ColorPicP51B

The North American P-51 Mustang ranked as perhaps the finest propeller driven
aircraft of the Second World War. It was also one of the most ubiquitous, flown by
12 Allied Air Forces, including the U.S. Army Air Force, and with 15,586 produced in
total. Although North American designed and built the prototype Mustang in only 117
days, with the Mustang initially ordered by the Royal Air Force, the basic design was
so sound that other than changes to the aircraft's range, armament, cockpit and
engine the aircraft later proved technically superior to virtually every piston engine
foe it encountered. Proof of the Mustang's inherent technical excellence lies in the
fact that its pilots loved the aircraft, and for good reason, as 281 Mustang drivers
became aces during the Second World War. The Mustang was also extraordinarily
versatile and in addition to ranking as a premier air superiority fighter it also served
as a fighter-bomber, long-range escort fighter, reconnaissance aircraft and
interceptor of German V-1 cruise missiles launched at England.

The P-51B seen here is easily identifiable because of its straight back canopy. The
most produced Mustang, the P-51D, featured a bubble canopy that provided a
tremendous improvement to pilot visibility. That said, the P-51B was an enormously
capable aircraft and was an improvement over not only the Curtiss P-40 Hawk, flown
by the RAF as the Tomahawk, but also the early Allison engine marks of the P-51
flown by the RAF in combat against the Germans beginning on May 10, 1942.

Although the Allison engine Mustang was competitive against German Me-109 and
FW-190 series aircraft at lower altitudes, at higher altitudes the German aircraft
outclassed early Mustangs. All of that changed when in April of 1942 a RAF test pilot
named Ronald Harker suggested that Rolls Royce mount its Merlin engine in the
Mustang. After testing in both England and the U.S. the first P-51B production
aircraft, mounting a Packard built Rolls Royce Merlin engine, was delivered in June of
1943. The difference between the Allison engine P-51A and the Merlin engine
equipped P-51B was night and day with the P-51B's Packard Merlin V-1650-3 engine
producing 420 more horsepower than the P-51A's Allison V-1710-81 engine. The more
powerful engine translated into a higher service ceiling (42,000 feet for the P-51B vs.
31,350 feet for the P-51A), faster top speed (440m.p.h. at 30,000 feet for the P-51B
vs. 390m.p.h. at 20,000 feet for the P-51A) and a greater rate of climb.

The USAAF initially assigned the P-51 to the 9th Air Force and envisioned it as
primarily a tactical support aircraft, however it had one particularly glaring advantage
over the P-47's serving as long range bomber escorts - the P-51's range. With a
shorter range, the otherwise superlative P-47's from the 8th Air Force were unable to
escort American strategic bombers all the way to their targets in Germany.
Consequently, throughout 1943 USAAF bomber losses quickly climbed to
unacceptable levels and thus with the P-51's range and performance all too evident
the USAAF transferred P-51s to the 8th Air Force in England. By the end of 1943,
P-51s began taking over the primary long-range escort duties for American strategic
bombers. Early in 1944 the P-51 played a central role in decimating the Luftwaffe's
ranks of experienced fighter pilots; winning Allied air superiority over Europe and
cementing its status among the all time best combat aircraft ever produced.

Picture Courtesy of Steven Douglas Mercatante