North American

1
Mustang
North American
us an
Ken Delve
Kev Darling
Kev Darling
Martin W. Bowman
te ePa
Jerry utt
Barry Jone
K v arling
Martin W. B wman
P t r . mith
K v Darling
Barry Jone
ott Thompson
Martin W. Bowman
Ron Ma kay
Martin W. Bowman
Jerry cutts
teve Pace
David Baker
Ray anger
Peter . mith
Kev Darling
Malcolm Hill
Barry Jones
Other titles in th rowood Aviation erie
Avro Lancaster
Avro Vulcan
Blackburn Buccaneer
Boeing 747
Boeing B-29 uperforrre s
Bristol Beaufighter
Briti h Experimental Turbojet Aircraft
Concorde
Con olidated B-24 Liberator
Curtiss B2 Helldiver
De Havilland omet
De Havilland Twin-Boom Fighters
Douglas Havoc and Bo ton
English Electric Lightning
Heinkel HIll
Lockheed F-104 tarfight r
Lockheed P-38 Lightning
Lockheed R-71 Bla kbird
Messerschmitt Me 262
Nieuport Aircraft of World War One
Petlyakov Pe-2 Peshka
upermarine eafire
Vicker Vi count and Vanguard
V-Bomber
Malcolm V. Lowe
~ C I
The Crowood Press
Mustang Specifications
Mustang Production
RAF Mustangs
Mustangs in Europe
Air National Guard Mustangs
Firsr published in 2009 by
The Crowood Press Lrd
Ramsbury, Marlborough
Wilrshire SN8 2HR
www.crowood.com
Malcolm V. Lowe 2009
All righrs reserved. No parr of rhis publicarion
may be reproduced or rransmirred in any form or
by any means, elecrronic or mechanical, including
phorocopy, recording, or any informarion srorage
and retrieval sysrem, wirhour permission in wriring
from rhe publishers.
Brirish Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Dara
A caralogue record for rhis book is available from
rhe Brirish Library.
ISBN 978 1 861268303
Typeser by Servis Filmserring Lrd, Srockporr, Cheshire
Prinred and bound in India by Replika Press
Contents
Introduction and Acknowledgements
Foreword
1 CREATING A LEGEND
2 FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL SUCCESS
3 THE FIRST AMERICAN MUSTANGS
4 DEVELOPMENT OF A THOROUGHBRED
5 LONG-RANGE ESCORT
6 FAR EAST BATTLEGROUND
7 POST-WAR SERVICE AND LIGHTWEIGHTS
8 TWINS, CAVALIERS AND ENFORCERS
9 RETURN TO THE FRONT LINE
10 BUILDING THE MUSTANG
11 EXPORT AND FOREIGN-OPERATED MUSTANGS
12 AIR RACERS, WARBIRDS AND NEW PRODUCTION
Appendix I
Appendix II
Appendix III
Appendix IV
Appendix V
Abbreviations
Further Reading
Selected Websites
Index
5
6
9
11
30
52
69
85
133
149
166
185
198
215
243
254
256
259
261
263
265
267
268
269
Introduction and AcknowledgeDlents
Introduction
Few warplanes can have had uch a sig-
nificant impact in warfare, or gained uch
enduring popularity, as North American
Aviation' beautiful P-51 Mustang.
Created as a private-venture project by
a company that was not officially rec-
ognized in its own country as worthy of
designing fightcr aircraft, the Mu tang
grew out of Britain' overwhelming need
for large quantities of modern high-per-
formance fighters in the early stages of the
Second World War. It was not, as incor-
rectly claimed by many published source,
the product of a Briti h requirement or
specification. Rather, it was one of the
very few succes ful warplane in hi tory
that was conceived without an official
specification ever being raised before its
creation. Indeed, it was born as the result
of amicable and unofficial negotiations
between North American's company offi-
cials and Briti h government representa-
tives in the U A. The end result was one
of history's great aircraft, which became a
vital element of the growing and eventu-
ally overwhelming Allied aerial domina-
tion as the Second World War drew to its
ultimately successful conclusion.
The first Mu tang was completed in a
very short time, less than 120 day, and
it proved to have a performance better
than most, if not all, of its European
counterparts of the time, flying faster and
carrying more fuel. It has passed into the
popular mythology of World War Two
that Reichsmarschall Hermann Goring,
the chief of Nazi Germany's Luftwaffe,
claimed that when he saw Mustangs oper-
ating freely over Berlin he knew that the
war was lost for Germany. Yet there are
a number of myths and half-truths about
the Mustang that have grown to become
establ ished 'facts'. Perhaps one of the
most obvious is the virtual writing-off
by many historians of the early, Allison-
engined Mustangs. Certainly it is true
that the Mustang changed from being
a workhorse into a thoroughbred when
the superlative, British-designed Rolls-
Royce Merlin engine was mated during
1942 to the basic Mustang airframe. In its
initial production versions the Mu tang
was powered by the successful if unspec-
tacular Allison V-I 710 piston engine,
intended for low- to medium-level oper-
ations. With this engine installed the
Mustang began life as a workhorse at low
to medium levels, and at altitudes bel w
15,000ft (4,600m) it became a depend-
able if unspectacular (and perhaps more
importantly, unsung) warplane that wa
nevertheless much appreciated by many
of its pilots and ground crew. Alii on-
ngined Mu tangs went into operational
service with Britain's Royal Air Force
(RAF) in 1942, a full year before the
USAAF ever used the type in combat.
The RAF succe fully flew the Allison
Mustang operationally, albeit in dwin-
dling numbers, right up to the end of the
war in Europe in May 1945. The Allison
Mustang was an excellent warplane in
its own right, and deserves much more
fanfare than it has ever received.
There are also myths about how long
it took orth American to design and
build the first Mustang, whose idea it
was originally to mate the Merlin engine
with the Mu tang airframe, and so on.
Perhaps one of the great injustice done
to the Mustang over the year is the
spreading of the extraordinary myth that
the Mustang's design was based on that
of the antiquated Curtiss P-40, or even,
quite unbelievably, that the Mustang was
a derivative of Germany' Messerschmitt
Bf 109. Many of the e points are explored
in the coming pages, but one statement
that cannot be disputed concerning the
Mustang is the kill, determination and
courage of tho e who took thi superb
aircraft into battle, and the quiet behind-
the-scenes profe ionali m of those who
worked on the aircraft and prepared them
for combat, often in the most appalling
conditions 'in the field'. This applied to
both the Allison- and Merlin-powered
Mustang, but without doubt the mating
6
of the excellent Merlin with the basic
Mustang airfram created a warplane of
extraordinary capability and perform-
ance that literally b ame a ignificant,
ome would say vital, tool in the Allied
ar enal a World War Two wor on. Yet
it i int re ting to note that originally the
Mustang's own 'local' arm d for es in the
U A had little or no intere t in the type.
This delayed the Mu tang's introduction
into service with AAF front-line units
by at least a year, if n t longer. Once
the aircraft wa finally in ombat use
with the U AAF during 1943 it did not
take American pilot long to realize the
Mustang's xcellent capabilities, which
must have led many of them to wonder
why the RAF had already operat d the
Allison-engined Mustang for a whole year
before the U force took the type into
combat. ome of the i u relating to that
delay are explored in thi book, but it i
part of a debate that will no doubt con-
tinue for many years into the future.
This book end avours briefly to tell thc
Mu tang's story, in addition to touching
on ome of the 'myths' about the type,
while exploring technical and operational
a pects that are often overlooked in other
published source. Some publi ations in
the past have followed each other' lead
on some of the establi hed 'fact' about
the Mustang, which have passed into the
aircraft's mythology while in truth not
being corr ct in the first place. The myth
of the 'British 120 days r quirement' for
the creation of the Mu tang prototype,
often repeated in publi hed ources, falls
into this category, as doe so-called'infor-
mation' on foreign-operated Mustangs. It
is amazing, for example, to see how many
published sources follow each other in
claiming that the Italian armed forces
operated forty-eight Mu tangs after the
econd World War, when the reality, as
explained in this book, is that th Italians
operated approximately 173 Mu tangs at
one time or another! It is therefore hoped
that thi book represents the most up-to-
date, genuine research on the Mustang,
hased on the study of original documen-
tation and the thorough investigation of
dcdicated individual noted below.
Acknowledgements
As ever, it is a pleasant exercise to
acknowledge friend and colleagues
whose as istance and advice have made
such an invaluable contribution towards
the piecing together of much of the infor-
mation and photographic content of this
hook. A number of specialist in th ir
particular field were especially helpful,
mcluding Richard L. Ward, Jerry cutts,
Chris Ellis and Mark Rolfe. Dick Ward
was particularly supportive in pointing
my ever-growing number of enquiries in
the right directions, and in his great
assi tance with photographs and illustra-
tions. Considerable help was Similarly
rendered by John Batchelor, with infor-
mation, photographs and sources.
A very special word of thanks is due to
Jcrry Day of Oklahoma City in the A.
Jerry and his team look after the famous
racing Mustang Miss America on behalf of
Dr Brent Hisey, and I particularly express
thanks to Jerry, Dr Hisey and the whole
Miss America team for their invaluable
help, not just with background material
on racing Mustangs, but also on many of
the technical aspect of the Mustang and
its operation. Jerry Day was additionally
of great help with checking Mustang facts
and figures in my text.
From among my 'local' circle of aero-
nautical colleagues, special mention
must go to Tony Blake, Tony Brown,
Dave Clark-Wheeler, Ian laxton, Pete
Clifford, Derek Foley, John eale, Jim
mith,Andy weetand lifford Williams.
Particularly helpful was an expert local
to me on many aspects of the United
tates Army Air Corps (USAAC) and
USAAF, Gordon Stevens, who opened
his vast archive of -related informa-
tion and photograph specially for this
project. Several friends from elsewhere in
the UK were also involved w ~ assisting
this project, including Mick Gladwin of
www.airrecce.co.uk, and ick troud of
Aemplane MOllthly magazine, who also
liaised with former RAF Mustang pilot
Colin Downes on my behalf. Les Wells
of the IPMS-UK Eighth and Ninth Air
Force Special lntere t Group similarly
suppl ied excellent information and reF-
erences. pecial thanks must also go to
Richard Haigh, latterly of the Rolls-Royce
Heri tage Trust.
Help has come from all corners of the
globe in the form of information, photo-
graphs and background information on
the Mustang in its many guise and areas
of service. Particular individuals include
Graham Lovejoy in ew Zealand; recko
Bradic in erbia; Miroslav Khol and
Pavel Jicha in the Czech Republic; a
large number of American friends includ-
ing Bob Avery, cott Hegland and Jack
McKillop, together with Ron Kaplan of
the U ational Aviation Hall of Fame,
and ancy Parri h of the Wings Acro
America organi ation in remembrance of
women pilots in the USA during World
War Two; Jean-Jacques Petit in France;
Peter Walter, 'Misty', and colleague in
Germany; and my many friends in anada,
including William Ewing, Patrick Martin
and particularly R.W. (Bill) Walker, whose
knowledge of Royal anadian Air Force
(RCAF) Mustangs is encyclopaedic. Also
e pecially helpful in the latter country
was Ron Dupas, who assisted with many
lead and photographic sourc s through
his website www.l000aircraftphotos.com.
I am similarly indebted to Christopher C.
larke, whose father, Fit Lt Fred 'Freddie'
Clarke, was involved in th air battle
on 19 August 1942 near Dieppe, during
which Fg Off Hollis Hill of 414 Sqn,
RCAF, hot down the first enemy aircraft
ever credited to a Mustang.
I am indebted to everal historians
who maintain web site on the Internet
that are a valuable re ource of genuine
research and photography relating to the
history of the Mustang. In particular, my
Swiss friend Martin Kyburz made avail-
able to me his extensive knowledge of
wiss-operated Mustang, in addition to
the wealth of information that he has on
many other aspect of the Mustang's devel-
opment and service. Hi web ite www.
swissmustangs.ch is a fantastic resource
for Mu tang enthusiast and historians.
incere thanks mu t also go to Peter
Randall, whose xcellent web site www.
littlefriends.co.uk contains a goldmine of
d tailed information on US Eighth Army
Air Force fighter units and their aircraft
and pilots. Peter generously supplied pho-
tograph and much background informa-
tion on this fascinating subject.
A great deal of the reseal' h relating to
the creation of the Mustang wa under-
taken in the ational Archives at Kew,
London, and thanks go to thi body for
7
these excell nt facilities. This depository
holds a con iderable amount of documen-
tation concerning the British purchasing
effort in the U A from 1939 onward.
There ar many letters and other docu-
ments relating specifically to the birth
of the Mustang in the ar hive at Kew,
and the e also confirm the name of the
body that Britain e tabli hed in the A
in late 1939 to pelform the buying of
war material, the Briti h Purchasing
ommission.
A number of veterans' association
also provided great help and advice.
The e include the 339th Fight r Group
A sociation ( tephen C. Ananian), the
20th Fighter Wing Association (Arthur
E. evigny) and that of the 55th Fighter
Group (Russell Abbey). Unfortunately
some veterans' groups are not 0
willing to deal with Briti h hi torians, but
the aforementioned are excellent organi-
zations with a sense of the significant
history that they represent.
A special 'thank you' must be made
to apt Eric Brown, who contributed
the foreword for this book. Rightly on
of Britain' most renowned pilot of the
World War Two era, apt Brown has a
unique knowledge of the Mustang, having
te t-f1own examples of the aircraft at the
time. Along with the upermarine pitfire
and the Focke-Wulf Fw 1900-9, he con-
sidered the Mustang one of the top three
fighters of the econd World War.
ad to relate, during the writing of
this book three per onalitie pa ed away
who were each very much a part of th
Mustang story in their own particular
respects. All three were assisting with
this proj ct, which makes their pas ing
all the more regrettable. They were the
famous historian Roger A. Freeman,
whose writing on the U AAF in World
War Two is legendary; Paul Coggan, who
was the mo t knowledgeable resear her
on Mu tang restoration and the 'warbird'
cene relating to Mustangs; and Brig Gen
Robin Olds, Mustang fighter pilot from
the 479th Fighter Gr up and econd
World War and Vietnam War veteran.
All three are sadly missed.
The work of wri ti ng th is book took place
over more than three years, and during
that time considerable a istance wa ren-
dered with the checking of text and facts
by Lucy Maynard and by my father, Victor
Lowe, himselfan aviation historian oflong
tanding. imilarly deserving of thanks is
the staff of my publi her, The Crowood
Press, for their patience and very profe -
sional assistance during th preparation of
this book.
As always, constructive reader input
on this volume would be most welcome.
Comments, information, suggestions and
photographs can be communicated to the
author at 20, Edwina Ori ve, Poole, Dorset,
BH17 7JG, England.
Malcolm V. Lowe.
Poole, Oor et, June 2009.
Author's note
All prices in the text that are quoted
in dollars ($) refer to US dollars unle
INTRODUCTIO AND ACKNOWLEDGEME T
otherwise noted. The titles of US Army
Air Corps, US Army Air Force, and U
Air Force units are taken from the official
US government documents relating to
unit activations, nomenclature and dates
of service, as condensed in the official
reference books edited by Maurer Maurer
and referred to in the Further Reading
ection at the end of thi book. The
unit name quoted in this book therefore
sometimes differ from those given in some
published sources, but those quoted here
are absolutely correct as given in official
documents for the times and dates under
discussion.
The aerial scores achieved by fighter
'aces' of the U services are those given in
the book by Frank Olynyk (again quoted
8
in thi b ok' urth r Reading section),
which ar imil rly t k n from official
ource, n th in d viate in some
ca es from h m whc t more 'populist'
and less w II h k d information quoted
by some U writ r .
Where po ible, II pia n mes reflect
local spellings, but it i a kn wi dged that
some location have hang d th ir name
subsequent to th tim th t Mu tangs
were a sociat d with th m. Th re are also
limitation within th printin proce s for
the reproduction f om reign letters
and charact r. om pe ifi locations,
for example ox' Bazar in India, have
rejoiced with more than on pos ible
spelling (in this case, an alt rnative i
Cox's Bazaar).
By Captain E.M. 'Winkle' Brown CBE,
o C, AFC, MA, R
Former Commanding Officer, Aero-
dynamics Flight, RAE Farnborough
Mustang: a word evocative of a wild
creature with unbridled speed and power.
The aeroplane of that name was born
in California in 1940, having been con-
ceived by orth American Aviation and
fathered by a British necessity. In its
early life it showed great promise at low
altitude, but needed an engine transplant
and a considerable mak -over to convert
it into the magnificent Merlin-engined
laminar-flow-winged fighter it became,
Foreword
in time to provide effective escort for
the daylight bombers striking the Third
Reich.
I flight-tested virtually every Allied
and enemy fighter in World War Two,
and rated the Mustang later models in the
top three alongside the pitfire and the
Focke-Wulf Fw 1900-9. I certainly con-
sidered it the finest escort fighter of World
War Two. What distinguished the Merlin-
engined Mustang was its performance
in the transonic region of flight, which
enabled it to give effective high cover to
the high-flying B-17 Flying Fortresses.
Obviou Iy there is still a great deal of
interest in the P-51 Mustang, which is
even now flying in significant numbers at
9
air shows and competing in pylon racing.
It has therefore generated a number of
books, but not every a pect of its story has
been covered. The author f this book
has set out to fill in some of the gaps and
whet our appetite with a somewhat differ-
ent approach to the subject, which readers
should find much to their liking. 1was par-
ticularly delighted to find some data on
the Twin Mu tang as well, as this aircraft
has always intrigued me. That is the kind
of book it is. Enjoy it'
Captain E.M. Brown
West Sussex
August 2008
Historical Perspectives
It could all have been very different.
At several significant stages the whole
project that led to the Mu tang could
have been derailed or even ended alto-
gether. Indeed, were it not for individual
initiative, forward thinking, and at times
downright audacity, the Mu tang might
never have been created, or developed
into the excellent aircraft it became. To
put the story of the Mustang into his-
torical perspective from the outset, the
creation of this excellent aircraft had
many of it roots in developmel,ts that
trace back to the accession to power of
Adolf Hitler and the National ocialist
( azi) party in Germany during early
1933. The Nazi rise to power was fol-
lowed by an unprecedentcd period of
military expansion in Germany' armed
forces. A significant part of this was the
rapid growth in Germany's air force, the
Luftwaffe, a factor that had been forbid-
den in the peace ettlement at the nd
of the Fir t World War. The existence of
the new Luftwaffe wa publi Iy acknowl-
edged in Mar h 1935, and it cam a
a very unwelcome developm nt for
many neighbouring European countries.
Indeed, Germany's significant military
expansion, coupled with an increasingly
aggressive foreign policy that was pur ued
by the azi leader hip, led to a com-
pletely changed reality for the countrie
of Europe. The respon e of ome, par-
ticularly Britain and France, was to fool-
ishly indulge in the appea ement of the
Nazi leadership and its aims. Fortunately
th re were sufficicnt wise heads in both
Britain and France who realized that such
a policy had no chance of su s, and wa
in any case absolutely morally and mili-
tarily bankrupr. Reluctantly a policy of
rearmament wa commenced during the
1930 by a number of European countrie ,
but in most cases thi represented little
more than a case of catch-up with the
high quality (both in terms of numbers
and increasing capability) of rearmament
ers, the period from the mid to late 1930s
onward proved to be an age of unrivalled
opportunities, in which rapidly developing
and expanding military requirements and
massive production possibilities became
a reality after years of comparative stag-
nation of military orders in the post-Fir t
World War period. The potential existed
during that era for aviation companies to
grow out of all proportion to their pre-war
size, and with that growth came substan-
tial increa e in the numbers of people
employed in aviation-related activities,
and the development of a highly-skilled
and motivated workforce. That this came
about after the difficult times following
the economic crises of the late 1920s and
early 1930s was little short of a godsend for
the aviation bu iness. They were unprec-
edented times for the growth of aviation,
and out of the world crisis that took the
form of the econd World War many sig-
nificant aircraft types emerged. Some of
these have become legendary and rightly
hold a very special place in the hi tory
of military aviation. The Mustang is one
of those very special air raft, and it was
without doubt a significant contributor to
the final Allied victory in 1945.
The company symbol of North American Aviation.
Inc. NAA
Creating a Legend
CHAPTER 1
Many superlatives have been written
about orth American Aviation' P-51
Mustang. At the time of its greatest
moments in the latter stage of the econd
World War, and in the decades following
that time, it came to be regarded as a war-
plane virtually without equal. Celebrated
hy many, and with a war record that fcw
other combat aircraft of its own time
or ince have been able to match, the
Mustang tends to stand head and shoul-
der above many of it contemporarie,
and was undoubtedly on a par with the
vcry best of its breed. It wa an aircraft
that proved capable of effectively per-
forming a variety of roles, and in some
of these tasks it truly excelled. Mated
eventually with the equally admirable
British Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, the
Mustang evolved into probably the finest
escort fight I' of all time, and proved to be
a godsend to the very service that at first
had seen little use for it, the U AAF. It
wa a remarkable aircraft, and imilarly
It had an equally remarkable creation
and development, that in many respects
went completely against the trends and
customs of its time.
The Mustang became an indispensable
part of the Allied war effort as World War
Two progressed, in what was probably
the great st aerial struggle that the world
has ever seen. Military aviation played
a vital role in many diverse ways during
that immense conflicr. All of the major
combatants fielded significant numbers
of combat aircraft, and the indispen able
nature of military aviation was unques-
tionably e tablished by the war's end.
Warplane design and development, and
manufacture, moved forward in leaps and
bounds during the war, continuing the
trend of te hnological advances in aero-
dynamics, materials and powerplant tech-
nology that had arisen during the 193 s.
The Mustang in many ways represented
the pinnacle of piston-engined fighter
development, before thc jet-powered
combat aircraft took over forever.
For aircraft designers and manufactur-
- .----
-,
IO'-6"PROP. DIA.
1
;'
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----j-
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1---------------37'-fil SPAN
C
73
2
~ ~ r e =
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lOlllCLEARANCE
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1-----142"
This very early NAA drawing from the first half of 1940. showing a proposed NA-73 layout, illustrates major similarities with the aircraft that was eventually built
and some notable differences. Particularly noteworthy are the very streamlined cockpit cover; the neat installation of the Allison V-1710 inline engine. keeping
frontal area to a minimum; and the famous underfuselage air intake for the mid-fuselage radiator. NAA
11
that wa rapidly taking place in azi
Germany. The achievem nt of German
warplane and their skilled and highly-
motivated pilots during the panish Civil
War, which concluded successfully for
the Fascist powers in March 1939, ilIus-
trated how far German aerial capability
had come in such a hort space of time.
In Britain, the RAF embarked on an
'expansion scheme' that aw a significant
influx of more 'modern' combat aircraft
to replace the colourful but increasingly
outmoded biplanes that were in front-line
British service well into the 1930s. Britain
in fact had everal important advantages
over many other countrie , not least of
these being a pool of talented aircraft
designers who were not afraid to embrace
progress and new concept in aircraft
design and materials. This, coupled with
advances that had been made by partici-
pation and eventual overall succes in the
chneider Trophy contest from 1919
to 1931, helped put Britain among the
leaders in the field in everal key area of
aircraft design and powerplant technol-
ogy. ew ways of building aircraft were
al 0 coming to the forc during the 1930 .
Important among these was the increa -
ingly widespread adoption of all-metal,
stressed- kin construction in warplane
design and manufacture. Metal aircraft
were not new even at that time, the first
successful metal military monoplanes
having flown during World War One, but
in several countrie the all-metal mono-
plane fighter wa coming to the fore and
sweeping away the fabric-covered biplane
fighter for ver. Other advances, uch
as the adoption of retractable undercar-
riages and enclosed cockpits, were leading
to warplanes of increa ed capability that
little resembled the front-line types of
just a few year previously. Reginald J.
Mitchell's beautiful, iconic upermarine
pirfire and ydney Camm's rugged, pur-
po eful Hawker Hurrican (which admit-
tedly till retained fabric covering in its
construction) were the be t that the free
world had to offer in response to German
rearmament that included the highly
important Messerschmitt Bf 109 fighter.
Both the pitfire and the Hurricane were
powered by the Rolls-Royce Merlin inline
engine, later to have such a significant
impact on the tory of the Mu tang.
The probl m for Britain was that both
the pirfire and the Hurricane were not
necessarily going to be enough by them-
selves, particularly in terms of number,
to face the tide of a German aerial
assault against Britain and her allies. The
Hurricane first flew in November 1935,
and wa well establi hed in RAF front-
line service in September 1939 when the
Second World War began. The Spitfire
made its fir t flight in March 1936, and
began to enter front-line squadron service
with the RAF in the latter halfof 193 . By
that time the Luftwaffe' Bf 109 had b en
in service since 1937, and had proven it
worth in combat over pain from 1937
onward. Early models of the Bf 109 were
powered by the Junker Jumo 210 inline
piston engine, but just coming into wide-
spread Luftwaffe service in 1939 was the
Daimler Benz DB 601-powered Bf 109E,
the deadl ie t of the breed up to that point.
Britain, like all other European countri s,
was becoming acutely aware of her lack
of significant numbers of fighter aircraft
in depth that were capable of taking on
the Bf 109, and the growi ng array of other
high-performance Luftwaffe aircraft that
would be involved in any general conflict.
evertheless, ev n though Britain was
faced with the need to catch up, particu-
larly in terms of numbers of modern war-
planes, she was far b tter placed than any
other alii d country in Europe to take on
the Luftwaffe because of th RAF's growing
numbers of pitfires and Hurricanes. 0
other We tern European country could
boast anything like either the pitfire or
the Hurri ane in their inventorie , and
everal other key allies, such as France,
were struggling to bring modern de igns
to the fore after years of tagnation in offi-
cial specifications and long delays in the
creation of modern designs. The Munich
Agr ement of September 1938, which
ceded ignificant partsofone ofBritain and
France' all ies, Czechoslovakia, to azi
Germany was suppo ed to end Germany'
territorial ambitions. The German take-
over of the remainder of zechoslovakia
in March 1939 showed that Munich was
simply another debacle, and even Britain's
inept and weak government realized that
the game was up and the azi threat had
to be confronted.
Supplies from
the United States
In reality, however, a large expan ion in
Britain's armed forces, over and above
what was already being achieved, wa
likely to further overburden Britain'
12
re ource. notherourcc of war mate-
rial had to b found, to try and bridge
rapidly the num ri al and quality gap
that exi ted b tw en mu h of what the
Western allic had in rvi e compared
with th growing azi war machine. The
obvious and indeed the only substantial
potential out ide ourc wa the USA. A
number of Eur pean countrie , including
Britain, establi h d official purchasing
organization to vi it the A and work
along ide their exi ting diplomatic cover
to place order with American ompanie
to upply war mat rial as oon a po ible.
It must be tressed here that the shop-
ping list for these pur ha ing agencies did
not just include Fighter aircraft. Britain
was well behind by the later 1930s in
rearmament in just about every military
requirement, and combat aircraft of all
type, train r and second-line types, in
addition to other war material including
armoured fighting vehicle and warships,
were a top priority. The whole idea of
foreign delegation placing ord r with
American companies to supply war mare-
rial was, however, omething of a compli-
ated concept.
