 days designed a
plane body that was extremely advanced in structure and aerodynamics; and the
British engine industry, which, with its prestigious Rolls-Royce Merlin,
provided the ideal complement. The Mustang would not have become immortal
without the British engine, the same engine that had already made the
Supermarine Spitfire famous. Beyond this, all is history. A total of 15,686
Mustangs were built. Mustangs destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft in combat and 4,131
on the ground in the course of 213,873 missions in Europe alone. Mustangs also
saw duty during the Korean War, and they served in the air forces of some 20
other countries.
Mustangs served in nearly every combat zone, including the Pacific where they
escorted B-29s to Japan from Iwo Jima. Two P-51 groups were ready to move into
Iwo just as soon as facilities could be readied for them. The Mustang's
seven-league boots were legendary in the European Theater, where the war was
almost over, as Eighth and Ninth Air Force P-51 s easily flew from southeastern
England to Berlin and back, nearly 1,200 statute miles. A few 1,500-mile shuttle
missions from England to the Ukraine had also been undertaken, but once P-51s
were based on Iwo they would fly round-trips of that distance as a matter of
routine.
The pilots called themselves the 'Tokyo Club'. It was a simple task to become
a member. All you had to do was strap yourself into a heavily loaded P-51
Mustang, take off from Iwo Jima (a postage-stamp sized volcanic island in the
middle of the Pacific Ocean), fly 650 miles north over the sea - often through
monsoon storms - in your single-engined aircraft to Japan, attack a heavily
defended target in the vicinity of the enemy's capital city and then turn around
and fly home while fretting over your shrinking fuel supply and perhaps battle
damage as well. If your gas held out and you were not blown off-course on your
return trip, you landed back at 'Iwo' after an eight-hour flight. Do it once and
you earned membership in the club. Do it 15 times and you earned a trip home.
But make one mistake or have one touch of bad luck, and you had a very good
chance of ending up dead.
Gallery: Click on a photo below to view larger.
The images above (approximately 100, some rare and original photos / based on Iwo Jima)
many containing P-51s... later known as the "Mustangs of Iwo".
From its inception, the plan to seize Iwo Jima had two goals: providing a
haven for damaged B-29s and establishing a base for AAF fighters that could
escort the bombers. The Marianas gave the Superforts a home 1300 miles from
Tokyo. But no fighter of that day could make such a round trip. It was, however,
theoretically possible for the North American P-51D to fly from Iwo Jima to
Tokyo and other southern cities in Honshu, but it was by no means a routine
flight. The Mustang had proved itself over Europe on five and six hour missions
that covered 1200 to 1300 miles. However, the Empire run was entirely over
water. After navigating nearly 650 miles to the coast of Japan on rigid cruise
control, these pilots would be expected to drop their auxiliary tanks, engage an
enemy, and return over the same empty ocean to find Iwo Jima. A mistake of a
degree in navigation spelled disaster. Engine trouble, fuel starvation or battle
damage requiring a parachute jump would, likewise, force a pilot into the vast
Pacific.
Note: Our photo gallery also interprets
keyboard inputs for navigation. The following hotkeys may be used :
• Page up ... show previous picture • page down ... show next picture • Arrow keys ...
You may press 'ESC' or click on the image to close the gallery.
In April, 1940, the visiting British purchasing commission suggested
to North American that they build Curtiss P-40 fighters on license for
the RAF. The president of North American, J. H. ("Dutch") Kindelberger,
was not enthusiastic. He said his company could produce a combat plane
that was better than the P-40, even using the same engine, the V-12
Allison V-1710. The British accepted Kindelberger's counterproposal, but
they made it a condition that the prototype be ready in no more than 120
days because the situation in Europe was extremely serious.
Two North American designers, Raymond Rice and Edgar Schmued, got to
work at once, and the prototype, the NA-73X, was ready three days ahead
of schedule, albeit without an engine and with wheels borrowed from an
AT-6 trainer. The first flight took place on October 26, 1940. The plane
had exceptionally clean lines, and its performance was outstanding. It
flew about 25 m.p.h. faster than the Curtiss P-40.
Meanwhile the U.S. government had approved the RAF order for 320 planes,
provided that the USAAC was supplied with two planes for testing. The
first production fighter took to the air on May 1, 1941, and remained at
North American for technical evaluation. The second reached Great
Britain in November and was officially designated the Mustang Mk.l.
These planes, which were considered far superior to any other American
fighter, were put into service in April, 1942, as tactical
reconnaissance planes. About the same time, the British ordered 300 more
planes, which differed only in equipment and armament.
