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Description
P-51D Mustang

Country of Origin: United States
Manufacturer: North American Aviation
Crew: 1 pilot
Length: 32' 3'' (9.85m)
Wingspan: 37' (11.2m)
Height: 13' 8'' (4.16m)
Weight: 7,125 pounds (3,230 kg) empty, 11,600 (5,262 kg) maximum
Powerplant: 1x Turbosupercharged Packard Merlin V-1650-7 12 cylinder liquid cooled inline piston engine with 1,590 horsepower
Maximum Speed: 437 mph (703 kph)
Service Ceiling: 41,900 feet (12,771 m)
Range: 2,080 miles (3,347 km)
Armament: 6x 12.7mm Browning M2 machineguns
Kit Maker and Scale: Testors, 1:48

Considered to be one of the greatest fighter aircraft ever built by the United States and one of the greatest in aviation history, the P-51 Mustang actually traces its ancestry back to Germany in the 1930s. At that time, the U.S. still maintained trade and relations with Germany and several U.S. aerospace engineers were working alongside German engineers. One such example was Edgar Schmued. Working at Bayerische Flugzeug Werke (later Messerschmitt AG) he was involved in much of the design work that went into the soon to be famous Me-109. "I was working on a fighter design of my own all that time," he recounted at an anniversary celebration at Chino. "refining it with new information, waiting for an opportunity. Yes, the Mustang was built in 120 days, but I had been designing it for five years."

Schmued left Germany in 1937 due to the rise of the Nazi Party and their henchmen started looking into his family's history for their so called "racial purity ideals". Naturally, he brought his design work with him and when he returned to North American Aviation, Dutch Kindelberger, one of the company's top executives knew about these designs. Following on a hunch he declined the British Royal Air Force's request for NAA to build P-40s for them. He knew that getting a design developed into blueprints and on the road towards prototypes and testing within 120 days would be an uphill battle, but since he and Schmued already had something to work with, the task was not as difficult as it could have been.

From there, the Mustang was brought to full fruition and the new fighter was first test flown in October of 1940. Due to the power limitations of its powerplant, an Allison V-12, the Mustang's performance above 10,000 feet was appalling. Below that however, agility was supreme and the aircraft was fast and nimble. High altitude performance was needed, both for dogfighting and for escorting the long range bomber raids that were driving deep into Germany on a daily basis. Thus, a new engine was sourced and the powerplant of choice became the Rolls Royce Merlin, built for the Hurricane and Spitfire of the RAF. When installed in the Mustang, it turned turned the low altitude fighter into a supreme high altitude machine.

Most critically however, the Mustang's clean airframe resulted in a long range and great endurance, giving it the needed range to fly alongside the heavy bombers all the way to their targets and back. Prior to the Mustang, most escorts had to turn back due to lack of sufficient fuel supply and the German Air Force knew this; they would lie in ambush for the bombers and would wait until the escorts turned away before attacking. With the Mustang however, the Luftwaffe now had a running dogfight on its hands and intercepting bombers went from almost effortless to nearly suicidal. According to legend, in late 1943, Commander of the Luftwaffe Herman Goring is reported to have seen P-51s flying over Berlin alongside B-17 bombers. When he did, he turned to one of his lieutenants and said "The war is over...we've lost."

One of the fastest and most nimble aircraft available to the Allies, the Mustang was purpose built for the air to air combat role; long range bomber escort, bomber interception and classical dogfighting. Up against the machine that inspired its design, the Me-109, the Mustang left the 109 in the proverbial dust. The Mustang could out-turn the 109 and while the 109 had roughly the same climb rate, the Mustang could out-accelerate the 109. Up against the Fw-190, the Mustang found a matched adversary, however the Mustang was more than capable of taking on the 190 without fear; furthermore if the Mustang could engage the 190 from above 20,000 feet, it could take advantage of the 190's only major weakness, a lack of high altitude performance. Most remarkably though was the Mustang's ability to engage the Me-262 Stormbird jet fighter in combat. Although the Stormbird could outrun, out-climb and out-dive the Mustang, the Mustang had better acceleration and could turn tighter.

