by Robert Bertram

Created on: November 12, 2009   Last Updated: November 15, 2009

The p51 Mustang was not ever intended to be the best American fighter of World War two and its development was a very happy accident. Before and during the Battle of Britain, the RAF were having trouble keeping up with aircraft manufacture and they even had to change the requirement they had imposed on themselves where no wooden parts could be used in aircraft.

Using wood and canvas allowed furniture manufacturers to build aircraft such as the Hawker Hurricane. But even this was not enough to keep up with losses. About this time Britain was buying p40 Warhawks from Curtis and they called them Kittyhawks and the RAF needed more .

So they came to the United States and met with officials of Curtis aircraft and were told that Curtis was unable to produce the quantities desired so the British envoys sought and received permission to have the aircraft built under license. The next stop was a small aircraft manufacturer named North American Aviation. The management there said that they could build the p40, however they said they could build a better aircraft of a newer design in the same time that it would take them to ramp up for p40 production.

Using the same engine as the p40, the prototype was built in only four months and the first flight was in October of 1940. The wing design was a totally new laminar flow design and the plane flew very well at lower altitudes, but its biggest drawback was the underpowered Allison engine. The USAAF took little notice of this aircraft and only ordered a few for testing purposes. After determining the aircraft made a good ground attack platform they ordered it as a dive bomber, the a36 Apache.

Then some genius in Britain decided to place a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine from a supermarine spitfire into the airframe and a legend was born. This new combination could out fly anything in the sky at the time and had no real competition until the Germans came up with the Messerschmitt me 262 jet fighter near the end of the war.

The p51 even in its earliest form had great speed, range and maneuverability and in the hands of skilled pilots became a terror to German pilots. The vast majority of p51's flew in Europe as the Pacific war was one that required aircraft more suited to naval operations.

However the p51 was one of the few aircraft to still be able to serve after World War two was over and it saw action in Korea as a ground attack aircraft. But the age of the jet fighter had arrived and its glory days were behind it. Now Mustangs are still seen from time to time at air shows and fly ins and they are still in my opinion one of the most beautiful aircraft ever made.

Learn more about this author, Robert Bertram.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.