the P-51 mustang identified
LEGEND HAS IT that the initial creation of the P-51 Mustang was drawn on a napkin. The fact of the matter was that the British RAF was in desperate need of fighters during the early days of WW II and didn’t care if it had been drawn on tissue paper. The need for fighters in the RAF was so great that they contacted the North American Aviation Corporation (NAA) to ask if they would be interested in manufacturing license-built P-40 Tomahawks to assist them in their cause of repelling the Luftwaffe. Instead of tooling up their plant in California for P-40s, the movers and shakers at NAA promised a better, all-around fighter, one that could be designed, built and delivered in around 120 days. NAA came very close to meeting the deadline and rolled out their new beauty on borrowed AT-6 wheels. It was given the name NA73 and in turn, became the grandfather of all P-51 Mustangs.
The RAF liked the new single-seat fighter powered by an 1,150-horsepower Allison engine and placed an initial order of over 300 of them, renaming their new arrivals the Mustang Mk.I. The first Mk.Is ordered carried an assortment of both .50 caliber and .30 caliber machine guns in both the wings and nose section, while later ones added 20mm cannons to the mix. A small intercooler air scoop was mounted on the belly which could be enlarged for better airflow. Most of the British Mustangs were thrown into the ground attack and photo recon roles in part due to their lack of performance above 30,000 feet and their exceptional performance down low. The U.S. Army finally took notice of the Mustang in late 1941 and placed their own orders for a down and dirty scrapper.
The A-36 Apache was a dive-bomber/ground attack Mustang that retained many of the same features of the Mustang Mk I, including the guns in the nose and wings. It was powered by a 1,325-horsepower Allison inline engine.
The major difference with the A-36 was that it employed large, pop-up dive brakes on both the top and bottom of the wings, enabling it to place its ordnance on target while in a controlled dive. At pull up, the brakes slid back into place while the Apache zoomed away. The Army was impressed with this fighter and asked for an escort version. Five hundred A-36s were built.
The P-51A utilized the 1,200-horsepower Allison and retained the three-bladed propeller. The two nose guns were removed with just the four .50 caliber machine guns remaining in the wings. With the weight of the guns reduced, the A model was able to sling a pair of 150-gallon drop tanks under it wings for its escort role. The A model was also supplied to the British and they in turn called it the Mk.II Mustang. NAA built 350 P-51A/Mk.IIs. It wasn’t until the British experimented with one of their Rolls-Royce Merlin two stage, two-speed supercharged engines that the Mustang’s potential was finally realized.
The P-51B/C model was powered by a Packard-built version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin and produced 1,450 horsepower. A book could be written on the intricate negotiations required to let Packard know all of Rolls-Royce’s secrets.
The B/C model used a four-bladed propeller instead of three but retained the four gun setup found on earlier model Mustangs. A larger air scoop was installed in the belly, giving the Mustang its signature appearance. The aircraft retained its fastback, “birdcage” canopy configuration, but many were modified with the partial sliding bubble, Malcolm hood design that was borrowed from the British for improved rearward visibility.
The greatest assets of the B/C version were, of course, its
ability to fly and fight at high altitudes (courtesy of its incredibly efficient supercharger system) and its for-then, phenomenal range which allowed it to stay with the bombers all the way to the target area.
Later experiments with the tail area and canopy soon turned the Mustang into the ultimate fighter of WW II. To offset and correct some directional stability issues, part way into the D series, a small fillet was added ahead of the vertical tail that extended the vertical fin. This, along with the addition of two more machine guns in the wings, bringing the total up to six .50 calibers, made the Mustang positively lethal. However, one of the biggest refinements of the D model, which is also what makes it so much different visually from the earlier airplanes, was the total redesign of the canopy: the “French windows” found on the B/C model were replaced with a sliding bubble-top canopy and the rear fuselage cut down (which is why the fin fillet was later added). This gave the pilots an almost unrestricted view of their surroundings which was a life-saver during bomber escorts and dogfights.