On the one hand, Ameri an indus-
try generally welcomed th considerable
financial opportunities that the e poten-
tial orders represented. On the other
hand, the U A did not officially consider
itself involved in what appeared as the
1930s wore on to be a European quab-
ble. Much is usually made of America's so-
called 'isolationism' during that p riod. In
fact the A's foreign policy was much
more complicat d than the often-quoted
'isolationist United States'. President
Franklin D. Roosevelt wa rather more
level-headed than some members of the
American ongress, and realized that the
U A could not tay aloof from the signifi-
cant problem that were developing in far-
away Europ , whether that would be in the
long-term intere t of the U A or nor. The
U A in effect had global int r ts even
at that time, with significant attention
being placed on the Panama anal Zone
in entral America and in the Eacific area
c ntred on Hawaii but also including th
Philippines, to name but two significant
areas of overseas concern. In reality the
American government tended to turn a
blind eye to many of the activities of the
foreign delegations that spent an increas-
ing amount of time in the late 1930
negotiating with some areas of American
industry, and often striking up very good
relation. evertheless, some American
companie were much les than willing to
deal with the foreign purchasing organiza-
tions, and there were certainly many in
the USA who were unhappy at Ameri a
being involved in any way with the devel-
oping problems in Europe at that time. It
was therefore somewhat fortunate that
the British purchasing representatives in
particular were able to develop excellent
working relationships with everal key
American armaments companies. It wa
here that the story of the Mustang began
to take shape.
One of the significant early purchases
of aircraft that was made by British repre-
sentatives was a major order for the North
American NA-16 trainer series. This
tandem two-seat training aircraft was an
early product of a comparatively new U
company, North American Aviation, Inc
( AA). Originally formed in 192 simply
as a holding company for other aviation
concerns, from 1934 NAA became a
designer manufacturer in its own right,
and had started with the considerable
weight of the General Motors organiza-
tion behind it. The company's manufac-
turing division had originally taken on th
factory pacc of the formcr Bf] Aircraft
Corporation and Gen ral Aviation
Manufa turing Corporation organization
at Dundalk, Maryland, which had been a
part of the grouping from which the new
AA emerged.
The first entirely original design from
the new company wa an open-cockpit,
tandem two-seat single-engine fixed-
undercarriage train r monoplane, built a
a private venture to meet a basic trainer
requirement for the U AAC. The pro-
Unfortunately, many of the world's great aviation com
panies have lacked longevity. Although a small number
from the pre-Second World War era survive today, few
remain in their original or nearoriginal form. One of
those that has not survived to the present is, regrettably,
the dynamic company that created the P-51 Mustang,
although its lineage can be traced, albeit tenuously, to
one of today's aviation giants.
North American Aviation, Inc. existed as a major
aircraft producer for only just over three decades, but
in that time it gave birth to some of aviation's classic
aircraft. To understand the creation of this significant
company it is almost as important to comprehend the
workings of American corporate big business as it is
to have a knowledge of US aviation history in general
during the period between the two world wars. Aviation
totype Wright R-975 engined A-16,
registration X-20 0, first flew on I April
1935. Its test pilot was Eddie Allen, who
later found fame performing flight testing
for Boeing but tragically lost his life in
the crash of the second Boeing XB-29
uperfortre bomber prototype on 1
February 1943. In the event, AA was
not sub equently the front runner in the
trainer competition, which wa in e ence
won by a contender from eversky. Th
Sever ky design duly gained production
order as the BT- , and was thefi r t ai rcraft
type specifically created a a ba ic train r
r the U AA . However, significantly,
the con iderable influence of General
Motor h Iped to give the A-16design
nough wight to secure USAAC orders
additional to the Seversky model. After
some design modification the initial pro-
duction derivative of the NA-16, called
BT-9 by the U AA , was Fir t flown by
te t pilot Paul Balfour on 15 April 1936.
The ba ic d ign attracted significant
orders for the time, and AA's produc-
tion facilities were already being trans-
ferred from Dundalk to larg r premi e in
southern California on the w t coa t of
the USA. These took the form of major
factory space on the southeastern dge of
Mines Field, the Los Angeles Municipal
Airport at Inglewood, on the out kirts
of Los Angeles, which today is a part of
the sprawling Los Angele International
Airport. The company ucce fully nego-
tiated an excellent deal for the lease of
the location (the whole ite eventually
covered some 20 acres), which was avail-
able for only $600 each y ar. At first using
an existing factory (known locally as the
Moreland building), the beautiful new
North American Aviation: a Brief Company History
started to become an important business in the USA
around the time of the First World War, when large
military contracts began to hold the promise of con-
siderable financial reward. True, the original aviation
pioneers such as Orville and Wilbur Wright had sought
to sell their new creations, but it was the appearance of
shrewd businessmen who also understood the develop-
ing science of aviation engineering that led to the growth
of aviation as a potential money-spinner. Pioneers such
as Glenn Curtiss, Donald W. Douglas and others became
very important in the development of the aircraft industry
as a significant business in the USA, but behind many
aviation pioneers were financiers who knew little of
aviation but understood much about making money. It
was out of these circumstances that NM first emerged.
The company that eventually grew into the NM of
13
tate-of-the-art factory it If opened for
production in early 1936, and the AA
entry in Jane's All The World's Aircraft of
1937 pointed out that the plant covered
an area of 172,000 square feet, although
this was extended during 1937 to 380,000
square feet and later saw further growth.
The move to California was an out-
standing step forward for NAA. The
often fine weather in the Los Angeles area
allowed many uitableday offlight testing
that were not interrupted by bad weather
(although even southern California is not
immune to occasional freak weather, such
as the snowfall th re in 1944). When large
orders were r ceived for later types such
as the P-51 Mustang, some final a sembly
work was actually performed out ide in the
open air, in addition to th bu ya embly
lines within the factory complex itself.
An increasingly well-trained and numer-
ous workforce was also readily to hand in
the Los Angele and southern California
area. It is little wonder that a number of
aviation companies gravitated to this area
when the wor t effect of the financial dif-
ficultie of the late 1920s and early 1930s
and the subsequent ecunomic depression
began to wear off.
The establi hment of NAA a an air-
raft producer in it own right al 0 saw an
influx of key high-level per onnel who
were to shap the destiny of the company
and it product in the coming years. At
the head of this developing team was
J.H. 'Dutch' Kindelberger, who became
President ofNAA and general manager of
its manufacturing division. Kindelberger
was an astute businessman with an avia-
tion background that included work with
two giants of the US aviation industry,
World War Two could trace its lineage back to 1928.
Created in December of that year, the original North
American Aviation Inc. was born as little more than a
paper organization. Its founder was Clement M. Keys,
a wealthy financier who was developing an impressive
portfolio of aviation companies within his expanding
business empire. Rather than being a faceless man of
money, however. Keys was well known for his steward-
ship of the world-famous financial publication The Wall
Street Journal. The NAA that he created in 1928 was not
an aircraft manufacturer, but was more or less aholding
company for the various aviation concerns within his
growing aviation empire. These included airlines with
names such as Eastern Air Transport, Transcontinental &
Western Air, and Western Air Express, and aircraft man-
ufacturers such as Berliner-Joyce. For a time Keys was
CREATI G A LEGEND
The company that was eventually named North
American Aviation came about as a result of
corporate restructuring and various mergers
in the late 1920s and early 1930s. The grouping
out of which NAA was born included the old
Berliner-Joyce Aircraft Corporation, which had
produced the P-16/PB-1 series of fighters for the
USAAC, typified by the Y1 P-16/PB-1 shown here,
powered by a 600hp Curtiss V-1570 Conqueror
inline engine which gave it a top speed of
some 175mph 1282km/h) at 15,OOOft (4,570m). The
original prototype was ordered in 1929 and, in
corporate terms, this biplane fighter was the
predecessor of the Mustang.
USAAF via Gordon Stevens
As iconic to the jet age as the Mustang is to the
era of piston-engined fighters, the beautiful and
highly successful North American F-86 Sabre jet
fighter was built in a variety of different versions
for the USAF, USN and many overseas buyers.
The first flight was made in October 1947 by
famous NAA test pilot George Welch. The type is
represented here by the first production P-86A,
soon renamed F-86A, 47-605, an Inglewood-built
F-86A-1-NA powered by a General Electric J47
turbojet of 4,8501b thrust. It is shown here on
an early test flight, still wearing the original
'Buzz Number' prefix for the Sabre of 'PU', later
changed to 'FU'. NAA
CREATING A LEGEND
North American Aviation designed and produced
a succession of highly-successful aircraft
types that became legends in their own right.
One of these was the TexanIHarvard family
of military trainers, one of the most famous
training aircraft types of the Second World
War. This example was iicence-built in Canada
by Canadian Car & Foundry and delivered in
December 1952 to the RCAF. Officially a North
American NA-186 Harvard Mk.4120454, GO-454),
it served with various Canadian units including
the Flying Instructors' School at Moose Jaw
Saskatchewan, Canada, where it is believed
have been operating when this photograph was
taken. It was retired in November 1964, showing
the longevity of many of NAA's products.
RCN via Ron Dupas
North American Aviation made a foray into
jet bomber design with its B-45 Tornado, the
prototype of which first flew in March 1947.
The type was not a great success, its four
4,OOOlb-thrust General Electric J47 turbojets and
straight rather than swept wings resulting in a
pedestrian performance that saw the B-45 soon
relegated to reconnaissance work. The more
powerful reconnaissance-dedicated RB-45C
Tornado played a useful part in the Korean War.
Illustrated is the first production B-45C bomber,
48-001. USAF
14
In medium-bomber terms the North American
B-25 Mitchell was as significant as the Mustang
was to fighter operations, having fighter-like
speed and manoeuvrability coupled with heavy
firepower. Built in several versions, the Mitchell
was a great success in World War Two, the
design that led to the B-25 having flown for the
first time in its original form during January
1939. Illustrated is a USAAF-operated B-25G in
anti-submarine camouflage. The 'G' version had
a 75mm M4 cannon in its short 'solid' nose along
with two 0.5in machine guns, the 75mm being one
of the heaviest forward-firing weapons mounted
in a production aircraft during the war. USAAF
A contender alongside the Soviet Union's
MiG-19 for being the first genuinely supersonic
jet fighter to enter front-line service, the North
American F-100 Super Sabre was a highly
significant fighter in the development of high-
performance jet combat aircraft. The prototype
first flew in April 1953, and exceeded the speed
of sound on that first flight. The first of two
YF-100 prototypes is illustrated, showing the
type's sleek and purposeful lines. Initial F-100A
production examples were powered by a single
Pratt & Whitney J57 turbojet of some 15,OOOIb
thrust with afterburning, making the F-100 one of
the first successful users of a high-performance
afterburner-equipped turbojet engine. USAF
15
also associated with several big names including Curtiss
and Douglas. Berliner-Joyce was a creator and manu-
facturer of biplane fighters for the USAAC (P-161, and
observation biplanes for the USN (OJ-21. Reorganization
of the Berliner-Joyce Aircrah Corporation aher it was
taken over by NAA in 1930 had created the B/J Aircrah
Corporation, with offices at 1775, Broadway, New York,
and manufacturing premises at Dundalk in Maryland.
These times were not good for aircrah companies,
however, due to the financial disasters of the late 1920s
and the subsequent Depression.
In 1933 NAA was merged with a separate organiza-
tion, the General Aviation Corporation (GACl, the latter
being the holding company for the aviation interests
of the giant General Motors Corporation. The GAC con-
tained within its own organization the General Aviation
Manufacturing Corporation (GAMCl, formerly the Fokker
Aircrah Corporation of America. Soon the manufacturing
parts of each business were consolidated at Dundalk,
Maryland, and the GAMC built some rather undistin-
guished designs such as the G.A. F-15 twin-engined
monoplane flying-boat for the US Coast Guard, and the
G.A.43 single-engined low-wing ten-passenger airliner.
This arrangement did not last long, however, for in 1934
a major reorganization took place, in which General
Motors relinquished some of its hold on the whole
General Aviation organization, which included both air-
lines and manufacturing capacity, due to a new federal
law that required manufacturers to be manufacturers
alone, and not operators or airmail contractors as well.
This leh the way open for a new North American organi-
zation to arise as a related but separate entity. In 1934
the new North American Aviation, Inc. was born, with
its offices in the old B/J Aircrah Corporation's premises
at 1775, Broadway, New York, and with its own manu-
facturing division at the previous Dundalk facility of B/J
and the GAMC. The General Motors influence was still
highly important. and the first chief of the new NAA was
a General Motors man, Ernest Breech.
Everything went very well from the first for the new
organization. Brought in almost straight away to be the
new president of NAA and general manager of its manu-
facturing division was talented businessman and experi-
enced aviation manager James H. 'Dutch' Kindelberger.
Under his guidance, together with the talented team
that he assembled around him, NAA grew from strength
to strength. From the first, the new company intended to
design and manufacture its own, new designs as soon
as practical. Initially NAA built the 0-47 single-engine
observation monoplane for the USAAC, which owed
some of its design to the period immediately before the
birth of the new NAA. The first entirely original design
of the new company was an open-cockpit, tandem two-
seat single-engine fixed-undercarriage trainer mono-
plane called the NA-16, which developed and grew into
the hugely successful AT-6 Texan/Harvard series of
trainers that were so important to Allied pilot training
in World War Two, and served worldwide in a large
number of air arms. Not long aher its creation, NAA
began to move its manufacturing premises from the
grey skies and limited growth potential of Dundalk to
the blue skies and massive growth potential of southern
California. The choice of location for NAA was the
Los Angeles Municipal Airport, othervvise known to
CREATING A LEGEND
the locals as Mines Field, in the Los Angeles suburb
of Inglewood. This site in itself is one of the world's
famous aviation locations. Selected in June 1928 to be
the new Los Angeles Municipal Airport from a shortlist
of contenders, the airport grew from small beginnings
and limited infrastructure into one of the world's major
airports. Renamed Los Angeles Airport in July 1941 (but
still known locally for many years as Mines Field, aher
the real estate agent who negotiated its sale to the city
of Los Angeles in the 1920s1, it saw massive growth in
the post-World War Two period. Aher being renamed
Los Angeles International Airport in 1950, a completely
new airport was built on the site in the late 1950s and
early 1960s, much of which still remains. Today it is one
of the world's great airports.
When the NAA's manufacturing division relocated
from Dundalk to Mines Field in 1935 it temporarily
used a structure known as the Moreland building, but
soon a new purpose-built and state-of-the-art factory
was built there on land leased from the Los Angeles
Department of Airports. This new factory was running
in early 1936, and construction of NA-16 series trainers
soon took precedence. However, NAA was a young,
ambitious company. Through the excellent relationship
that it developed with British purchasing representa-
tives over the acquisition by Britain of NA-16-series
trainers, the seeds were sown that led to the creation
of the Mustang. In addition, NAA developed a twin-
engine medium bomber, the NA-40, which grew into the
highly successful B-25 Mitchell that saw widespread
service in World War Two. So successful was NAA that,
despite massive expansion, the capacity of the factory
at Mines Field was fast being outstripped by growing
orders at the end of the 1930s and start of the 1940s.
So NAA developed two further production plants, one
at Kansas City, Missouri, which subsequently principally
manufactured B-25s, and one at Dallas, Texas, where
AT-6 Texan/Harvard manufacture initially took place,
joined by overspill production of P-51 s later in the war.
The Dallas site was not in Dallas itself, but was situated
at Hensley Field in nearby Grand Prairie. Construction
of the new factory began in the latter half of 1940, but
the transfer of production of the AT-6 series from Mines
Field to Dallas seriously slowed aircrah production until
the spring and summer of 1941. Nevertheless, NAA's
factories were built around the successful, modern and
efficient moving production line, and large numbers of
Mustangs, Mitchells, Texans and Harvards were manu-
factured during the war. This massively expanded NAA's
workforce, from an initial total of some 180 in the mid-
1930s to approximately 91,000 late in the Second World
War. Later in the war the unusual P-82 Twin Mustang
began to take shape at Inglewood as an answer to the
need for a very-long-range fighter escort. The company's
wartime output was huge, the 30,OOOth NAA aircrah
since the start of wartime contracts in the summer of
1940 being a Kansas City-built B-25J It is all the more
remarkable that all of these designs were exceptional
machines, each one being the top of its respective
combat role and better than its US rivals.
The success of the Mustang, AT-6 Texan/Harvard
series and B-25 Mitchell propelled NAA into the ranks of
America's premier aircrah manufacturers. The success
continued aher the end of the war. The coming of the
16
jet era saw the company fully engaged in the develop-
ment of a new jet fighter, the work beginning during
the war years. Initially flying in October 1947, the XP-86
prototype was the forerunner of the first operational
swept-wing jet fighter in the western world, the superb
F-86 Sabre. Arguably as iconic as the Mustang, the
Sabre fought its own successful war in the skies over
Korea in the early 1950s. In addition NAA produced the
first-ever production jet bomber for US service, the B-45
Tornado, which also went to war over Korea, but as a
reconnaissance aircrah. A new division at Columbus,
Ohio, produced some of the F-86 production run and
worked on other programmes, although General Motors
eventually pulled out of NAA ownership. So successfully
did NAA make the switch to jet-powered combat aircrah
that it also created the F-l00 Super Sabre, which holds,
with the Soviet Union's Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-19, the
record for being the first supersonic jet fighter to reach
operational service. Other NAA designs included the
A3J/A-5 Vigilante carrier-borne supersonic strike and
reconnaissance aircraft, the T-28 Trojan trainer (a suc-
cessor to the ubiquitous AT-6 Texan/Harvard familyl,
the USN's T-2 Buckeye jet trainer, the OV-l0 Bronco
light-attack and COIN aircrah, and the incredible Mach
3-capable XB-70 Valkyrie bomber prototypes, the first
of which initially flew in September 1964. The company
also increasingly became involved with rocket technol-
ogy as the 1950s progressed, developing its Rocketdyne
division and building the amazing X-15 air-launched
supersonic research aircrah.
Unfortunately this success did not last for ever. On
22 September 1967 NAA merged with the Rockwell-
Standard Corporation of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to
create the North American Rockwell Corporation. A
major reorganization took place in 1971, the corpora-
tion being divided into several constituent parts, one
of which was the North American Aerospace Group.
This was replaced, in February 1974, by two organiza-
tions, the North American Aircrah Group and the North
American Space Group. The former duly continued work
on a significant aircrah type that is still very much
with us, the B-1 Lancer swing-wing bomber (first flight
December 19741. The latter was involved in significant
space programmes, the most high profile of which
was the development and manufacture of the Space
Shuttle.
Sadly the name North American eventually disap-
peared. In February 1973 North American Rockwell
changed its corporate name in a further reorganiza-
tion, becoming the Rockwell International Corporation.
Nevertheless, the North American name was still asso-
ciated with various programmes into the 1980s, one of
these being the development of a new version of the
gunship family based on the Lockheed C-130 Hercules
transport, the AC-130U Spectre, the first conversion of
which flew in December 1990. By that time the NAA
branch of Rockwell had facilities in Palmdale, California,
and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Everything changed, however, in
December 1996. On 6 December 1996 Rockwell was
purchased by aerospace giant Boeing for $3.1 billion.
Interestingly, for a short time aher this the name Boeing
North American was used for the newly-created entity,
but it was not long before North American Aviation's
name was gone for ever.
Glenn Martin and Donald Douglas. He
had latterly worked a a vice-president for
engineering with the Dougla company.
Backing him up wa John Leland 'Lee'
Atwood, who became vice-presid nt
and chief of engineering for NAA; ~ -
tively he was Kindelberger's right-hand
man and also played the role of assist-
ant general manager. Kindelberger sub-
sequently assembled a talented team
of designers and engine r for the new
company, of whom the mo t important
would prove to be German-born Edgar
chmued, later to have su h a major influ-
ence on the design of the Mustang.
North American Aviation
Grows in Strength
ot only did AA have a number of key
new personnel and a smart new produc-
tion centre, but the NA-16 that gained
orders ub equ nt to the U AAC trainer
competition was a real winner. With
variou modifications and refinements the
basic layout spawned a series of developed
models that went on to meet a number
of USAAC needs. Eventually the type
easily outsold the Seversky BT-8 which
had in e s nce been officially preferred in
the original U AA ba ic trainer com-
petition. In addition, U avy (U )
intere t in the A-16' capabilities and
potential was a reason for the mating
of Pratt & Whitney's excellent R-1340
Wasp radial engine to the basic design,
although the original NA-16 design layout
envisaged the installation of this engine
in addition to the Wright R-975. The
ingredi nt were then in place to produce
the superb and long-running AT-6/
J T xan series of trainer that proved
invaluable and served 0 widely with
forces during World War Two. However,
despite these domestic successes, AA
knew that, in addition to sales within
the USA, the company needed to sell
its products abroad. With the required
export licences in place, the basic A-16
layout that d veloped into the AT-6/SNJ
T xan serie was eventually sold in a large
variety of gui es and configurations to a
great many for ign buyers.
Significant among these were Britain
and various British ommonwealth
countries. Thus the A-16 series became
highly significant in the story of the
Mustang, helping to e tablish impor-
tant connections between Britain and
CREATING A LEGE D
NAA. One of the first acquisitions of
US-manufactured aircraft by British pur-
chasing representatives during the later
1930s was a significant order for A-16-
series aircraft to help Britain's expanding
pilot training programme. This was some
time before th outbreak of the Second
World War, and again showed that some
personnel in Britain's military establish-
ment were considerably more far-sighted
and realistic than many Briti h politi-
cians of the day, in realizing the need for
rearmament with modern equipment. In
the early month of 19 Britain signed
for 200 A-49s, the first of ubstantial
numbers of A-16-derived two-seat train-
ers given the name Harvard in British and
British ommonwealth service. Officially
these 200 initial Harvards, followed by
200 more, had the AA charge number
A-49, but the lAA de ignation for
them was NA-16-1E. The first aircraft,
Harvard Mk I erial number 7000, was
pa sed to the Aeroplane & Armament
Experim ntal Establishment (A&AEE)
at MartIe ham Heath in uffolk, England,
in late 193 . It was the very first of several
thousand Harvards for British and British
Commonwealth operation that included
production by NAA as well as licence
manufacture in Canada, by oorduyn
Aviation Ltd, of 2,557 Mk Ilbs, the most
numerou ingle mark of the breed. These
aircraft became a vital part of Britain's
pilot training system in World War Two,
but equally significantly the Harvard wa
the start of the highly important rela-
tionship between Britain and NAA that
eventually fostered the co-operation out
of which the Mustang was derived.
Another of the many foreign buyers
of the NA-16 was Au tralia, which built
the developed A-33 (NAA designa-
tion A-16-2K) derivative of the A-16
line as the Wirraway light-combat and
training aircraft. Constructed by the
Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation
(CAC) in Australia from 1939 onward,
the Wirraway gave important service
during the Second World War in the
Pacific area, and was one of the first of the
NA-16line to ee actual front-I ine service.
Later, CA wa to becom an important
part of the Mustang story, and again the
A-16 had forged the link between this
Australian organization and AA that
would become significant in later year in
the Mu tang tory.
The process that led to the creation
of the Mustang was, to say the least,
17
unconventional. Perhaps it was in some
way appropriate that a de ign that was
destined to become such an xceptional
combat aircraft should come about in
an extraordinary way. Indeed, had it not
been for Britain's burgeoning need for
fighter aircraft, and the close connections
that had grown between NA and British
representatives in the USA, the Mustang
might never have been created. The tory
really tarted when Britain began to earch
for modern fighter aircraft to buy 'off the
helP in the U A. This search wa not as
easy as it has been made out to be in many
published sources. Although the A
was undoubtedly a potential major source
offighter aircraft (known as 'pursuit' types
in the SA at that time), unfortunately
fighter and fighter engine de ign had
considerably lagged behind in the U A
during the 19 0 . There were a number of
specific rea on for this. An important one
wa the increasingly entrenched attitude
among many senior SAA officers that
fast, well-defended bombers would always
get to their targets, obvia ing the need for
anything but the smallest possible fighter
force. This mind-set became so well estab-
lished that officers who advocated to the
contrary were often sidelined or retired
from the ervice so that their views would
not upset the developing tatu quo of the
bomber's invincibility.
Money, or a lack of it, wa a further ig-
nificant factor in the A falling behind
in the procurement of what we would
nowadays call 'state-of-the-art' designs.
The USAAC was just that, a component
of the US Army, and often encountered
considerable difficulty in obra ining money
for the development and purchase of new
designs, particularly if tho e types were
fighters. The Army was more interested
in the Air orps operating cia e-support
types that would work closely with ground
forces, rather than high-flying fighters. It
was not until a very commanding person-
ality took over as the head of the U AAC
that this situation started to change. This
was Henry H. 'Hap' Arnold, who e tower-
ing influence was to 'play such an impor-
tant role in the build-up of th U AA ,
it development into the AAF in
1941, and its central role in the air war
during the econd World War. Arnold
took over as the chief of the U AAC in
eptember J93 , but even at that point
it was still a truggle to obtain funds, par-
ticularly because the annual S defence
budget wa even then influenced by the
shortage of the economic crisi earlier in
the decade.
High-performance engine design work
had also slowed in the A during the
early 1930s in several key area. Thi
wa most noticeable in the development
of inline engine, particularly for high-
performance fighters. There were several
reasons for this unfortunate ituation,
including deficiencies in planning, lack
of money, and misplaced research and
development work, but a further reason
wa the general unwillingne s within
the U AAC to place much emphasis
on fighter de ign and evolution. This
was particularly unfortunate, for in the
1920s the USA had enjoyed a marked
advantage over many other countries,
with several promising inline engine
designs. However, this po ition wa lost
during the 1930s, and a number of other
countries, including Britain, Germany
and, to a lesser extent, France and the
oviet Union, began to develop capable
inline engines that had particular appli-
cation to high-performance fighters. The
U A lagged behind in this area, which
was all the more sur;xising when one
remembers that, in contrast, American
radial-engine development during that
period wa undoubtedly highly impor-
tant, and in turbosupercharging (exhau t-
augmented upercharging) for aero
engine the Americans literally led the
world. Ironically, some attempts had been
made during the early 1930s to create a
'modern' high-performance inline engine
in the USA, and several manufacturers
had either proposed or actually built a
number of designs. However, for a variety
of reasons, including changing official
requirements and a lack of development
money caused by the difficult economic
conditions of the time, only on of th se
actually reached production status. This
was the Allison V-1710, ubsequently
to playa significant part in the Mustang
story. Theoretically a 1,000hp-plus
engine with (non-turbo) supercharging,
the V-171 0 essentially began as a private-
venture programme. It received official
backing from the SAA from the mid-
1930s onwards, and in developed form it
was to power a wide variety of U AAC
and later U AAF fighter type. Indeed,
it was the only available inline engine of
any note in the U A in the late 1930s,
when fighter design in that country was
at last starting to gath r pace. This was
unfortunate in the long run as th V-1710
CREATING A LEGEND
had a variety of development problem,
and although available with supercharg-
ing it was eventually in tailed in several
fighter types without the benefit of turbo-
supercharging. A ignificant result wa
that aircraft thu powere I were compara-
tively poor performers at higher altitudes,
a factor that was again to have a major
part to play in the Mustang' tory.