Despite its brilliant performance in flight tests with the USAAC, the
plane was initially ordered in small quantity (50) for photographic
reconnaissance duty. Subsequently, however, an order was placed for 500
planes in a specially designed dive-bomber version, the A-36A. These
aircraft were delivered between September, 1942, and March, 1943.
Another order was received for 310 P-5lAs, and delivery began in the
spring of 1943.
Be sure to visit our aircraft sounds page (Historic Archive • Vault)
and listen to the powerful P-51 mustang engine...
But the Mustang's greatest successes still lay in the future. The idea
that led to the Mustang's full development came to British and American
technicians almost simultaneously. In Great Britain four Mustangs were
given to Rolls-Royce for testing with the Merlin 61 engine. In the
United States two bodies were consigned to North American for testing
with the Merlin that' the Packard company built on license, the
V-1650-3. Thus, in September, 1942, the first P-51B prototype was born.
Only minor changes were made in the forward part of the fuselage, to
accommodate the new engine. But performance was radically different. Now
the plane could reach a speed of 440 m.p.h. at 30,000 feet, and an
ascent to 20,000 feet required only five minutes and 54 seconds. This
was a remarkable advance over the P-51A's top speed of 390 m.p.h. at
20,000 feet and more than nine minutes in ascent. The plane went into
mass production in the summer of 1943. It was built at the Inglewood
factory as the P-51B (1,988 aircraft) and in the new Dallas plant as the
P-51C (1,750 aircraft). Great Britain received about 1,000 and called
them Mustang Mk.III. The first P-51B went into service with the 8th Air
Force in England on December 1.
Bob Goebel on the P-51
Robert Goebel flew Mustangs with the 31st Fighter Group, based at San
Severo, Italy, in the MTO (Mediterranean Theater of Operations). At San
Severo in Spring 1944, he got his first crack at the P-51:
We soon found out that the P-51 Mustang was indeed a different breed of
airplane. It was fast, for one thing. ... The P-51 was redlined at 505
and, though it was no Spitfire, its turning ability wasn't bad at all -
especially if you sneaked down 10 degrees of flaps. It was pretty good
in the climbing department too, and accelerated very fast in a dive. But
the thing that really set the Mustang apart from any other fighter,
friend or foe, was its range. With a 75-gallon tank slung under each
wing, it could perform the unheard-of: It could fly six-hour missions.
Physically, it was pleasing to the eye and looked fast, even sitting on
the ground. Power was provided by a V-1650 Rolls-Royce Merlin engine
built under license in the States by Packard, the luxury automobile
company. The V-1650 was a fine engine and could be taken up to 61 inches
of manifold pressure at 3,000 RPM for take-off or, if needed in combat,
67 inches for up to five minutes in Emergency Power. Normally aspirated
engines tended to run out of power as altitude increased, usually
between 15,000 and 20,000 feet.
The P-51 had a two-stage blower in the induction system that was
controlled automatically with a barometric switch. Around 17,000 feet,
when the throttle had been advanced almost all the way forward just to
maintain normal cruise, the blower would kick into high, the manifold
pressure would jump up, and the climb could be continued to 30,000 feet.
The P-51 could be taken a lot higher than that, but above 30,000 feet
the power was way down and the controls had to be handled gingerly.
The following spring the main production model appeared, the P-51D. The
RAF had experimented with its Mustang Mk.III to improve visibility, and
a structure-less round hood was introduced, the Malcolm (named after its
inventor). North American also tackled the problem. In the P-51D the
rear of the cockpit fairing was removed and a fin was added to the
rudder to make up for the loss of lateral surface. The cockpit was given
a teardrop-shaped, fully transparent hood. A total of 7,956 Mustangs
were built in this model. It was powered by a 1,695-h.p. engine and had
a top speed of 437 m.p.h. at 25,000 feet.
Summary: The P-51 Mustang is considered to be one of greatest
single seat fighters to be used in WWII. Its original design called for
the use of a 1,100 hp Allison V-1710-39 engine, but this version proved
to have limitations in combat operations at higher altitudes. When the
Allison was replaced by the British Rolls Royce Merlin engine the
Mustang lept into prominence as an excellent fighter. Its ability to fly
long distances in the escort fighter role earned it fame during the long
missions to Germany and over the expanses of the Pacific. A related
aircraft is known as the A-36, which was an early version of the P-51
Mustang provided with dive brakes and underwing racks, to operate in a
close-support role.
