P-51 Mustang

Sorry, this is my first "real" post in about a month. Anyhow, here is the new article on the P-51 Mustang.

The North American P-51 Mustang

1: Humble Beginnings:

The P-51 was suggested originally for the RAF, for the low-level tactical recon role. This was mainly because it's current engines could not handles high-level flight. When North American fitted them with more modern Merlin engines, these problems where solved.

2: "As soon as I saw Mustangs over Berlin, I knew the war was won"
The Mustang soon relieved the P-47 Thunderbolt in escort duties. The new Mustangs, with drop tanks could fly to the heart of Germany and back. They could out maneuver and outgun any Luftwaffe fighter and shot down some Me 262 jet fighters. The Mustang lost a advantage, due to the new Fokker-Wolf Fw 190, that had some advantages. But, the P-51 was used in greater numbers than the 190. It was used to escort B-17's and B-24's and was used to escort B-29's in the
Pacific theater.

3: The end of a long life
P-51's(now designated F-51's) where the USAF's main fighter in early Korea and
was soon replaced by the F-80 (which was soon replaced by the F-86.) They where used in the 1970's by the Indonesian Air Force. The original blueprint was so good, that in 1968 it was brought back as an anti rebel fighter.


Thanks for reading this!!!