Among the aircraft types that used the
Allison V-1710was the Curtiss P-40. This
purposeful-looking but rather sluggish
performer wa one of the main fighter pro-
grammes in the USA as the 1930s ended,
and the P-40 in several specific marks
and configurations was to play an impor-
tant role in the econd World War for a
number of Allied air forces. It was devel-
oped by the Curtiss Aeroplane Division of
the Curtis -Wright orporation, a famou
and long- tanding aircraft designer and
manufacturer that could trace its root,
through the ignificant personality of
Glenn Curtiss, right back to the earlie t
day of aviation in the A. In reality,
however, Curtiss was lagging behind in
all-metal monoplane fighter de ign as
the 1930 wore on. The company's chief
designer, Donovan Berlin, and hi design
team were umloubt Jly talented in their
particular field, but in reality the P-40'
layout was not particularly aerodynami-
cally refined or advanc d. The basic air-
frame of the PAO series dated back to that
of the famou urti s Model 75 series from
which it was derived. The original Model
75 had flown in May 1935, and the variou
subsequent production fighter series (most
members of which were referred to as
Hawk) were powered by a radial engine,
either the Pratt & Whim yR-1830Twin
Wasp or the Wright R-1820 yclone. The
type had been ordered by the USAAC as
the P-36, having placed well alongside
what became the eversky P-35 in a com-
petition that gave the orp its fir t really
modern fighter designs. Importantly for
Curtiss the Model 75 also proved to be an
export succe ,and the type was subject to
a particularly significant export order from
France. The fir t of everal French con-
tracts was signed in pring 193 ,and wa
intended to augment French production
of indigenou fighter type, many of which
were either increasingly obsolete or were
delayed in design and production. Curtis
had, however, seen the growth potential
in the P-36 airframe, and via a rather tor-
tuous route married the Allison V-1710
inline engine to the Model 75 airframe to
18
create what b m th P-40 family. On
the route t th r tion of the P-40 series
wa th urti YP- 7, the fir t of the
Alli on-engined urti fighter designs to
be built and flown. Fitted with a turbo-
upercharger, the -1710-engined YP-37
promi ed a con iderabl improvement
in p rformance over the radial-engined
Model 75 eries, but in r ality the XP-37
prototype and the YP-37 ervice test
example that followed it were not good
performers. The markedly aft position of
the cockpit in these aircraft wa , in any
case, largely unsuitable for a military air-
craft, and they uffered ignificantly from
engine and turbo upercharger probl ms.
How v r, the typ , main contribution to
Ameri an fighter d sign during that era
lay in its beautifully streamlined nose and
fuselage contours, which were reputed to
contribute significantly towards a 20 per
cent decrease in drag compared with the
radial-engined P-36. Further development
work by urtiss led to the famed and very
widely produced P-40 family of fighters.
The prototype XP-40 fir t flew on 14
October 193 , and this updated de ign,
known to Curti s as the Model 1, at once
generated considerable domestic and over-
ea intere t. The Curti approach to the
new aircraft, however, wa rather con rv-
ative, and drew on 0 many a p ct of the
P-36 d ign that the re ulting 'new' P-40
was a rather dated concept by the tim the
fir t production aircraft were delivered.
Power was provided by a supercharged
Alii on V-1710, but in the event no pro-
duction P-40s were fitted with the turbo-
supercharged V-1710. An initial purchase
came from the USAAC, which ordered a
batch of 524 Model 81 erie variants as
the P-40- U, P-40B-CU and P-40 -
Thi was, for its time, a substantial order
(it was the largest single military aviation
order in the A since the First World
War), and the new type performed well in
a competitive evaluation between several
new fighter designs that took place at
Wright Field, Ohio, in the late spring of
1939 and also included such types as the
new Bell P-39 Airacobra. The Model 1
also attracted French intere t and ord r .
ignificantly for the birth of what became
the Mustang, the new P-40 additionally
created interest among British purcha ing
representatives. At that time, however,
Britain did not place the substantial orders
that some published sources have claimed.
Instead, it was recognized that, due to the
large AAC and French orders for the
Mod I 1, the existing Curti produc-
tion facilities would be overstretched for
some time to come. Representations were
therefore (eventually) made to Britain'
friend, AA, to see if that company could
augment Curtiss production of the Model
I/PAO by manufacturing it under Ii ence
it elf for Britain. This idea was certainly
supported by some in the government
and U AAC. Interestingly, the AA
appear to have had a 'preferred list' of
aircraft companies that it felt should be
allowed to develop fighter designs. This
Ii t included Curtiss but did not includ
NAA, th U AAC apparently rea on-
ing that NAA was a comparatively new
company with no experience in fighter
design and was therefore unsuitable for
instituting its own de ign studies; but
could n vertheles become a licensed
producer of the combat aircraft of other
companies.
Britain Turns to North
American Aviation
uch a ituation must have been a con-
siderable source of fru tration to AA,
which wa certainly a comparatively new
company but at the same time had the
capability to introduce new ideas and
new approaches to the field of fighter
design and technology, and in the event
was certainly willing to do so. The exact
date that British representatives made
their initial representations to AA
about licence production of the P-40
is not clear. Certainly documents held
by Britain's ational Archives at Kew
do not uggest a precise date, but it wa
ome time in th autumn of 1939. At that
point the idea was not carried any further,
but world event were already dictat-
ing Britain' action. n l eptember
1939 German forces invaded Poland. On
3 September, following the xpiry of a
British ultimatum and to honour previ-
ous commitments, Britain's government
of failed appeaser finally aw the need
to stand up to Nazi Germany and reluc-
tantly declared war on Germany. Events
in the USA at once also took on a more
urgent momentum. In early ovember
19 9 Pre ident Franklin D. Roo evelt'
admin istration intervened to nsure the
enactment of a federal law that allowed
foreign countries to purchase war materi-
als in the USA, so long as th e were then
tran ported away by the purchaser. This
was the o-called 'cash and carry' law. It
was, in effect, a revision of the already-
existing eutrality Act, and it effectively
repealed (to the di may of some members
of the U ongres ) an on-going
arms embargo that had been in existence
ince the outbreak of war. The formation
of a new Briti h purchasing organiza-
tion wa announced ju t three days later,
on 7 ovember 1939, and this body
subsequently had a direct influence on
the creation of the Mustang. The new
organization was the Briti h Purchasing
ommission (BPC). Contrary to state-
ments in countle s publi hed sources, this
body did not exi t before that time. British
aircraft purchas up to then had been
handled by specifically- reated purchas-
ing missions acting under the authority
of Britain's Air Ministry. The establish-
ment of the BPC in November 1939 was
a significant step towards the signing of
hundreds of orders by Britain that were
rapidly placed with a large number of U
companie in the subsequent week and
months. These orders were principally
for much needed war material, including
aircraft, but they also entailed purchases
of armoured fighting vehicles, ships, and
weapons and ammunition of all sorts. In
addition, order were placed for many
other pieces of equipment including
machine tool and other industrial appa-
ratus, and such mundane but important
items as parachute and binoculars. Such
The British Purchasing Commission
There can be few wartime bodies about which so
much erroneous information has been published as
the BPC. Incorrectly identified in various published
sources as the British Direct Purchasing Commission.
the British Air Purchasing Commission and myriad
other incorrect names, this body has also been given
a longevity far beyond its actual existence by some
writers. As explained elsewhere in this book, the
BPC officially came into existence in early November
1939, and not before. It was not responsible for the
original purchase in 1938 of what became known as
the Harvard for British and Commonwealth service,
and it was most definitely not only responsible for
the purchase of aircrah and aviation-related material.
It was part of a much larger purchasing organiza-
tion that dealt with Canada as well as the USA.
Renamed the British Ministry of Supply Mission in
July 1941, it continued to be an important part of the
overall British purchasing authority in the USA for the
remainder of the war. Along with all the other related
bodies, it was wound up in 1946, its job well and
truly, and very successfully, done.
19
ubstantial orders were placed that the
ew York Times, on 21 January 1940,
stated: 'England has spent an average of
9,000,000 a week in the United tate
for military supplies since the British
Purchasing ommission was establi hed
here in mid- ovember (sic), figures sup-
plied by commission officials disclo ed
ye terday. Orders placed through the
commission totalled 72, 34,000 in the
period from ov. 15 toJan. 13.'
The BPC existed specifically for pur-
chases in the U A, while a similar body
operated in Canada. In fact the whole
British purchasing organization in North
America eventually expanded into a
major 'home away from home' for many
civil servants and military personnel. In
charg of the BPC as its director-general
wa Arthur B. Purvis, who operated in
w York with a relatively compact
team of specialist, many of whom had an
exi ting knowledge of Ameri an compa-
nie and American contract procedures.
However, 0 significant wa Britain'
need for aircraft and aero engine that a
British Air ommission (BA ) was also
eventuallye tablished to deal pecifically
with aviation matters, under the director-
generalship of ir Henry elf. A di tin-
gui hed civil servant, elf was very familiar
with the U aircraft industry. Indeed, he
had been involved in the original deal-
ing with NAA regarding the pur hase
for Britain of the versions of the A-16
two-seat trainer design that became the
Harvard in British and Commonwealth
ervice.
On of the most pre sing requirement
for the BP staff in the winter of 1939/
1940wa the provision of fighter aircraft
for British service. Also operating in the
U A at that time were French purchas-
ing repres ntatives, and in January 1940 a
joint Anglo-French Purchasing Board was
establi hed in ew York. Arthur Purvis
becam chairman of this body, which
tried to co-ordinate British and French
effort. The French had already ordered
the new urtiss Model 1 fighter for the
Fr nch air forc (Armee de [,Air), and
British r presentatives were well awar
that Curti s had full order book for the
type. In fact, Curtiss had been very low to
begin serie 1roduction of the P-40 against
the original U AAC and French orders
of 1939, and it appeared that any British
contracts for the type wer likely to be
severely d layed. Indeed, urtiss did not
deliver the initial production P-40s to the
AAC until mid-194 ,the first produc-
tion example not having flown until April
1940. The idea of another company being
able to manufacture PAOs under lic nce
to bol ter Curtiss production therefore
looked increasingly attractive. To that
end BP repre entatives began to talk
once again to AA about po sible licence
production of the PAO at Inglewood.
orth American' re ponse wa unex-
pected, and set in motion the train of
events that led rapidly to the creation of
the Mu tang. The whole concept of AA
building the P-40 was unattractive to the
company and particularly to its manage-
ment and designers. To begin with, the
PAO was someone else's aircraft. Further,
it was not a particularly advanced design
by arly 1940 standards, a its layout was
based on the earlier 1930s aerodynamics
and thinking of the Model 75/P-36 design.
Although the AAC, Franceand Britain
had apparently enthusiastically taken on
board the Curtiss fighter, thi was rather
more a case of the P-40 being available
rather than it being a 'mu t have' due to
spectacular performance or capabilities.
The early production P-40s could theo-
retically reach 357mph (575km/h), but
this wa a seemingly rather ambitious
total with a full load of fuel and ammuni-
tion aboard, and in any case the low-rated
1,04 hp Allison V-1710-33 eries engine
of the early PAOs meant that the aircraft
suffered seriou ly degraded performance
above 15,000ft (4,600m). Curtiss wa
also apparently having problems in ma s
producing the P-4 ,and if NAA became
involved in lic nce-manufacturing the
type it was po sible that AA would have
to come to the aid of Curtis in getting
genuine volume production under way.
(In the event, Curtis eventually got it
own production line moving compara-
tively rapidly, but in early 194 that wa
not obviously going to happen.)
In fact, AA had it own very par-
ticular idea about how to approach the
British. The company' designers had kept
abreast with fighter developments and
progress in Europe, as well as advances in
fighter design concepts and aerodynamic.
They had the talent, capability and the
time to take a blank piece of paper and
draw up their very own new design. This,
in a nutshell, is what subsequently took
place. Somewhat fortuitously, both NAA
and the BPC had offices in ew York,
which allowed close liaison between the
two sides. orth American's office were
at 1775, Broadway, ew York. These
premises had long been a ociated with the
grouping from which AA had emerged
a an aircraft producer in its own right,
and had previou Iy housed the head office
of the BIJ Aircraft Corporation, one of
the divisions within the General Aviation
Corporation. (For a fuller explanation of
the somewhat complicated ancestry of
AA, and it sub equent history, refer
to th eparate e tion on the company's
history eI ewhere in this book.) The
BP , offi e were at 15, Broad treet,
ew York (although ir Henry elf, a
the senior civil ervant among the British
purcha ing mi ion' per onne1, later had
some rather nice accommodation in the
Willard Hotel in Wa hington, 0 ).
The Birth of the Plan
Initial advance were made to the British
purchasing representative, to the eff ct
that AA would prefer not to build
PAOs, but instead could design its own
fighter. The brand new combat aircraft
would take into account recent advance
in fight I' design and aerodynamics, and
would include any lessons already learned
in the air fighting during the war, includ-
ing the combat experience of US air raft
such as the urtiss Model 75, which the
French had already flown operationally by
that time. The new design would also be
an aircraft that could be ma -produced
efficiently. In effect, AA ai I it could
design and build a better fighter than
the PAO. Thi was quite a claim from a
relatively new company that had no real
previous fighter de ign experience. The
only fighters that NAA had created at
that tim were two pecific single-seat
fighter derivatives of its already- u cessful
-16 trainer line, and thos two deriv-
ativ s (the NA-50 for Peru and the
A-50A/P-64) had only been built in
very small numbers. However, the whole
idea obviously appealed to the BP ,and
from January 1940 onwards the entire
concept began to take shape. There
appear to have been important commu-
nication between the Briti h repre enta-
tives and the NAA team in ew York
during that period, Lee Atwood of NAA
providing much of the high-level liaison.
Talks also appear to have taken place
in England relating to the developing
CREATING A LEGE D
venture. By early April the whole project
was really taking shape, and Lee Atwood
prepared a letter of intent contract for the
BP to examine. On II April Sir Henry
elf wrote in r ply to AA, confirming
that an initial order by Britain for 40
of the proposed new aircraft was to be
placed, at a total equipped and armed unit
price of 40, 00. At that time the new
design was referred to as the A-50B, and
the intended engine was to be the Allison
V-1710 as used in the Curtiss PAO. In
reality, however, design work was not at an
North American's First Fighters
Considerable testing and investigation into the
NA-73's layout and shape took place in parallel
with the detailed design work and construction
of the prototype. This included much wind-tunnel
work, and seen here is a wooden model of the
NA-73 under test probably in the Caltech wind
tunnel at Pasadena, California. NAA
advanced stage. Indeed, the tory i often
told that Kindelberger telegrammed the
AA design team to begin detailed work
following a particularly fruitful di cus ion
in ew York with BPC representatives
(and, apparently, the display of some
hastily-drawn sketches), and that day and
night activity ensued at Inglewood to get
the new fighter's design on paper. Thi is
claimed to have taken place from 24 pril
onwards, the resulting plans being rapidly
mailed to New York as soon as possi-
ble afterwards. Certainly a great deal of
detailed work had to be undertaken in the
shortest possible time by the NAA design
team. In trumental among the company'
taff were de igner Edgar chmued and
aerodynamici t Edward Horkey, although
everal members of AA's organization
made major contribution to the new
de ign. The plans that were created obvi-
ously impressed the British, although
there were everal twist to the tale even
at that early time.
Early work on the NA-73 project included the construction of this mock-up, showing that many of the vital ingredients of the eventual Mustang design were in
place from the earliest days of the programme. The armament layout shown would suggest a concept similar to one of the two alternatives offered by NAA to
Britain as the project developed in April and May 1940, namely the P-509layout, with fewer guns installed than in the eight-gun armament eventually chosen by
the British. Note the extremely short carburettor air intake housing ahead of the windscreen, which was later much altered. NAA
20
North American Aviation was not an established manu-
facturer of fighter aircraft when negotiations between
the company and British purchasing representatives
started in early 1940 for the creation of a brand new
fighter to meet British requirements. These talks led
to the Mustang, but several years previously NAA had
gained at least a little experience with modern fighter
development when it created single-seat fighter deriva-
tives of its two-seat NA-16 trainer series. The growing
success of the NA-16 tandem-seat trainers that eventu-
ally grew into the AT-6 Harvard/Texan family gave NAA
the opportunity to examine many opportunities and
configurations based on the basic NA-16. An important
consideration for NAA was to develop the export poten-
tial of the NA16 line, and one of the ideas that figured
among the growing possibilities of the two-seat trainer
was to reconfigure the basic design into a single-seat
fighter. The resulting combat aircraft would not be
expected to be on a par with the latest fighter develop-
ments in Europe such as the Bf 109, but it could offer
a comparatively inexpensive but none the less modern
aircraft for service in what would nowadays be called
'third-world' countries.
Asa partof the overseas salesdriveforthe NA-16 series,
NAA therefore also offered asingle-seat fighter version to
prospective foreign customers. This was in addition to the
armed two-seat trainer resulting from the NA-16 develop-
ment effort, which was a separate but obviously related
line of evolution. Design work on a single-seat offshoot
of the two-seat NA-16 (as opposed to rough sketches,
which was how some NAA projects were originally born)
appears to have started in 1935 or 1936 under the designa-
tion NA-16-5, and the first customer for the fighter devel-
opment was Peru. This South American country ordered
seven in a configuration given the NAA charge number
NA-50, and the separate NAA designation NA-50 (not
NA-50A, as claimed in some published sourcesl. The first
flight of the initial NA-50 appears to have been made in or
just after August 1938(although February 1939alsoseems
possible). All seven Peruvian aircraft were complete in the
first months of 1939 and were delivered to the Cuerpo de
Aeronautica del Peru from March 1939 onwards. Built by
NAA at Inglewood, they were shipped rather than flown
to Peru. Most, if not all of them, subsequently operated
with the Peruvian Escuadrilla 41 of the Escuadron de Caza
XXI. having received the Peruvian serial numbers XXI-41-1
toXXI-41-7.
Aneat, streamlined design, the NA-50 bore obvious
family resemblance to the NA-16 series but was unique
among NA-16 derivatives at that time in having a
single-seat cockpit featuring a rearwards-sliding canopy
with a curved rear fixed 'glasshouse' allowing limited
21
rearwards view. The rudder was of the curved-back
design that characterized early members of the NA16
family, and a retractable undercarriage was fitted of
the type pioneered on the single NA-26 two-seat armed
trainer. Construction was all metal, but with fabric-
covered control surfaces. The type was to be powered
by a Wright R-1820-G3 (or similar G-series) Cyclone
radial engine giving 840hp at 8,700ft 12,650ml and
875hp for take-off, and armament comprised two 0.3in
machine guns in the upper forward fuselage. At the
time a maximum speed of 280mph (450km/h) at 8,700ft
(2,650ml was quoted. The wings were slightly different
to those of the two-seat NA-16 line, their span being
somewhat less at 35ft (1 O.7ml, and they were stressed
to carry at least 1001b of bombs or other ordnance
beneath each wing (although some sources suggest
that two 100lb bombs could be mounted below each
wing). Indeed, it was as ground-attack aircraft that the
Peruvian NA-50s found their true role, and at least some
of them played a part in the territorial conflict between
Peru and neighbouring Ecuador during the summer of
1941. One Peruvian NA-50 was shot down by Ecuadorian
ground fire during the hostilities, and another was lost
when a bomb beneath its wing exploded. Following
their frontline service, several of the survivors appear
to have continued in service in Peru until 1949 or 1950,
CREATING A LEGEND CREATING A LEGEND
AirCorps. It appears that several individu-
als in the USAAC developed a dislike for
the new aircraft on these grounds. Writing
in hi book P-51 Mustang: Development
of the Long-Range EscoTt Fighter, Paul
Ludwig cites considerable lack of sympa-
thy towards the new design, with several
USAAC officers being at best dismissive
of the project, and at worst actually hostile.
derail the new aircraft's development and
service. As related earlier, NAA was most
definitely not on the prescribed 'list' of
companies that the USAAC considered
capable of designing fighter aircraft, and
yet here the company was, in April and
May 1940, developing its own fighter
design. Worse, this was being accom-
plished for a foreign power, and not for the
orth American's design work on
the new fighter was carried out with the
knowledge of the USAAC and US pro-
curement agencies. At this point a pecu-
liar love/hate relationship with the new
design and with AA itself appears to
have developed among some officers in
the USAAC. At more than one point in
the future this relationship threatened to
Gleaming, elegant and advanced; many superlatives could be applied to the smart new fighter prototype that NAA created in rapid time during the summer of
1940. Posing for a photo-call at Mines Field not long after its roll-out, the NA-73X was yet to fly, and did not even have its civil registration, NX19998, painted on
the tail. NAA
From any angle the NA-73X was beautiful, but its clean and advanced shape was not only elegant, it put the aircraft streets ahead of any other pursuit fighter
design currently being built or envisaged in the USA. This study was taken before the maiden flight in October 1940. NAA
The NA-50A was afighter developed for Siam
(Thailandl by NAA from the NA-16 trainer family,
following the NA-50 order for Peru. Six NA-50As
were built, with important detail differences
compared with the Peruvian machines. All six
were embargoed by US authorities due to Thai
accommodation with the Japanese in Southeast
Asia, and were never delivered. Instead they
joined the USAAC under the designation P-64
as improvised fighter trainers. This is one of
the batch, with its original US civil registration,
NX25607. NAA
The batch of single-seat NA-50As, however, fared
much better. Although some published sources have
claimed they were impounded en route across the
Pacific, they never left the continental USA Eventually
they were prepared for USAAC service, and subse-
quently spent their days in second-line duties at various
airfields in the continental USA. They were given a US
military designation, but in the Pursuit rather than the
Trainer classification, presumably because they were
originally built as fighters. They were thus designated
P-64 in March 1941, and allocated the USAAC serial
numbers 41-19082 to 41-19087. With their armament
removed they served principally in the training role or as
'hacks', often being used by flying instructors, although
some are believed to have been flown by Chinese trainee
pilots at US bases. They were quite sprightly performers,
and appear to have been well liked by those who flew
them. As aresult of the non-delivery of these aircraft and
the two-seat NA-44s, a compensation deal was agreed
between Thailand and the US government, $371,088.13
being paid for the six NA-68s and their spare parts,
and including interest. Most of the surviving NA-68s
were eventually scrapped, but one (41-19085, later
XB-KUU/N68622/N8401 survived a variety of postwar
owners and modifications (including use in Mexico for
cloud seeding/rain-making) and is now owned by the
Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA) in the USA and
diplayed in the association's AirVenture Museum at
Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
slightly greater wingspan than the Peruvian aircraft, a
number of sources citing 37ft 3in (11J5ml or slightly
more than that, although this span is also sometimes
attributed to the Peruvian aircraft as well. The first flight
of the NA-68s is generally acknowledged to have taken
place on 1September 1940.
The export licence for the six NA-68 had been obtained
by NAA from the US government's Oepartment of State
in mid-July 1940. Ordered by Thailand at the same time
as the six NA-68s was a batch of ten NA-44s INAA
charge number NA-691. armed two-seat NA-16 deriva-
tives specifically for light combat missions. In the event,
however, none of these aircraft ever reached Thailand.
Long before the Pearl Harbor attack of Oecember 1941,
Japanese aggression in southeast Asia had been cre-
ating considerable problems. One of the countries
that accommodated and attempted to profit from the
Japanese was Thailand, and this led to the USA stopping
arms supplies to that country. The export licences for the
NA-44 and NA-68 batches were thus revoked in October
1940, the aircraft subsequently being officially embar-
goed. The NA-44 shipment had already reached the
Philippines by sea when these American concerns began
to surface, but the NA-68s had not yet left the USA. The
two-seat NA-44s were subsequently reassembled and
absorbed into the USAAC, and received the US military
designation A-27 in or around March 1941. Most, if not
all, of them were unlucky enough to be in the Philippines
when the Japanese attacked in Oecember 1941.
The very first fighter that NAA produced was
the NA-50, seven of which were completed
for Peru in 1939. It was derived from the basic
NA-16 trainer family, and some of the Peruvian
machines saw action during a brief conflict in
1941 with neighbouring Ecuador. In Peruvian
service they were well liked, and were
nicknamed 'lorito'. NAA
four operating as advanced trainers with the Escuadron
de Instruccion 28 at Las Palmas. The little NAA fighters
were highly regarded by the Peruvians, who named the
type 'Tori to' ILittie Bull). One of them was kept flying into
the early 1960s for demonstration purposes, and was
later preserved in non-airvvorthy condition.
The second and final single-seat fighter development
of the NA-16 line that was built and saw service was
the NA-6B. Ordered by Siam (Thailand) in November
1939, the six NA-68s were allocated the NAA designa-
tion NA-50A, NA-68 being the NAA charge number
for the type. Generally similar in configuration to the
Peruvian NA-50s, these aircraft were powered by a
Wright Cyclone in the same class as that of the Peruvian
machines. They had the straight-backed angular rudder
that was characteristic of the later members of the
extensive NA-16 family. Armament consisted of two
OJin machine guns in the upper forvvard fuselage (in
a different layout to that of the Peruvian NA-501. one
similar-calibre weapon in each wing, and a distinctive
20mm cannon 'gondola' beneath each wing. They could
also carry external undervving ordnance of approximately
110lb (but there is considerable divergence amongst
subsequent published sources as to what the wings of
these aircraft were actually stressed to carry). Aventral
pylon also appears to have been developed for the
NA-50A. As a further distinguishing feature they had a
modified retractable undercarriage compared with that
of the Peruvian NA-50. It is also possible that they had
22 23
CREATING A LEGEND
CREATING A LEGE D
Some historians have claimed that the Curtiss XP-46 was the prototype for the Mustang. As can be seen in this view of the portly XP-46 with its dated 1930s
design, one would need to be having a nightmare to believe that such an archaic P-40-clone could ever have formed the basis of the elegant and advanced
Mustang. The aircraft shown is believed to be the second of the two XP-46 prototypes, XP-46A 40-3054, the first of the two to fly, on 15 February 1941, several
months aherthe NA-73X. The XP-46 had poor performance and no development potential, and never entered production. Author's collection
be delivered, with the first to be supplied
in January 1941. The peak of manufac-
ture would be reached inJuly 1941, when
fifty-three would be delivered. There was
also the possibility for more Mustangs to
be built, at a rate of fifty per month up to
at least the end of 1941, if Britain exer-
cised an option before the end of April
1941 for further aircraft. The letter made
absolutely no mention of the' 120 days'
schedule that many historians have sub-
sequently claimed was required by Britain,
and this alleged demand of 120 days does
not appear to have ever been a considera-
tion. Instead, the timescales as noted in
Atwood's letter se m to have formed the
basis of subsequent agreements.
Atwood's letter also stated that a
mock-up had been made of the new
design, and that the initial phase of the
detail design work had been completed.
