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The premier fighter of WWII. This airplane needs no
introduction. If you like high-performance airplanes,
you HAVE to experience the thrill of sinking back in
your seat when the pilot pushes the throttle up to takeoff
power and rockets off the runway! During the ride you
will experience loops, rolls, and almost anything else
you can handle. After the pilot gets done taking the
airplane through its paces, we will give you a try because
this P-51 has a second set of controls. That's right,
you will fly this historic aircraft! Become an ace for
a
day as you are put in charge of a P-51 Mustang.
The P-51 Mustang is available for the following flight
packages: The
Intro Flight, The
Barnstormer, and The
Ultimate Barnstormer.
To find out how YOU can fly the P-51, click
here. Find out where we are offering
flights aboard the P-51 this year at our
schedule.
 The
P-51 was North American Aviation's first real foray
into the manufacture of fighter aircraft. The genesis
of the P-51 began in April 1940 when "Dutch" Kindleberger,
president of North American Aviation, bought a new
fighter design from Curtiss for $56,000. This evolved
over time and six months later, the prototype NA-73
was launched. This first Mustang prototype was designed
and rolled out an astounding 117 days, with first flight
on October 26, 1940. The essence of the P-51 design
is synergism of contemporary advanced aerodynamic and
structural design. In particular, it was one of the
first fighters with a laminar flow airfoil. This gave
the Mustang an exceptional internal fuel capacity and
low drag, enabling it to fly an extended combat radius.
It also gave the Mustang a high top speed, a valuable
asset in aerial combat.
Much of the initial design work on the Mustang was
conducted at the request of the British, who were in
great need of high performance fighter aircraft. Initial
tests showed that the basic design was very promising,
and the RAF ordered 620 shipsets of the MK I Mustang.
The USAAF also followed suit in 1942, ordering 500
A-36A "Apache" dive-bombers in late 1942.
Unfortunately, the Allison V-1710-87 engine had good
power at low level but produced insufficient power
above 15,000 feet. This was due primarily to the Allison
Engine's single-stage supercharger, which was intended
for use in combination with a turbo-supercharger and
therefore did not have sufficient compressor capacity
to maintain high induction pressure at altitude. This
lack of high-altitude performance limited the Mustang
MK I/A-36 to ground attack and reconnaissance roles.
Nevertheless, the A-36 was moderately successful in
the Mediterranean area of operation, claiming its share
of aerial victories against the Luftwaffe in air-to-air
combat. Cautiously, the USAAF ordered an initial 150
P-51s mounted with four 20 mm cannons. Thereafter,
310 P-51As were ordered, with a 1,200 hp V-1710-81
engine, and four 0.5-in machine guns with racks for
two 500-LB bombs.
The prototype Mustang, the NA-73,
originally
ordered by British Royal Air Force.
In 1942, the British proposed putting the Merlin engine
into the Mustang airframe. The installation of the
two-stage supercharged Merlin engine in conjunction
with a four-bladed propeller was found to give the
Mustang extremely good performance, with top speeds
exceeding 400 mph as well as long range and maneuverability.
The result was a fighter that could equal or outperform
any other aircraft in the air at that time. North American
quickly developed plans to manufacture the P-51 with
the license-built Merlin 61, the Packard V-1650-3 in-line
engine.
As the basic Mustang design matured, it would ultimately
became the leading US fighter in the European Theater
of Operation during the final year of the war. Various
models followed in quick succession. The USAAF ordered
2,200 P-51Bs, which were introduced into combat in
December 1943 to escort B17s and B-24s on their missions
over Germany. The aircraft were mounted with four 50
cal machine guns. The P-51D variant was ordered in
1943 and was introduced with the bubble canopy and
dorsal fin to control stability problems along with
six 50 cal guns. Even though the Malcom hood, which
enhanced visibility on the British Mustang Mk II and
Mk III, was employed by the USAAF, it was the bubble
canopy that became the standard feature of the P-51D.
