Jackson, Robert/Ritger, Lynn North American Aviation P-51 Mustang

The North American P-51 "Mustang" was one of the most successful and effective fighter aircraft of all time. It was initially produced in response to a 1940 RAF requirement for a fast, heavily-armed fighter able to operate effectively at altitudes in excess of 20,000ft. North America built the prototype in 117 days, and the aircraft, designated NA-73X, flew on 26 October 1940. The first of 320 production "Mustang" Mk. Is for the RAF flew on 1 May 1941, powered by a 1100hp Allison V-1710-39 engine. RAF test pilots soon found that with this powerplant the aircraft did not perform well at high altitude, but that its low-level performance was excellent. It was when the "Mustang" airframe was married to a Packard-built Rolls-Royce Merlin engine that the aircrafts true excellence became apparent. Possessing a greater combat radius than any other Allied single-engine fighter, it became synonymous with the Allied victory in the air. During the last eighteen months of the war in Europe, escorting bomber formations, it hounded the Luftwaffe to destruction in the very heart of Germany. In the Pacific, operating from advance bases, it ranged over the Japanese Home Islands, joining carrier-borne fighters such as the Grumman "Hellcat" to bring the Allies massive air superiority. Yet the "Mustang" came about almost by accident, a product of the Royal Air Force's urgent need for new combat aircraft in the dark days of 1940, when Britain, fighting for survival, turned to the United States for help in the island nation's darkest hour.

The first of a total of 320 "Mustang" Mk. Is produced for the Royal Air Force flew on 1 May 1941, powered by an 1100 hp Allison V-1710-39 engine. RAF test pilots soon realised that the aircraft did not perform well at high altitude with this engine, but its performance at low altitude was excellent. When the Mustang's fuselage was combined with a Packard-built Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, the true excellence of the aircraft became clear. With a greater operational radius than any other single-engine Allied fighter, the "Mustang" became synonymous with Allied victory in the air. In the last 18 months of the war in Europe, the "Mustangs" escorted Allied bomber formations right into the heart of the German Reich. In the Pacific theatre of war, where the "Mustangs" operated from forward bases, their operational radius extended as far as the main Japanese islands, where they attacked a wide variety of targets together with carrier-based fighters or escorted the heavy B-29 bombers to their targets. The Mustang, however, came into being almost by accident, a product of the Royal Air Force's urgent need for new fighter aircraft in the dark days of 1940, when Britain, fighting for survival, turned to the United States for help in the United Kingdom's darkest hour.