The North American P-51D Mustang

No other combat airplane during WWII could fly as high, go as far, and fight as hard as the P-51 Mustangs. The Mustangs accounted for more enemy kills than anyother Allied airplane. It was the ideal fighter for escorting high-flying B-29s across the Pacific to their drop zones. With underwing fuel tanks, the Mustangs could escort the bombers 1,700 miles to their targets.

The P-51 Mustang was a high-level fighter with a British-designed, Packard-built, Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, which could produce 1,510 horsepower. Ordered by the British, the prototype Mustangs were proposed, designed, built and flown in only 117 days. The Mustangs were flown by 11 Allied air forces in addition to the U.S. Air Corps. With five or more kills, 281 Allied Mustang pilots qualified as "ACES". The late model P-51H was one of the fastest piston-engine fighters. It had a top speed of 472 m.p.h.

The P-51, however, at creation was not the best fighter. When the U.S. entered WWII, in 1941, they took the basic Royal Air Force P-51 Mustang, rearmed it with four machine guns and added a high-performance engine. By 1944, the U.S. P-51 Mustang used the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine and six .50 caliber machine guns to become the best fighter in the WWII. The Mustang performed well as both a fighter and a fighter-bomber.

P-51D Specifications

Type: Single-seat, long-range escort fighter, fighter-bomber.
Max Speed: 445 m.p.h. at 25,000 ft.
Combat Radius: 325 miles on internal fuel; 750 miles with two 130-gal. tanks.
Service Ceiling: 41,900 ft.
Weapons: Six .50 cal. Browning machine guns in wings; two 500-lb bombs or eight 75-mm rockets in place of long-range drop tanks.
Weight: Empty 7,125 lb; Loaded 11,600 lb.
Dimensions: Wing Span 37 ft., Length 32 ft. 3 in., Height 12 ft. 2 in.