In summation, the P-51D is universally recognized as one of the greatest fighters ever produced. And for good reason. Pieces flew off the 190 as he snapped into a half-roll and went into the ground upside down. We were only at 400 feet and it was time for me to get some altitude under my wings! My wingman and I started climbing back upstairs when I noticed a Bf 109 above us. The 109 was circling at 6,000 feet and he wanted no part of the fight below. As we spiraled up to try and catch him, he too kept climbing, keeping his altitude advantage. We were both getting nowhere with this game as my gas gauge quickly receded and I was farther away from home than he was! In desperation and at full throttle, I pulled the Mustang straight up and managed to get within 2,000 feet of him. I raked his belly from below, observing hits on his tail. I stalled out and broke off my attack and rejoined the squadron as another Mustang finished off the crippled 109. As we headed for home, I put the Mustang through its paces to see how it did as a ground strafer. It didn’t take long to find a suitable target. A locomotive pulling 10 freight cars was sighted as my wingman and I gave it the once-over, looking for canvas-sided box cars concealing antiaircraft guns. Satisfied that the train cars were all made out of wood, we dove onto the train. Our .50 caliber’s danced across the freight train, blowing up the engine and setting five of the train cars on fire. The 78th really celebrated that night! Our group claimed five aircraft destroyed and four damaged along with a laundry list of ground targets we had destroyed on the way home. The biggest treat for us was no one was lost from the group and that in itself was reason to celebrate! More celebration would follow, especially after we stretched the Mustang’s legs all the way to the border of Czechoslovakia. This would truly be a test for us and the P-51: an extreme long-range bomber escort mission deep into Nazi territory. No bombers were lost as they dropped their load on target and we turned for home. After passing the bombers off to a new set of “Air Corps shepherds,” we did a little strafing and then stopped in Belgium to top off our tanks. Like good fighter pilots, we patted each other on the back for a job well done. Someone in the group got the grand idea to dip into our escape kits and “borrow the francs” that were in them to purchase some champagne at the base PX. We took all our remaining ammo and gun belts out of our
Mustangs and donated them to the Ninth Airforce. We then filled the empty gun bays with our liquid booty. Fully loaded with gas and champagne, we flew back to Duxford on the deck so we wouldn’t “pop the corks” on our bubbly cargo. That night we had a rousing party at the base. Our intelligence officer found out about the loan we taken from our kits and decided that he was going to dock our pay to replace the missing money. What the hell! It was all worth it—even the hangover! Unfortunately, not every mission ended in celebration. More often than not, the one thing that turned a party sour was German flak, especially during airdrome strafing attacks. These were missions that I really missed the ruggedness of the Thunderbolt. With all that plumbing running through the Mustang, one small nick or round could knock you out of the fight in a heartbeat. I witnessed this firsthand on February 3, 1945. After our usual escort mission and release from the bombers, we dropped to the deck and looked for targets of opportunity. Unfortunately for some of us, we were the targets. We found out the hard way what the weakness of the Mustang was. A German airfield near Luneburg was spotted as we made our run in.
A lucky fool
Airdrome strafing turned many a pilot prematurely gray. The standard practice was to fly on like we did not see it, drop down and do a 180-degree turn back into the field. At full-throttle with our propeller blades mere feet off the ground, we came screaming across the field. Heavy flak erupted all around us, as the Germans were not going down without a fight. After a couple of passes, two Mustangs were hit and both pilots became guests of the Luftwaffe for the remainder of the war. Woe unto the foolhardy pilot who circled back for a second pass as they seldom survived to register their claim. Strafing was “risky business” and I was a lucky fool many times over ! I loved the maneuverability of the P-51 and the sheer joy of being aloft in such a nimble fighter. Although I had a soft spot in my heart for the rugged P-47 and the relative safety of flying it even through a brick wall, there was no equal to the Mustang. It made no difference flying combat in a P-51 or P-47. The tactics were the same, skillful execution with excellent results in both aircraft. My tour was winding down in the spring of 1945 and so to was the Luftwaffe, which had been decimated by our air power. The P-51 proved its worth in combat time and time again, and it too, saved my butt more than once. My beloved Sherman was right! My trusty mount was lost on March 4, 1945, as it entered an overcast sky over Germany with replacement pilot Second Lt. Louis Hereford at the controls. It was a sad loss of a fine pilot and a good airplane. War is hell! First Lt. Frank Oiler finished his tour with 73 missions and 300 hours of combat flight time. Oiler spent 53 of those missions in the P-47 Thunderbolt. He flew an additional 20 missions in P-51s where he was credited with one aerial and three ground victories in his new favorite airplane.