The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat
fighter and
fighter-bomber
A fighter-bomber is a fighter aircraft that has been modified, or used primarily, as a light bomber or attack aircraft. It differs from bomber and attack aircraft primarily in its origins, as a fighter that has been adapted into other roles, wh ...
used during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
and the
Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed by
James H. Kindelberger of
North American Aviation
North American Aviation (NAA) was a major American aerospace manufacturer that designed and built several notable aircraft and spacecraft. Its products included the T-6 Texan trainer, the P-51 Mustang fighter, the B-25 Mitchell bomber, the F- ...
(NAA) in response to a requirement of the
British Purchasing Commission. The commission approached NAA to build
Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the Air force, air and space force of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. It was formed towards the end of the World War I, First World War on 1 April 1918, on the merger of t ...
(RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, NAA proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X
airframe was completed on 9 September 1940, 102 days after contract signing, achieving its first flight on 26 October.
The Mustang was designed to use the
Allison V-1710
The Allison V-1710 aircraft engine designed and produced by the Allison Engine Company was the most common United States, US-developed V12 engine, V-12 Internal combustion engine cooling, liquid-cooled engine in service during World War II. Ve ...
engine without an export-sensitive turbosupercharger or a multi-stage supercharger, resulting in limited high-altitude performance. The aircraft was first flown operationally and very successfully by the RAF and as a
tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). In mid 1942, a development project known as the
Rolls-Royce Mustang X, replaced the Allison engine with a
Rolls-Royce Merlin
The Rolls-Royce Merlin is a British Coolant#Liquids, liquid-cooled V12 engine, V-12 Reciprocating engine, piston aero engine of 27-litre (1,650 cu in) Engine displacement, capacity. Rolls-Royce Limited, Rolls-Royce designed the engine an ...
65 two-stage inter-cooled supercharged engine. During testing at
Rolls-Royce's airfield at Hucknall in England, it was clear the engine dramatically improved the aircraft's performance at altitudes above without sacrificing range. Following receipt of the test results and after further flights by USAAF pilots, the results were so positive that North American began work on converting several aircraft developing into the P-51B/C (Mustang Mk III) model, which became the first long range fighter to be able to compete with the
Luftwaffe
The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...
's fighters. The definitive version, the
P-51D, was powered by the
Packard V-1650-7, a
license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-
supercharged
In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. It is a form of forced induction that is mechanically powered (usually by ...
Merlin 66, and was armed with six
.50 caliber (12.7 mm)
AN/M2 Browning machine guns.
From late 1943 into 1945, P-51Bs and P-51Cs (supplemented by P-51Ds from mid-1944) were used by the
USAAF's Eighth Air Force to escort bombers in raids over
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...
, while the RAF's
Second Tactical Air Force and the USAAF's
Ninth Air Force used the Merlin-powered Mustangs as fighter-bombers, roles in which the Mustang helped ensure Allied
air superiority in 1944.
[Gunston 1984, p. 58.] The P-51 was also used by
Allied air forces in the
North African, Mediterranean,
Italian, and
Pacific
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean, or, depending on the definition, to Antarctica in the south, and is bounded by the cont ...
theaters. During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed to have destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft.
At the start of the Korean War, the Mustang, by then redesignated F-51, was the main fighter of the United States until
jet fighters, including North American's
F-86 Sabre
The North American F-86 Sabre, sometimes called the Sabrejet, is a transonic jet fighter aircraft. Produced by North American Aviation, the Sabre is best known as the United States' first swept-wing fighter that could counter the swept-wing Sov ...
, took over this role; the Mustang then became a specialized fighter-bomber. Despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After the Korean War, Mustangs became popular civilian
warbird
A warbird is any vintage military aircraft now operated by civilian organizations and individuals, or in some instances, by historic arms of military forces, such as the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight, the Royal Australian Air Force's No. 100 ...
s and
air racing aircraft.
Design and development

In 1938, the British government established a purchasing commission in the United States, headed by Sir
Henry Self. Self was given overall responsibility for RAF production, research, and development, and also served with Sir
Wilfrid Freeman, the Air Member for Development and Production. Self also sat on the British Air Council Subcommittee on Supply (or "Supply Committee"), and one of his tasks was to organize the manufacturing and supply of American fighter aircraft for the RAF. At the time, the choice was very limited, as no US aircraft then in production or flying met European standards, with only the
Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk coming close. The
Curtiss-Wright
The Curtiss-Wright Corporation is an American manufacturer and services provider headquartered in Davidson, North Carolina, with factories and operations in and outside the United States. Created in 1929 from the consolidation (business), consoli ...
plant was running at capacity, so P-40s were in short supply.
North American Aviation (NAA) was already supplying its
T-6 Texan (known in British service as the "Harvard") trainer to the RAF, but was otherwise underused. NAA President
"Dutch" Kindelberger approached Self to sell a new
medium bomber
A medium bomber is a military bomber Fixed-wing aircraft, aircraft designed to operate with medium-sized Aerial bomb, bombloads over medium Range (aeronautics), range distances; the name serves to distinguish this type from larger heavy bombe ...
, the
North American B-25 Mitchell. Instead, Self asked if NAA could manufacture P-40s
under license from Curtiss. Kindelberger said NAA could have a better aircraft with the same
Allison V-1710
The Allison V-1710 aircraft engine designed and produced by the Allison Engine Company was the most common United States, US-developed V12 engine, V-12 Internal combustion engine cooling, liquid-cooled engine in service during World War II. Ve ...
engine in the air sooner than establishing a production line for the P-40.
John Attwood of NAA spent much time from January to April 1940 at the British Purchasing Commission's offices in New York discussing the British specifications of the proposed aircraft with British engineers. The discussions consisted of free-hand conceptual drawings of an aircraft with the British officials. Self was concerned that NAA had not ever designed a fighter, insisting they obtain the drawings and study the wind-tunnel test results for the P-40, before presenting them with detailed design drawings based on the agreed concept. NAA purchased the drawings and data from Curtiss for £56,000, confirming the purchase with the British Purchasing Commission. The commission approved the resulting detailed design drawings, signing the commencement of the Mustang project on 4 May 1940, and firmly ordering 320 on 29 May 1940. Prior to this, NAA only had a letter of intent for an order of 320 aircraft. Curtiss engineers accused NAA of plagiarism.
The British Purchasing Commission stipulated armament of four
.303 in (7.7 mm) machine guns (as used on the Tomahawk), a unit cost of no more than $40,000, and delivery of the first production aircraft by January 1941.
[Delve 1999, p. 11.] In March 1940, 320 aircraft were ordered by Freeman, who had become the executive head of the
Ministry of Aircraft Production (MAP) and the contract was promulgated on 24 April.
[Delve 1999, p. 12.]
The ''NA-73X'', which was designed by a team led by lead engineer
Edgar Schmued, followed the best conventional practice of the era, designed for ease of mass manufacturing.
The design included several new features. One was a wing designed using
laminar flow airfoils, which were developed co-operatively by NAA and the
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency that was founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its ...
(NACA). These airfoils generated low drag at high speeds. During the development of the NA-73X, a wind-tunnel test of two wings, one using NACA five-digit airfoils and the other using the new NAA/NACA 45–100 airfoils, was performed in the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW and informally U-Dub or U Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington, United States. Founded in 1861, the University of Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast of the Uni ...
Kirsten Wind Tunnel. The results of this test showed the superiority of the wing designed with the
NAA/NACA 45–100 airfoils.
The other feature was a new cooling arrangement positioned aft (single ducted water and oil radiators assembly) that reduced the fuselage drag and effects on the wing. Later, after much development, they discovered that the cooling assembly could take advantage of the
Meredith effect, in which heated air exited the radiator with a slight amount of
jet thrust. Because NAA lacked a suitable wind tunnel to test this feature, it used the
GALCIT wind tunnel at the
California Institute of Technology. This led to some controversy over whether the Mustang's cooling system
aerodynamics
Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...
were developed by NAA's engineer Schmued or by Curtiss, as NAA had purchased the complete set of P-40 wind tunnel data and flight test reports. The NA-73X was also one of the first aircraft to have a fuselage
lofted mathematically using
conic section
A conic section, conic or a quadratic curve is a curve obtained from a cone's surface intersecting a plane. The three types of conic section are the hyperbola, the parabola, and the ellipse; the circle is a special case of the ellipse, tho ...
s; this resulted in smooth, low-drag surfaces.
[Jackson 1992, p. 4.] To aid production, the airframe was divided into five main sections—forward, center, rear fuselage, and two wing halves—
all of which were fitted with wiring and piping before being joined.
The prototype NA-73X was rolled out in September 1940, just 102 days after the order had been placed; it first flew on 26 October 1940, 149 days into the contract, an uncommonly short development period even during the war. With test pilot
Vance Breese at the controls, the prototype handled well and accommodated an impressive fuel load. The aircraft's three-section,
semi-monocoque
The term semi-monocoque or semimonocoque refers to a stressed shell structure that is similar to a true monocoque, but which derives at least some of its strength from conventional reinforcement. Semi-monocoque construction is used for, among o ...
fuselage was constructed entirely of
24S aluminum alloy (a type of
Duralumin) to save weight. It was armed with four .30 caliber (7.62 mm)
AN/M2 Browning machine guns in the wings and two .50 caliber (12.7 mm)
AN/M2 Browning machine guns mounted under the engine and firing through the propeller arc using a
gun-synchronizing gear.