Further, the British were offered two
alternative configurations of the new
fighter. One would have a full armament
of eight ma hine guns (two 0.5in in the
new design was starting to be forthcom-
ing, based on what had been drawn up and
predicted thus far by NAA's designers and
engineers. It appears that detailed design
work and the creation of working draw-
ings began just after that. On 1 May 1940
Lee Atwood wrote a now-famous letter to
ir Henry Self, in which he outlined the
significant progress that NAA had made
on its new design and proposed a construc-
tion schedule. This letter also confirmed
to the British purchasing representatives
that NAA had bought the wind-tunnel
data from Curtiss. Atwood began his
letter by saying: 'In accordance with our
understanding, we are proceeding with the
design of a single-seat fighter airplane, our
Model NA-73, incorporating an Allison
engine and fitted with provisions for
equipment and armament [the latter were
to be' ustomer Furnished')'. He went on:
'We are prepared to construct and deliver
to you 320 of these airplanes before
Septembel' 30th, 1941'. A deta iled break-
down followed of when the aircraft were to
could well have been of help to NAA,
especially where it related to the siting
of the radiator and its associated cooling
inlet, but itappears extremely unlikely that
the allied data on the XPA6 design itself
was of any practical help. The Mustang
emerged from NAA's design offices as a
far more advanced aircraft compared with
the rather ugly and archaic XPA6, and
few if any at NAA in subsequent state-
ments appear to have considered the
Curtiss design to have b en of much help
to the Mustang's creation. In any case, the
XPA6 proved to be a poor design when it
eventually took to the air in early 1941,
and by then Curtiss was looking to con-
tinue development and production of the
PAO series, which promised much more
than the XPA6 that was supposed to be
its superior. The XP-46 was eventually
quietly abandoned.
Without doubt, the AA design team's
work on their new fighter bore fruit in a
very significant way. As already stated, in
mid-April 1940 British approval for the
was intended as a cleaned-up derivative
of the P-40, which would hopefully be a
much more aerodynamically advanced
and more capable fighter than its rather
outdated forebear. Like the P-40 and
NAA's new fighter de ign that grew into
the Mustang, the XP-46 was to be powered
by the Allison V-I710 inline engine. In
particular, Curtiss had been experiment-
ing with the position of the radiator and
its associated intake to provide adequate
cooling with the engine's liquid-cooling
system. A number of locations had been
tried out, including a position below and
behind the cockpit, for which a 'belly
scoop' air intake had been envi aged and
tested. In the event the PAO did not use
this position (although th XPAO proto-
type was t sted with its main air intake in
a number of locations at different times
during its development), but the XP-46
most definitely did have a belly inlet.
This lower-fuselage intake position was
also to be one of the characteristics of the
NAA design that becam the Mustang,
and many historians have speculated that
the placement of the belly 'scoop' on the
Mustang was a direct r suIt of u ing the
Curtiss and NACA wind-tunnel data on
the XP-46 purchased by AA in April
1940. Lee Atwood was considerably
involved in the negotiations with Curtiss
on behalf ofNAA to obtain this material,
and it was bought for 56,000. Certainly
NAA subsequently made no ecret of
having obtained the information, and it
is possible that the BPC had talked NAA
into obtaining the data because it felt the
company wa inexperi nced in fighter
de ign and needed the potential helping
hand of owning the information. There
also appears to have been USAAC insist-
ence that NAA should have the data at
its disposal. A considerable debate has
subsequently continued as to whether the
Mustang grew out of this apparent col-
laboration between AA and Curtiss, as
nothing more than an improved XP-46.
Certainly the NACA wind-tunnel data
The whole of the NA-73X's design exhibited
excellent attention to detail and clever
streamlining to reduce drag and give optimum
performance. One example was the forward
fuselage, where the Allison V-1710 engine was
neatly cowl ed, the installation being the work
of famous racing pilot Art Chester. When this
picture was taken the NA-73X still had the short
carburettor air intake and an anti-glare panel
painted ahead of the windscreen. NAA
NAA, the required export licences weI'
granted for the new fighter. Indeed, many
in the US government saw the considera-
ble benefi ts of having foreign orders for US
warplanes. The substantial funds that were
being expended, in particular by Britain
and France from late 1939 onwards, were
a great help to the US aircraft industry. In
a number of instances the huge input of
money was allowing new factories to be
planned and built, and it can be argued
that this was the basis on which the U
armaments industry grew to its pre-emi-
nent position later in World War Two as
the so-called 'Arsenal of Democracy'; a
position from which it has dominated the
aviation world up to the present day.
Nevertheless, a further twist had by
then developed in the creation ofNAA's
new fighter. In an act that has clouded
the design origins of the Mustang ever
since, AA purchased from Curtis a
considerable amount of wind-tunnel
data. The National Advisory Committe
for Aeronautics ( ACA - much later,
today's ASA) had been working closely
with Curtiss to try to help along the P-40
design, and to assist with the creation of a
new Curtiss fighter, the XPA6. The latter
One person sometimes portrayed as one of
the chief opponents is Col Oliver Echols,
assistant head of the USAAC's Material
Command at Wright Field, which was
charged, among other ta ks, with the pro-
curement of new designs and the testing
of prototypes. Bearing in mind the very
close relationships that were growing
between the British and French purchas-
ing representatives and several US aircraft
companies, Echols raised the issue of the
advisability of allowing 'the French and
British to go into these plants at this time
and enter contract for completely new
development. If this is permitted, they
can take over the engineering staff of all
our manufacturers which will prevent us
from obtaining any development what-
soever.' In the same letter to one of his
superiors he questioned the 'advisability
to permit foreign nations to undertake to
design completely new airplanes which
are improvements on the models which
we now have, and which our manufactur-
ers are trying to sell them'.
It was fortunate indeed that the
Roosevelt administration did not share
these sentiments. In early May 1940, in
response to the relevant applications by
24
25
lower cowling and one of these machine
guns in each wing, plus two further
0.303in machine guns in each wing).
With this arrangement, with armour
fitted, the aircraft was projected to have
a maximum speed of 384mph (618km/h).
Alternatively, a lighter-armed configura-
tion (known to NAA as the P-509) was
proposed, in which only four guns would
be installed, with no armour protection.
The planned maximum peed for the
fighter in thi configuration was projected
as 400mph (644km/h). These figure were
based on a power rating from the Alii on
V-1710 engine of 1,030hp at 16,000ft
(4,900m), using 90-octane fuel. (All
this information was rather more profes-
sional than the project d e timates made
several years earlier by the Bell Aircraft
Corporation for its XP-39 Airacobra
fighter, which had had very optimistic
performance predictions made for it, but
without any military equipment being
introduced into the equation. eedless
to say, when eventually fitted out with
full military equipment the resulting P-39
production aircraft performed well hort
CREATING A LEGEND
of the original estimate .) In the event the
British opted for the eight-gun armament
propo ed by AA, which wa consi tent
with the eight-gun-armament philo ophy
behind the pitfire and Hurricane fighters
then in service in Britain, and the Fairey
Fulmar naval fighter, whi h was just enter-
ing production.
Additionally, Atwood's letter included
a cost breakdown for the initial 32
aircraft. Each ba ic airframe would be
priced at 33,400, the engine and related
acce ories coming to a further 9 3.95.
Additional equipment, xcluding the
radio and armament, made each aircraft
37,590.45. The overall cost for the
fi rst 320 ai rcraft, includ ing spares and
crating for overseas shipment, came to
14,746,964 and 35 cents. Compared with
some of th deal that the Briti h purchas-
ing repre entati ve were then paying out
for, e pecially where they involved the
supply to Britain of utterly hopele s air-
craft such as the Brew ter Buffalo alleged
fighter, the AA arrangement was an
absolute bargain.
The NAA leadership was ready to
26
proceed immediatelyon receiprofa written
go-ahead from the British in response to
Atwood' letter. They requested a down-
payment of lOp r cent of the contract
amount, and a subsequent payment sched-
uIe similar to the previous ontracts agreed
with the British for the Harvard trainer.
orth American was even willing to make
modification required by th purchaser
within the contract price, a long as the e
were requested within three months of the
agreement being ratified by the two side.
This mu t have made xcellent reading
for the British purcha ing t am. In effect
they were successfully instigating a new
fighter for British service without even
needi ng to have any officia I British requ ire-
ment or detailed specification drawn up.
This was completely at variance with the
then-existing procedures for military air-
craft procurement in Britain. The every
formal procedure normally r quired the
identification by the military of a specific
need, followed by the tran lation of this
into official requirement, and leading
to the release of very definite specifica-
tion information to the Briti h aircraft
industry. Then came potentially lengthy
design work, the construction of proto-
types, and a fly-off competition before a
winner could be found and initial produc-
tion contract let. The creation of the
Mustang completely circumvented these
official procedures.
At AA's Inglewood project offices
feverish work wa undertaken to draw
up the new design, and to tran late into
working drawings the omewhat vague
but none the less advan d initial con-
cepts with which ANs staff had origi-
nally convinced the British. Much of the
d tail design work and the creation of pro-
duction blueprints took place from early
May 1940, several designer working long
shifts to speed the process along. Some
are claimed to have worked sixteen-hour
days. Indeed, work continued seven days
a week.
It has sometimes been claimed that this photograph
shows the NA-73X prototype being tested for
its structural strength in the NAA factory by the
addition of many lead weights. It is more likely to
be a non-flying static-test airframe that is being
tested to breaking point. as NAA documentation
refers to a static-test airframe called the XX-73
in addition to the flying NA-73X prototype. The
photograph was taken in mid-January 1941. and
the wing structure failed at 5 per cent above its
intended design load. NAA
everal ideas that were woven into the
design, when taken together, made the
new aircraft a very special fighter that
eventually far outstripped anything then
being built or envisaged in the USA. In
general term the fighter was aerodynami-
cally very 'clean'. The fuselage layout in
particular showed none of the awkward-
ness of the urtiss P-40's rather bulky
fuselage cro s-section, and the front third
in particular included a beautifully tream-
lined nose contour around the Allison
V-1710 engine. Whereas the P-40's
fuselage had its widest point somewhere
near its nose, together with its promi-
nent drag-producing undernose radiator
inlet, the Mustang showed none of this
unclean contouring. On the contrary, the
new AA design included a feature that
Curtiss had unsucce sfully toyed with, the
so-called 'belly coop'. This was the lower
fuselage inlet for cooling air that would
be directed to the aircraft's radiator.
The AA designers totally rejected the
cumbersome and drag-producing Curtis
undernose approach, placing the radiator
for the Allison engine's coolant in the
mid-fuselage po ition, below and behind
the co kpit. In that position its air intake
was neatly located beneath the fu elag ,
where it was likely to produce minimum
drag. The positioning of the bulky radia-
tor in that mid-fuselage position meant
that it wa near to what had in any case to
be the fuselage's widest point, the cockpit
area, and it therefore did not make the
fuselage any wider than it already need d
to be. In a further breakthrough the
whole installation was fitted with an
outlet slightly further back beneath the
fuselage. This allowed the air that had
been taken in through the inlet and had
passed through the radiator assembly to
be expelled without the need for cumber-
some 'cooling gills', which were a feature
of the lower nose of the PAO. Instead,
the heated air produced while passing
through the radiator would be expelled
out of a variable outlet in a form of tream
that actually created a small amount of
rearward thrust. This process is some-
times called the 'Meredith Efh ct', after
British cientist Frederick W. Meredith,
who had di covered it theoretical ba is.
It resulted in a very efficient ystem of
engine cooling for the Mustang, which
was a major advance compared with that
of the Curtis P-40.
The most ignificant of the new AA
fighter's aerodynamic feature concerned
CREATING A LEGE D
it wing. Here the AA de igner were
particularly bold, embracing a developing
concept that had no real precedent in it
practical application. The new concept
was that of the 'laminar-flow' wing.
Although the theory of laminar-flow
aerodynamics wa not new, NAA was the
first company to put th concept to suc-
ce sful u e on a front-lin warplane. Much
research had been perform d into laminar-
flow wing shapes by various individuals
and by ACA, some of whose personnel
eventually worked with AN designers
to perfect the laminar-flow wing for the
company's new fighter. The wing had a
far different a rofoil section from that of a
conventional wing. Its thicke t point wa
further back, creating differ nt airflow
characteri tics over the wing in which th
flow of air remained 'attached' to the wing
for a greater part of the wing's chord than
with a normal wing. Theoretically, this
created les drag by reducing the amount
of breakaway of boundary air over the rear
part of the wing's upper surface. A great
deal of work went into getting this right
for the Mustang, and the successful use
of the laminar-flow wing concept for the
new fighter was one of the rea ons for th
type's excellent performance envelope and
capability to fly long distances, although
the latter was also the result of a consider-
able and very thoughtful provision for a
large quantity of internal fu I.
Initially, however, th laminar-flow
wing design being pioneered for the
Mustang did not work well in the wind
tunnel. During initial testsat th California
Institute of Technology (Caltech) the
wing design that Ed Horkey had b en
working on appeared to have stall char-
acteristics that would have resulted in the
design being discontinued if they could
nor be put right. However, it was sus-
pected that the problem lay in the wind
tunnel itself, which was po sibly not large
enough to conduct satisfactory trial on a
wooden replica of the new aircraft's wing.
ubsequent test were th refore carried
out in a voluminous wind tunnel at the
University of Washington, and the e
proved that the wing design was more
than acceptable.
Interestingly, the laminar-flow wing was
not thought by many at AA to be the
first choice of wing de ign, and a conven-
tional wing layout was also developed for
the new fighter in ca e the laminar-flow
wing did not prove succes ful. According
to American hi torian Michael O'Leary,
27
data on this ' onventional' wing came
to light in 1997 among files at Caltech,
Kindelberger himself apparently having
wanted to hedge the company's bets in
case the laminar-flow wing did nor work
satisfactorily. In the event the laminar-
flow wing proved to be an outstanding
design for the Mustang, the resulting aer-
ofoil section being unique to the aircraft.
However, although laminar flow eventu-
ally worked well with the Mustang, it wa
not much favoured by other manufactur-
ers. Indeed, few other companies tried
the concept. It was, however, included in
another of the long line of failed Curtiss
developments of the P-36/P-40 line,
the XP-60. In Britain the upermarine
Spiteful and eafang were among the few
other aircraft types to feature a laminar-
flow wing, but they were too late for service
in the Se ond World War and were not
extensively mass-produced. upermarine
also tried out the same idea, un ucces -
fully, with it jet-powered Attacker naval
fighter. Laminar-flow wings ertainly did
not work with straight-wing jet.
The father of the Mustang was undoubtedly Edgar
Schmued. despite later claims by some other NAA
employees. although a team of talented engineers
and designers helped the whole process along.
Here Schmued is entering or exiting one of his
progeny. P-51 41-37322. NAA
CREATING A LEGE D
CRE TING A LEGEND
An immediate predecessor to the NA-73X, the unconventional Bell P-39 Airacobra had its Allison V-1710 mounted in the fuselage behind the pilot, driving the
propeller via an extension shaft and gearing. The Airacobra was not a great success as a fighter, but it was available to the Americans when most needed, and
was certainly put to good use by the Soviet Union. One of the aircraft in this USAAC Airacobra formation, photographed in January 1941, is piloted by future
high-scoring Pacific-based P-47 Thunderbolt pilot Neel Kearby. USAAC
AIthough construction of the new
fighter had been comparatively smooth,
it was far from ready for it first flight.
A considerable number of delay'
ensued, centred mainly on the engine.
Unfortunately Allison was being increa -
ingly overwhelmed as orders for it
V-1710 continued to grow, and thi was
the engine NAA needed for the A-73X.
Mounting demands for Curtiss P-40 pro-
duction, and eventually for the P-39
Airacobra and Lockheed P- Lightning
as well, were causing Alii on many prob-
lems in gearing up for the unprecedented
ma -production now needed for the total
war that was developing. Programmes
uch a the P-4 had priority on engine
production, and, a the A-73 project
was e sentially a private-venture concern
for an oversea u tomer, A could do
little but wait for an Allison engine to
be delivered so that it could be in tailed
in the A-73X. Eventually, in early
Octol er, a uitable engine wa received,
a I,ISOhp V-I 71O-F3R-serie motor, and
work rapidly began on in tailing it and
preparing the NA-73X for its first flight.
The future legend was at last ready to take
to the skies.
enough to be present when the aircraft
finally made it first app arance in the
open air, even though it had wheels bor-
rowed from the Harvard production line.
To put the event into a wider context,
at that time the Battle of Britain was in
deadly progres in the skies over southern
England, as the country that had ordered
the new fighter fought for its very exist-
ence.
As it was compar y-funded by NAA,
the new fighter did not have any military
serial number assigned to it. Instead it
was allocated the experimental civil
registration X1999. orth American
had originally thought of allotting the
new aircraft the de ignation A-S B, a
a follow-on to th A-S and A-SOA
single- eat fighters developed from the
A-16 two-seat trainer. However, the
new fighter wa very much a brand-new
design, and received instead the updated
company de ignation A-73. The proto-
type therefore became A-73X, because
it was the first experimental machine of
the NA-73 design. It was unarmed, but
'gun ports' appear to have been painted
on to its wing leading edges at some point
in its early life.
Go-Ahead for the
Future Legend
In late May 1940 the deal was finally
sealed. Bri ain's Ministry of Aircraft
Production (MAP) officially signed for
th fir t batch of 320 of the new fighters.
Th initial date of the contract was 23
May, although it does not appear to have
been formally brought into effect until
29 May. The proj ct at last had its offi-
cial go-ahead, and it was the tart of an
unrivalled success story. North American
wa ted no time in cutting metal for the
prototype of its new fighter. Indeed,
design work wa still continuing when the
first omponents were being fabricated.
Despite the company's general lack of
experience in the construction of high-
performance fighters, the manufacture of
the first example proceeded with few real
hitches. The beautifully streamlined air-
craft quickly grew in NAA's Inglewood
plant, to the extent that on 30 August
1940 it was ready to be rolled out into the
California sunshine. This was an incred-
ible achievement, and one of which thos
involved were justifiably proud. It mu t
have been quite a sight for tho lucky
z
P-51 "MUSTAIG"
The Mustang evolved over time into a purposeful and highly-capable warplane, even in its Allison-engined This 1943 recognition si.lhouette shows
how the design had progressed in comparatively quick time from the initial layouts drawn up In the first half of 1940 In response to the early British needs. It also
illustrates how the wing leading edges needed to be swept slightly more at the wing roots to accommodate the retracted main undercarriage wheels. USAAF
28
29
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOWLEVEL SUCCESS
CHAPTER 2
FroDl Prototype to Low-Level Success
Several ground crew members of the NAA
flight test team assist Vance Breese before he
undertakes a test flight in the NA-73X from Mines
Field. The aircraft flew well right from the start,
and although there were some problems to iron
out these were not serious, having more to do with
making the design suitable for military operation
than with troublesome malfunctions. NAA
Paul Ballour's disastrous first flight in the NA-73X at Mines Field in November 1940 ended with the aircraft upside-down in a ploughed field in the vicinity of the
NAA company premises. Despite being considerably damaged it was repaired and flew again, but was eventually retired from f1ighttesting in the summer of 1941.
It might have been donated to a school near the NAA factories. NAA
The NA-73X is the centre of considerable activity
while it is prepared for a test flight at Mines Field.
The pilot in the cockpit is large enough to be Vance
Breese, a highly competent civilian freelance test
pilot who flew the aircraft on its first four flights,
all of which were accomplished without mishap.
NAA
effectively encouraged, without even an
official specification, the creation of a
new fighter of considerable potential for
British service, almost completely out of
AA's similarly individual initiative.
Bree e made three further flights in the
NA-73X, all of them basically satisfactory,
before further and more detailed flight
te ting reverted to NAA's own person-
nel. At this point the whole Mustang pro-
gramme could have come unstuck. Paul
Balfour took the NA-73X up on its fifth
flight. Vance Bree e appears to have had
a low opinion of Balfour's abilities, and his
judgement proved correct. Inde d, there
is an oft-quoted story that Breese made a
bet that Balfour would crash the A-73X
on his first outing in the aircraft. Breese
was right. Balfour took off in the morning
of 20 November 1940 with the intention
of flying fast ov r Mines Field to explore
the NA- 73X's speed capabilities above
set timing po itions. He must have been
preoccupied with this work, because after
only some twelve minutes of flying time
the NA-73X's Allison engine stopped
running, starved of fuel. Balfour had
omitted to switch to another fuel tank,
and the NA-73X immediately became a
glider. The pilot attempted to turn the air-
craft towards the active runway, but lost
height too quickly. With its undercarriage
extended the shiny new NA-73X touched
down in a ploughed field some way hort
of the runway and at once flipped over
on to its back, suffering severe damage.
Balfour eventually scrambled clear of the
wreck through a cockpit side window, the
rigid crash pylon and high rear fuselage
line behind the cockpit having saved his
life.
The NA-73X had only flown some 3hr
bomber. Balfour wa not, however, accus-
tomed to the new breed of all-metal high-
performance monoplane fighters that the
NA-73X represented.
North American's solution was to hire
Vance Breese, an accomplished freelance
test pilot who would certainly know his
way around test-flying an advanced air-
craft like the NA-73X. Breese appears to
have taken th job in his stride, without
great ceremony, and in so doing his name
has been forever linked to the Mustang
story, although in reality he had little
other connection with the type. 0 it
was that Breese took the A-73X aloft
from Mines Field for its maiden flight
on the morning of 26 October 1940.
This historic fl ight lasted some twenty
minutes, and Brees soon realized that
the NA-73X was all that NAA had
claimed it to be. It flew well, and cer-
tainly seemed to be a sound design. The
watching NAA personnel mu t have
been relieved and at the same time satis-
fied at the result of the NA-73X's initial
foray into the kies. It was certainly a
cause for some c lebration for the British
purchasing personnel, who had now
Prototype Testing
The date of 26 October 1940 recei ves
little attention in aviation circles, yet
that was the day when the maiden flight
occurred of an aircraft destined to become
one of aviation's great warplanes. On that
historic day the NA-73X was at last ready
for its first flight. All it needed was a com-
petent test pilot. In those far-off days test
pilots in the USA tended to be celebri-
ties who could command high payments
for their services. Several were freelance,
and orth American needed a pilot from
outside the company to fly the NA-73X.
In effect NAA had no experience in
fighter development flying, except for that
associated with the limited-production
NA-50 and A-50A adaptations of the
A-16 two-seat trainer. Probably the
most senior of the company's own test
pilots was Paul Balfour, who had flown the
first production derivative of the NA-16,
the BT-9. He had also made the maiden
flight of another important new aircraft
that AA was developing, the twin-
engine NA-40, eventually developed
into the famed B-25 Mitchell medium
30 31
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL SUCCESS
The cockpit of an RAF Mustang, showing the
right-hand side of the interior. British Mustangs
generally had the type of control column shown,
with a circular grip at the top, while US-operated
P-51s had a pistol grip-type control stick. The
interior colour was a mixed shade similar, but not
identical, to the interior grey-green often used for
the insides of British-built fighters, and the gun
sight is an early ST1A1N-ZA-type. NAA
33
There was a considerable variation in markings and colours in the early Mustang batches. This Mk.1 is painted in RAF-style camouflage but carries US national
insignia of the early 1940s period as well. NAA
32
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL SUCCESS
The first off the line. The very first production Mustang to be built, AG345 made its first flight in April 1941. Officially a Mustang Mk.I, it was later painted in RAF
camouflage of Dark Green/Dark Earth/Sky, sprayed with American Du Pont paint equivalents to the British shades (the Sky colour has been described by some
observers as a marked blue-grey shadel. This aircraft was not delivered to Britain, but was retained by NAA for trials and test work. In this view it carries its
British serial number in small characters on the rudder, and has the early-type short carburettor air intake ahead of the windscreen. NAA
Bearing in mind the extensive damage the NA-73X sustained in its crash landing in November 1940, it was something of a testament to NAA's engineers that it
was repaired and made flyable again. The port wing can be seen here, bearing the registration NX19998 on its underside near the damaged wingtip. Note the
painted-on gun ports. NAA
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL SUCCESS
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL SUCCESS
The first production Mustang to be shipped to Britain was Mk.l AG346, seen here before knock-down prior to transportation by sea. It has the short carburettor air
intake on the top of the cowling behind the spinner, characteristic of very early production Mustangs. NAA
testing and development work, and
never reached Britain. Thus the second
production aircraft, AG346, was the first
Mustang to be delivered. This took place
in October 1941, some nine months
after the originally planned delivery
date of January 1941. Disassembled, it
wa rat d and shipped across the North
Atlantic in the hold of a cargo ship. It
arrived at Liverpool docks on 24 October
1941, and was subsequently reassembl d
at Liverpool's Speke airfield, the first
of many Mustangs to be so delivered
in the years ahead. A number of pub-
lished sources have claimed that AG346
was duly assigned, in November 1941,
to the test and evaluation airfield at
Boscombe Down, Wiltshire, in the south
of England. Since the start of World War
Two this airfield had been the home of
the A&AEE, and significant evaluation
work was carri d out there on all air-
craft types intended for front-I ine Bri tish
military ervice. However, the A&AEE's
own records appear to disprove th a sign-
ment of AG346 there at that time. The
first Mustang to actually be recorded as
being delivered to Boscombe Down was
AG351. vertheless, various official
photographs taken of AG346 s mingly
at Boscombe Down during that period
are, interestingly, dated November 1941.
Whatever the case, the arri val of AG351
or AG346 in November 194[ spelled the
start of a long connection between the
Mustang and the A&AEE that lasted to
the end of the war, with much useful
evaluation and Service testing being
carried out.
Mustang production at NAA's
[nglewood plant started comparatively
slowly, but quickly built up to a consid-
erable rate. A w II-de igned aircraft, the
Mustang was comparatively easy to mass-
produce. The NAA factories were also laid
out on the most up-to-date principles, with
moving assembly Iines and an increasingly
skilled and well-paid workforce. Moreover,
NAA instituted a recruitment drive in the
Los Angeles and south rn California area
for skilled tradesmen specifically for th
Mustang production line. This was in stark
contrast to the Curtiss PAO, whi h NAA
had successfully avoided building under
licence for the British. The PAO was not
a particularly easy aircraft to manufacture,
and NAA had felt all along that its cum-
bersome structures and design would not
have suited its own forward-looking pro-
duction techniques and capabilities.
armament that th British had chosen
for this initial Mustang mark consisted of
eight machin gun; two Browning 0.5in
in th lower cowling, firing through the
propeller are, one of these machine guns
in each wing, plus two additional 0.3in
machine guns in each wing, outboard of
the wing-mounted 0.5-in guns. There has
been some debate as to whether all of these
aircraft were armed with OJin or OJ03in
machine guns in th outboard wing posi-
tions. The OJ03in gun was a British
weapon, wh reas the OJin was American.
Documentation on thi point dating from
the time suggests quite strongly that the
weapons were 0.3in, although it has been
suggested since the war that some aircraft
were fitted with 0.303in guns following
delivery to Britain.
Although the Mustang Mk I generally
resembled the unarmed NA-73X proto-
type, there were important differences in
addition to the provision of armament
and its associated sighting and 'plumbing'.
One of these changes wa the adoption of
a revised windscreen layout. The A-73X
had a smart, one-piece curved windscreen,
but this was unsuitable for military opera-
tions. The Mustang Mk I production batch
introduced a framed windscreen arrange-
ment with a flat Plexiglas panel ahead of
the pilot. The initial production aircraft
retained the A-73X's short carburettor
air intake on the top of the cowling, but a
lengthened intake that began just behind
the propeller was introduced early in the
production run. There was also some tink-
ering with the shape of the under-fuselage
radiator air intake. Although this loca-
tion worked well it was found that ome
adjustment was necessary, especially with
the intake arrangement itself. The original
shape as pione I' d on the NA-73X proto-
type was engineered so that the top of the
intake was flush with the lower surface
of the wing centre section. During flight
testing, however, this configuration was
found to be susceptible to boundary-lay I'
air close to the lower surface of the fuse-
lage. The problem was easily and effec-
tively cured by creating a small but none
the less significant gap between the air-
craft's lower surface and a newly created
top to the intake itself. A neatly curved
shape just behind the intake's front edge
allowed the boundary layer air to escape
along th sides of the intake and lower
fu elage.
