North American P-51 Mustang: The Fighter that Changed Aerial Warfare
The North American P-51 Mustang was a long-range fighter aircraft used by the air forces of the United States and Great Britain during the Second World War (1939-45). Widely considered one of the most effective fighter planes of the war, the single-seater Mustang could operate as a reconnaissance aircraft, interceptor fighter, fighter-bomber, and long-range bomber escort. Used in most theatres of the war from 1944, the Mustang gained legendary status and continued to see action in the Korean War (1950-53).
The Mustang was designed, developed, and put into production after WWII had already started. In April 1940, it was the British who first commissioned the North American Aviation Company to come up with a new fighter plane. With parts of Europe already occupied by Nazi Germany, the brief was to have a prototype ready in just four months. Designers Raymond Rice and Edgar Schmued studied the performance of fighter planes already being used in the war and came up with a prototype that impressed in testing. A little behind schedule because of engine delays, the first Mustang prototype, then called NA-73X, flew for the first time in October 1940. The aircraft’s engine was made by Allison and could give an impressive 1,100 hp (820 kW). The aircraft also impressed pilots with its manoeuvrability, particularly at low altitudes. There was a problem, though: the Allison engine lost significant performance the higher it flew, especially over 12,000 ft (3,660 m). Nevertheless, the first aircraft were delivered to the British Royal Air Force (RAF) in November 1941.
The initial agreement to provide the British with Mustangs included the proviso that two planes would be made available to the United States Army Air Forces (USAAF). The two fighters, designated XP-51, received some design changes, notably a self-sealing fuel tank. Another 150 planes were made, and 93 of these were given to Britain under the Lend-Lease agreement; the remaining Mustangs were given to the USAAF. Ultimately, the Mustangs were built in their thousands and became one of the USAAF’s main interceptor and escort fighters for the remainder of the war.
As with most aircraft during the war, the Mustang received regular updates and design improvements. The fuselage was strengthened, rivets were smoothed down to create a more aerodynamic fuselage, the ailerons were improved, the gun-loading mechanism was simplified to reduce jamming, and ever-more powerful engines were added. The laminar-flow wings, with their thicker parts set further back than on other fighter aircraft, gave the plane even more speed.
One persistent design problem had been the poor visibility for the pilot looking behind them. This issue was resolved by changing the cockpit canopy from a side-opening one to a sliding hood. Even better, the P-51D version had a bubble canopy, which gave the pilot a 360-degree view. New materials like plastic and a rethink of the basic internal structure greatly reduced the weight of later Mustangs (by about 40%), and this gave them a top speed of 487 mph (784 km/h).
⇒ North American P-51 Mustang: The Fighter that Changed Aerial Warfare
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