Me-262s flying at top speed were nearly invulnerable to attack as they were over 100 mph faster than the Mustang, but Mustang pilots soon learned that they could ambush the Stormbirds down low to the ground. By attacking when the Stormbirds were landing or taking off, they were "easy pickings". Chuck Yeager claimed at least two Stormbirds with his Mustang by doing this, while other pilots brought down several more. Perhaps most remarkable of all Stormbird kills though was Lee Archer's kill. Archer was flying a bomber escort mission over Berlin in 1945, and at an altitude approaching 30,000 feet, he caught sight of two Stormbirds zipping in to intercept a B-17. Knowing the jets were at or near their top speed, he would need every last ounce of performance from his Mustang. He let the jets zip by him and launched into a loop, first climbing up and then diving down from behind the jets. Using gravity to gain a speed boost, the Mustang's clean lines allowed the aircraft to momentarily break the 500 mph mark and close in on the speed of the attacking Stormbirds. With the water-methanol booster running at full power and dumping everything it had into the Mustang's engine, Archer closed the gap between him and the Stormbird flying wingman and opened fire with all six of his machineguns. Scoring multiple hits, he set the Stormbird's engine on fire, sending it plunging towards the ground, the pilot bailing out moments later. Turning his attention to the leader he fired a long, barrel burning burst as his speed boost was rapidly bleeding off. Though the Stormbird leader was getting away, Archer managed to score several hits, resulting in the Stormbird leader trailing smoke. Almost immediately the leader disengaged from the fight and headed back to base, his machine too badly shot up to risk in continued combat.

More Pics:

Cockpit:
[link]

Underside:
[link]

9 o'clock:
[link]

Nose and main gear:
[link]

Head On:
[link]

Aft:
[link]

Fuselage Markings:
[link]

Planform:
[link]

Inspiration for the paint scheme:
[link]

Description
P-51D Mustang

Country of Origin: United States
Manufacturer: North American Aviation
Crew: 1 pilot
Length: 32' 3'' (9.85m)
Wingspan: 37' (11.2m)
Height: 13' 8'' (4.16m)
Weight: 7,125 pounds (3,230 kg) empty, 11,600 (5,262 kg) maximum
Powerplant: 1x Turbosupercharged Packard Merlin V-1650-7 12 cylinder liquid cooled inline piston engine with 1,590 horsepower
Maximum Speed: 437 mph (703 kph)
Service Ceiling: 41,900 feet (12,771 m)
Range: 2,080 miles (3,347 km)
Armament: 6x 12.7mm Browning M2 machineguns
Kit Maker and Scale: Testors, 1:48

Considered to be one of the greatest fighter aircraft ever built by the United States and one of the greatest in aviation history, the P-51 Mustang actually traces its ancestry back to Germany in the 1930s. At that time, the U.S. still maintained trade and relations with Germany and several U.S. aerospace engineers were working alongside German engineers. One such example was Edgar Schmued. Working at Bayerische Flugzeug Werke (later Messerschmitt AG) he was involved in much of the design work that went into the soon to be famous Me-109. "I was working on a fighter design of my own all that time," he recounted at an anniversary celebration at Chino. "refining it with new information, waiting for an opportunity. Yes, the Mustang was built in 120 days, but I had been designing it for five years."

Schmued left Germany in 1937 due to the rise of the Nazi Party and their henchmen started looking into his family's history for their so called "racial purity ideals". Naturally, he brought his design work with him and when he returned to North American Aviation, Dutch Kindelberger, one of the company's top executives knew about these designs. Following on a hunch he declined the British Royal Air Force's request for NAA to build P-40s for them. He knew that getting a design developed into blueprints and on the road towards prototypes and testing within 120 days would be an uphill battle, but since he and Schmued already had something to work with, the task was not as difficult as it could have been.