The first production Mustang Mk
I, AG345, was retained by NAA for
Production Begins
The initial aircraft for Britain were offi-
cially designated Mustang Mk L The very
first of these, AG345, made its maiden
flight, from Mines Field, on 23 April 1941
(although a number of subsequent pub-
lished sources have cited 16 April). This
was somewhat behind the schedule that
had been agreed in April and May 1940,
accord ing to wh ich the fi rst aircraft shou ld
have been delivered to Britain in January
1941. As pointed out in Chapter 1, the
but exactly what happened to it
remains a mystery.
[n effect the A-73X was the only
prototype of what became the Mustang,
,dthough there was also a static test air-
frame, sometimes called the XX-73 in
company documents, that was tested to
destruction during the type's develop-
ment phase. However, the next actual
aircraft to be built was the first of the 320
production aircraft originally ordered by
Britain in May 1940. These initial 320
aircraft I' cei ved the company designation
NA-73 and w re allocated British military
serial numbers AG345 to AG664. Several
of the early production examples in this
hatch were used for test and experimental
purposes relating to the whole develop-
ment programme. Nevertheless, the fact
that only one true prototype wa needed
was a considerable accomplishment, and
in stark contrast to many other contem-
porary designs, which usually on ly entered
production after the construction
of several prototypes and Service test
machines, and months of flight testing.
Shortly after the crash of the NA-73X
the aircraft received a new name. [n a
letter to NAA dated 9 December 1940,
the BPC officially announced that the
name 'Mustang' had been chosen by the
British for their new fighter. The company
appears to have accepted this without
further discussion, and the NA-73 and its
derivatives forever after became known
to the British, Americans and ju t about
everyone else as the Mustang. There have
been many explanations as to why the
name Mustang was chos n for the new
fighter, but whatever the reason it proved
to be a very appropriate title. Just as the
fiery wild horses of the southern United
States from which the A-73 inherited
its name have always been in a class of
their own, so too would the new fighter.
from its crash site by crane and eventu-
ally repaired, and it made a number of
further flights. Paul Balfour was not as
fortunate, however, and his place was
taken by Robert C. Chilton, who assumed
the responsibility of chief of the flight
testing for the new fighter. Following
its repair, Chilton flew the NA-73X on
3 April 1941, and subsequently flew it
twelve more time. It was also flown by at
least one other NAA pilot (Louis Wait,
another AA test pilot, appears to have
flown the aircraft during that period).
By that point, however, the whole pro-
gramm had moved on, and the A-73X
with its original-style under-fuselage radi-
ator inlet was no longer representative
of the developing design. adly, after it
ceased flying on or around 15 July 1941,
it seems that this important prototype
was eventually scrapped. American histo-
rian Michael O'Leary has suggested that
it might have been donated to a local
A useful near-plan-view of AG348, the fourth
production Mustang Mk.l, showing British national
insignia with the Dark Green/Dark Earth upper
surfaces. and the short carburettor air intake on
top of the cowling. This aircraft has often been
incorrectly claimed to have been completed for US
service as an XP-51 prototype. NAA
a thought to abandoning or scaling-down
the project. Indeed, by then the British had
already exercised the option for a second
production batch. [n eptember 1940 a
further 300 were ordered. These, like the
initial 320, would be paid for by Britain
under the 'cash-and-carry' arrangements
then in force.
The NA-73X was carefully removed
20min, but during that time it had shown
itself to be a potentially excellent aircraft,
and the crash was in no way attributable
to the machin itself. Fortunately both
NAA, and mol' ignificantly the British,
had already seen the worth of the new
design. Plans for the production of the
initial320 aircraft for Britain were already
well advanced, and thankfully no one gave
34
35
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL SUCCESS FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL SUCCESS
The prototype for the subsequent Curtiss Model
81 series, serial number 38-10, known to the
USAAC as the XP-40. Curtiss carried out much
experimentation into the placement of the
engine's coolant radiator when the P-40 series
was under development, and at one stage the
radiator was installed on this prototype as shown
here, in the mid-fuselage position later favoured
for the Mustang. Although not the best fighter of
World War Two, the P-40 was available in useful
numbers in key battlegrounds early in the war,
before better combat aircraft could be produced.
Author's collection
vast Curtiss company itself did not survive for very long
after World War Two. By then other fighter manufactur-
ers had long since gained the initiative with their much
better designs, and the aircraft manufacturing part of the
Curtiss empire eventually disappeared in the late 1940s
and early1950s.
Curtiss during the Mustang's design period. Further
tinkering by Curtiss with the same increasingly tired
P-36/P-40/XP-46 concept and layout led eventually to
the XP-60, again a design much loved by the Wright
Field contingent. but this was a terrible and completely
unsuccessful attempt to update the basic line. Sadly, the
later production models of the extensive P-40
family from the P-40D onwards were known as
the Curtiss Model 87 series, and were called
Warhawk by the USAAF and Kittyhawk by the
RAF and Commonwealth. This P-40K Warhawk,
42-49756, was assigned to the 15th FG and, named
Stinger. was flown by the Seventh Army Air
Force's top ace, Robert W. Moore, who later in
the war also flew Mustangs. USAAF
Early models of the Curtiss P-40 with the cut-
back undernose radiator installation shown here
were known as Model 81. They were much-used
by the RAF as well as the American Volunteer
Group in China and Burma, and the USAAC. Some
of the aircraft allocated RAF serial numbers
eventually flew with other operators, such as
the Soviet Union. Very early production aircraft,
like this RAF Tomahawk IIA, AH925, were very
lightly armed. This aircraft is not fitted with its
wing machine guns, or the photograph has been
censored. Author's collection
sometimes claimed that this aircraft formed the basis
of the Mustang, which this author finds almost beyond
belief, although the development work performed by
Curtiss and NACA on the type's under-fuselage radiator
installation might have been of some use to NAA, which
was forced to purchase related wind-tunnel data from
basic P-40 design was not particularly aerodynamically
clean or accomplished from an engineering or perform-
ance viewpoint. In particular the type's chin radiator
arrangement was a poor design concept that further
compromised the aircraft's performance, bearing in
mind its low- to medium-level rated Allison engine
and its inadequate high-altitude capabilities. Designer
Don Berlin later claimed that he wanted to place the
type's radiator further aft, but someone high up in
Curtiss preferred the chin installation, and that was
what was built. Whether this story is true or not. the
Mustang was far more advanced than the P-40 in terms
of modern design, streamlining, overall concept, and in
many details. The P-40 was also amore difficult aircraft
to mass-produce compared with the Mustang, having
essentially come from an earlier generation of fighter
concept and layout.
Although the P-40 was often outclassed by its German
and Japanese fighter opponents, there were instances in
which the P-40 achieved agreat deal. and certainly many
Allied pilots who flew the type grew very much attached
to their Curtiss mounts. In the skies over North Africa the
Tomahawk was born again in British and Commonwealth
service, and the type flew with some distinction from
1941 in ground-attack as well as fighter roles. However,
it was increasingly outclassed by the Luftwaffe's Bf 109,
although anumber of pilots scored well while flying the
Tomahawk and Kittyhawk. In particular, 250 Sqn's Fit Lt
Clive Caldwell of the RAAF achieved notable success,
claiming twenty of his eventual total of twenty-seven
aerial victories in the PAD, including a remarkable total
of nine victories in one particular Tomahawk Mk liB,
AK498. Indeed, the Tomahawk and Kittyhawk series
were generally well liked by British and Commonwealth
pilots, and both types performed sterling if generally
undistinguished service, particularly as fighter-bombers.
In the hands of other Allied pilots the P-40 also racked
up some impressive scores, several pilots of the 'Flying
Tigers' in China, and New Zealand pilots in the Far East,
also achieving notable success. There was no doubt.
however, that the P-40 series was of little use as an all-
round fighter or as a long-range bomber escort, lacking
the range and high-altitude performance capabilities for
that particularly demanding role when the need arose for
high-performance fighters.
Various attempts were made to try to give the P-40
a better performance. From the PAD's own construction
run, three later production aircraft were converted into
XP-40Q standard. This was a radically altered version
featuring a cut-down rear fuselage and a teardrop-type
cockpit canopy. With a 1,425hp Allison V-1710-122 the
new model could still only manage 422mph (680km/h),
however, which by later war standards was no improve-
ment on the P-51 and P-47 models then being built. The
planned P-40Q production series was not proceeded
with. Long before that. however, as related elsewhere,
the P-40 design had been the basis of some poor
fixes aimed at trying to achieve greater performance.
These eventually materialized as the XP-46, with which
the Material Command at Wright Field became almost
obsessed, but which was a poorly cobbled-together
attempt to update the P-40 design. Historians have
Tomahawk Mk IlA for the RAF corresponded with the
P-40B of the USAAF, having four wing-mounted guns,
self-sealing fuel tanks and extra armour protection, and
was therefore a much better proposition for combat.
Nevertheless, most were relegated by the British to the
Middle East. to Army Co-operation units or to training.
The USAAF later received 193 of the slightly improved
P-40C, and the RAF was originally assigned 930 as
the Tomahawk Mk liB (although some of these were
delivered to other countries). Around one hundred from
these early production series, intended for Britain, were
diverted to supply the American Volunteer Group (the
famous 'Flying Tigers'! in China. The Soviet Union also
flew examples of the Model 81 series.
A substantial redesign of the basic Model 81 series
as the Model 87 appeared firstly in the P-40D of 1941,
which had a significantly altered nose, minus the nose
guns, and a deeper and redesigned radiator installa-
tion beneath an Allison V-1710-39 engine. The four
wing guns were increased to 0.50in calibre, and bombs
could be carried beneath the fuselage and wings. Only
twenty-two P-40Ds were intended for the USAAF, but
several hundred were allocated to the RAF, which
named them Kittyhawk I. although many were intended
to receive increased armament. The USAAF preferred
the P-40E, with six 0.5in wing guns; it ordered 820, and
another 1,500 became the Kittyhawk IA for British and
Commonwealth use under Lend-Lease. In US service the
name Warhawk was allocated to the type. Installation of
the low- to medium-altitude rated Packard-built Merlin
XX-series engine (V-1650-1) produced the P-40F, 1,311
of which were built; some were supplied to the Soviet
Union and others to the Free French (FAFL). A lightened
version of the P-40F with only four wing guns was
subsequently produced as the P-40L. Later US produc-
tion included 1,300 P-40Ks with a slightly increased fin
area, and just over 5,200 P-40Ns. The initial N-model
production aircraft had the four wing guns and other
weight-saving attributes of the P-40L combined with a
l,360hp V-1710-81 engine. Subsequent P-40N produc-
tion blocks had later versions of the V-l7l O. The RAF
flew the P-40K and P-40M as the Kittyhawk III, and the
P-40N as the Kittyhawk IV. In 1944 some surviving F
and Lmodels had their Packard V-1650s replaced by the
Allison V-1710 and were converted as P-40R advanced
trainers; a curious case of the Merlin being substituted
by the Allison. All of these production models were
powered by engines rated for low- to medium-altitude
performance, making the P-40 unable to fight effectively
at high altitudes. Somewhat unbelievably, bearing in
mind the increasing obsolescence of the P-40 design
and the growing availability of much better types such
as the Mustang, production continued until November/
December 1944, a grand total of some 13.738 Hawk
series being produced.
Overall. the PAD's performance did not compare
favourably with that of the Mustang. The P-40E with
its l,150hp Allison V-1710-39 and six wing-mounted
0.5in machine guns could reach approximately 354mph
(570km/h) at 15,OOOft (4,600m), and the P-40N was
only marginally faster despite the weight-saving insti-
tuted for the later production models. In essence, the
The Much-Maligned Curtiss P-40
The Curtiss PAD was the aircraft that NAA did not want
to build for the British in 1940, which led to NAA design-
ing its own new fighter to meet British needs. This new
fighter was the Mustang, and in subsequent years the
P-40 has often received a less than sympathetic press.
Whereas the Mustang at the time, and subsequently,
came to be regarded as a highly distinguished and
successful design, the PAD has tended to be seen as a
somewhat poor fighter that did not gain a particularly
illustrious war record. The facts are rather more compli-
cated than that. True, the P-40 was not one of the best
Second World War fighters by a large margin, but it
became available in significant numbers in several thea-
tres and played an important role in the early war years.
It served widely in several specific versions with US and
Allied units, and a number of pilots achieved success in
the type that was perhaps out of proportion to the P-40's
overall capabilities.
Named for Glenn Hammond Curtiss, one of aviation's
pioneers, the Curtiss company produced many excellent
biplane designs for the US armed forces between the
world wars. What became the huge Curtiss-Wright
empire was formed in 1929 with the amalgamation of
the existing and highly successful Curtiss aircraft manu-
facturing company with asimilar company that bore the
name of the Wright brothers.
The design of the P-40 originated in 1937, as a
development of the radial-engined P-36 (Curtiss Model
75 series!. The P-36 had been a significant design
when its prototype first flew in 1935, with its all-metal
structure, retractable undercarriage, enclosed cockpit
and monoplane configuration. Unfortunately the same
basic design persisted with the development of the P-40
series, and by the mid-war years was less than satisfac-
tory in terms of streamlining, aerodynamic efficiency
and development potential. The PAD, unlike the radial-
engined P-36, was to be powered by the then compara-
tively new Allison V-1710 inline engine.
The prototype XP-40 (serial number 38-1 D), a con-
verted P-36A airframe, was first flown in October 1938.
In April 1939 asubstantial order (for its time! was placed
for 524 production PADs (Curtiss Model 81 series) for
USAAC service. This contract was later juggled to allow
Curtiss also to meet an order for similar machines placed
by French purchasing representatives on behalf of the
French government. In the event. the French aircraft were
diverted to the RAF in 1940, who named them Tomahawk
Mk I. Some historians have claimed that Britain placed
'substantial' orders for the initial P-40 versions before
the outbreak of war, but this was not the case. In fact
most of Britain's early procurement of the P-40 came
from Britain's takeover of the French orders following
the defeat of France in June 1940. Deliveries to Britain
began later in 1940 (it is important to note that the initial
RAF Tomahawks were allocated later serial numbered
batches than the first batch of Mustangs). Most of the
early Tomahawks, partly due to their poor armament
(two 0.50in machine guns in the upper forward nose, and
two 0.3in or equivalent machine guns in the wings, one
on each side) and hardly sprightly performance, were not
regarded by the RAF Fighter Command as worthy fight-
ers for northwest European operations. The subsequent
36 37
The Briti h employed a number of tech-
nical repre entatives who worked closely
with AA on many a pects of the early
Mustang production programme. There
was always a good deal of co-operation
between the British and NAA, and thi
relationship existed virtually without
cease throughout the war. A pr viously
related, during 1940 the Briti h had set up
the BAC to oversee the aviation-related
North American purchasing effort. The
BAC co-or linated the work of the BPC
and other pr curement organization, and
communicated directly with the MAP in
London. A letter from the BA to the
MAP dat d 25 June 1941 stated that the
fourth production Mu tang for the British
order, AG348, would be completed on
or around 30 June and would be repre-
sentative of the sub equent production
standard, although contemporary photo-
graphs show this aircraft to hav initially
been fitted with the hort carburettor
intake above the engine, rather than the
production-standard intake that b gan
just behind the propeller. None the Ie ,
thenceforth manufacture of the Mustang
against the two initial British orders gath-
ered pace quite quickly.
With the build-up in production,
increasing numbers of Mustangs and
related spares started to be sh ipped to
Britain late in 1941 and early in 1942, fol-
lowing the initial arrival of AG346. The
common procedure was for each aircraft to
be flight-tested at the AA factory upon
completion, before being disassembled and
packed in purpose-built wooden crates.
Unfortunately NAA's surviving docu-
mentation is unclear as to how extensive
thi initial flight testing was. However,
s me impression can be gained from the
oodyear Aircraft Company, which built
Vought Corsair fighter under the FG des-
ignation for British naval use later in the
war. These aircraft were usually flown for a
total of two hours, commonly in two sepa-
rate flights, to check out the basic systems
and ensure that the engine, undercarriage
and other primary components functioned
correctly. In the case of the Mu tang thi
flight-test work wa p rformed by AA
test pilots, although the British appear to
have had at least one acceptance test pilot
at Inglewood as a part of the proc s.
Mu tang for the initial British con-
tract were generally hipped from the east
coa t of the U A via the perilous orth
Atlantic route, and w r u ually carried
by merchant ve els. These waters were
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOWLEVEL S CCESS
extremely dangerous by mid to late 1941,
with German submarin s (U-boats) and
long-range anti-shipping aircraft taking a
steady toll on the merchant ships carrying
a considerable variety of es ential goods
and war material from orth America
to Britain. At least twenty of the e early
Mustangs went to the bottom en route,
when the hips in which they were being
transported w r sunk. Documentation
from those diffi ult times held in Britain's
ational Archives at Kew contains a
reference to an offer for the Mustangs
to be delivered by air. The correspond-
ence is from British purchasing repre-
sentatives to the MAP in London, and
concerns what was described as an offer
from 'US Ferrying Command' to fly the
aircraft to Britain. This would have to
have be n accompli hed in tages, but
certainly anticipate what happened lat r
in the war, when considerable number of
larger American aircraft of various differ-
ent types were flown across what became
the north and south Atlantic ferry routes,
usually for subsequent U service. In the
event the British did not take up this kind
offer, and the early lustangs continued to
cro the Atlanti in merchant hips.
The early testing of Mustang I G ~ 1
at Boscombe Down, and subsequ nt
analysis of further Mustangs during th
early months of 1942, confirmed many
of the new fighter's good point but
al 0 showed up a major vice. A growing
number of RAF pilot flew the type, in
addition to Bo combe Down's own te t
pilots, and, a w II as the necessary test
work that was carri d out at Boscombe
Down, the Mustang was also introduced
to th Air Fighting Development nit
(AFDU) at Duxford in ambridgeshire.
omparative flight were made alongside
Spitfire, and eventually against a cap-
tured Me er chmitt Bf lO9E (although
that variant was by then being upers d d
by newer and more capable marks). The
overall impression was that the Mustang
was a fine aircraft to fly, with good flying
characteristic and few real bad points in
its handling and operation. The eight-gun
armamentofO.5in and 0.3in machine guns
was found to cause little vibration when
the guns were fired. The cockpit wa well
laid out, and from a maintenance point
of view the Mu tang was much easier to
look after, with g od access particularly
for its engine, compared with most other
contemporary American fighters. With
the 1,150hp Alii on V-1710-39 (F3R)
38
series engine the Mustang I was found
in A&AEE tests to be able to attain a
maximum speed of 370mph (595km(h)
at 15,000ft (4,600m). This compared
well with the pitfire Mk V's maximum
of slightly over 34 mph (547km(h). Its
range on internal fuel was an out tand-
ing 960 miles (1,55 km), which gave a
potential endurance of approximat ly four
hours, roughly double that of the Spitfire
Mk V. Indeed, throughout its service life
one of the Mustang's great strengths was
it exemplary range capabilitie. Even
these early, quite austere Mustangs were
well ahead in terms of range and endur-
ance compared with cont mporary Allied
single-engine fighters. The Mustang Mk
1 had a total internal fuel capacity of 140
gallons (640 litre ), of which some 130
gallons (590 litres) were usable, spread
among fu elage and wing internal fuel
tanks. From the outset AA's designer
had provided for plenty of fuel capacity
within the Mustang, one of the many
practical innovations that the company
brought to contemporary fighter de ign.
There was one major problem with
the new fighter, however. Thi was not
a fault of the Mustang's design, but was
a significant hortcoming with its power
plant. Th Allison V-I7l0 was simply
not a good ngine for high-altitude work;
in fa t the rather austere version fitted in
thes early Mustangs was never intended
to be anything other than a low-altitude
engine. As previously tated, the Mustang
Mk I's top speed wa attainable at 15,000ft
(4,600m), and although the type had a
theoretical service ceil ing of 30,000ft
(9,000m), in reality its p rformance fell
away dramati ally the higher it was flown.
The aircraft appears to have become quite
a handful to fly at heights above 25,000ft
(7,600m). Indeed, in practice many RAF
pilots found that the type came into its
own at or below 9,000ft (2,700m), and
ome were able to get the best speeds
from the Mustang at around that height.
The pitfire Mk V actually climbed faster,
taking seven minutes to reach 2 ,000ft
(6,000m) in tead of the Mustang' eleven
minutes, and was con iderably lighter at
around6,900lb (3, 130kg) maximum take-
off weight, compared with the 8,622lb
(3, llkg) of the Mustang Mk 1.
In reality the Allison V-17lO was a
somewhat underdeveloped engine, and
although its turbo upercharged variants
(a used, for example, in the Lockheed
P- Lightning) were good enough at
high altitude, the version of this engine
that did not have turbo (i.e. exhaust aug-
mented) supercharging were poor per-
formers at altitude. The V-I7lO-39 series
engine that powered the early Mustangs
did not have a turbo, but was fitted with
a imple mechanical single-stage, in-
gle- peed supercharger that did little to
augment the engine's performance. This
shortcoming became very obvious early
on, during the British Service evaluation
of the type. British experience in the air
war over northwest Europe had hown
that any fighter worth it purs would be
able to take on the be t of the German
fighters at low, medium or high altitude as
required. The Allison-engined Mu tang
simply did not fit these performance cri-
teria as a front-line fighter. Fortunately
for the RAF the upermarine pitfire wa
constantly being developed and updated,
including its continuing ability to match
the be t German fighters and to fight at
higher altitudes as increasingly more pow-
erful and capable versions of the excellent
Merlin inline engine were fitted to newer
ver ions of the type.
The e potential shortcomings in the
Allison-engined Mustang's performance
were therefor not a evere blow, and by
early 1942 Britain had been aved from the
immediate threat of German invasion. On
the contrary, the fight was by then tarting
to be taken to the German over occupied
Europe in an increa ingly robust fashion,
and there was a growing need for combat
air raft capable of operating offensively
at lower levels for ground-attack mis ions
tha t cou Id nevertheless defend themselves
if challenged by oppo ing fighters. There
was a related and equally significant need
for fast, armed reconnaissance, as Britain
began to develop her aerial capability and
gather intelligence to act increa ingly as
an offensive rather than a largely defensive
force in what was coming to be call d the
European Theatre of Operations (ETO),
namely northwest Europe. It was fortui-
tous for the Mustang that it arrived at Just
the right time to fit perfectly into several
of the e developing role. At low level
the Mustang wa fast, manoeuvrable and
a relatively good gun platform. The initial
combat use of the Mustang therefore came
to be in the fast armed re onnais ance and
light-ground-attack roles, for which the
Allison-engined Mustangs were gradually
introduced into service.
The RAF organization charg d with the
air-ground co-operation that was implied
FRO '1 PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL S CCESS
in the attack and ta tical reconnaissance
roles to which the Mustang appeared to be
suited was rmy Co-operation ommand
(ACC). Created in December 1940, this
organization aimed to develop a close
working relationship between tactical air
and ground formations, something that
had been disa trously lacking in the abor-
tive British operation in France against
the invading Germans i.n May 1940. In
those days th relationship between air
and ground forces had been sadly inad-
equate, a problem exacerbated by a lack
of modern equipment, often little knowl-
edge of the distribution and trength of
enemy forces, and mo t seriously by a
shortage of high-performance aircraft.
During its early days ACC op rated the
Westland Lysander and, increasingly,
the Curtiss Tomahawk. The first RAF
quad ron to fly the Tomahawk was 26
qn, which started to receive the type in
February 1941. This unit had flown the
Lysander in France during May 1940,
and probably welcomed the transition to
higher-performance aircraft. Just over 200
Tomahawks appear to have been assigned
to ACC, but the type proved inadequate
for thi developing role and was removed
from operations in northwest Europe as
quickly as possible as better alternatives
came along. evertheless, the Tomahawk
was a useful start in the embryonic growth
of the c10s r and more effective working
together of land and air power, and in the
1irth of effective tactical rec nnais ance.
The tage wa thus set for the Mustang
to make its operational d but. On 5
December 1941 an early Mustang Mk
I, AG349, was shown off to the Press at
peke airfield as a shining new example of
US equipment for the RAE Interestingly,
it doe not appear to have received a glit-
tering amount of publicity, and ironically
it wa displayed alongside an early Curti
Kittyhawk, a type that wa already virtu-
ally obsolete ompar d with the leek new
Mustang. The first RAF unit to r ceive
initial examples of the Mustang I wa
26 qn. This unit had been the first to
transition onto the Tomahawk, and in
January 1942 the quadron's fir t Mustang
was received for initial familiarization.
To begin with the quadron was based at
atwick in southern England (now the site
of one of London's international airports),
and its roles included the transition of
the Mu tang into service and a thorough
evaluation of the type's operational capa-
bilities. umber 41 Operational Training
39
Unit (OT ) at ld Sarum in Wilt hire
(formerly the Training Squadron of No.
I School of Army Co-operation) also
began its transition training on the type.
Elements of 26 qn moved to Weston
Zoyland in omer et for a thorough
shakedown of the Mustang in an opera-
tional environment, and as 1942 contin-
ued a number of further quadrons tarted
to fly the new Arneri an fighter. Th se
included 241 Sqn in March 1942,2, L6,
268 and 613 qns in April 1942, and
400 qn in Jun 1942. The last-named
was th first of three Royal anadian Air
Force (RCAF) quadrons that eventually
flew the early Allison-engined Mustangs,
being joined a little later in the summer
of 1942 by 414 Sqn and from January
1943 onwards by 430 Sqn. The R AF
units flew as a part of the RAF but were
predominantly manned by Canadian per-
sonnel. On the other hand, 613 'City of
MandIe tel" qn was a Royal Auxiliary
Air Force unit that had exi ted as an army
co-operation squadron since its creation
in March 1939 and had lose link with
the city of Manchester. It had formerly
flown Hawker Hector biplan ,Ly anders
and then Tomahawks (in reality the e
types overlapped in servi e, and a dwin-
dling number of Lysanders persisted some
way into th Mu tang era) before transi-
tioning on to th Mustang I as it main
equipment.
Combat Debut and
Early Service
It was 26 Sqn, howev r, that had the
accolade of being the first to take the
Mustang officially into combat. On 10
May 1942 (a number of ource claim
that it wa on 5 May) a low-level armed
reconnais an e in the area of Ber k on
the northern Fr nch coast to the outh of
Boulogne was flown by a single Mustang
Mk I f 26 qn from Gatwick. It pilot,
Fg Off G. . Dawson, thus began what
was to become the Mustang' illu trious
combat career. On thi fir t-ever opera-
tional Mustang sortie Dawson 'beat-up'
Berck airfield and fired at a goods train
before returning afely to Gatwick.
