Representing the Spirit of America and named for free-roaming horses, the P-51 Mustang was nothing short of a thoroughbred and could arguably be called the fighter that won the Second World War (or at very least the fight for air superiority in Europe).
Its earliest modes (including the P-51A shown below) were pale imitations of the long range bomber escort that helped B-17 Flying Fortresses and B-24 Liberators devastate rail lines and oil facilities vital to the German war effort. Powered by an Allison V-1710 engine, it showed little promise and garnered a commensurate amount of interest. Most escort work was done by the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt a solid and well-built plane with limited range resulting in bombers having to go it alone through flak fields and fighter attacks near and over targets.
Later models scrapped the Allison engines for the Rolls-Royce Merlin and later the Packard V-1650-7 helping Mustangs reach a cruising speed of 362 mps and max of 437 with a range (with external fuel tanks) of 1,650 miles as opposed to the Thunderbolt's 800 combat miles.
Of the Mustang's most outstanding characteristics was its ability to impart a sense of oneness between plane and pilot. It fit like a glove. Everything a pilot needed was comfortably in reach as shown in the following cockpit photos.
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