04 - P-51 Mustang

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Role: Fighter
Manufacturer: North American Aviation
First flight: 26 October 1940
Introduction: 1942
Retired: 1957, U.S. Air National Guard
Primary users: United States Army Air Forces and Royal Air Force
Number built: 15,875
Unit cost: US$50,985 in 1945
Variants: A-36 Apache, F-82 Twin Mustang, Cavalier Mustang, Piper PA-48 Enforcer and Mustang X.

Specifications:


First flight (XP-51): May 20, 1941
Wingspan: 37 feet
Wing area: 233 square feet
Length: 32 feet
Horizontal stabilizer span: 13 feet
Height: 8 feet 8 inches
Power plant: Packard V-1650 "Merlin" 1,695-hp V-12
Speed: 425 mph indicated (490 mph in P-51H).
Landing gear: Hydraulically operated retractable main gear and tail wheel
Propeller: Hamilton Standard, four-blade, hydraulic, constant speed, 11 feet 2 inches, non-feathering.
Radar: Warning radar in tail to signal approach of other craft from rear (later models)
Armament: (Various models) 10 "zero rail" rockets under wings; six .50-caliber machine guns; bomb racks for up to 1,000 pounds of stores or extra fuel tanks under the wings.

HISORY AND USE

Used during two wars -- World War II and the Korean War -- North American Aviation's P-51 Mustang, built by Boeing, was the first U.S. fighter airplane to fly over Europe after the fall of France to German forces. Then called the P-51, it flew back and forth across the channel, taking on the best the Axis (Germany, Italy and Japan - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Axis_powers) could put in the air. Mustangs met and conquered every German plane from the early Junkers to the sleek, twin-jet Messerschmitt 262s.

Although first designed for the British as a medium-altitude fighter, the Mustang excelled in high altitude runs and long-range escort duty. It made a name for itself by blasting trains, ships and enemy installations in western Europe and by devastating Axis defenses prior to the Allied invasion of Sicily and Italy.

An amazing array of enemy aircraft was piled up by the Mustang while pushing the war back to the heart of the German fatherland. It was the first single-engined plane based in Britain to penetrate Germany, first to reach Berlin, first to go with the heavy bombers over the Ploesti oil fields and first to make a major-scale, all-fighter sweep specifically to hunt down the decreasing Luftwaffe (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luftwaffe).

One of the highest honors accorded to the Mustang was its rating in 1944 by the Truman Senate War Investigating Committee as "the most aerodynamically perfect pursuit plane in existence."

The North American prototype, NA-73X, was first flown on Oct. 25, 1940. At least eight versions of the P-51 were produced. Data given below is for the P-51D, produced late in 1943. Numerous improvements for special-purpose uses were incorporated in later models.

P-51D Specifications:
First flight (XP-51): May 20, 1941
Wingspan: 7 feet
Wing area: 233 square feet
Length: 32 feet
Horizontal stabilizer span: 13 feet
Height: 8 feet 8 inches
Power plant: Packard V-1650 "Merlin" 1,695-hp V-12
Speed: 425 mph indicated (490 mph in P-51H)
Landing gear: Hydraulically operated retractable main gear and tail wheel
Propeller: Hamilton Standard, four-blade, hydraulic, constant speed, 11 feet 2 inches, non-feathering
Radar: Warning radar in tail to signal approach of other craft from rear (later models)
Armament: (Various models) 10 "zero rail" rockets under wings; six .50-caliber machine guns; bomb racks for up to 1,000 pounds of stores or extra fuel tanks under the wings