While the USAAC could block any sales it considered detrimental to the interests of the US, the NA-73 was considered to be a special case because it had been designed at the behest of the British and all dealings were directly between the BPC and NAA, and did not involve the US Army or Wright Field in any way. In September 1940, a further 300 NA-73s were ordered by the MAP.
To ensure uninterrupted delivery, Colonel
Oliver P. Echols arranged with the Anglo-French Purchasing Commission to deliver the aircraft and NAA gave two examples (41-038 and 41-039) to the USAAC for evaluation.
["P-51 History: Mustang I."]
''The Gathering of Mustangs & Legends''. Retrieved: 26 March 2009.
It is important to note that the Mustang I (NA-73 and NA-83) and the Ia (NA-91), produced for the British, were not equivalent to the P-51A which was a later model (NA-99). Two British Mustang Is were held back by the USAAF and given the provisional model number XP-51. The USAAF held back 57 Mustang Ia aircraft armed with 4 x 20mm Hispano cannon, from the third British order, converting most of them to tactical reconnaissance aircraft and designating them P-51-2/F6A. North American retained the second aircraft of this batch to help develop the P-51A.
The Allison engine in the Mustang I had a single-stage supercharger that caused power to drop off rapidly above . This made it unsuitable for use at the altitudes where combat was taking place in Europe. Allison's attempts at developing a high-altitude engine were underfunded, but produced the V-1710-45, which featured a variable-speed auxiliary supercharger and developed at . In November 1941, NAA studied the possibility of using it, but fitting its excessive length in the Mustang would require extensive airframe modifications and cause long production delays.
In May 1942, following positive reports from the RAF on the Mustang I's performance below 15,000 ft, Ronald Harker, a test pilot for
Rolls-Royce
Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to:
* Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct
Automobiles
* Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated in ...
, suggested fitting a
Merlin 61, as fitted to the
Spitfire Mk IX.
The Merlin 61 had a two-speed, two-stage, intercooled supercharger, designed by
Stanley Hooker of Rolls-Royce. Both the Merlin 61 and V-1710-39 were capable of about
war emergency power at relatively low altitudes, but the Merlin developed at versus the Allison's at ,
delivering an increase in top speed from at ~ to an estimated at . In the end the Merlin 61 was never fitted to the Mustang X, (or any other Mustang). The 65 series (a medium altitude engine) was fitted to all Mustang X prototypes.
Initially, the Mustang's steadfast champion, USAAC/F Assistant Air Attaché Major Thomas Hitchcock, was concerned that the USAAF had little or no interest in the potential of the P-51A and its development with the Merlin engine. He wrote: "Its development in this theatre has suffered for various reasons. Sired by the English out of an American mother, the Mustang has no parent in the Army Air Corps to appreciate and push its good points. It does not fully satisfy good people on both sides of the Atlantic who seem more interested in pointing with pride to the development of a 100% national product..."
Nevertheless, during the British service development program of the Mustang I at
Rolls-Royce's airfield at Hucknall, a close relationship was developed between NAA, the RAF Air Fighting Development Unit and Rolls-Royce Flight Test Establishment at Hucknall.
Following extensive communication between Hitchcock (based in England), Rolls Royce engineers and Phillip Legarra at NAA regarding the promising outlook of a Merlin Mustang, along with the subsequent work in progress by Rolls Royce on the Mustang X, NAA representatives including Mustang designer Schmued visited the UK to examine and discuss the project in detail.
The promising calculations and modification progress by Rolls Royce led in July 1942 to a contract being let for two NAA Merlin prototypes, briefly designated XP-78, but soon to become the XP-51B. Based on the Packard V-1650-3 duplicating the Merlin 61's performance, NAA estimated for the XP-78 a top speed of at , and a service ceiling of .
Initial flights of what was known to Rolls-Royce as the
Mustang X were completed at Hucknall in October 1942.
The first flight of the US version, designated XP-51B took place in November 1942, but the USAAF had become so interested in the Merlin Mustang project that an initial contract for 400 aircraft was placed three months beforehand in August. The conversion led to production of the P-51B beginning at NAA's Inglewood, California, plant in June 1943, and P-51s started to become available to the 8th and
9th air forces in the winter of 1943–1944. Conversion to the two-stage supercharged and intercooled Merlin 60 series, over heavier than the single-stage Allison, driving a four-bladed Hamilton Standard propeller, required moving the wing slightly forward to correct the aircraft's
center of gravity. After the USAAF, in July 1943, directed fighter aircraft manufacturers to maximize internal fuel capacity, NAA calculated the P-51B's center of gravity to be forward enough to include an additional fuel tank in the fuselage behind the pilot, greatly increasing the aircraft's range over that of the earlier P-51A. NAA incorporated the tank in the production of the P-51B-10, and supplied kits to retrofit it to all existing P-51Bs.
Operational history
United Kingdom operational service
The Mustang was initially developed for the RAF, which was its first user. As the first Mustangs were built to British requirements, these aircraft used factory numbers and were not P-51s; the order comprised 320 NA-73s, followed by 300 NA-83s, all of which were designated Mustang Mark I by the RAF. The first RAF Mustangs supplied under
Lend-Lease
Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (),3,000 Hurricanes and >4,000 other aircraft)
* 28 naval vessels:
** 1 Battleship. (HMS Royal Sovereign (05), HMS Royal Sovereign)
* ...
were 93 Mk Ia designated as P-51s by the USAAF, followed by 50 P-51As used as Mustang Mk IIs. Aircraft supplied to Britain under Lend-Lease were required for accounting purposes to be on the
USAAC's books before they could be supplied to Britain, but the British Aircraft Purchasing Commission signed its first contract for the North American NA-73 on 24 April 1940, before Lend-Lease was in effect. Thus, the initial order for the P-51 Mustang (as it was later known) was placed by the British under the "
cash and carry" program, as required by the US Neutrality Acts of the 1930s.
After the arrival of the initial aircraft in the UK in October 1941, the first squadron of Mustang Mk Is entered service in January 1942, the first being
No. 26 Squadron RAF. Due to poor high-altitude performance, the Mustangs were used by
Army Co-operation Command, rather than Fighter Command, and were used for tactical reconnaissance and ground-attack duties. On 10 May 1942, Mustangs first flew over France, near
Berck-sur-Mer. On 27 July 1942, 16 RAF Mustangs undertook their first long-range reconnaissance mission over Germany. During the amphibious
Dieppe Raid on the French coast (19 August 1942), four British and Canadian Mustang squadrons, including 26 Squadron, saw action covering the assault on the ground. By 1943–1944, British Mustangs were used extensively to seek out
V-1 flying bomb
The V-1 flying bomb ( "Vengeance Weapon 1") was an early cruise missile. Its official Reich Aviation Ministry () name was Fieseler Fi 103 and its suggestive name was (hellhound). It was also known to the Allies as the buzz bomb or doodlebug a ...
sites. The last RAF Mustang Mk I and Mustang Mk II aircraft were struck off charge in 1945.
Army Co-operation Command used the Mustang's superior speed and long range to conduct low-altitude "
Rhubarb" raids over continental Europe, sometimes penetrating German airspace. The V-1710 engine ran smoothly at 1,100 rpm, versus 1,600 for the Merlin, enabling long flights over water at altitude before approaching the enemy coastline. Over land, these flights followed a zig-zag course, turning every six minutes to foil enemy attempts at plotting an interception. During the first 18 months of Rhubarb raids, RAF Mustang Mk.Is and Mk.Ias destroyed or heavily damaged 200 locomotives, over 200 canal barges, and an unknown number of enemy aircraft parked on the ground, for a loss of eight Mustangs. At sea level, the Mustangs were able to outrun all enemy aircraft encountered.
The RAF gained a significant performance enhancement at low altitude by removing or resetting the engine's manifold pressure regulator to allow overboosting, raising output as high as 1,780 horsepower at 70 in Hg.
In December 1942, Allison approved only 1,570 horsepower at 60 in Hg manifold pressure for the V-1710-39.
The RAF later operated 308 P-51Bs and 636 P-51Cs, which were known in RAF service as Mustang Mk IIIs; the first units converted to the type in late 1943 and early 1944. Mustang Mk III units were operational until the end of World War II, though many units had already converted to the Mustang Mk IV (P-51D) and Mk IVa (P-51K) (828 in total, comprising 282 Mk IV and 600 Mk IVa). As all except the earliest aircraft were obtained under Lend-Lease, all Mustang aircraft still on RAF charge at the end of the war were either returned to the USAAF "on paper" or retained by the RAF for scrapping. The last RAF Mustangs were retired from service in 1947.
US operational service
Prewar theory
Prewar doctrine was based on the idea "
the bomber will always get through".
[Miller 2007, p. 41.] Despite RAF and Luftwaffe experience with daylight bombing, the USAAF still incorrectly believed in 1942 that
tightly packed formations of bombers would have so much firepower that they could fend off fighters on their own.