This initial Mustang combat opera-
tion had come several months after the
Mu tang had entered squadron service,
but the comparative lethargy with which
the Mu tang was committed to combat
illustrated the fact that at that time there
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL SUCCESS FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL SUCCESS
Among the first squadrons to transition to the Mustang was 400 Sqn RCAF. This unit was allocated the
code letters 'SP', which were originally worn on its Lysanders and Tomahawks before the squadron
acquired Mustangs in the summer of 1942. Shown here is Mustang Mk.l AG528/SP-B. Via Chris Ellis
During the first half of 1942 the Mustang was gradually assimilated into RAF service, a year before the type entered US service. Early operational RAF Mustangs
were repainted, grey paint replacing the original Dark Earth areas of early production aircraft as delivered, and on some Mustangs a distinguishing chordwise
yellow band was painted for a short time on the wing surfaces, as shown here. The nearest aircraft is Mk.1 AL982. Via Chris Ellis
Illustrating the close links between Army
Co-operation Command Mustangs and the British
ground forces with which they were tasked to
operate, an RAF Mustang overflies a Rolls-Royce
armoured car during one of the many exercises
held in Britain during 1942 and 1943. This type of
armoured car would not have been intended for
combat use in Europe by that time. Via Chris Ellis
The earliest numbered Mustang Mk.1 to reach Britain was AG346, seen here in late 1941 or early 1942 during assignment to the A&AEE at Boscombe Down. By
that time it had been retrofitted with the longer carburettor air intake above the nose. This view also shows the wing section at the wingtip, with its laminar-flow
outline in which the deepest point is much further back than on conventional aerofoils. R.L. Ward collection
Dated November 1941, this photograph purports to show AG346 at Boscombe Down, which would make it one of the first Mustangs, if not the first, to arrive at this
Wiltshire airfield for Service testing and evaluation. R.L. Ward collection
An excellent front view of AG346, again dated November 1941, showing in particular the slightly staggered nature of the three gun ports in the wing leading
edges. R.L. Ward collection
40 41
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL SUCCESS
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL SUCCESS
RI GHT: Showing off its undersides to advantage,
AM148/RM-G displays the 'squared-off' appearance
of the Mustang's design, which aided manufacture
and also coincidentally helped in the type's
excellent manoeuvrability. The famous 'belly
scoop' inlet for the mid-fuselage radiator is also
clearly evident. R.L. Ward collection
BElOW: Much-photographed Mustang Mk.l AM148/
RM-G of 26 Sqn in flight during August 1942. By
then the upper-surface colours had changed
to Dark Green with a grey shade, either Mixed
Grey, Dark Grey or similar (later Ocean Grey was
standardized), with Medium Sea Grey undersides.
The fuselage band and spinner were painted
in Sky, and the outer wing leading edges were
yellow. R.L. Ward collection
The RAFs famous 2 Sqn (often written as No.1I (ACI Sqnl transitioned to the Mustang Mk.1 in April 1942, having latterly flown lysanders and Tomahawks in the
army co-operation role. Assigned the code letters 'XV', several of the squadron's Mustangs are seen here in formation during the working-up period on the type.
The unit flew its first Mustang operation in November 1942, and was in action over Normandy on D-Day itself in June 1944, providing photographic and visual
reconnaissance coverage but also spotting for naval guns. Via Chris Ellis
Arming an early RAF Mustang. Note the generous
gun bay panels, which allowed excellent access to
the wing guns. Although this is a staged publicity
photograph it does show the teamwork necessary
to keep combat aircraft operational. Via Chris Ellis
Mustangs fitted with a amera behind the
pilot' seat, on a fitting above and in front
of the aircraft's radio equipment, point-
ing backward and downwards ro the
left through the rear-vision clear panel
behind the main cockpit glazing. ome
aircraft had this window partly painted
over, with just the camera's lens visible.
The camera employed for this work was
th F.24 type (called th K-24 by the
American, who also manufa tured this
very useful piece of equipment under
licence and used it), which created a 5in
(12.7 cm)-square negative on a roll of
film from which very-high-quality and
detailed black-and-white phorographic
prints could be made. After some trial
and error it was determined that the best
picture came from the Mustang flying a
left-hand bank, with the camera 'aim d'
u ing a ighting mark painted on the port
wing upper urface that could be aligned
with the subject ro be phorographed. The
phorographs could be tak n at height up
to approximately 9,000ft (2,750m). uch
a procedure allowed good-quality photo-
graph to be taken, and it also gave the air-
raft some protection because a banking
aircraft was less vulnerable to ground fire
than one flying a predictably straight and
tages of World War Two, following the
Allied invasion of Europe in June 1944.
One of the most important of the e was a
major exerci e codenamed Sparwn, which
took place in Ea t Anglia in March 1943.
Similarly, the army co-operation
Mustangs had important and interrelated
roles to perform in gathering intelligence
and photographic records of occupied
Europe. To that end a modification pro-
gramme had already begun that saw the
A well-known set of publicity photographs was taken of Mustang Mk.1 AM148/RM-G in August 1942. This aircraft was from the second batch of production Mk.ls
and was therefore an NA-83, and operated with 26 Sqn, RAF, the first squadron to receive the Mustang and the first to take it into combat, in May 1942.
R.L. Ward collection
wa no immediate need to hurry the air-
raft into action. Rather, the Mustangs
mixed working-up and exercises with army
units, and well into the Mustang's combat
service these joint air-ground exercises
continued to be rotated with operational
flying. They gave valuable training in the
developing use of air and ground assets in
a much more combined way that allowed
both to work effectively together, a factor
that would be very important in the later
42
43
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOWLEVEL SUCCESS
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOWLEVEL SUCCESS
One of the many armaments trials carried out at A&AEE Boscombe Down using Mustang Mk.l AM106 concerned the installation of a 40mm Vickers'S' gun
beneath each wing, The installation was a success but was not taken up for operational Mustangs. In view of its sensitive status while involved in these trials
the aircraft had a 'G' prefix added to its serial number, signifying that it had to be guarded when on the ground. R.L. Ward collection
The 40mm Vickers 'S' gun installed beneath the
port wing of Mustang Mk.1 AM106/G at Boscombe
Down, The weapon appears to have been tried
out in a number of different pods while tested on
AM106. The aircraft itself had what was referred
to as a 'Iow attack wing' configuration, which was
used to tryout various weapons and armament
configurations with a range of stores fitments.
R.L. Ward collection
very apparent, although there were minor
problems to iron out as the type began to
see widespread service within the RAF's
light-ground-attack and tactical recon-
naissance (TacR) squadrons. One of these
difficulties concerned the Allison V-171O
engines, These proved to be somewhat
unreliable, and although some ran well,
others appeared to need considerable
attention. Some squadrons had a resident
technical expert from Allison assigned to
help in the maintenance and operation of
the engines. Another problem concerned
the famous air scoop intake beneath the
fuselage for the Mustang's radiator and oil
cooler. This tended to collect debris that
was blown into the opening by the wash
from the propeller when Mustangs were
operated from grass or other unprepared
surfaces, which they were often required
to do, It also became apparent that, no
matter how clever this installation was
regarding the cooling of the engine and
the extra rearwards thrust it potentially
fight with enemy aircraft and so risk the
valuable photographs and intelligence
that they were gathering. Of course, if
they were met by enemy fighters during
their low-level sorties the Mustangs were
capable of looking after themselves, even
against the increasingly widespread and
very potent Focke-Wulf Fw 190A, which
had not been the case with the Lysanders
and Tomahawks that the new American
fighter was replacing,
The Mustang's worth soon became
level course. Some squadrons preferred
their Mustangs to work alone, but others
developed tactics for two Mustangs to
operate together, one aircraft taking the
photographs while the other acted as a
'weaver' to defend the first and to look out
for enemy air activity. In essence, although
the Mustangs were tasked with armed
reconnaissance and light-ground-attack
roles against enemy targets that presented
themselves during individual sorties, they
were encouraged not to go looking for a
Photographed at A&AEE Boscombe Down, Mk.l AM106 was one of some twenty-five Allison-engined Mustangs that at one time or another were atthis highly
important test establishment. This aircraft was involved in a number of programmes over several months, having arrived at Boscombe Down in April 1943,
primarily for various armaments trials, and was used to clear at least fourteen underwing stores types or configurations for operational use, R.L. Ward collection
An historical puzzle. It is believed that this photograph shows several Mustangs of 241 Sqn at Bottisham in the late autumn of 1942. Bottisham was later the home
base of the Mustang-equipped 361st FG of the US Eighth Air Force. There is some belief that this photograph might have been taken at Ddiham, when some of
241 Sqn's Mustangs were transferred to 168 Sqn, Visible here are AG512/RZ-A, and the apparently freshly-painted 'V', which is believed to have been AMl77.
Number 241 Sqn was one of the first RAF squadrons to transition to the Mustang. Via Chris Ellis
44
45
generated, it helped make the Mustang
a very difficult aircraft to belly-land uc-
cessfully when required, and emergency
ditchings on water were definitely to be
avoided if at all possibl .
After several weeks of comparatively
limited bue increasingly wid spread opera-
tions, the real blooding for the R F's
Mu tang squadrons came with theabortive
Dieppe operation in August 1942. Code-
named Operation Jubilee, the amphibious
landing by a combined Allied force on
the French coast at Dieppe on 19 August
1942 were a complete shamble, re ulting
in considerable loss of life. Although valu-
able lessons were learned for future opera-
tions, this sort of ' reconnaissance in force'
was not tri d again. The Dieppe operation
also saw the first really widespread use of
the Mustang in strength. Specifically sup-
porting the landings were four Mustang
squadrons that had been drawn into a new
organization within A ,a wingcompris-
ing everal squadron based at the same air-
field. umber 35 Wing included 26, 239,
400and414 Sqnsand was based atGatwick.
Ofcourse, many other Allied airasset were
involved in the Dieppe operation, includ-
ing a considerable number of fighters and
medium bombers, but the Mustangs were
tasked with reconnaissance of German
position and deployments in and around
the Dieppe area, plu the support, where
practical, of the Allied forces on theground
and landing areas. In pel{orming the e
tasks the Mustangs encountered consid-
erable anti-aircraft fire from the ground,
and a number of combats took place with
German fighters. During the course of
seventy-two sorties that day no fewer than
nine Mustangs were shot down, includ-
ing five from 26 qn and one Canadian-
operated aircraft. The day's op rations
marked the real combat debut for 35
Wing's Canadian squadron. However,
there wa one piece of good new. During
the Dieppeoperation the Mustang reached
a very ignificant milestone. An American
volunteer flying with 414 qn R AF, Fg
Off Holl is Hills, clai med an Fw 190 in the
vicinity of Dieppe, the very first enemy
aircraft to be shot down by a Mustang. It
would certainly not be the last.
Growing Capabilities
In the following months the TacR ACC
Mustangs gradually widened their opera-
tions as the aircraft's true potential
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL S CCESS
became apparent. At the time of Dieppe
some fifteen squadrons were either opera-
tional or working-up on the Mustang,
and eventually at least twenty-one RAF/
R AF quadrons flew the Allison-engined
Mustang, either as their primary equip-
ment or for a short time while transition-
ing on to another type. ( more thorough
listing of these units i in luded in th
Appendice at the end of this book.) The
scope of Mustang sorties grew to encom-
pass considerably increased front-line use,
and name were given to specific type of
operations. Among the be t known, and
at the time quite widely publicized, were
'Rhubarb ',comparatively mall-scale but
often effective tactical operations gener-
ally flown in bad weather against targets
of opportunity. There were many targets
in occupied northern France that were
suitable for attack, including German
road transport, railways, airfields and the
whole range of small-scale German mili-
tary installations and individual target
spread across ormandy and beyond. In
this role the Mustangs excelled, their
eight-gun armament being effective
against a wide variety of light targets.
There were also 'Circus' operations to
escort light bombers or other fighter-
bomber; 'Ramrods', which refined th
ircu into a specific attack against a
designated target; 'Ranger " in which two
Mu tang worked together in low-altitude
attacks against targets of opportunity;
'Lagoon' operations against shipping off
the Dutch coast; 'Popular " which were
low-altitude photographic reconnais-
sance (PR) operations, usually in coastal
regions; 'Haunch' sorties directed again t
German aerial efforts using converted
Junkers Ju 52/3m minesweepers to deto-
nate Allied-sown magnetic mines; and
general fighter' weep'. ome of the e
were specifically planned in advance and
often aimed at encouraging the Luftwaffe
to engage in battle, as the RAF carried out
the long proces of chipping away at the
enemy' strength and ffectiveness over
northwest Europe. Mu tangs were also
tasked on occasion with the very neces-
sary fighter role of trying to combat fast,
low-flying Luftwaffe fighter-bombers that
were mounting often de tructive raid
against towns along the south coa t of
England during 1942 and well into 1943.
Much of thi activity wa carried out
under the umbrella of the RA F Fighter
Command, as it was somewhat different
from the work assigned to A C.
46
There is an oft-repeated and intere ting
tory about the long-range capabilities of
the Allison-engined RAF Mustangs. The
first Polish-manned squadron to operate
theAlii on-poweredMustangwas309Sqn,
which start d to conv rt to th Mustang
in June 1942. A pilot from this squadron,
Fit Lt J. Lewkowicz, p rformed a remark-
able long-distance flight on 27 September
1942 from the unit' base at Dalcross near
Inverness in cotland, across the orth
ea to orway and back. While over
orway he attacked ome enem posi-
tions near tavanger. The round trip was
some 700 miles (l,125km), which wa a
proof, if any was needed, of the Mu tang's
exceptional range capabilities. Lndeed, on
2L October 1942 an armed I' connaissance
was flown by 268 Sqn to the Dortmund-
Ems Canal in the northern Ruhr area
of Germany, the first time that British-
based fighter had been able to perform
an effective round-trip into German
airspace in trength from British bases.
uch flight illustrated the Mu tang'
exceptional range capabilitie , a source of
growing concern to the Germans, and the
type's rang of operational tasks gradu-
ally increased. Indeed, trial were carried
out at Boscombe Down and at various
weapons ranges in Britain to increase
the Mustang's offensive capabilities. One
installation aw Mk 1 AG357 fitted with
very cumber ome, drag-producing rocket
rails in te t to determine if the Mustang
was a suitable platform for rocket projec-
tiles (RP ). That parti ular in tallation
was not used by the Mk I in combat, and
n ither was an equally burdensome instal-
lation tri don Mk 1AMI06, comprising a
40 0101 Vickers'S' gun mounted beneath
each wing. A much more bizarre experi-
ment, however, was carried out with
Mustang Mk I AG3 6, which was fitted
with a Maclaren 'drift undercarriage'. This
strange con ept allowed the angle of the
aircraft' wh el to be adju table, depend-
ing on the amount of cro wind at the air-
field on which it was trying to land, so that
even if th aircraft was 'crabbing' at an
angle on its approach to ompensate for
the crosswind, the aircraft's wheels would
still be in line with the runway. eedless
to say, this mechanically-complicated and
rather unsafe concept never entered pro-
duction on any aircraft type.
The RAF's Allison-engined Mustang
did not score a large number of air-to-
air victories, and, as previou ly related,
combats with enemy aircraft were often
nut their assigned role. everthele s, a
number of pilot succeeded in achieving
.Ierial victories, and during the Allison
Mustang period the thre Canadian
'LJuadrons, according to anaclian sources,
,cored 24.5 aerial victories. Among the
most successful pilots were Fit Lt Duncan
(Jrant of 400 qn, who achieved three
\'ictories (although there ha been some
debate about this score, some sources only
allotting two victories to thi pilot), and
Fg Off (later Fit Ltl Frank Hanton of the
,ame squadron, who al 0 achieved two
aerial victories. One of the latter was the
first RAF/RCAF Mustang kill at night,
when Hanton shot down a Messerschmitt
Bf 110 in Augu t 1943 in the vicinity of
Rennes in eastern Brittany while flying a
night-intruder sortie. Hanton was addi-
tionally renowned for his 'train-busting'
activities, a favourite for Allied pilot,
,md is credited with de troying thirty-
five train. On the other side of the
account, the number of A C Mustangs
,hot down by German fighters was offi-
cially put at nineteen, although others
that failed to return without trace could
also have fallen in air combat. Principally,
though, the Mustang's greatest enemy
was light anti-aircraft guns, which the
German deployed in consid rable quan-
tities around key installations such as
airfields.
Over 200 Mustangs were operational
by October 1942, and by the end of
January L943, according to Briti h hi -
torian Roger A. Freeman, no fewer than
691 Mustang had been deli ered against
British orders. This total included deliv-
eries against the 320 originally ordered
in May 1940, plus the additional 300
ordered in eptember 1940. This second
batch began with Mustang Mk I AL95
(a listing of RAF Mustang erial numbers
is included in the Appendices at the end
of thi book), but there were some minor
differences in equipment layout and con-
figuration between th e aircraft and
the original 320 production Mustang Ls,
including alterations in armour plating
and rudder trim provision. Consequently
these machines were given the different
NAA de ignation A- 3. Any slight dif-
ferences ne e si tated a thorough examina-
tion by the A&AEE at Boscombe Down,
and to that end AL997 wa tested there
from July 1942. That same month trials
were carried out at Boscombe Down on
another NA- 3 Mk I, AL973, to try to
resolve a problem with high oil tempera-
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL SUCCESS
tures experienced on operational aircraft.
Eventually a new type of oil cooler was
successfully tried out.
Lend-Lease Procurement
The 691 Mustangs that had been received
from AA by the end of January 1943
included not only the original Mk Is but
al 0 a fresh Mu tang version, the Mk lA.
Thi new Mustang model introduced a
number of further developments for the
Mu tang line. The ordering of these air-
craft by Britain showed how well received
the original Mustangs had been, and con-
tinued the close relationship between
Britain's purchasing representatives and
AA. The way in which these aircraft
were paid for was also new. The original
62 Mk [ Mustang had been bought by
Britain with hard currency, which was
the manner in which all the original pur-
chase made by the BPC had been carried
through, but by late 1940 a considerable
amount of concern was being raised by
the British government and by the British
purchasing repre entatives in the USA.
Basically, the problem was that Britain
was running out of money. There had
been so many purchases of war mate-
rial and plant that Britain' dollar and gold
reserves were tarting to dwindle away.
Added to this problem was the British
take-over of the purchases made by France
before that country's defeat in June 1940.
Britain was simply getting into a position
where it could no longer afford to buy
any further war material. This probl 01
was certainly no secret to the American
government, which in essence ould itself
not afford to see Britain run out of money
and therefore lose the means to defend
itself. Fortunately Britain had a consider-
able and continuing ally in the form of
Pre ident Roo evelt himself. In ovember
1939 he had successfully steered the U A
towards the 'cash & carry' agre ment that
had so helped Britain at that time. ow
he was to engineer with his close allies
in th U Congress a further act of mag-
nanimity that saved Britain's dwindling
means to pay for any further war mate-
rial. In March 1941, till long before the
U A became a combatant in World War
Two, legislation was ha tily enacted to
allow Britain effectively to receive further
war material free. Known forever after as
Lend-Lease (although many contempo-
rary documents call d it 'Lease-Lend'),
47
the legislation allowed the President to
sell, lease, lend or transfer title of any
defence materials that he con idered vital
to a particular friendly country's defence,
and whose own defence was considered
(presumably in the end by th President
himself) to be vital to that of the USA.
Payment under th is rather loose arrange-
ment was not really detailed, and could
be settled in whatever satisfactory means
could be found at some unspecified date
in the future. This wa very welcome
news to Britain, although for many in
the SA it represented a ignificant tep
towards that country becoming embroiled
in the war, and it was also correctly seen
as an unexpe ted apparent extension of
the President's own powers. The relevant
Lend-Lease Bill was introduced to the S
Congress in January 1941, and became
law two months later. Thereafter, all
Mustang for Britain were supplied under
the terms of the Lend-Lease regulation.
In effect they were ubsequently ordered
by the U authorities and their procure-
ment agencies as if they were for mili-
tary service, but were actually ordered for
and then allotted to Britain.
The first Mustangs supplied under
Lend-Lease were known to th British
as Mustangs Mk IA. They differed sig-
nificantly from the previou 620 Mk Ls
in being armed with four 200101 cannon,
two in each wing. The eight-machine-gun
armament of the original Mustangs wa
thu dispensed with, and the onsiderable
punch of the Mu tang LA's 200101 cannon
was to prove equalLy destructive against
ground targets. Altogether, L50 Mk IA
were ordered. However, this version was
still in its early stages of tooling-up and
manufacture when a very significant
event took plac that was to change the
course of the econd World War. On
7 December 1941 the Japanese truck
against the U Pacific fleet and in talla-
tions in and around Pearl Harbor, Havvaii,
and followed this with attacks on other
targets in the Pacific and outheast Asia.
SuddenLy the A was at war. II of the
isolationist entiments and the unwilling-
ness of some to become embroiled in the
war were sw pt away in an instant. ow
the A ne ded real, capable warplanes,
and the Mu tang's story wa to be con-
siderably influenced by these major and
largely unexpected development.
Ln the immediate case of Mu tang
Mk IA production, a proportion of the
intended batch for Britain was taken over
Claimed to have been photographed in Libya
during 1943, and therefore possibly at Sorman West
Landing Ground, this is another A-36A Invader that
was 'borrowed' by the RAF from the USAAF. It is
believed to have had the US serial number 42-84016
and carried the individual identification letter '0'.
In July 1943 it was one of six A-36As assigned to
the RAF's No.1437 (Strategic Reconnaissancel
Flight. D.H. Newton via R.L. Ward
Allison-engined Mustangs served the RAF very
well, some continuing right to the end of World
War Two. Photographed at Eindhoven in Holland,
this No.39 (Reconnaissancel Wing Mustang was
damaged during the 1 January 1945 luftwaffe
attack on Allied airfields in Operation Bodenplatte.
At that time several 2nd TAF squadrons still had
Allison-engined Mustangs as a part of their
equipment, although only one, 268 Sqn, was
regularly flying Allison Mustangs as the war
ended. These Mustangs saw some combat on
1 January during the Bodenplatte attacks, one
German aircraft falling to the guns of 268 Sqn
aircraft when Fit It A. Mercer claimed what is now
believed to have been a Ju 88, possibly shared
with Fit It J.B. lyke of the same squadron. This is
generally regarded as the last recorded air-to-air
kill by an Allison-engined Mustang in World War
Two. M. Robinson via R.L. Ward
49
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-I.EVEL SUCCESS
Several A-36A Invaders were 'borrowed' by the RAF from US forces when required. This example, HK944, coded 'C' and wearing US Olive Drab and Neutral Grey
colours but with full British national insignia, was photographed at Foggia in Italy in November 1943, having been used by No.1437 (Strategic Reconnaissancel
Flight. By the time this photo was taken it had probably passed to 260 Sqn. Howard Levy via R.L. Ward
Later RAF operations
The RAF Mustang force began to undergo
a number of changes during 1943. One
of the last RAF squadrons to receive
Mustangs did so in May 1943, this being
14 Sqn in the Middl East, although
the Mustang's service with that unit was
brief. A the Mk II Mu tang started
to make good some of the attrition of
the original Mk Is, the overall organiza-
tion of the RAF Mustang squadrons in
England underwent some major changes.
On 1 June 1943 the ACC was disbanded.
Henceforth, RAF a sets were increasingly
developed for what was hoped would
be a successful invasion of continental
Europe. Thereafter, the R F's Mustang
squadrons were largely split between Nos
3 and 4 Groups. The former included
the RCAF's o. 39 (Reconnaissance)
Wing, with 4 0 qn at Redhill in urrey
and 414 and 430 qns at Gatwick. The
Wing's fourth squadron, 231 qn RAF,
flew from Redhill. However, a number
of the RAF's squadrons were relinqui h-
ing the Mustang altogether and moving
on to other types. For example, 613 Sqn
began converting to the twin-engine
de Havilland Mosquito FB.Mk VI in
October 1943. The RAF's Mustang assets
now largely came under the newly-formed
2nd Tactical Air Force (2nd TAF), and a
general run-down of the All ison-engined
Mustangs started. This wa partly due to
the ending of production of th is variant.
Manufacture of the Allison-engined
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL SUCCESS
powered by a slightly different version
of the Allison V-1710, the V-I7l - I,
which gave 1,200hp as opposed to the
1,150hp of the earl ier models. These
aircraft were also fitted as standard with
underwing pylons, the AA production
lines having incorporated this necessary
addition as the range of Mustang ord-
nance grew and the ability to carry exter-
nal fuel tank was incorporated. Thu , by
the latter stage of the Allison-engined
Mustang's operations with the RAF, the
type in its Mk II form could carry 500lb
bomb (one beneath each wing) or exter-
nal fuel tanks on specially-stressed under-
wing pylons. It was to AA's credit that
it alway kept closely abreast of develop-
ments in the RAF's combat employment
of the A II ison-engined Mustang. The
introduction of the potential to use exter-
nal fuel tanks, in particular, was to have a
very ignificant impact on the Mustang's
story in the ensuing years. One Mk ll,
FR901, wa fitted in Britain with curious
experimental underwing fuel tanks that
were not adopted as standard because the
provision of underwing pylons on that
mark allowed for the carriage of what were
becoming standard external fuel tanks or
'drop tanks'. The fifty Mk Il Mustangs
were the final Allison-engined Mustang
production model for Britain, and they,
like the Mk lA, were integrated into
several of the RAF's operational Mustang
squadrons, notably some of the units that
flew the Allison Mustang late in its RAF
career, such as 2 and 26 qns.
Only one A-36A Invader actually reached the RAF in Britain, although others were 'borrowed' for RAF service elsewhere. The solitary A-36A in Britain was EW998,
which was tested at Boscombe Down from March 1943, where this picture was taken. Among other A-36A features it shows the relocation of the pitot tube
installation to a prominent fitment unique to this variant on the starboard wing leading edge. The engine was the Allison V-1710-87 (-F21Rl.ln theory a bomb of up
to l,ooOlb could be carried beneath each wing, but the normal load was a 500lb bomb. R.L. Ward collection
48
in the months after Pearl Harbor for u e
by the U AAF. Some members of the
U AAF had been interested spectator of
the Mustang's early service thus far, and
the TacR role that the RA F's aircraft grew
into was one that the S AF could cer-
tainly find useful. In the event, fifty-five
aircraft of the intended ISO Mustang IA
batch were requisitioned for the AAF
employment, plu two others retained by
AA. Many of these were selected for
conversion to carry camera equipment in
a similar fa hion to the RAF's aircraft. The
initial de ignation they were given in U
military service was P-51 or F-6A (a full
explanation of the early U AAF use of the
Allison-engined Mustang can be found in
the following chapter). Owing to their
different armament the Mk IA Mustangs
received the new NAA designation
A-91, and the first was allotted British
serial FD41 . However, as U procure-
ment from NAA of the Mustang belatedly
crawled into place, Britain wa allocated
fifty of a slightly different Mustang model
to compensate for the loss of some of its
Mk IA production. These were designated
Mustang Mk ll, and their serial numbers
started at FR890. They were equivalent
to a new Mustang version for US mili-
tary service known as the P-5 IA. Th is
model was significant in being the fir t
Mustang to introduce an internal anna-
ment consisting solely of wing-mounted
0.5in machine guns; a combination that
wa highly significant for later Mustang
versions. The P-51A wa intended to be
FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL S CCESS FROM PROTOTYPE TO LOW-LEVEL SUCCESS
With its F.24 camera installed behind the pilot's
seat, the Mustang is ready to depart for another
TacR mission. The Allison-engined Mustang
was an excellent aircraft for the armed tactical
reconnaissance role, combining respectable low-
level performance and agility with good firepower
and an exceptional range. R.L. Ward collection
ACanadian pilot from a squadron of No.35 or
No.39 (Reconnaissance) Wing poses while the
F.24 camera is manhandled in the area behind
the pilot's seat of his aircraft where it is fitted.
