Country: United States Industry/ Capability: A major US aerospace manufacturing company.
Head Office: North American Aviation is now part of Boeing.
Noteworthy: North American T-6 Texan North American P-51 Mustang North American B-25 Mitchell North American F-86 Sabre jet North American X-15 rocket ... * partial list
Additional Notes:
Incorporated in 1928 as a holding company that bought and sold interests in aviation-related companies. In 1934 NAA stopped operating as a holding company and took over the aircraft manufacturing operation at Dundalk, Md.
This is a real blueprint, expertly restored from original plans and vintage design drawings. — 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... continues below
“Did you know”...? the traditional scale for kit models: 1:144 1:100 1:72 1:48 1:32 1:24 (1/144 1/100 1/72 1/48 1/32 1/24) With 1/48 and 1/72 being the most popular for aircraft.
Continued from above… of World War II, that it was the plane that 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.
WWII photographs (left)
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.
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.