Fighter escort was a low priority, but when the concept was discussed in 1941, the
Lockheed P-38 Lightning
The Lockheed P-38 Lightning is an American single-seat, twin piston-engined fighter aircraft that was used during World War II. Developed for the United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) by the Lockheed Corporation, the P-38 incorporated a distinc ...
was considered to be most appropriate, as it had the speed and range. Another school of thought favored a
heavily up-armed "gunship" conversion of a strategic bomber.
[Miller 2007, p. 46.] A single-engined, high-speed fighter with the range of a bomber was thought to be an engineering impossibility.
Eighth Air Force bomber operations 1942–1943
The
8th Air Force started operations from Britain in August 1942. At first, because of the limited scale of operations, no conclusive evidence showed American doctrine was failing. In the 26 operations flown to the end of 1942, the loss rate had been under 2%.
In January 1943, at the
Casablanca Conference
The Casablanca Conference (codenamed SYMBOL) or Anfa Conference was held in Casablanca, French Morocco, from January 14 to 24, 1943, to plan the Allies of World War II, Allied European strategy for the next phase of World War II. The main disc ...
, the Allies formulated the
Combined Bomber Offensive (CBO) plan for "round-the-clock" bombing – USAAF daytime operations complementing the RAF nighttime raids on industrial centers. In June 1943, the
Combined Chiefs of Staff issued the
Pointblank Directive to destroy the Luftwaffe's capacity before the planned invasion of Europe, putting the CBO into full implementation. German daytime fighter efforts were, at that time, focused on the Eastern Front and several other distant locations. Initial efforts by the 8th met limited and unorganized resistance, but with every mission, the Luftwaffe moved more aircraft to the west and quickly improved their battle direction. In late 1943, the 8th Air Force's heavy bombers conducted a series of deep penetration raids into Germany, beyond the range of escort fighters. The
Schweinfurt–Regensburg mission in August lost 60 B-17s of a force of 376, the
14 October attack lost 77 of a force of 291—26% of the attacking force.
For the US, the very concept of self-defending bombers was called into question, but instead of abandoning daylight raids and turning to night bombing, as the RAF suggested, they chose other paths; at first, bombers converted to gunships (the
Boeing YB-40) were believed to be able to escort the bomber formations, but when the concept proved to be unsuccessful, thoughts then turned to the Lockheed P-38 Lightning. In early 1943, the USAAF also decided that the
Republic P-47 Thunderbolt
The Republic P-47 Thunderbolt is a World War II-era fighter aircraft produced by the American company Republic Aviation from 1941 through 1945. It was a successful high-altitude fighter, and it also served as the foremost American fighter-bombe ...
and P-51B be considered for the roles of smaller escort fighters, and in July, a report stated that the P-51B was "the most promising plane" with an endurance of 4 hours 45 minutes with the standard internal fuel of 184 gallons plus 150 gallons carried externally. In August, a P-51B was fitted with an extra internal 85-gallon tank, but problems with longitudinal stability occurred, so some compromises in performance with the full tank were made. Since the fuel from the fuselage tank was used during the initial stages of a mission, the fuel tank would be fitted in all Mustangs destined for
VIII Fighter Command.
P-51 introduction
The P-51 Mustang was a solution to the need for an effective bomber escort. It used a common, reliable engine and had internal space for a larger-than-average fuel load. With external fuel tanks, it could accompany the bombers from England to Germany and back.
[.]
By the time the Pointblank offensive resumed in early 1944, matters had changed. Bomber escort defenses were initially layered, using the shorter-range P-38s and P-47s to escort the bombers during the initial stages of the raid before handing over to the P-51s when they were forced to turn for home. This provided continuous coverage during the raid. The Mustang was so clearly superior to earlier US designs that the 8th Air Force began to steadily switch its fighter groups to the Mustang, first swapping arriving P-47 groups to the 9th Air Force in exchange for those that were using P-51s, then gradually converting its Thunderbolt and Lightning groups. By the end of 1944, 14 of its 15 groups flew Mustangs.
The Luftwaffe's twin-engined
Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters brought up to deal with the bombers proved to be easy prey for the Mustangs, and had to be quickly withdrawn from combat. The
Focke-Wulf Fw 190
The Focke-Wulf Fw 190, nicknamed ''Würger'' (Shrike) is a German single-seat, single-engine fighter aircraft designed by Kurt Tank at Focke-Wulf in the late 1930s and widely used during World War II. Along with its well-known counterpart, the ...
A, already suffering from poor high-altitude performance, was outperformed by the Mustang at the B-17's altitude, and when laden with
heavy bomber-hunting weapons as a replacement for the more vulnerable twin-engined ''Zerstörer'' heavy fighters, it suffered heavy losses. The
Messerschmitt Bf 109
The Messerschmitt Bf 109 is a monoplane fighter aircraft that was designed and initially produced by the Nazi Germany, German aircraft manufacturer Messerschmitt#History, Bayerische Flugzeugwerke (BFW). Together with the Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the ...
had comparable performance at high altitudes, but its lightweight airframe was even more greatly affected by increases in armament. The Mustang's much lighter armament, tuned for antifighter combat, allowed it to overcome these single-engined opponents.
Fighting the ''Luftwaffe''

At the start of 1944, Major General
James Doolittle, the new commander of the 8th Air Force, released most fighters from the requirement of flying in close formation with the bombers, allowing them free rein to attack the Luftwaffe wherever it could be found. The aim was to achieve
air supremacy. Mustang groups were sent far ahead of the bombers in a "fighter sweep" to intercept German fighters. Bomber crews complained, but by June, supremacy was achieved.
The ''Luftwaffe'' answered with the ''Gefechtsverband'' ("battle formation"). This consisted of a ''Sturmgruppe'' of heavily armed and armored Fw 190As escorted by two ''Begleitgruppen'' of Bf 109s, whose task was to keep the Mustangs away from the Fw 190s as they attacked the bombers. This strategy proved to be problematic, as the large German formation took a long time to assemble and was difficult to maneuver. It was often intercepted by the P-51 "fighter sweeps" before it could attack the bombers. However, German attacks against bombers could be effective when they did occur; the bomber-destroyer Fw 190As swept in from astern and often pressed their attacks to within .
[Spick 1983, p. 111.]

While not always able to avoid contact with the escorts, the threat of mass attacks and later the "company front" (eight abreast) assaults by armored ''Sturmgruppe'' Fw 190As brought an urgency to attacking the ''Luftwaffe'' wherever it could be found, either in the air or on the ground. Beginning
in late February 1944, 8th Air Force fighter units began systematic strafing attacks on German airfields with increasing frequency and intensity, with the objective of gaining air supremacy over the
Normandy
Normandy (; or ) is a geographical and cultural region in northwestern Europe, roughly coextensive with the historical Duchy of Normandy.
Normandy comprises Normandy (administrative region), mainland Normandy (a part of France) and insular N ...
battlefield. In general, these were conducted by units returning from escort missions, but beginning in March, many groups also were assigned airfield attacks instead of bomber support. The P-51, particularly with the advent of the K-14
gyro gunsight and the development of "Clobber Colleges" for the training of fighter pilots in late 1944, was a decisive element in Allied countermeasures against the ''Jagdverbände''.
The numerical superiority of the USAAF fighters, superb flying characteristics of the P-51, and pilot proficiency helped cripple the ''Luftwaffe''s fighter force. As a result, the fighter threat to the US, and later British, bombers was greatly diminished by July 1944. The RAF, long proponents of night bombing for protection, were able to reopen daylight bombing in 1944 as a result of the crippling of the ''Luftwaffe'' fighter arm.
Reichsmarschall Hermann Göring
Hermann Wilhelm Göring (or Goering; ; 12 January 1893 – 15 October 1946) was a German Nazism, Nazi politician, aviator, military leader, and convicted war criminal. He was one of the most powerful figures in the Nazi Party, which gov ...
, commander of the ''Luftwaffe'' during the war, was quoted as saying, "When I saw Mustangs over Berlin, I knew the jig was up."
[
]
Beyond Pointblank
On 15 April 1944, VIII Fighter Command began "Operation Jackpot", attacks on Luftwaffe fighter airfields. As the efficacy of these missions increased, the number of fighters at the German airbases fell to the point where they were no longer considered worthwhile targets. On 21 May, targets were expanded to include railways, locomotives, and other rolling stock
The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, Railroad car#Freight cars, freight and Passenger railroad car, passenger cars (or coaches) ...
used by the Germans to transport materiel and troops, in missions dubbed "Chattanooga". The P-51 excelled at this mission, although losses were much higher on strafing missions than in air-to-air combat, partially because the Mustang's liquid-cooled engine (particularly its liquid coolant system) was vulnerable to small-arms fire, unlike the air-cooled R-2800 radials of its Republic P-47 Thunderbolt stablemates based in England, regularly tasked with ground-strafing missions.