Few P-51Ds were operated by the British as the Mustang
Mk V. Later P-51Ds included an additional 85-gal fuel
cell behind the pilot's seat. This enabled the Mustang's
combat radius to extend from England to Berlin and
back. It was also the most widely used variant of the
Mustang, a grand total of 8,102 aircraft of this type
being produced.
One of the shortcomings of the P-51B was its limited
firepower of only four machine guns. In addition, the
guns in each wing were aligned at rather odd angles,
requiring a severe bend in the ammunition belt feeds
and resulting in frequent gun jams. The P-51D gun installation
was completely redesigned, and the result was the installation
of three MG53-2 .50-caliber machine guns in each wing,
all of them mounted upright and all fed by straight
ammunition belts. The inboard guns each held 400 rounds,
and the others 270 rounds each. P-51Ds had under-wing
hardpoints not only for bombs and fuel tanks but also
for various types of air-to-ground rockets. These included
zero-length stubs for six 5-inch rockets or as many
as ten if no drop tanks were carried. Alternatively, "Bazooka" tubes
could be carried in triple clusters. There were a few
field conversions for special armament, examples including
two drop tanks and six 100-LB bombs, four 100-LB bombs
plus 36 fragmentation bombs, or four 75-Imp gallon
drop tanks. Aircraft used in the China-Burma-India
theater usually had a direction-finding loop antenna
in front of the vertical stabilizer.
A combat P-51D Mustang as it appeared
when
it first arrived in combat units
in both the
European and Pacific Theaters.
The P-51D began to arrive in Europe in quantity in
March of 1944. The 55th Fighter Group was the first
to get the new P-51D, trading in its old P-38s for
the new bubble canopy fighters. The change from the
torque-less twin-engined P-38 to the single engine
P-51 caused some initial problems, and the lack of
directional stability caused by the presence of a full
fuselage tank took some getting used to. However, once
their pilots became fully adjusted to their new rides,
they found that the P-51D gave them an edge in both
speed and maneuverability over all Luftwaffe piston-engine
fighters at altitudes above 20,000 feet. Luftwaffe
pilots considered the Mustang to be rather vulnerable
to cannon fire, particularly the liquid-cooled Merlin
engine, which could be put out of action with a single
hit. The Mustang was the only Allied fighter with enough
range to accompany bombers on their "shuttle" missions
in which landings were made in Russia after deep-penetration
targets had been attacked from bases in England. The
Mustangs also participated in low-altitude strikes
on Luftwaffe airfields, a rather dangerous undertaking
as these fields were very heavily defended by flak.
Heavy losses were suffered by American airmen in these
raids due to Mustang's comparatively poor ability to
withstand battle damage.
The total number of 14,819 Mustangs of all types were
built for the Army. American Mustangs destroyed 4,950
enemy aircraft in Europe to make them the highest scoring
U. S. fighter in the theater. They were used as dive-bombers,
bomber escorts, ground-attackers, interceptors, for
photo-recon missions, trainers, transports (with a
jump-seat), and after the war, high performance racers.
The aircraft was employed throughout 40 USAAF fighter
groups and 31 RAF squadrons. The P-51 Mustang's combat
record is generally considered to consist of: 4,950
aerial victories, and 4,131 ground kills resulting
in an 11:1 "kill ratio".
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Engine: |
One
Packard Merlin V-1650-7
1,695 hp, two-stage supercharged, 12 cyl.
V engine. |
Empty Weight: |
7,125
lb |
Max Takeoff Weight: |
11,600
lb |
Wing Span: |
37
ft 1 in |
Length: |
32
ft 3 in |
Height: |
13
ft 8 in |
Maximum Speed: |
448
mph (clean) |
Ceiling: |
41,900
ft. |
Max
Range: |
2,300
miles |
Armament: |
Six
.50 caliber machine guns, external
bomb load of 2,000 lbs. or four .5-inch
rockets. |
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You
Can Fly the P-51!
