Razorback, Fastback, What?

OK, experts. Here’s a question that a couple of folks have precipitated on YouTube: Is an early Mustang (P-51B, P-51C) rightly called a “razorback,” or is that nickname reserved for early Thunderbolts? I’ve heard both called “razorbacks,” but by whom and when? When did either aircraft first get called a “razorback”? Was it during the war, or is it a latter-day moniker? Is Mustang razorback OK or only Thunderbolt razorback?

Good question, Fred. We’ve only applied “razorback” to the Jug’s fuselage shape and “birdcage” to the fastback Mustang, but we know others don’t. We asked ace Bud Anderson, and he said that was also the terminology they used during the war.—BD