Given the overwhelming Allied air superiority, the Luftwaffe put its effort into the development of aircraft of such high performance that they could operate with impunity, but which also made bomber attack much more difficult, merely from the flight velocities they achieved. Foremost among these were the Messerschmitt Me 163B point-defense rocket interceptors, which started their operations with JG 400 near the end of July 1944, and the longer-endurance Messerschmitt Me 262A jet fighter, first flying with the ''Gruppe''-strength Kommando Nowotny unit by the end of September 1944. In action, the Me 163 proved to be more dangerous to the Luftwaffe than to the Allies and was never a serious threat. The Me 262A was a serious threat, but attacks on their airfields neutralized them. The pioneering Junkers Jumo 004 axial-flow jet engine
A jet engine is a type of reaction engine, discharging a fast-moving jet (fluid), jet of heated gas (usually air) that generates thrust by jet propulsion. While this broad definition may include Rocket engine, rocket, Pump-jet, water jet, and ...
s of the Me 262As needed careful nursing by their pilots, and these aircraft were particularly vulnerable during takeoff and landing. Lt. Chuck Yeager of the 357th Fighter Group was one of the first American pilots to shoot down an Me 262, which he caught during its landing approach. On 7 October 1944, Lt. Urban L. Drew of the 361st Fighter Group shot down two Me 262s that were taking off, while on the same day, Lt. Col. Hubert Zemke, who had transferred to the Mustang-equipped 479th Fighter Group, shot down what he thought was a Bf 109, only to have his gun camera film reveal that it may have been an Me 262. On 25 February 1945, Mustangs of the 55th Fighter Group surprised an entire ''Staffel'' of Me 262As at takeoff and destroyed six jets.
The Mustang also proved useful against the V-1s launched toward London. P-51B/Cs, using 150-octane fuel, were fast enough to catch the V-1 and operated in concert with shorter-range aircraft such as advanced marks of the Supermarine Spitfire
The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. It was the only British fighter produced conti ...
and Hawker Tempest.
By 8 May 1945,[Glancey 2006, p. 188.] the 8th
Eighth is ordinal form of the number eight.
Eighth may refer to:
* One eighth, , a fraction, one of eight equal parts of a whole
* Eighth note (quaver), a musical note played for half the value of a quarter note (crotchet)
* Octave, an interval b ...
, 9th, and 15th Air Force's P-51 groups claimed some 4,950 aircraft shot down (about half of all USAAF claims in the European theater, the most claimed by any Allied fighter in air-to-air combat) and 4,131 destroyed on the ground. Losses were about 2,520 aircraft. The 8th Air Force's 4th Fighter Group was the top-scoring fighter group in Europe, with 1,016 enemy aircraft claimed destroyed. This included 550 claimed in aerial combat and 466 on the ground.
In air combat, the top-scoring P-51 units (both of which exclusively flew Mustangs) were the 357th Fighter Group of the 8th Air Force with 565 air-to-air combat victories and the 9th Air Force's 354th Fighter Group with 664, which made it one of the top-scoring fighter groups. The top Mustang ace was the USAAF's George Preddy, whose final tally stood at 26.83 victories (a number that includes shared one half- and one third victory credits), 23 of which were scored with the P-51. Preddy was shot down and killed by friendly fire on Christmas Day 1944 during the Battle of the Bulge
The Battle of the Bulge, also known as the Ardennes Offensive or Unternehmen Die Wacht am Rhein, Wacht am Rhein, was the last major German Offensive (military), offensive Military campaign, campaign on the Western Front (World War II), Western ...
.
In China and the Pacific Theater
In early 1945, P-51C, D, and K variants also joined the Chinese Nationalist Air Force. These Mustangs were provided to the 3rd, 4th, and 5th Fighter Groups and used to attack Japanese targets in occupied areas of China. The P-51 became the most capable fighter in China, while the Imperial Japanese Army Air Force used the Nakajima Ki-84 ''Hayate'' against it.
The P-51 was a relative latecomer to the Pacific theater, due largely to the need for the aircraft in Europe, although the P-38's twin-engined design was considered a safety advantage for long, over-water flights. The first P-51s were deployed in the Far East later in 1944, operating in close-support and escort missions, as well as tactical photoreconnaissance. As the war in Europe wound down, the P-51 became more common. With the capture of Iwo Jima, USAAF P-51 Mustang fighters of the VII Fighter Command were stationed on that island starting in March 1945, being initially tasked with escorting Boeing B-29 Superfortress
The Boeing B-29 Superfortress is a retired American four-engined propeller-driven heavy bomber, designed by Boeing and flown primarily by the United States during World War II and the Korean War. Named in allusion to its predecessor, the Bo ...
missions against the Japanese homeland.
The command's last major raid of May was a daylight incendiary attack on Yokohama on 29 May conducted by 517 B-29s escorted by 101 P-51s. This force was intercepted by 150 A6M Zero
The Mitsubishi A6M "Zero" is a long-range Carrier-based aircraft, carrier-capable fighter aircraft formerly manufactured by Mitsubishi Aircraft Company, a part of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. It was operated by the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) ...
fighters, sparking an intense air battle in which five B-29s were shot down and another 175 damaged. In return, the P-51 pilots claimed 26 "kills" and 23 "probables" for the loss of three fighters. The 454 B-29s that reached Yokohama struck the city's main business district and destroyed of buildings; over 1000 Japanese were killed.[Hoyt (1987), p. 398] Overall, the attacks in May destroyed of buildings, which was equivalent to one-seventh of Japan's total urban area. The minister of home affairs, Iwao Yamazaki, concluded after these raids that Japan's civil defense arrangements were "considered to be futile". On the first day of June, 521 B-29s escorted by 148 P-51s were dispatched in a daylight raid against Osaka. While en route to the city, the Mustangs flew through thick clouds, and 27 of the fighters were destroyed in collisions. Nevertheless, 458 heavy bombers and 27 P-51s reached the city, and the bombardment killed 3,960 Japanese and destroyed of buildings. On 5 June 473 B-29s struck Kobe by day and destroyed of buildings for the loss of 11 bombers. A force of 409 B-29s attacked Osaka again on 7 June; during this attack, of buildings were burnt out and the Americans did not suffer any losses. Osaka was bombed for the fourth time that month, on 15 June, when 444 B-29s destroyed of the city and another of nearby Amagasaki; 300,000 houses were destroyed in Osaka.[Hastings (2007), p. 336] This attack marked the end of the first phase of XXI Bomber Command's attack on Japan's cities. During May and June, the bombers had destroyed much of the country's six largest cities, killing between 112,000 and 126,762 people and rendering millions homeless. The widespread destruction and high number of casualties from these raids caused many Japanese to realize that their country's military was no longer able to defend the home islands. American losses were low compared to Japanese casualties; 136 B-29s were downed during the campaign. In Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya, Yokohama, Kobe, and Kawasaki, "over 126,762 people were killed ... and a million and a half dwellings and over of urban space were destroyed."[Miller (2001), p. 460] In Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, "the areas leveled (almost ) exceeded the areas destroyed in all German cities by both the American and British air forces (about )."
P-51s also conducted a series of independent ground-attack missions against targets in the home islands.[Russ (2001), p. 22] The first of these operations took place on 16 April, when 57 P-51s strafed Kanoya Air Field in Kyushu. In operations conducted between 26 April and 22 June, the American fighter pilots claimed the destruction of 64 Japanese aircraft and damage to another 180 on the ground, as well as a further 10 shot down in flight; these claims were lower than the American planners had expected, however, and the raids were considered unsuccessful. USAAF losses were 11 P-51s to enemy action and seven to other causes.
Due to the lack of Japanese air opposition to the American bomber raids, VII Fighter Command was solely tasked with ground-attack missions from July. These raids were frequently made against airfields to destroy aircraft being held in reserve to attack the expected Allied invasion fleet. While the P-51 pilots only occasionally encountered Japanese fighters in the air, the airfields were protected by antiaircraft batteries and barrage balloon
A barrage balloon is a type of airborne barrage, a large uncrewed tethered balloon used to defend ground targets against aircraft attack, by raising aloft steel cables which pose a severe risk of collision with hostile aircraft, making the atta ...
s.[Russ (2001), p. 24] By the end of the war, VII Fighter Command had conducted 51 ground-attack raids, of which 41 were considered successful. The fighter pilots claimed to have destroyed or damaged 1,062 aircraft and 254 ships, along with large numbers of buildings and railway rolling stock. American losses were 91 pilots killed and 157 Mustangs destroyed.[Russ (2001), p. 25]
Medal of Honor recipients
Two P-51 pilots received the Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest Awards and decorations of the United States Armed Forces, military decoration and is awarded to recognize American United States Army, soldiers, United States Navy, sailors, Un ...
during World War II:
*USAAF Lt Col. James H. Howard of the 356th Fighter Squadron, 354th Fighter Group was awarded the Medal of Honor for his action during a bomber escort mission near Oschersleben, Germany on 11 January 1944, flying P-51B, serial number nicknamed "Ding Hao". Despite being outnumbered, Howard shot down three German planes and continued to defend the bombers even when his guns went out of action and fuel supply became dangerously low.
*USAAF Maj. William A. Shomo of the 82nd Reconnaissance Squadron, 71st Reconnaissance Group was awarded the Medal of Honor for his action during a mission over Luzon, Philippines on 11 January 1945, flying an F-6D, the armed photo reconnaissance variant of the P-51, serial number nicknamed "Snooks the 5th". On that mission, Shomo shot down seven Japanese planes and became an " ace in a day".
