The P-51 Mustang single-seat, single-engine fighter has been regarded as one of the best testimonies to North American Aviation’s ingenuity and prowess in engineering. Though it was originally designed to serve in the British Royal Air Force, later reaching operation with the USAAF, the P-51 is generally considered the finest all-around piston-engined fighter of World War II produced in significant numbers.
The origin of the P-51 Mustang dates from a proposal by J.H. “Dutch” Kindelberger, Chief Designer with North American Aviation, in April 1940. Rather than build the Curtiss P-40 under license, Kindelberger offered to use his available design resources to design an entirely new fighter. The result was a slick, low-wing monoplane powered by a liquid-cooled in-line Allison engine. Despite all its high-altitude limitations, the Mustang had an Allison engine installation along with a low-drag, laminar-flow wing and an efficiently cooled engine that gave it some remarkable characteristics for that time concerning speed and range. Maximum speed was about 390 miles per hour, while combat radius was roughly 750 miles-or about twice that when using external drop tanks.
First flown in October 1940, production began the following May. By April 1942, it was operational in combat duties with the RAF. Some 1,579 Allison-powered Mustangs were built to serve as low-altitude fighters and long-range photo-reconnaissance aircraft. The early models were typically fitted with two .50-caliber nose-mounted machine guns and four wing-mounted .30-caliber machine guns.
The real turning point came when the British tried installing the Mustang with the powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. This immensely increased the plane’s performance at high altitudes, to which North American Aviation followed suit. By the summer of 1943, P-51s powered by Packard Merlins were rolling off the assembly line. These new Mustangs sported jettisonable drop tanks and enjoyed an operational range of over 1,600 miles, thus beginning long-range bomber escort missions over Germany in mid-December 1943. The P-51 quickly won air superiority over Germany’s best fighters, the Me 109 and the Fw 190, at altitudes above 20,000 feet.
The P-51’s effect on the air war over Europe was dramatic. During March 1944, numbers of the Mustang reached a point where German targets could be attacked without severe bomber losses; i.e., the crippling losses necessitated by the limited range of the P-47 Thunderbolt and P-38 equipped with drop tanks. The P-51 was able to go into Germany when no other fighter could. For this reason, the P-51 is considered by most to be the weapon that defeated the Luftwaffe.
The RAF utilized some 1,500 Merlin-powered Mustangs for daylight operations over Europe. The most widely produced variant, the P-51D, sported a Plexiglas “bubble” canopy for all-around vision, had a maximum speed of about 440 miles per hour, and an operating ceiling of almost 42,000 feet. It was armed with six wing-mounted 0.50-inch guns and could be fitted with bombs or rocket launchers for close air support.
Its utility didn’t end there: the Mustang continued serving into the mid-1950s with the U.S. Air Force, fighting in the Korean War, the Chinese Civil War, and the 1956 invasion of Sinai. During the 1960s, the P-51s remained in service in some less-developed countries and saw their last combat during the 1969 Soccer War between El Salvador and Honduras.
Its superior design and performance will go down in history as the most admired fighter aircraft, standing testimony to the P-51 Mustang.