The sizeable F.24 was a high-quality camera that
produced large, detailed negatives giving clear
black-and-white prints that were ideal for photo
interpretation. R.L. Ward collection
ally, on 6 October, was able to move in to
Foggia Main Airfield, one of the complex
of airfields in the Foggia area. Several days
later, with no hope of obtaining replace-
ment A-36A , the Flight disbanded. At
least one of the surviving Invaders appears
to have ended up with locally based 260
Sqn, a predominantly Curtiss Kittyhawk
unit that later flew Merlin-engined
Mustangs as well. Another RAF squad-
ron that operated a small number of U
Allison-engined Mustangs was 225 Sqn,
which used at least one P-51/F-6A recon-
naissance Mustang that was 'borrowed'
from US forces (and possibly more). A
Desert Air Force bomber unit, 14 Sqn,
which op rated Martin Marauders as its
main equipment in Algeria, also flew early
Allison-engined Mustangs briefly in May
1943. These were used for TacR opera-
tions, but only remained with the unit for
a short time.
for Sicily took place. Usually missions
comprised two aircraft, one as lead and
the other as 'weaver' to cover the leader.
The fluid narure of the ground opera-
tions resulted in the Flight moving to a
landing ground named Francesco, near to
the town of Lentini on Sicily itself, from
the end of July 1943 onwards. Most mis-
sions were flown at low level, but as the
end neared in Sicily enemy anti-aircraft
defences increased in the northeast of
the island, and some missions were there-
fore flown at higher levels, with a rapid
dive and pull-out to obtain the required
information. In early September some
elements of the unit moved to a landing
ground called Milazzo East, but by that
time two A-36As had been lost on opera-
tions (both pilots survived) and most of
the remaining aircraft were in a poor state
of repair. evertheless, o. 1437 Flight
later moved to southern Jtaly, and eventu-
version of the Mustang described in the
following chapter. Six A-36As were taken
on charge in early July 1943 for the use
of No. 1437 Flight, which was based at a
landing ground called Sorman West, near
the town of Sorman in Libya. The unit
had flown its first missions in the Western
Desert in October 1941, and had oper-
ated Martin Baltimor twin-engine light
bombers primarily for reconnaissance
before re-equipping with the A-36A. The
need for intelligence in support of the
coming Allied invasion of Sicily dictated
that the Invaders were put into action as
soon as possible, and to this nd several of
the aircraft temporarily deployed to RAF
Luqa on the island of Malta, from where
the first reconnaissance sorties were flown
on [2 July. The A-36As were found to be
very useful for the reconnaissance tasks
that they undertook, often watching for
enemy troop movements as the battle
An RAF TacR Mustang Mk.l performing its true
vocation, illustrating the banking turn employed
to take oblique reconnaissance photographs
using the camera mounted just behind the pilot.
This picture was taken after D-Day from another
Mustang, and shows the black-and-white so-called
'invasion stripes' painted on the Mustang's lower
wings and fuselage, and a column of Allied
armour moving through the Normandy countryside.
The location has sometimes been claimed to be
the Normandy town of Conde-sur-Noireau, but
investigations by the author on the ground at that
location have so far drawn a blank as to the exact
spot. R.L. Ward collection
Despite operating in less-than-ideal conditions
during the Allied advances following the D-Day
landings and subsequent advance across northern
Europe, Allison-engined Mustangs eventually
showed commendable reliability. Some (but not alll
Allison engines ran for 1,500hr, and the primitive
operating conditions at forward airfields did not
seem to affect performance adversely. These
Mustangs of 430 Sqn RCAF were photographed
in Belgium during the second half of 1944, before
the squadron transitioned to the Spitfire Mk.XIV.
M. Robinson via R.L. Ward
numbers. This was in the Mediterranean
and southern Europe, wher some exam-
ples served briefly with British units.
This often-forgotten employment of the
Mustang centred on No. 1437 (Strategic
Reconnaissance) Flight, which flew 'bor-
rowed' former US-operated Mustangs.
Most, if not all, of these Mustangs were
actually A-36A Invaders, the dive-bomber
near Utrecht (subsequent examination of
fragmentary Luftwaffe records suggested
that the German aircraft might have been
a]u 188). This is generally believed to be
among the last, if not the last, recorded air-
to-air kill by an Allison-engined Mustang
in World War Two. By the end of the
war the squadron was in the process of
re-equipping with a dedicated reconnais-
sance version of the Spitfire Mk XIV,
but continued to have the Mustang on
strength until August 1945. By that time
268 Sqn had become part of the Allied
occupying force in Germany, and was
eventually based at Celie, where it was
renumbered.
In addition, 26 Sqn also had several
Allison Mustangs on strength at the end
of th war in Europe. This unit had been
the first to take the Mustang into combat,
in May 1942, but had subsequently con-
verted on to Spitfires. Much later, from
the autumn/winter of [944 onwards, it
had taken Allison Mustangs back on
charge for reconnaissance over the Low
Countries in the Allied effort to locate
V2 rocket launch sites. The squadron also
had a naval artillery co-operation role.
Many of the remaining Mustangs of
these two squadrons were very war-weary
by the end of the war, and were among
the oldest and longe t-lived aircraft
within the RAPs front-line inventory
at that time. Nevertheless, the Allison-
engined Mustang had proved to be a great
uccess at low level for the British and
Commonwealth squadrons that had flown
it over northwest Europe, and the type had
certainly played a very important role in
the RAF's operations from 1942 onwards.
However, this was not quite the whole
story of the British use of these early
Mustangs. Allison-engined Mustangs also
operated with British forces in another
theatre of the war, albeit in very small
Mustang ceased at AA in 1943, leaving
the RAF potentially short of the kind of
long-range, low-level coverage that the
Allison-engined Mustang had successfully
made its own. Jt was with considerable
regret that the process of converting some
of the Mustang squadrons to other types
began, so that by the time of D-Day in
June 1944 the Allison-engined Mustang
was flown only by a handful of squad-
rons. These included 414 and 430 Sqns
RCAF, plus 168 Sqn RAF, within the
RCAF's o. 39 (Reconnaissance) Wing
based at Odiham in Hampshire, which
also included Spitfire PR.Mk Xl-equipped
400 Sqn and provided coverage in par-
ticular for the British Second Army. The
Canadian First Army was supported in
part by o. 35 (Reconnaissance) Wing
at Gatwick, which included Mustang-
equipped 2 and 268 Sqns. These squad-
rons had about a hundred AII ison
Mustangs available. Following D-Day the
units of 2nd TAF moved across to the
European continent to follow the front
lines. As a result many squadrons flew
from austere advanced landing grounds or
damaged former Luftwaffe airfields that
taxed the capabilities and durability of
pilots, ground crews and aircraft.
Thereafter, the numbers of front-line
Allison-engined Mustangs dwindled. By
the nd of hostilities in Europe on ly one
2nd TAF unit, 268 Sqn, had successfully
continued operating the type right up to
the end (although it had spent a period
after D-Day also flying Hawker Typhoons
before fully converting back on to Allison-
engined Mustangs before the year's end).
On 1January 1945 the squadron was based
at Gilze Rijen in Holland, and was caught
up in the major New Year's Day Luftwaffe
attackon Alliedairfieldson theContinent.
One of its pilots, Fit Lt A. Mercer, claimed
a twin-engine Junkers] u88, which crashed
50 51
CHAPTER 3
Mustang was a 'foreign' project, seen by
ome officers a having no potential home
within the US military. ignificantly,
however, some AAC personnel took
a close interest in events that were taking
place in Europe as World War Two con-
tinued into 1940, and lesson were learned
a to the nature of the air war, and partic-
ularly regarding the relative succes e or
failure of specific warplanes and tactic.
Neverthele s, it was certainly not by origi-
nal intention that the Mustang came to be
uch an important combat aircraft for U
operations.
was in total contrast to the Mustang, for
which there was no official interest, the
type being regarded as only intended for
British operation; and production of the
Mustang was expected to end when the
British order had been fulfilled. Indeed,
important animosity against the aircraft
developed among ome AAC officers.
After all, AA had not been regarded by
the pre-war U AAC as being capable of
de igning its own fighters, yet, contrary to
this opinion, the company had gone ahead
in 1940 and initiated the fighter design
that led to the Mu tang. In any case the
January 1939, and the type evolved into
a long-range fighter that proved to be a
success, particularly in the Pacific Theatre
later in World War Two. The P-3 was
powered by a pair of turbosupercharged
Allison V-I 710 s, which proved the capa-
bility of the Allison engine when specifi-
cally configured for higher-altitude work
with the ignificant addition of turbosu-
percharging.
All of these fighter typ s, the P-39,
P-40, P-47 and P-38, received considera-
ble patronage from the U military during
their creation and development. This
The starboard side of what is believed to be the first of the two XP-51s. Assigned US Army serial numbers 41-038 and 41-039 (sometimes simply written as 41-38
and 41-39), both were eventually evaluated at Wright Field. This aircraft has full early-war-style US national insignia and a predominantly natural-metal finish,
with an Olive Drab anti-glare panel ahead of the cockpit. NAA
The two XP-51s for the USAAF were the fourth and tenth Mustangs completed, and not the fourth and tenth Mustang Mk.ls numbered for the RAF. One of the
two XP-51s is seen here, resplendent in early Second World War USAAF markings. The then USAAC had little real interest in the NA-73 project at the time of
its creation in 1940, regarding the NA-73 as export business only for NAA but, as a part of the granting of export licences for the type, two were required to be
supplied for evaluation at Wright Field. USAAF
53
THE FIRST AMERICA MUSTANGS
as ha already been discussed, the P-4
was most definitely not the most signifi-
cant or distinguished American econd
World War fighter. It did, however,
provide useful service at various times,
and was a workhorse that was available
in significant numbers in several theatres
of the war. The Mustang, on th other
hand, was definitely a far better combat
aircraft than the P-39 and PAO, but in
US service Mustangs were later to be part-
nered by two very significant American
fighters, the Lockheed P-3 Lightning
and Republ ic P-47 Thunderbolt. The
radial-engined Thunderbolt was in a lass
of it own, having first been conceived as
a point interceptor but later growing into
a bulky, heavy fighter and fighter-bomber
that excelled in ground-attack operations
but also flew as a bomber e cort, a role
for which it lacked range until it wa pe-
cifically remodelled for long-range opera-
tions. The twin-engine P-3 Lightning
wa a very significant fighter project from
the tart, and was much encouraged by the
then U AAC. The first Lightning flew in
being developed for U AAC use, and
the Mustang was not among them. They
included the radical, mid-engined Bell
P-39 Airacobra, which first flew in April
1939. Powered by an Allison V-1710 ini-
tially with, but afterwards without, a tur-
bosupercharger, the P-39 promised much
on paper and in early tests. However,
many of its dashing performance qualities
were lost when military equipment was
added during its development. Without
a turbosupercharger the P-39 was a prac-
tical if unspectacular performer at low
level, but was definitely not for high-level
combat. Although the P-39 was useful in
the early part of America's fight against
the Japanese in the Pacific after December
1941, the type hardly distinguished itself,
although it certainly proved very valu-
able to the oviet nion, which operated
Airacobras in large quantities. The RAF
very briefly flew the type in combat, and
found it completely unsuitable for opera-
tions in northwest Europe.
TheU AalsohadtheCurtissP-40asan
up-and-coming fighter in 1940, although,
52
The fourth production Mustang Mk.l destined for Britain, AG348 is often claimed, incorrectly, to have been turned over to the USAAF as the first of two XP-51
airframes. In truth, AG348 was transported to England, and became one of ten Mk.ls later transferred from Britain to the Soviet Union. A photograph of this same
aircraft in Russian markings appears later in this book. NAA
The First ADlerican Mustangs
The Alii on-engined Mustang, although
limited in its effectiveness mainly to low-
and mediulT1-level operation, was nev-
ertheless a worthwhile combat aircraft if
employed within the confines of its per-
formance envelope. It certainly proved to
be a useful tool in RAF service. Although
the type's contribution wa completely
ov rshadowed by the exploits of Merlin-
powered Mustangs later in the war, the
USAAF also succe sfully operated it,
but this aspect of the Mustang's ervice
life is often overlooked and sometimes
completely forgotten. Under the designa-
tion P-SI the Mustang became famous
almost exclusively due to the deeds of the
Merlin-powered versions in American
ervice, but the very fir t P-Sl Mu tangs
to fly in combat with the AAF were
Allison-engined, and erved in a number
of useful roles from 1943 onwards.
The Mustang had been created in 1940
pecifically for British use. At the outset
there was absolutely no requirement
whatsoever for it in US service. t that
time a number of fighter designs were
THE FIRST AMERICAN MUSTANGS THE FIRST AMERICAN MUSTANGS
A number of Mustangs were allocated to NACA over the years for various trials and development work. This is one of the two XP-51s. possibly 41-038. after
receiving a coat of camouflage paint (Olive Drab upper surfaces and Neutral Grey below). The six wing gun ports have been sealed and the lower nose gun port
is empty; the two XP-51s were the only US Mustangs to have this armament arrangement. Particularly evident are the carburettor air intake above the nose and
a special recording device below the starboard wingtip for measuring yaw. fitted especially for the aircraft's NACA work. Mustang 41-038 was tested by NACA
between March and May 1942. and the other XP-51, 41-039, also spent time with the institution. NASA via Srecko Bradic
Initial US Procurement
However, the type did feature in US
procurement plans from the period of its
early production, albeit in the smallest
of numbers. As a part of the agreement
for the Mustang to be released for export
sales, under an existing release for foreign
sale arrangement, the US government
took sufficient interest in the programme
to procure officially two aircraft from
the first Allison-engined Mustang pro-
duction bat h for Britain for US testing.
A purchase order for these Mustangs
(Authority for Purchase 0.165265) was
issued on 24 July 1940, a formal contract
being approved on 20 September that
year by the US Assistant Secretary of
War. However, the identities of these two
aircraft have very regularly been misi-
dentified in the years after the war. The
US requirement appears to have called
for the two aircraft to be taken from the
Mustang production line and supplied to
the major USAAC prototype testing and
evaluation establishment at Wright Field,
Ohio. In a statement that has clouded
the issue of the story of these very fi rst
US Mustangs for many years, the U A
requested the fourth and tenth produc-
tion examples from the first batch of 320
Mustang Mk Is destined for Britain be
supplied for US testing and evaluation.
That would apparently have meant that
the fourth aircraft (British serial AG348),
and the tenth (AG354) would have been
turned over to the US authorities. Many
writers have subsequently stated that this
was indeed what happened, but there is
no doubt that this did not take place in
the case of AG348. Instead, this aircraft
was definitely intended for shipment to
Britain, and was then assigned as one of
the Mustang Mk Is supplied by Britain
to the Soviet Union. Apparently arriv-
ing in the Soviet Union in May 1942,
AG348 was evaluated by the Soviet Air
Force's aviation research centre, the NIl
VVS. More details about the Russian
connections with the Mustang appear
in the Soviet Union section of Chapter
11, and photographs exist of this aircraft
in Russian markings but clearly wearing
British serial AG348. The tenth produc-
tion Mustang for Britain, AG354, is also
recorded in Russian documentation as
having been supplied to the Soviet Union
by Britain, and therefore this aircraft too
does not appear to have been built for the
USAAC. Therefore, unless there were
two Mustang [s marked as AG348 and
two as AG354, it cannot be true that the
fourth and tenth production aircraft for
Britain were supplied to the U AAC. In
reality, it appears that it was the fourth
and tenth Mustangs produced, not the
fourth and tenth to receive British serial
numbers, that found their way into US
service.
[n June 1941, when the USAAF was
brought into existence as the successor
to the USAAC, the Mustang was one
of the new breed of high-performance
warplanes just coming to the fore at that
time. The two Mustangs received by the
new USAAF were designated XP-Sl, the
54
--
'X' indicating 'experimental prototype'
and 'P' standing for 'Pursuit' or simply
'Fighter'. (The more appropriate 'F' prefix
was at that time used, for some strange
reason, for 'Photographic', and referred to
reconnaissance aircraft.) The two XP-51s
were allocated U serial numbers 41-038
and 4 I -039, indicating that they were
procured under US government Fiscal
Year (FY) 1941 budgeting, and were the
38th and 39th aircraft procured under
the FY 1941 funding programme. The
first, 41-038, made its maiden flight on
20 May 1941, with Robert Chilton at
the controls. It was delivered to Wright
Field on 24 August that year, some six
months late. As pointed out in the pre-
vious chapter, construction by NAA of
the initial Mustangs was carried out well
behind schedule, deliveries of the Mk I to
Britain not keeping up with the timescale
agreed between NAA and the British in
the spring of 1940.
The second XP-51 was even more
delayed, eventually being delivered to
Wright Field on 16 December 1941,
whereas it should have been handed over
in March of that year. By the time of
its delivery the USA was well and truly
involved in World WarTwo, following the
Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and other
targets in the Pacific several days earlier.
It has often been claimed by a number
of writers that the two new XP-51s were
simply pushed into a hangar at Wright
Field and forgotten. This was not so. In
fact the evaluation of the aircraft was
delayed and protracted, owing to several
factors. One of the underlying causes of
the relative inactivity of these two air-
craft was unserviceability. Bad weather at
Wright Field appears to have had a bearing
on the test schedules of the new aircraft,
the cold causing problems with the under-
carriage retracting mechanism and radia-
tor intake mechanism. There were also
difficulties with aileron and flap bracket
bolts, a problem which AA appears to
have encountered on other Mustangs
during manufacture. Engine backfiring
also seems to have caused a setback that
took some time to rectify.
The two XP-Sls were powered by the
Allison V-1710-39 (or -P3R, according
to the eventual Wright Field report on the
XP-Sl), giving 1,150hp at take-off. Like
the Mustang Mk I they were armed with
three machine guns in each wing, in the
same layout as the British machines, and
two O.Sin machine guns in the lower nose.
Some equipment was differen.t to that in
the Bri tish mach ines, US-standard ki t
being installed, rather than that specified
by the British. Fully automatic gun charg-
ing equipment developed by the Bendix
Corporation was eventually fitted and
tested in the second aircraft, but the first
XP-Sl was not originally fitted with gun
charging equipment.
Another reason gi ven for the delays in
the testing of the two XP-5Is is that pri-
ority was given to the evaluation of other
types at Wright Field. It is amazing, with
the benefit of hindsight, to think that the
Mustang was of no official interest to the
USAAF at that time, and so was not given
any kind of priority. This was in spite of
the aircraft being clearly superior to the
rather pedestrian PAO, and definitely far
better than the hopeless attempts that
Curtiss was pursuing, such as the XP-46
and XP-60 projects, in an effort to wring
some kind of modernity out of the tired
P-40 design. There were seemingly many
in the USAAF who were simply not
interested in exanlining the potential of
the new AA fighter. One of the chief
opponents appears to have been Oliver
Echols, who eventually became a briga-
dier general and rose to the leadership of
Material Command at Wright Field. This
appears to have been very bad news for
the Mustang, and a major reason that it
took so long for the type to be developed
to its full potential for USAAF employ-
ment. Without doubt, in comparison,
much of the evaluation and testing carried
out at Wright Field on other types during
the war was very fine work, so it seems
doubly unfortunate that the Mustang was
not given the same priority as other pro-
grammes.
The eventual Wright Field report on
the two XP-51s (Report No,4801), dated
15 July 1942, was compiled by Capt W.G.
Logan and approved by Col F.L. arroll,
chief of the Experimental Engineering
Section of Material Command. This was
almost a year after the first XP-51 had
been delivered to Wright Field, by which
time the RAF already had the Mustang
Mk I successfully in front-line service. The
report nevertheless gave some interesting
insights into the XP-51 's performance and
capabilities. Official performance flight
tests were conducted between 8 October
and Z2 December 1941, and the maximum
speed that Wright Field was able to attain
from the XP-Sl was 382mph (615km/h) at
13,OOOft (3 ,960m), at a design gross weight
of 7,9341b (3,599kg). At a cruising speed
of 325.5mph (524km/h) the XP-51 flew
for 780 miles (l,255km). The type had a
design altitude of 15,000ft (4,600m), but
could reach an absolute cei Iing of 31 ,900ft
(9,700m), which must have been a rather
uncomfortable experience for both air-
craft and pilot. The Allison V-1710-39
had a supercharg I' 'blower' ratio of 8.8: 1,
but could only attain a maximum of
1,150hp because the supercharger was of
the simplest single-stage form. Incredibly,
some writers still cling to the notion that
the Allison engine had no supercharging
whatsoever, which is nonsense, although
it did not of course have turbo (exhaust-
driven) supercharging when fitted to the
Mustang.
Anybody reading the final Wright Field
report must surely have been impressed
by the XP-51 's capabilities, but the road
to getting the type into US service was
long and complicated. In fact, the initial
breakthrough for the Mustang as far as U
service was concerned came about when
the Lend-Lease legislation of March 1941
resulted in military orders for Britain
being subsequently channelled through
US government agencies. Whereas the
initial Mustangs for Britain (Mustang
Mk [ production) had been paid for with
real money, from the Mk lA onwards the
examples of this type intended for Britain
were ordered and paid for by the USA on
behalf of the customer. Therefore, the
batch of 150 Mustang Mk lAs ordered
by the US authorities was the first to be
procured under these contingencies, and
55
they were allocated US as well as British
serial numbers. The order was placed on
7 July 1941, and the serial numbers allo-
cated were FD418 to FD567 (British)
and 41-37320 to 41-37469 (American).
This order was a welcome boost to the
Mustang's production requirement, but
because manufacture of the original
batches of Mk Is for Britain was running
behind schedule, the Mk IA order was
not fulfilled when the USA was plunged
into World War Two. The events of
those momentous times changed a great
deal for the USAAF, and overnight there
arose a sudden need for high-performance
warplanes of any and every kind. Even
then, however, the entrenched lack of
enthusiasm for the Mustang, particularly
at Material Command, continued virtu-
ally unabated. Fortunately there was suffi-
cient need for aircraft of the calibre of the
Mustang in the USAAF to start to rectify
this incomprehensible situation, and a
significant proportion of the Mustang
Mk IA order was requisitioned by the
US authorities for U AAF use. Just who
made this requisition has sadly not been
recorded, but their actions at last initi-
ated the process of making the Mustang a
USAAF combat aircraft.
In US Service at Last
In total, fifty-seven aircraft from the
intended Mustang Mk IA production
batch were repossessed for US use. Two
of these were retained by NAA for other
work, but the other fifty-five were the first
to see action with the U AF. British
experience in the air war over north-
west Europe up to that time had created
sufficient interest within the USAAF
to encourage the use of these aircraft
in ways similar to the RAF's employ-
ment of the Allison-engined Mustang.
To this end these first-ever operational
US Mustangs were fitted with cameras,
and prepared for combat as fast, low-
level reconnaissance and light ground-
attack aircraft. The cameras fitted were
US K-24s, similar to the F.24s install din
the RAF's Mustangs, and the installation
was also si milar; beh ind the pilot, poi nt-
ing obliqu Iy through the port window
behind the main cockpit glazing. The first
installation was tested by NAA, but the
remaining fifty-four aircraft were modi-
fied at USAAF depots. They had the
same armament as the Mustang Mk lA,
TilE FIRST ~ I E R I C \ MUSTANGS
made up ofsevera IOhservation quadrons,
most of which were equipped with an odd
assortment of air raft types. upermarine
pitFires, Douglas Havocs and other types
such as iracobras were sometimes to be
Found in reconnaissance units in these
comparatively early days of U AF
wartime operations. Into thi' brew the
Fir t AAF Alii on-engined Mu tangs
arrived. Within the 6 th OG, two of the
as igned squadrons were the I I Ith and the
154th Observation quadrons (OS). Both
were ational Guard ( G) units (From
Texas and rkansas respe ti vely) that had
been called to active duty and sent over-
sea . The lS4th 0 in parti ular started to
receive a trickle of P-Sl/F-6 Mustangs in
the spring of 1943, and training and famil-
iarization on the new type started. Truly
nomadic, both of these squadrons under-
went many change of location during this
time, as di tated by the often moving Front
lines and con rantly changing situation
on the ground. In early April the IS4th
OS moved to beitla in Tunisia, and it was
From here on 9 pril 1943 that the First-
ever US Mustang operation was flown,
by one of the squadron's poSts. merican
records suggest that the pilot was Lt Alfred
chwab. The mi ion wa an armed recon-
nai sance in ami around the area of the
xis-held Kairouan airstrip. This momen-
tous but little-heralded event took place
almost a year after the RAF had initially
flown its Mustangs in combat.
Bettv Jean, a 20mm cannon-armed P-51 (Mustang
Mk.IA equivalent) operated by the 111th TRS,
at a temporary airstrip in April 1944, during the
period of heavy fighting after the US landings
at Anzio in Italy. This aircraft, 41-37367, shows
the worn appearance of the standard Olive Drab
and Neutral Grey finish of many of the Allison-
engined Mustangs as they fought a long and often
forgotten war. On the evidence of this photograph it
appears to have taken approximately eight men to
manhandle a Mustang on the ground. US Army
Showing off its 20mm cannon armament, P-51
(Mustang Mk.IA equivalent) Bettv Jean of the
111th TRS rests between missions during the long-
drawn-out Italian campaign. Featured in other
photographs in this chapter, this particular aircraft
displays here a revised tail marking with a letter
code, without the 'Stars and Stripes' that originally
adorned the tail of many US aircraft following their
arrival in the North African Theatre from the start
of the campaign. The arrival of US aircraft in North
Africa from 1942 caused many aircraft recognition
headaches among the Allies. R.L. Ward collection
57
it reconnaissance assets, as well a its
related training organization. Drawing on
les ons gained from Britain's experience
with the RAF-operated TacR Mustangs,
the U AAF training facility at Colorado
prings began schooling on tactics along
the lines of the evolving British model,
and the tactical reconnaissance school at
Key Field, Missi ippi, began the in 10ctri-
nation of pilots destined to fly the P-Sl in
omhat. The Key Field school operated a
variety of aircraFt types, and due to their
relatively small numbers the P-SI s/F-6As
were always in short supply at bases in th
ontinental SA.
In early 1943 thirty-Five reconnais-
ance-conFigured F-6 Mustangs were
shipped From the A to orth AFri a
via England. In orth Africa they were
prepared For operations and a signed to
clements of the 68th Observation Group
(OG). This unit has a true claim to being
the 'Pioneer Mustang Group' of the
SAAF, a title that was later claimed in
England by the 354th Fighter Group (FG)
in the laner partof 1943. The 6 th OG was
two 20mm cannon in each wing and
no no e guns. The de ignation P-SI wa
allo ated, with no prefix, making these
the first true production P-Sl Mustangs.
However, they also appear to have been
designated P-Sl-I-NA and P-St-2-NA
to signify that they were of a converted
configuration, but in line with their new
reconnaissance role the de ignation F-6A
was additionally applied. However, in
service they appear to have been more
straightforwardly known as P-Sls. At first
there was a desire within the U AAF
to name them Apache, and this name
is often quoted for many of the early
American Mustangs, but the British
appellation of Mustang seem to have
gained almost universal acceptance.