Pilot observations
Chief Naval Test Pilot and C.O. Captured Enemy Aircraft Flight Capt. Eric Brown, RN, tested the Mustang at RAE Farnborough in March 1944 and noted:
The US Air Forces, Flight Test Engineering, assessed the Mustang B on 24 April 1944 thus:
Kurt Bühligen, the third-highest scoring German fighter pilot of World War II's Western Front (with 112 confirmed victories, three against Mustangs), later stated:
German fighter ace Heinz Bär said that the P-51:
After World War II
In the aftermath of World War II, the USAAF consolidated much of its wartime combat force and selected the P-51 as a "standard" piston-engined fighter, while other types, such as the P-38 and P-47, were withdrawn or given substantially reduced roles. As the more advanced ( P-80 and P-84) jet fighters were introduced, the P-51 was also relegated to secondary duties.
In 1947, the newly formed USAF
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Air force, air service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is one of the six United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Tracing its ori ...
Strategic Air Command
Strategic Air Command (SAC) was a United States Department of Defense Specified Command and a United States Air Force (USAF) Major Command responsible for command and control of the strategic bomber and intercontinental ballistic missile compon ...
employed Mustangs alongside F-6 Mustangs and F-82 Twin Mustangs, due to their range capabilities. In 1948, the designation P-51 (P for pursuit) was changed to ''F-51'' (''F'' for fighter) and the existing ''F'' designator for photographic reconnaissance aircraft was dropped because of a new designation scheme throughout the USAF. Aircraft still in service in the USAF or Air National Guard
The Air National Guard (ANG), also known as the Air Guard, is a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Air Force, as well as the air militia (United States), militia of each U.S. ...
(ANG) when the system was changed included: ''F-51B'', ''F-51D'', ''F-51K'', ''RF-51D'' (formerly ''F-6D''), ''RF-51K'' (formerly ''F-6K'') and ''TRF-51D'' (two-seat trainer conversions of F-6Ds). They remained in service from 1946 through 1951. By 1950, although Mustangs continued in service with the USAF after the war, the majority of the USAF's Mustangs had become surplus to requirements and placed in storage, while some were transferred to the Air Force Reserve
The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commis ...
and the ANG.
From the start of the Korean War
The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...
, the Mustang once again proved useful. A "substantial number" of stored or in-service F-51Ds were shipped, via aircraft carriers, to the combat zone, and were used by the USAF, the South African Air Force, and the Republic of Korea Air Force
The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF; ), also known as the ROK Air Force or South Korean Air Force, is the Air force, aerial and Space force, space warfare service branch of South Korea, operating under the Ministry of National Defense (South K ...
(ROKAF). The F-51 was used for ground attack, fitted with rockets and bombs, and photo reconnaissance, rather than being as interceptors or "pure" fighters, where it was already surpassed by early jets. After the first North Korean invasion, USAF units were forced to fly from bases in Japan and the F-51Ds, with their long range and endurance, could attack targets in Korea that short-ranged F-80 jets could not. Because of the vulnerable liquid cooling system, however, the F-51s sustained heavy losses to ground fire. Due to its lighter structure and a shortage of spare parts, the newer, faster F-51H was not used in Korea. On 5 August 1950, Major Louis J. Sebille of the 67th Fighter-Bomber Squadron attacked a North Korean armored column advancing on United Nations military units during the Battle of Pusan Perimeter. Though his aircraft was heavily damaged and he was wounded during the first pass on the column, he turned his F-51 around and deliberately crashed into the convoy at the cost of his life, and was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
Mustangs continued flying with USAF and ROKAF fighter-bomber units on close support and interdiction missions in Korea until 1953 when they were largely replaced as fighter-bombers by USAF F-84s and by United States Navy
The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
(USN) Grumman F9F Panthers. Other air forces and units using the Mustang included the Royal Australian Air Force
The Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) is the principal Air force, aerial warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Army. Constitutionally the Governor-Gener ...
's 77 Squadron, which flew Australian-built Mustangs as part of British Commonwealth Forces Korea. The Mustangs were replaced by Gloster Meteor F8s in 1951. The South African Air Force
The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the air warfare branch of South African National Defence Force, with its headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force saw service in World War II a ...
's 2 Squadron used US-built Mustangs as part of the US 18th Fighter Bomber Wing and had suffered heavy losses by 1953, after which 2 Squadron converted to the F-86 Sabre.
F-51s flew in the Air Force Reserve
The Air Force Reserve Command (AFRC) is a major command (MAJCOM) of the United States Air Force, with its headquarters at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia. It is the federal Air Reserve Component (ARC) of the U.S. Air Force, consisting of commis ...
and ANG throughout the 1950s. The last American USAF Mustang was F-51D-30-NA AF serial no. , which was finally withdrawn from service with the West Virginia Air National Guard's 167th Fighter Interceptor Squadron in January 1957 and retired to what was then called the Air Force Central Museum, although it was briefly reactivated to fly at the 50th anniversary of the Air Force Aerial Firepower Demonstration at the Air Proving Ground, Eglin AFB, Florida, on 6 May 1957. This aircraft, painted as P-51D-15-NA serial no. , is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force
The National Museum of the United States Air Force (formerly the United States Air Force Museum) is the official museum of the United States Air Force located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, northeast of Dayton, Ohio. The NMUSAF is ...
, Wright-Patterson AFB, in Dayton, Ohio
Dayton () is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the List of cities in Ohio, sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. The Dayton metro ...
.[Gunston, Bill. ''North American P-51 Mustang.'' New York: Gallery Books, 1990. .]
The final withdrawal of the Mustang from USAF dumped hundreds of P-51s onto the civilian market. The rights to the Mustang design were purchased from North American by the Cavalier Aircraft Corporation, which attempted to market the surplus Mustang aircraft in the US and overseas. In 1967 and again in 1972, the USAF procured batches of remanufactured Mustangs from Cavalier, most of them destined for air forces in South America and Asia that were participating in the Military Assistance Program (MAP). These aircraft were remanufactured from existing original F-51D airframes fitted with new V-1650-7 engines, a new radio, tall F-51H-type vertical tails, and a stronger wing that could carry six machine guns and a total of eight underwing hardpoints. Two bombs and six rockets could be carried. They all had an original F-51D-type canopy but carried a second seat for an observer behind the pilot. One additional Mustang was a two-seat, dual-control TF-51D (67-14866) with an enlarged canopy and only four wing guns. Although these remanufactured Mustangs were intended for sale to South American and Asian nations through the MAP, they were delivered to the USAF with full USAF markings. They were, however, allocated new serial numbers (, and ).
The last US military use of the F-51 was in 1968 when the US Army employed a vintage F-51D (44-72990) as a chase aircraft for the Lockheed YAH-56 Cheyenne armed helicopter project. This aircraft was so successful that the Army ordered two F-51Ds from Cavalier in 1968 for use at Fort Rucker as chase planes. They were assigned the serials and . These F-51s had wingtip fuel tanks and were unarmed. Following the end of the Cheyenne program, these two chase aircraft were used for other projects. One of them (68-15795) was fitted with a 106 mm recoilless rifle for evaluation of the weapon's value in attacking fortified ground targets. Cavalier Mustang 68-15796 survives at the Air Force Armament Museum, Eglin AFB, Florida, displayed indoors in World War II markings.
The F-51 was adopted by many foreign air forces and continued to be an effective fighter into the mid-1980s with smaller air arms. The last Mustang ever downed in battle occurred during Operation Power Pack in the Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
in 1965, with the last aircraft finally being retired by the Dominican Air Force in 1984.
Service with other air forces
After World War II, the P-51 Mustang served in the air arms of more than 25 nations. During the war, a Mustang cost about $51,000,[Knaack 1978] while many hundreds were sold postwar for the nominal price of one dollar to signatories of the Inter-American Treaty of Reciprocal Assistance, ratified in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro, or simply Rio, is the capital of the Rio de Janeiro (state), state of Rio de Janeiro. It is the List of cities in Brazil by population, second-most-populous city in Brazil (after São Paulo) and the Largest cities in the America ...
in 1947.[Munson 1969, p. 97.]
These countries used the P-51 Mustang:
;Australia
:In November 1944, 3 Squadron RAAF became the first Royal Australian Air Force unit to use Mustangs. At the time of its conversion from the P-40 to the Mustang, the squadron was based in Italy with the RAF's First Tactical Air Force.
:3 Squadron was renumbered 4 Squadron after returning to Australia from Italy, and converted to P-51Ds. Several other Australian or Pacific-based squadrons converted to either CAC-built Mustangs or to imported P-51Ks from July 1945, having been equipped with P-40s or Boomerangs for wartime service; these units were: 76, 77, 82, 83, 84 and 86 squadrons. Only 17 Mustangs reached the RAAF's First Tactical Air Force front-line squadrons by the time World War II ended in August 1945.
:76, 77 and 82 squadrons were formed into 81 Fighter Wing of the British Commonwealth Air Force, which was part of the British Commonwealth Occupation Force stationed in Japan from February 1946. 77 Squadron used its P-51s extensively during the first months of the Korean War, before converting to Gloster Meteor jets.