From there, the Mustang was brought to full fruition and the new fighter was first test flown in October of 1940. Due to the power limitations of its powerplant, an Allison V-12, the Mustang's performance above 10,000 feet was appalling. Below that however, agility was supreme and the aircraft was fast and nimble. High altitude performance was needed, both for dogfighting and for escorting the long range bomber raids that were driving deep into Germany on a daily basis. Thus, a new engine was sourced and the powerplant of choice became the Rolls Royce Merlin, built for the Hurricane and Spitfire of the RAF. When installed in the Mustang, it turned turned the low altitude fighter into a supreme high altitude machine.

Most critically however, the Mustang's clean airframe resulted in a long range and great endurance, giving it the needed range to fly alongside the heavy bombers all the way to their targets and back. Prior to the Mustang, most escorts had to turn back due to lack of sufficient fuel supply and the German Air Force knew this; they would lie in ambush for the bombers and would wait until the escorts turned away before attacking. With the Mustang however, the Luftwaffe now had a running dogfight on its hands and intercepting bombers went from almost effortless to nearly suicidal. According to legend, in late 1943, Commander of the Luftwaffe Herman Goring is reported to have seen P-51s flying over Berlin alongside B-17 bombers. When he did, he turned to one of his lieutenants and said "The war is over...we've lost."

One of the fastest and most nimble aircraft available to the Allies, the Mustang was purpose built for the air to air combat role; long range bomber escort, bomber interception and classical dogfighting. Up against the machine that inspired its design, the Me-109, the Mustang left the 109 in the proverbial dust. The Mustang could out-turn the 109 and while the 109 had roughly the same climb rate, the Mustang could out-accelerate the 109. Up against the Fw-190, the Mustang found a matched adversary, however the Mustang was more than capable of taking on the 190 without fear; furthermore if the Mustang could engage the 190 from above 20,000 feet, it could take advantage of the 190's only major weakness, a lack of high altitude performance. Most remarkably though was the Mustang's ability to engage the Me-262 Stormbird jet fighter in combat. Although the Stormbird could outrun, out-climb and out-dive the Mustang, the Mustang had better acceleration and could turn tighter.

Me-262s flying at top speed were nearly invulnerable to attack as they were over 100 mph faster than the Mustang, but Mustang pilots soon learned that they could ambush the Stormbirds down low to the ground. By attacking when the Stormbirds were landing or taking off, they were "easy pickings". Chuck Yeager claimed at least two Stormbirds with his Mustang by doing this, while other pilots brought down several more. Perhaps most remarkable of all Stormbird kills though was Lee Archer's kill. Archer was flying a bomber escort mission over Berlin in 1945, and at an altitude approaching 30,000 feet, he caught sight of two Stormbirds zipping in to intercept a B-17. Knowing the jets were at or near their top speed, he would need every last ounce of performance from his Mustang. He let the jets zip by him and launched into a loop, first climbing up and then diving down from behind the jets. Using gravity to gain a speed boost, the Mustang's clean lines allowed the aircraft to momentarily break the 500 mph mark and close in on the speed of the attacking Stormbirds. With the water-methanol booster running at full power and dumping everything it had into the Mustang's engine, Archer closed the gap between him and the Stormbird flying wingman and opened fire with all six of his machineguns. Scoring multiple hits, he set the Stormbird's engine on fire, sending it plunging towards the ground, the pilot bailing out moments later. Turning his attention to the leader he fired a long, barrel burning burst as his speed boost was rapidly bleeding off. Though the Stormbird leader was getting away, Archer managed to score several hits, resulting in the Stormbird leader trailing smoke. Almost immediately the leader disengaged from the fight and headed back to base, his machine too badly shot up to risk in continued combat.

More Pics:

Cockpit:
[link]

Underside:
[link]

9 o'clock:
[link]

Nose and main gear:
[link]

Head On:
[link]

Aft:
[link]

Fuselage Markings:
[link]

Planform:
[link]

Inspiration for the paint scheme:
[link]