:Five reserve units from the Citizen Air Force also operated Mustangs. 21 "City of Melbourne" Squadron, based in the state of Victoria; 22 "City of Sydney" Squadron, based in New South Wales
New South Wales (commonly abbreviated as NSW) is a States and territories of Australia, state on the Eastern states of Australia, east coast of :Australia. It borders Queensland to the north, Victoria (state), Victoria to the south, and South ...
; 23 "City of Brisbane" Squadron, based in Queensland; 24 "City of Adelaide" Squadron, based in South Australia; and 25 "City of Perth" Squadron, based in Western Australia; all of these units were equipped with CAC Mustangs, rather than P-51D or Ks. The last Mustangs were retired from these units in 1960 when CAF units adopted a nonflying role.
;Bolivia
: Nine Cavalier F-51D (including the two TF-51s) were given to Bolivia, under a program called Peace Condor.
;Canada
:Canada had five squadrons equipped with Mustangs during World War II. RCAF 400
__NOTOC__
Year 400 (Roman numerals, CD) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar. In the Roman Empire, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Stilicho and Aurelianus (consul 400), Aurelianus (or, less frequently, year ...
, 414, and 430 squadrons flew Mustang Mk Is (1942–1944) and 441 and 442 squadrons flew Mustang Mk IIIs and IVAs in 1945. Postwar, a total of 150 Mustang P-51Ds were purchased and served in two regular ( 416 "Lynx" and 417 "City of Windsor") and six auxiliary fighter squadrons (402 "City of Winnipeg", 403 "City of Calgary", 420 "City of London", 424 "City of Hamilton", 442 "City of Vancouver" and 443 "City of New Westminster"). The Mustangs were declared obsolete in 1956, but special-duty versions served on into the early 1960s.
;Republic of China
: The Chinese Nationalist Air Force obtained the P-51 during the late Sino-Japanese War to fight against the Japanese. After the war, Chiang Kai-shek's Nationalist
Nationalism is an idea or movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, it presupposes the existence and tends to promote the interests of a particular nation,Anthony D. Smith, Smith, A ...
government used the planes against insurgent Communist forces. The Nationalists retreated to Taiwan
Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...
in 1949. Pilots supporting Chiang brought most of the Mustangs with them, where the aircraft became part of the island's defense arsenal.
;People's Republic of China
: The Communist Chinese captured 39 P-51s from the Nationalists while they were retreating to Taiwan.[Gunston 1990 p. 39.] In August 1949, the People's Liberation Army Air Force
The People's Liberation Army Air Force, also referred to as the Chinese Air Force () or the People's Air Force (), is the primary aerial warfare service of the People's Liberation Army. The PLAAF controls most of the PLA's air assets, includi ...
formed its first P-51 squadron at Beijing Nanyuan Airport and were tasked of the defending Beijing's airspace from Nationalist Air Force aircraft. On 1 October 1949, when Mao Zedong
Mao Zedong pronounced ; traditionally Romanization of Chinese, romanised as Mao Tse-tung. (26December 18939September 1976) was a Chinese politician, revolutionary, and political theorist who founded the People's Republic of China (PRC) in ...
proclaimed the founding of the People's Republic of China
The proclamation of the People's Republic of China was made by Mao Zedong, the Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP), on October 1, 1949, in Tiananmen Square in Beijing. The government of a n ...
, nine P-51s conducted a fly-past during the military parade in Beijing. By 1950, when Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
began supplying modern military equipment to China, surviving P-51s were relegated to PLAAF's aviation school and 13 P-51s were modified as two-seat trainers. By September 1953, most P-51s were retired from service and only eight P-51s remained in service to teach Ilyushin Il-10 pilots on how to taxi aircraft.[Oliver 2023.]
;Costa Rica
:The Costa Rican Air Force flew four P-51Ds from 1955 to 1964.
;Cuba
: In November 1958, three US-registered civilian P-51D Mustangs were illegally flown separately from Miami to Cuba, on delivery to the rebel forces of the 26th of July Movement, then headed by Fidel Castro
Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (13 August 1926 – 25 November 2016) was a Cuban politician and revolutionary who was the leader of Cuba from 1959 to 2008, serving as the prime minister of Cuba from 1959 to 1976 and President of Cuba, president ...
during the Cuban Revolution
The Cuban Revolution () was the military and political movement that overthrew the dictatorship of Fulgencio Batista, who had ruled Cuba from 1952 to 1959. The revolution began after the 1952 Cuban coup d'état, in which Batista overthrew ...
. One of the Mustangs was damaged during delivery and none of them were used operationally. After the success of the revolution in January 1959, with other rebel aircraft plus those of the existing Cuban government forces, they were adopted into the Fuerza Aérea Revolucionaria. Due to increasing US restrictions and lack of spares and maintenance experience, they never achieved operational status. At the time of the Bay of Pigs invasion
The Bay of Pigs Invasion (, sometimes called or after the Playa Girón) was a failed military landing operation on the southwestern coast of Cuba in April 1961 by the United States of America and the Cuban Democratic Revolutionary Front ...
, the two intact Mustangs were already effectively grounded at Campo Columbia and at Santiago. After the failed invasion, they were placed on display with other symbols of "revolutionary struggle" and one remains on display at the Museo del Aire.
;Dominican Republic
: The Dominican Republic
The Dominican Republic is a country located on the island of Hispaniola in the Greater Antilles of the Caribbean Sea in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. It shares a Maritime boundary, maritime border with Puerto Rico to the east and ...
was the largest Latin American air force to employ the P-51D, with six aircraft acquired in 1948, 44 ex-Swedish F-51Ds purchased in 1948, and a further Mustang obtained from an unknown source.[Gunston and Dorr 1995, p. 107.] It was the last nation to have any Mustangs in service, with some remaining in use as late as 1984. Nine of the final 10 aircraft were sold back to American collectors in 1988.
;El Salvador
: The Salvadoran Air Force (''Fuerza Aérea Salvadoreña'' or FAS) purchased five Cavalier Mustang IIs (and one dual-control Cavalier TF-51) that featured wingtip fuel tanks to increase combat range and up-rated Merlin engines. Seven P-51D Mustangs were also in service. They were used during the 1969 Football War against Honduras, the last time the P-51 was used in combat. One of them, FAS-404, was shot down by a Vought F4U-5 Corsair flown by Captain Fernando Soto in the last aerial combat between piston-engined fighters in the world.[Gunston and Dorr 1995, pp. 109–110.]
;France
: In late 1944, the first French unit began its transition to reconnaissance Mustangs. In January 1945, the Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron 2/33 of the French Air Force took their F-6Cs and F-6Ds over Germany on photographic mapping missions. The Mustangs remained in service until the early 1950s, when they were replaced by jet fighters.
;Germany
: Several P-51s were captured by the Luftwaffe as ''Beuteflugzeug'' ("captured aircraft") following crash landings. These aircraft were subsequently repaired and test-flown by the '' Zirkus Rosarius'', or ''Rosarius Staffel'', the official '' Erprobungskommando'' of the Luftwaffe High Command, for combat evaluation at Göttingen
Göttingen (, ; ; ) is a college town, university city in Lower Saxony, central Germany, the Capital (political), capital of Göttingen (district), the eponymous district. The River Leine runs through it. According to the 2022 German census, t ...
. The aircraft were repainted with German markings and bright yellow noses, tails, and bellies for identification. P-51B/P-51Cs – including examples marked with Luftwaffe ''Geschwaderkennung'' codes T9+CK, T9+FK, T9+HK, and T9+PK (with the "T9" prefix not known to be officially assigned to any existing Luftwaffe formation from their own records, outside of the photos of ''Zirkus Rosarius''–flown aircraft)—with a total of three captured P-51Ds were also flown by the unit. Some of these P-51s were found by Allied forces at the end of the war; others crashed during testing. The Mustang is also listed in the appendix to the novel ''KG 200'' as having been flown by the German secret operations unit KG 200, which tested, evaluated, and sometimes clandestinely operated captured enemy aircraft during World War II.
;Guatemala
: The Guatemalan Air Force had 30 P-51D Mustangs in service from 1954 to the early 1970s.
;Haiti
: Haiti had four P-51D Mustangs when President Paul Eugène Magloire was in power from 1950 to 1956, with the last retired in 1973–1974 and sold for spares to the Dominican Republic.[Gunston and Dorr 1995, p. 108.]
;Indonesia
: Indonesia acquired 26 P-51D/Ks from the departing Netherlands East Indies Air Force in 1949–1950 and later received 35 P-51Ds from the United States in 1960–1961. The Mustangs were used against numerous rebellions during the 1950s, such as the CIA-backed Permesta rebels in 1958–1961. During this period, the Mustang scored the first and (as of 2022) the only aerial victory of the Indonesian Air Force, when on 18 May 1958, a P-51D Mustang piloted by Capt. Ignatius Dewanto shot down a Permesta's Revolutionary Air Force B-26 Invader piloted by Allen Lawrence Pope near Ambon. They were also used against Commonwealth (RAF, RAAF, and RNZAF) forces during the Indonesia–Malaysia confrontation in the early 1960s. Indonesia received a shipment of five or seven Cavalier II Mustangs and one TF-51D (without tip tanks) delivered in 1972–1973 as part of "Peace Pony" program under the Mutual Defense Assistance Act. The last time Mustangs were deployed for military purposes was during the "Wibawa V" exercise at Mount Lawu, Magetan in February 1975. The Indonesian Mustangs were also used for filming '' Janur Kuning'', which was released in 1980. The Mustangs were replaced in 1976.
;Israel
: A few P-51 Mustangs were illegally bought by Israel in 1948, crated, and smuggled into the country as agricultural equipment for use in the 1947–1949 Palestine war, serving alongside upwards of 23 Avia S-199 fighters (Czech-built Messerschmitt Bf 109Gs) in Israeli service, with the Mustangs quickly establishing themselves as the best fighter in the Israeli inventory. Further aircraft were bought from Sweden and were replaced by jets at the end of the 1950s, but not before the type was used in the Suez Crisis
The Suez Crisis, also known as the Second Arab–Israeli War, the Tripartite Aggression in the Arab world and the Sinai War in Israel, was a British–French–Israeli invasion of Egypt in 1956. Israel invaded on 29 October, having done so w ...
, at the opening of Operation Kadesh. In conjunction with a surprise parachute drop at the Mitla Pass, four P-51s were specially detailed to cut telephone and telegraph wires using their wings in extreme low level runs, which resulted in major interruptions to Egyptian communications.
;Italy
: Italy was a postwar operator of P-51Ds; deliveries were slowed by the Korean War, but between September 1947 and January 1951, by MDAP count, 173 examples were delivered. They were used in all the AMI fighter units: 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 51 ''Stormo'' (wing), plus some employed in schools and experimental units. Considered a "glamorous" fighter, P-51s were even used as personal aircraft by several Italian commanders. Some restrictions were placed on its use due to unfavorable flying characteristics. Handling had to be done with much care when fuel tanks were fully used, and several aerobatic maneuvers were forbidden. Overall, the P-51D was highly rated even compared to the other primary postwar fighter in Italian service, the Supermarine Spitfire, partly because these P-51Ds were in very good condition in contrast to all other Allied fighters supplied to Italy. Phasing out of the Mustang began in mid-1958.
;Japan
: The P-51C-11-NT ''Evalina'', marked as "278" (former USAAF serial: ) and flown by 26th FS, 51st FG, was hit by gunfire on 16 January 1945 and belly-landed on Suchon Airfield in China, which was held by the Japanese. The Japanese repaired the aircraft, roughly applied Hinomaru roundels and flew the aircraft to the Fussa evaluation center (now Yokota Air Base) in Japan.
;Netherlands
: The Royal Netherlands East Indies Army Air Force received 40 P-51Ds and flew them in the course of the Indonesian National Revolution
The Indonesian National Revolution (), also known as the Indonesian War of Independence (, ), was an armed conflict and diplomatic struggle between the Republic of Indonesia and the Dutch Empire and an internal social revolution during A ...
, particularly during the two Dutch police actions: Operation Product in 1947 and Operation Kraai in 1948–1949.[Kahin 2003, p. 90.] When the conflict was over, Indonesia received 26 of these Mustangs.
;New Zealand
:New Zealand ordered 370 P-51 Mustangs to supplement its F4U Corsairs in the Pacific Ocean Areas theater. Scheduled deliveries were for an initial batch of 30 P-51Ds, followed by 137 more P-51Ds and 203 P-51Ms.[Wilson 2010, p. 42.] The original 30 were being shipped as the war ended in August 1945; these were stored in their packing cases, and the order for the additional Mustangs was canceled. In 1951, the stored Mustangs entered service in 1 (Auckland), 2 (Wellington), 3 (Canterbury), and 4 (Otago) squadrons of the Territorial Air Force (TAF). The Mustangs remained in service until they were prematurely retired in August 1955 following a series of problems with undercarriage and coolant-system corrosion problems. Four Mustangs served on as target tugs until the TAF was disbanded in 1957. RNZAF pilots in the Royal Air Force also flew the P-51 and at least one New Zealand pilot scored victories over Europe while on loan to a USAAF P-51 squadron.
;Nicaragua
: The Nicaraguan National Guard purchased 26 P-51D Mustangs from Sweden in 1954 and later received 30 P-51D Mustangs from the US together with two TF-51 models from MAP after 1954. All aircraft of this type were retired from service by 1964.
;Philippines
:The Philippines acquired 103 P-51D Mustangs after World War II, operated by the 6th "Cobras", 7th "Bulldogs" and 8th "Scorpions" tactical fighter squadrons of the 5th Fighter Wing. These became the backbone of the postwar Philippine Army Air Corps and Philippine Air Force, and were used extensively during the Huk campaign, fighting against communist insurgents, as well as the suppression of Moro rebels led by Hadji Kamlon in southern Philippines until 1955. The Mustangs were also the first aircraft of the Philippine air demonstration team, which was formed in 1953 and given the name the "Blue Diamonds" the following year. The Mustangs were replaced by 56 F-86 Sabres in the late 1950s, but some were still in service for COIN roles up to the early 1980s.
;Poland
:During World War II, five Polish Air Force in Great Britain squadrons used Mustangs. The first Polish unit equipped (7 June 1942) with Mustang Mk Is was "B" Flight of 309 "''Ziemi Czerwieńskiej''" Squadron (an Army Co-Operation Command unit), followed by "A" Flight in March 1943. Subsequently, 309 Squadron was redesignated a fighter/reconnaissance unit and became part of Fighter Command. On 13 March 1944, 316 "''Warszawski''" Squadron received their first Mustang Mk IIIs; rearming of the unit was completed by the end of April. By 26 March 1944, 306 "''Toruński''" Sqn and 315 "''Dębliński''" Sqn received Mustangs Mk IIIs (the whole operation took 12 days). On 20 October 1944, Mustang Mk Is in 309 Squadron were replaced by Mk IIIs. On 11 December 1944, the unit was again renamed, becoming 309 ''Dywizjon Myśliwski'' "''Ziemi Czerwieńskiej''" or 309 "Land of Czerwien" Polish Fighter Squadron. In 1945, 303 "''Kościuszko''" Sqn received 20 Mustangs Mk IV/Mk IVA replacements. Postwar, between 6 December 1946 and 6 January 1947, all five Polish squadrons equipped with Mustangs were disbanded. Poland returned about 80 Mustang Mk IIIs and 20 Mustangs Mk IV/IVAs to the RAF, which transferred them to the US government.
;Somalia
: The Somalian Air Force operated eight P-51Ds in post-World War II service.
;South Africa
:No.5 Squadron South African Air Force
The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the air warfare branch of South African National Defence Force, with its headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force saw service in World War II a ...
operated Mustang Mk IIIs (P-51B/C) and Mk IVs (P-51D/K) in Italy during World War II, beginning in September 1944, when the squadron converted to the Mustang Mk III from Kittyhawks. The Mk IV and Mk IVA came into SA service in March 1945. These aircraft were generally camouflaged in the British style, having been drawn from RAF stocks; all carried RAF serial numbers and were struck off charge and scrapped in October 1945. In 1950, 2 Squadron SAAF was supplied with F-51D Mustangs by the United States for Korean War service. The type performed well in South African hands before being replaced by the F-86 Sabre in 1952 and 1953.
;South Korea
:Within a month of the outbreak of the Korean War, 10 F-51D Mustangs were provided to the badly depleted Republic of Korea Air Force
The Republic of Korea Air Force (ROKAF; ), also known as the ROK Air Force or South Korean Air Force, is the Air force, aerial and Space force, space warfare service branch of South Korea, operating under the Ministry of National Defense (South K ...
as a part of the Bout One Project. They were flown by both South Korean airmen, several of whom were veterans of the Imperial Japanese Army and Navy air services during World War II, as well as by US advisers led by Major Dean Hess. Later, more were provided both from US and from South African stocks, as the latter were converting to F-86 Sabres. They formed the backbone of the South Korean Air Force until they were replaced by Sabres.
:It also served with the ROKAF Black Eagles aerobatic team, until retired in 1954.
;Sweden
:Sweden's '' Flygvapnet'' first recuperated four of the P-51s (two P-51Bs and two early P-51Ds) that had been diverted to Sweden during missions over Europe. In February 1945, Sweden purchased 50 P-51Ds designated J 26, which were delivered by American pilots in April and assigned to the Uppland Wing (F 16) at Uppsala
Uppsala ( ; ; archaically spelled ''Upsala'') is the capital of Uppsala County and the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, fourth-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm, Gothenburg, and Malmö. It had 177,074 inhabitants in 2019.
Loc ...
as interceptors. In early 1946, the Jämtland Wing (F 4) at Östersund
Östersund (; ) is an Urban areas in Sweden, urban area (Stad (Sweden), city) in Jämtland in northern Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth-larg ...
was equipped with a second batch of 90 P-51Ds. A final batch of 21 Mustangs was purchased in 1948. In all, 161 J 26s served in the Swedish Air Force during the late 1940s. About 12 were modified for photo reconnaissance and redesignated S 26. Some of these aircraft participated in the secret Swedish mapping of new Soviet military installations at the Baltic coast in 1946–47 (''Operation Falun''), an endeavor that entailed many intentional violations of Soviet airspace. However, the Mustang could outdive any Soviet fighter of that era, so no S 26s were lost in these missions. The J 26s were replaced by De Havilland Vampire
The de Havilland DH100 Vampire is a British jet fighter which was developed and manufactured by the de Havilland, de Havilland Aircraft Company. It was the second jet fighter to be operated by the Royal Air Force, RAF, after the Gloster Meteo ...
s around 1950. The S 26s were replaced by S 29Cs in the early 1950s.
;Switzerland
:The Swiss Air Force operated a few USAAF P-51s that had been impounded by Swiss authorities during World War II after the pilots were forced to land in neutral Switzerland. After the war, Switzerland also bought 130 P-51s for $4,000 each. They served until 1958.
;Soviet Union
: The Soviet Union received at least 10 early-model ex-RAF Mustang Mk Is and tested them, but found them to "under-perform" compared to contemporary USSR fighters, relegating them to training units. Later Lend-Lease deliveries of the P-51B/C and D series, along with other Mustangs abandoned in Russia after the famous "shuttle missions", were repaired and used by the Soviet Air Force, but not in front-line service.
;Uruguay
: The Uruguayan Air Force used 25 P-51D Mustangs from 1950 to 1960; some were subsequently sold to Bolivia.
P-51s and civil aviation
Many P-51s were sold as surplus after the war, often for as little as $1,500. Some were sold to former wartime fliers or other aficionados for personal use, while others were modified for air racing.[Kyburz, Martin]
"Racing Mustangs."
''Swiss Mustangs,'' 2009. Retrieved: 17 January 2012.
One of the most significant Mustangs involved in air racing was serial number , a surplus P-51C-10-NT purchased by film stunt pilot Paul Mantz. He modified the wings, sealing them to create a giant fuel tank in each one; these "wet wings" reduced the need for fuel stops or drag-inducing drop tanks. Named ''Blaze of Noon'' after the film '' Blaze of Noon'', the aircraft won the 1946 and 1947 Bendix Air Races, took second in the 1948 Bendix, and placed third in the 1949 Bendix. Mantz also set a US coast-to-coast record in 1947. He sold the Mustang to Charles F. Blair Jr (future husband of Maureen O'Hara), who renamed it ''Excalibur III'' and used it to set a New York-to-London (about ) record in 1951: 7 hr 48 min from takeoff at Idlewild to overhead London Airport. Later that year, Blair flew from Norway to Fairbanks, Alaska, via the North Pole (about ), proving that navigation via sun sights was possible over the magnetic North Pole region. For this feat, he was awarded the Harmon Trophy and the Air Force was forced to change its thoughts on a possible Soviet air strike from the north. This Mustang now sits in the National Air and Space Museum
The National Air and Space Museum (NASM) of the Smithsonian Institution is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States, dedicated to history of aviation, human flight and space exploration.
Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, ...
's Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center.
In 1958, the RCAF retired its 78 remaining Mustangs. RCAF pilot Lynn Garrison
Lynn Garrison (born April 1, 1937) is a Canadian pilot and political adviser. He was a Royal Canadian Air Force fighter pilot in the 403 Helicopter Operational Training Squadron, 403 City of Calgary Squadron, before holding jobs as a Commercial ...
ferried them from their various storage locations to Canastota, New York, where the American buyers were based. Garrison flew each of the surviving aircraft at least once. These aircraft make up a large percentage of the aircraft presently flying worldwide.
The most prominent firm to convert Mustangs to civilian use was Trans-Florida Aviation, later renamed Cavalier Aircraft Corporation, which produced the Cavalier Mustang. Modifications included a taller tailfin and wingtip tanks. Conversions included a Cavalier Mustang specialty: a "tight" second seat added in the space formerly occupied by the military radio and fuselage fuel tank.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, when the United States Department of Defense
The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...
wished to supply aircraft to South American countries and later Indonesia for close air support and counterinsurgency
Counterinsurgency (COIN, or NATO spelling counter-insurgency) is "the totality of actions aimed at defeating irregular forces". The Oxford English Dictionary defines counterinsurgency as any "military or political action taken against the ac ...
, it paid Cavalier to return some of their civilian conversions back to updated military specifications.
In the 21st century, a P-51 can command a price of more than $1 million, even for only partially restored aircraft.["P-51s for Sale."](_blank)
''mustangsmustangs.net.'' Retrieved: 30 September 2010. There were 204 privately owned P-51s in the US on the FAA registry in 2011, most of which are still flying, often associated with organizations such as the Commemorative Air Force (formerly the Confederate Air Force).["Aircraft rides."](_blank)
''Dixie Wing.'' Retrieved: 1 September 2010.
In May 2013, Doug Matthews set an altitude record of in a P-51 named ''The Rebel'' for piston-powered aircraft weighing . Flying from a grass runway at Florida's Indiantown airport and over Lake Okeechobee, Matthews set world records for time to reach altitudes of , 18 minutes and , 31 minutes. He set a level-flight altitude record of in level flight and an absolute altitude record of , breaking the previous record of set in 1954.
Incidents
* On 9 June 1973, William Penn Patrick (43) a certified pilot and his passenger, Christian Hagert, died when Patrick's P-51 Mustang crashed in Lakeport, California.["The Crash at Farrell's Ice Cream Parlor in Sacramento, CA – September 24, 1972, Postscript."]
''Check Six'', 2002. Retrieved: 8 February 2014.
* On 1 July 1990 at the National Capital Air Show (Ottawa
Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...
, Ontario, Canada), Harry E. Tope was killed when his P-51 Mustang crashed.
* On 16 September 2011 '' The Galloping Ghost'', a modified P-51 piloted by Jimmy Leeward of Ocala, Florida, crashed during an air race in Reno, Nevada. Leeward and at least nine people on the ground were killed when the racer suddenly crashed near the edge of the grandstand.
Variants
Over 20 variants of the P-51 Mustang were produced from 1940 to after the war.
Production
Except for the small numbers assembled or produced in Australia, all Mustangs were built by North American initially at Inglewood, California
Inglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, United States, in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, the city had a population of 107,762. ...
, but then additionally in Dallas
Dallas () is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous metropolitan area in Texas and the Metropolitan statistical area, fourth-most ...
, Texas.
Accidents and incidents
Surviving aircraft
Specifications (P-51D Mustang)
Notable appearances in media
*''Red Tail Reborn'' (2007) is the story behind the restoration of a flying memorial aircraft.
Scale replicas
As indicative of the iconic nature of the P-51, manufacturers within the hobby industry have created scale plastic model kits of the P-51 Mustang, with varying degrees of detail and skill levels. The aircraft have also been the subject of numerous scale flying replicas. Aside from the popular model aircraft, several kitplane manufacturers offer , , and -scale replicas capable of comfortably seating one (or even two) and offering high performance combined with more forgiving flight characteristics. Such aircraft include the Titan T-51 Mustang, W.A.R. P-51 Mustang, Linn Mini Mustang, Jurca Gnatsum, Thunder Mustang, Stewart S-51D Mustang, Loehle 5151 Mustang and ScaleWings SW51 Mustang."P-51D Mustang Replica."
''SOS-Eisberg,'' 2012. Retrieved: 24 April 2012.
See also
Footnotes
References
Notes
Citations
Bibliography
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* Walker, Jeff. "Empire of the Sun." ''Air Classics'', Volume 24, Number 1, January 1988.
* White, Graham. ''Allied Aircraft Piston Engines of World War II.'' Warrendale, Pennsylvania: Society for Automotive Engineers, 1995. .
* Wilson, Stewart, ed. "Mustang Warbirds: Civil Registered Mustangs of Australia and New Zealand Then and Now." ''Warbirds of Australia and New Zealand 2010''. St Leonards, New South Wales, Australia: Chevron Publishing Group, 2010.
* Wixey, Ken. "Magnificent Mustang: A Production History of the North American P-51." ''
Air Enthusiast,'' Issue 95, September/October 2001.
* Yenne, Bill: ''Rockwell: The Heritage of North American.'' New York: Crescent Books, 1989. .
*
External links
"A Fighter From the Ground Up." ''Popular Science'', July 1943, one of earliest detailed articles on P-51A
"Wild Horses of the Sky," ''Popular Mechanics'', November 1943
*
ttp://www.wwiiaircraftperformance.org/mustang/mustang-I.html Allison-powered Mustang performance test reports; 1940, 1942, 1943, 1944
P-51B Mustang performance test report, May 1943
NACA-WR-L-566 "Flying qualities and stalling characteristics of North American XP-51 airplane", April 1943. (PDF)North American P-51 profile, photos and technical details for each mk*
a 1942 ''Flight'' article
a 1942 ''Flight'' article
a 1942 ''Flight'' article
a 1944 ''Flight'' article
P-51 in Flight Over California (1942)Flight manual Mustang P-51A�
The Museum of Flight Digital CollectionsPilot training manual for the Mustang P-51�
The Museum of Flight Digital Collections
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1940s United States fighter aircraft
P-51 Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter aircraft, fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by a team headed ...
Single-engined tractor aircraft
Low-wing aircraft
Aircraft first flown in 1940
Aircraft with retractable conventional landing gear
Single-engined piston aircraft