The first production aircraft of the P-S1
batch, 41-37320, initially flew on 29 May
1942 with NAA test pilot Louis Wait
at the controls. Even then it was some
time before these fir t combat-capable
American Mustangs actually saw front-
line ervice. In the mid and laner rages
of 1942 the AAF began to expand
An Allison-engined Mustang was involved in
a somewhat bizarre experiment in camouflage
finishes during the mid-war period, when
some strange concepts were being devised for
camouflaging combat aircraft. It has a strange
black-and-white 'dazzle' scheme on its horizontal
surfaces and undersides, sometimes referred to
as 'confusion camouflage', but its upper surfaces
are standard Olive Drab. Needless to say the
application was not used in combat. Here, work
is progressing on painting the aircraft while two
officers discuss the finer points of the experiment
using a scale model for reference. At least one
other Mustang was employed in 'confusion
camouflage' tests, using a different scheme. USAAF
One of the major operational roles of Allison-
engined Mustangs was armed reconnaissance,
and to that end many were fitted with an oblique-
mounted camera behind the pilot. This applied to
US as well as British-operated Allison-Mustangs,
the RAF calling this role TacR, or tactical
reconnaissance. The Americans similarly used
some early P-51s in USAAF service for this role,
and a number of experiments were carried out to
determine the best type of mounting for the camera.
This close-up shows an experimental bulged
Plexiglas rear cockpit window fitting tried out at
Wright Field on P-51/F-6A 41-37320, repossessed
from the British Mustang Mk.IA order. Also very
prominent is the open lower-fuselage radiator air
intake of this particular early mark of Mustang. The
bulged window fitting was not widely adopted,
but a similar arrangement was used on some
operational aircraft. USAAF
56
The second Mustang in the production batch designated P-51 (Mustang Mk.IA) was 41-37321. This aircraft was repossessed from the RAF Mustang Mk.IA order
and received full US markings and insignia, with Olive Drab upper surfaces and Neutral Grey below. The serial number on the fuselage side was yellow. It had
the standard Mustang Mk.IA armament of four 20mm cannon, two in each wing. NAA
THE FIRST AMERIC
(TRC) in June 1944. The final Allison
Mustangs appear to have been withdrawn
by the squadron (on paper at least) inJuly
1944,
Dive-Bomber Development
Although the P-51/F-6A had ~ een taken
on by the AAF very much as a req-
uisitioned type from a foreign procure-
ment, the ervice at last ordered its
own Mu tangs in 1942. However, in yet
another irony in the Mustang story, it
was not as a fighter that the type was
initially bought by the US military. In a
bizarre twist, particularly bearing in mind
the Mustang's later succe s a a fighter,
the Mustang wa fir t purch::lsed for the
SAAF as a dive-bomber. A u ~ er of
explanations have been advanced over
the year to rationalize thi extraordinary
turn of events. Certainly the military
was well aware of developments in the air
war over Europe during the fir t years of
the econd World War. The Luftwaffe's
initial succes es with the Junkers Ju 87
'Stuka' dive-bomber had apparently justi-
fied this type of bombardment. Using a
dive to aim a bomb on a specific target
\Vas definitely a potentially much more
accurate way of delivering the ordnance
compared with bombing from a horizontal
attitude. Unfortunately for the advocates
of this type of aerial warfare, the dive-
bomber tended to make a good target if
fired at by alert and well-trained anti-
aircraft gunners, particularly if several air-
craft dived over the same target one after
Throughout that time the unit continued
to fly the P-51/F-6A, its missions including
the whole range of tactical re onnaissance
and light-attack operation that the RAF's
TacR Mu tangs were successfully flying
in northwest Europe, The l11th TRS,
however, remained in the Mediterranean
and southern Europe throughout its time
with the Allison Mustang. Initially based
in orth Africa, the unit began operation
in earnest during the early part of July (it
appears from the squadron's hi tory that
the first ortie were flown on 7 July) from
Bou Ficha and Korba, Tuni ia, after a
period spent largely in training. The III th
TR soon moved to icily, around 14 July
1943, as the Allies gradually worked their
way into Italy with the initial landings
in Sicily followi ng the Ax is su rrender in
orth Africa. In eptember 1943 the unit
moved to Italy proper, closely following
the Allied ground offen ives and per-
forming variou tasks, including spotting
for naval and field artillery. As the III th
TR was the only US TR in the south-
ern Europe area, it had much work to do;
not bad for a squadron that had originated
in the Texas , The P-51/F-6A's arma-
ment of four 20mm cannon proved very
u eful for air-to-ground work in addition
to the primary function of reconnais ance,
However, as the Allison Mustangs became
increasingly tired and war weary the
lllth TR gradually re-equipped during
the spring and summer of 1944 with later
marks of Mustang. During that time the
unit was assigned directly to XII Tactical
Air Command due to the disbandment of
the 68th Tactical Reconnaissance Croup
An A-36A Invader is run-up. probably following
delivery to the USAAF. The A-36A was easily
distinguished from all other marks of Allison-
engined Mustang, not only by its wing dive brakes
(not visible in this view). but also by the twin
landing light installation in the port wing leading
edge, and the relocated pitot fitment near the
starboard wingtip, the latter moved from its usual
underwing position due to the dive brakes. In the
background to the left is another A-36A. 42-83771.
The A-36A was armed with six O.5in machine guns,
two in each wing and two in the lower nose. Note
what appears to be an incomplete Martin B-26
Marauder in the background on the right. USAAF
During the following weeks the e fir t
U -operated Mustang began to spread
their wings. Many armed reconnaissance
missions were flown, much of this work
heing similar to that undertaken by the
RAF-operated Mustangs that had already
heen in combat for some time previously.
Bearing in mind the considerable amount
of time it had taken for the Americans to
get their Mu tang into combat, plu the
oppo ition to the Mustang that exi ted in
some parts of the AAF, it wa some-
what ironic and definitely appropriate that
the Mustang was taken to war for the very
first time in American service by reservists
and 'weekend flyers' who were, no doubt,
compared with their regular Service com-
rades, very glad to get their hands on such
a potent modern warplane.
Unfortunately the first combat los
for the 154th OS occurred on 23 April
1943, when a P-51/F-6A wa shot down
by American anti-aircraft gunners in
what would nowadays be called a 'friendly
fire' incident. Thi was the first of many
occasions for the Americans in which a
Mustang was mistaken for a Bf 109. The
154th OS flew the P-51/F-6A in combat
for a comparatively hort time, until
about the second week of May 1943,
after which the unit was withdrawn from
operation and later performed a training
role, followed by weather reconnaissance
missions much later in th war, predomi-
nantly with P-3 Lightnings. Following
the withdrawal of the 154th OS, most
of the -operated Mustang armed
tactical reconnaissance mis ions in the
Mediterranean Theatre were performed
by the III th OS. Appropl'iately nick-
named the' noopers', this squadron was
redesignated the III th Reconnaissance
quadron (Fighter) in May 1943, and then
hecamethelllthTacticalReconnaissance
quadron (TR ) in ovember J943.
During April and May 1943 the 154th OS operated
the P-51/F-6A in North Africa, and indeed
introduced the Mustang into combat for the whole
of the USAAF. US records suggest that one of
the aircraft involved at that time was P-51/F-6A
41-37322, named Mah Sweet Eva Lea. The Mustang
bears the 'Stars and Stripes' on its vertical tail
as an added recognition feature; this marking
was carried by many of the early US fighter and
reconnaissance aircraft in North Africa in the
initial phases of US involvement there. USAAF
Taxying a Mustang was not easy. and some outside
help was always useful. Here. 20mm cannon-armed
P-51 41-37367 Betty Jean of the 111th TRS is helped
to its revetment by two men. one sitting on its
tail and the other atop the starboard wing to give
directions to the pilot. The primitive conditions
during the Anzio landings in Italy, which began in
January 1944. and which is where this photograph
was taken in April 1944. are representative of
the sometimes awful conditions in which many
Mustangs operated. especially those tasked with
tactical missions in support of local army units,
US Army
and other duties, the 111 th, appropriately nicknamed the
'Snoopers', continued in combat in the North African,
Mediterranean and southern European theatres right to
the end of the war, eventually flying reconnaissance-
configured Merlin-engined Mustangs in Italy, through
France from southern France northwards, and eventually
into Germany itself. At one time the squadron had a
number of USN pilots assigned.
The 68th itself was redesignated the 68th RG in
May 1943, and the 68th TRG in November 1943. Most
of its assigned squadrons, including the ll1th and
154th, were detached for separate duties to a variety
of airstrips and often primitive bases in North Africa as
1943 wore on, there being a great necessity to move
with the front lines and to provide support wherever
it was needed. After moving with the Allied advances
into Italy in November 1943 and temporarily becoming a
part of the Fifteenth Army Air Force, the 68th TAG later
returned to North Africa, and was disbanded in June
1944 at Blida in Algeria. Subsequently the 111th TRS
fought on into 1945 as a separate squadron assigned
directly to the XII TAC. The role of the 68th O/TRG in
pioneering the Mustang in combat with the USMF is
nowadays largely forgotten, as indeed is the contribution
specifically made to the Mustang story by its ll1th and
154th Sqns, but these units were the true pioneers of US
Mustang operations.
The Pioneer Mustang Group
along the Mexican border, a task that anumber of units
undertook before moving overseas. (There had been
a debate before the outbreak of the war as to which
service, the Navy or the Army, should have responsibility
for this duty, an argument that was increasingly settled
once and for all when war came.) Initially the 68th had
a number of NG squadrons attached, these squadrons
having been federalized (called to active dutyJ as the
war clouds gathered. Indeed, it was two federalized
NG squadrons, the 111th and 154th OSs, that were at
the sharp end of getting the reconnaissance-configured
P-51/F-6A Allison-engined Mustangs into service with
the USMF in the spring and summer of 1943, after
the Group had become established in North Africa as
a part of the Twelfth Army Air Force. The 111 th was a
Texas NG unit. which, before its pioneering Mustang
days, had been equipped with the North American
0-47, among other types. It flew the Douglas A-20 and
some P-39 Airacobras in North Africa before transition-
ing to Mustang combat operations in the summer of
1943. The 154th was from the Arkansas NG, and had
also flown 0-47s before the US entry into World War
Two. Before its historic but largely unsung introduc-
tion of the Mustang into combat during April 1943, the
squadron operated P-39s in North Africa, becoming
operational on that type in early 1943. Although the
154th was later assigned to weather reconnaissance
In many published histories of the Mustang, the USMF
unit described as the 'Pioneer Mustang Group' is the
354th FG of the US Ninth Army Air Force, which operated
from England on bomber escort missions from December
1943. Certainly the 354th's pilots were pioneers of the
Merlin Mustang on bomber escort, the role for which
the Mustang is now almost universally known, but the
Mustang had been in combat for avery long time before
the 354th started operations. The USMF Group that
actually took the Mustang into combat for the Americans
was the unsung 68th OG, specifically its 154th and
ll1th OSs.
Activated in September 1941, the 68th was one of
the many Groups formed in the expansion period of the
USMC and its successor, the USMF, following the
demands made in early 1939 by President Roosevelt to
the US Congress that the USMC should be strength-
ened and expanded from its 1930s peacetime state.
Originally stationed, on paper at least, at Brownwood,
Texas, the 68th's headquarters made several base
moves within the continental USA, finally residing at
Morris Field, North Carolina, in August 1942 before
moving to North Africa following the Operation Torch
landings in November 1942. During its time spent on
training in the USA, some of the Group's aircraft took
part in coastal and anti-submarine patrols along the
US coastline, specifically over the Gulf of Mexico and
58
59
THE FIRST MUSTANGS
Another view of A-36A Invader 42-83671. Evident
from this angle are the twin light fitment in the
port wing leading edge and the two O.5in machine
guns in the lower nose. The gun ports for the wing-
mounted O.5in machine guns have been sealed,
underlining the fact that this is a US-based trainer
or trials aircraft. R.L. Ward collection
other Allied aerial assets, and its takeover
by Allied force (Operation Corkscrew)
also helped the Allied takeover of the
similarly strategically important islands
of Lampedusa and Linosa; a very success-
ful start to operations for the A-36A. The
Group wa 'ubsequently fully involved in
the Allied inva ion of icily (Operation
lusk)'), which began on the night of9/10
July 1943 and was completed on 17 August
with a complete Ilied victory.
Later that month there was a major
re 'huffiing of air as 'ets, which
included a considerable amount of renam-
ing and ome renumbering of flying units.
This included the 27th and its compo-
nent squadrons. The 'Light' ategory wa'
withdrawn, and the 27th was renamed
the 27th FBG. It component quad-
rons were renamed as Fighter-Bomber
quadrons (FB ), and were renumbered,
the 16th becoming the 522nd, the 17th
the 523rd, and the 91st the 524th. The
27th FBG subsequently continued its
dive-bombing operations, and ultimately
took part in the invasion of mainland
Italy. This included cover for the land-
ing at alerno, and it was during these
operations that the Mustang really started
to gain its laurels. On 10 eptember the
Group parti ipated in frantic Allied
efforts to d 'fend the fragi Ie bridgehead
that had been established at alerno,
which was coming under fierce attack
from German forces. During the course
of the e operations, in whi h several
pilots flew a number of ortie during the
day, the 27th FBG wa in trumental in
preventing three German armoured divi-
sions from reaching the increasingly pres-
sured Allied forces in the bridgehead. For
these actions the unit was subsequently
awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation.
It was the first occasion, but ertainly
not the last, on which a Mustang unit
received this highest military award
for a combat unit.
By then the 27th FBG had been joined
by the econd A-36A unit to ee combat
in the orth African and Mediterranean
theatre with the Twelfth A F. This wa
the 6th 8G(0), which had started to
61
inexperience with the tactic, although
some A-36s broke up in flight under the
stresses imposed upon them.
Of the operational units intended to
fly the A-36 in combat, the 27th BG
(Light) had previously flown the Dougla
-24 (the AAF's land-based variant
of the avy's BD Dauntless carrier-
borne di ve-bomber), and elements of the
Group were in the Philippines during the
Japanese invasion in early 1942. After
the loss of the Philippines the unit was
deployed back to the U A, where it
flew Douglas -20 Havoc twin-engine
light bombers before starting to convert
onto the A-36. This transition continued
after the Group moved to North Africa,
it advanced echelon relocating there in
late 1942 and January 1943. It became
a con tituent part of the Twelfth Army
Air Force (AAF), and gained operational
status on the A-36A at Ras el Ma, French
Morocco, in April 1943. The constituent
s of the 27th BG were the 16th,
17th and 91st B (Light). Initial opera-
tions were flown by the Group on 6 June
1943 against Axis forces on the heavily
defended Ital ian island of Pantelleria, 60
miles (10 km) southwest of the south-
western extremity of icily, and 40 mile
(70km) ea t of the orth African coast.
At that time the 16th and 91st BS(L)
were based at Ras el Ma, but the 17th was
deploying to the airstrip at Korba, again
illustrating the rather nomadic lives of
combat uni ts in the North African Theatre.
These first operations were armed recon-
nais ance flight over Pantelleria, and
unfortunately one aircraft in the fir t wave
of eleven A-36As over the island was hot
down by anti-aircraft fire. Dive-bombing
operations started the following day. The
ultimately succe ful aerial bombardment
of Pantel Ieria by the A-36As together with
air intake. Hitherto, on the basic P-51 and
RAF Mustang, the intake had had a move-
able portion, but on the dive-bomber the
intake was of a revised design and fixed.
De ignated A-36 ('A' for 'Attack'),
the type entered production in the late
,ummer of 1942. Altogether, 500 were
ordered, being built as A-36A-l-NAs
and given serial numbers 42- 3663
to 42-84162 (a listing of the military
serial numbers allocated to Mustangs
appears in the Appendices). The first
aircraft flew on 21 September 1942, with
Robert Chilton at the controls, and the
type must have shown few vices because
the fir t deliveries were made the follow-
ing month, October. However, it was ome
time before the A-36A aw combat. Initial
deliverie were assigned for training in the
continental A, and two combat groups,
the 27th and 6th Bombardment Groups
(BG) were intended for A-36deploym nt.
A number of US-based training squadrons
subsequently received A-36As for transi-
tion and dive-bombing training. The e
included several of the units in the 632nd
to 63 th Bombardment quadrons (Dive)
(B (D)), which were mainly concen-
trated in the southern A, Drew Field
in Florida being one of the training bases
associated with several of these little-
known training squadrons. A number of
these instructional squadrons were part
of the 407th BG(D), which became the
407th Fighter-Bomber Group (FBG) in
August 1943, when there was a general
reclassification of SAAF 1ive-bomber
unitsasfighter-bomberunit . Trainingalso
appears to have taken place at Key Field,
lississippi. Most pilot were impre sed
with the A-36's speed and manoeuvrabil-
ity, but dive-boml: ing training was exact-
ing and dangerou . There were a number
of fatal accidents, mainly attributable to
was a very different bea t to the basi
P-51/Mustang k IA. The company later
claimed to have pent 4 ,000 man-hours
developing the A-36 from the I: asic P-5!
layout. The armament was completely
revised. While the nose-mounted 0.5in
machine guns were retained, two 0.5in
machine guns were installed in each wing.
Indeed, the whole wing structure was
altered and strengthened, with provision
for a pylon beneath each wing just out-
board of the main undercarriage, stre sed
to carry a 500lb bomb. To help limit the
new type's diving velocity to an accept-
able speed (some 3 Omph (4 km/h)),
a retractable lattice- tyle airbrake was
installed in each wing's upper and lower
surface. Many other alterations were also
introduced to the ba ic Mustang layout,
including the installation of a 1,325hp
Allison V-1710-87. The underwing pitot
tube installation of earlier Mustangs was
changed to a prominent fitment unique to
this variant, in the tarboard wing leading
edge. Perhaps most noticeably, there was
a complete change to the under-fuselage
Two of NAA's greatest products fly side-by-side
over California, in a photograph dated March
1943. The Mustang is A-36A Invader 42-83861, in
the standard Olive Drab and Neutral Grey colour
scheme adopted for US combat aircraft in the early
war years. Beside it is an AT-6 Texan in natural-
metal and silver finish. Both aircraft were possibly
assigned to a training unit, or were awaiting
delivery. NAA
spending of the money available for fight-
ers in the FY 1941 and FY 1942 budgets,
the only obvious way to get the Mu tang
into production for the SAAF was to
dress it up as a fighter-bomber. That way
it could be procured under the funding for
bomber and attack aircraft!
Whatever the trange logic or behind-
the-scenes machination to get the
Mustang into production that were used by
the comparatively small number offriends
that the aircraft had within the upper
echelons of the US military, the Mu tang
actually emerged as a capable if gener-
ally unheralded dive-bomber. Following
official go-ahead on 16 pril (contract
0.AC-2 7396), development work began
at AA in the late spring of 1942, and
the resulting dive-bomber derivative of
the Mustang ( AA designation NA-97)
Manufacture of the A-36A Invader kick-started the whole production effort of the P-51 for US service, although the extraordinary thinking in some offices of
the USAAF saw the Mustang as best suited as a close-support aircraft and definitely not as a fighter. This is A-36A 42-83671, prominently bearing the number
'71' or letter/number combination '71' and probably photographed somewhere in the continental USA. Each mark of the Allison-engined Mustang had its own
peculiarities, the A-36A, for example, having a specific form of radio mast on the 'razorback' spine behind the cockpit. R.L. Ward collection
60
another, allowing the gunners time to
refine their aim. TheJu87 had also proved
to be a poor adversary if met by well-
armed high-performance fighters, as was
the case during the Battle of France and
thereafter, particularly during the Battle
of Britain. Moreover, dive-bombing is by
its nature a highl dangerous means of
attack, needing a very physically fit crew
with the capability to judge the pull-out
correctly and prevent the aircraft from
slamming into the ground. evertheless,
the U Fencouraged AA to develop
a dive-bomber version of the Mustang,
using the type's already good dive per-
formance. Writing in hi book Mustang:
A Documentary Hiswr)', the late Jeffrey
Ethell pOinted out that, due to the oppo-
sition to the Mustang in some offices
within the AAF, and following the
The original caption to this photograph states that it depicts an A-36A awaiting take-off at a Libyan airfield for a raid on Sicily on 19 July 1943. The USAAF A-36A
Invader contingent in North Africa played an important if little-known part in the successful campaign to take Sicily, and subsequently operated with other Allied
air assets in the gruelling fighting on the Italian mainland. Via Chris Ellis
.much more capable P-47 Thunderbolt to
continue it fighter-bomber work. The
27th' surplu A-36As were transferred
to the 6th FBG to fly alongside its exist-
ing Invader, but that group too began to
transition in the ummel' of 1944, even-
tually moving on to the P-47 for fighter-
bomber mission while also flying ome
P-40 . The final A-36A mis ion by the
6th took place on 15 july 1944. round
fourteen A-36As did, however, find a
completely new home. Th y weI' trans-
ferred to the III th TR to supplement
An excellent view of the cockpit area of a P-51A.
Many relevant details are visible, including
the cumbersome cockpit opening panels, the
additional small vent window on the left-hand
transparent windscreen panel, and the area
behind the pilot where the radio was installed
on fighter Mustangs, which was occupied by an
oblique-mounted camera on Mustangs configured
for reconnaissance. The 'quarterlight' D-shaped
window that normally covered that space has been
removed in this case. The P-51A was the first true
production fighter Mustang made specifically for
the USAAF, previous Mustangs that found their way
into the US inventory being repossessions from
British orders. NAA
This side view of P-51A-1-NA 43-6008 shows all the
relevant features of the P-51A layout, albeit with
the addition of underwing three-tube 'bazooka'-
type RP launchers. Each tube carried a single 4.5in
unguided rocket, and although many writers have
claimed that these weapons were widely used and
highly effective, the story is not so straightforward.
Unwieldy, drag-producing and inaccurate, they
were additionally bad for the Mustangs' c.g. and
trimming. It was also impossible to dog-fight
effectively with these cumbersome appliances
installed. 'Zero-length' rocket rails made available
by NAA for factory installation much later in
Mustang production proved far more successful.
NAA
ron's pilot, Lt Michael T. Russo was
unique in achieving ace tatu on the
A-36A. He had originally joined the 27th
BG(L) injune 1943, and was assigned to
the 16th B (L). Thi squadron b came
the 522nd FB on 23 Augu t 1943, and
Russo achieved hi fir t aerial victory
on 13 eptember, over a Focke-Wulf Fw
190 off the Italian coa t near alerno. He
subsequently brought down a Fi eler Fi
156 torch liaison aircraft on 24 October,
and a junkers ju 52/3m transport over an
airfield near Avezzano on December.
On 30 December he shot down two
Messerschmitt Bf 109s to become an ace.
He was therefore one of only a very small
number of pilots to score five aerial vic-
tories in an Alii on-engined Mustang, a
unique achievement in itself, but all the
more remarkable in that he was flying the
dive-bomber variant, and he was the only
A-36A ace. Although the A-36A was
almost universally known as a Mustang,
the name 'Invader' was sometime used
for the type. It was an appropriate ti tie,
as the A-36As were involved in several
invasions during their period of opera-
tional enTice, and it is a name that some
historian appropriately use to de cribe
the type.
Unfortunately the comparatively high
loss rate of the A-36A meant that the
Invader was running out of combat effec-
tivene s by early 1944. Replacements
were not available owing to the ending
of Allison-engine Mustang production,
and the type began to be withdrawn from
service. The 27th FB was the first to
trade in its A-36As, and for a short time
had to revert to flying the P-40 Warhawk.
This took place in the opening weeks of
1944, with the unit's last Invaders out
of service in February (the final A-36A
mission wa flown on the 21 t), but within
a few months the unit converted on to the
Invader Ace
peeling off from the formation to drop ver-
tically or nearly vertically on the target.
Unfortunately this tended, not surpri -
mgly, to alert the defences, so that by the
time the fourth aircraft or so was hurtl ing
down towards the ame spot from the ame
~ t r t i n point the anti-aircraft fir would
often be accurate. Attrition in combat wa
therefore relatively high, although losse
were similarly encountered during strafing
attack at low level. Diving attacks against
heavily-defended target would normally
he started from lower altitudes, with pull-
out from the dive at near ground level.
However, for some missions the aircraft
were flown horizontally as conventional
fighter-bombers at higher altitudes, which
was somewhat safer. Sometimes a many
as three or four sorties could be flown by
pilots each day, some flights being as short
as fifteen minutes while others lasted up to
three and a half hours.
Like their tactical reconnais ance col-
leagues, the A-36A pilots did not have
the mission of countering the Luftwaffe
high on their agenda. However, whereas
the reconnai sance pilot were usually
actively discouraged from taking on
enemy fighters unless it was to defend
themselves and the vital intelligence they
were gathering, the A-36A pilots were
able to 'mix it' more often, and sometimes
with con iderable success. Th A-36A,
like all Allison-engined Mustangs, was
capable of looking after itself so long as
the combat took place at low or relatively
low level, and several U AF pilots
scored comparatively well on the type.
The 27th FB achieved at lea t forty-five
confirmed aerial victories, th 522nd FB
claimed twenty-six. Amont this squad-
supply dumps, troop concentrations, gun
emplacement, armour and transport
columns, shipping, bridges and strong-
points. A diving A-36A with its airbrakes
deployed was aid to make an unnerving
noise not unlike that of the Luftwaffe's ju
7' tuka'. Tactics were evolved while the
27th and 6th FBG operated the type.
For dive-bombing missions each aircraft
would often carry a 5 Olb bomb on each
wing pylon. There were oft n twelve air-
craft involved in specific missions, usually
divided into flights of four. Attacks would
be mounted from around 8,000ft (2,500m)
to 10,000ft (3,OOOm), individual aircraft
6th FB . The unit's A-36As had by
then already mounted dive-bombing
and ground-attack mi sions again tAxis
force during the icily campaign, the
headquarter of the group moving to Gela
on icily in july 1943. Like the 27th, the
6th FBG was afterwards fully committed
to combat during the Allied landings on
mainland Italy, and the subsequent often
slow and difficult advances. The unit's
headquarters moved up to ele in Italy in
mid to late eptember. In similar fashion
to the 27th, the 6th FBG was involved
in attacking a wide range of tactical
targets, including railway lines and trains,
Seen at Hergla, Tunisia, in a photograph dated 13 June 1943, this A-36A reveals its type by showing off its upper port wing dive brake against the yellow wing
stripe. The dark blue and white national insignia have a yellow surround. Two Twelfth Air Force groups flew the A-36A in combat in the MTD, the 27th FBG and
the 86th FBG, and the type was generally successful if little publicized in the fighter-bomber and dive-bomber roles. As far as is known, this aircraft was assigned
to the 27th FBG, or at least what became the 27th FBG in July 1943, and carried serial number 42-84057 or '058', not 42-80457 as sometimes claimed.
Howard Levy via R.L. Ward
move to North Africa from the U A in
the spring of 1943, and was therefore the
econd and final A-36A unit to move to
the Mediterranean Theatre. The initial
base used by the 6th BG(D) was La enia
in Algeria, and the Group's flying units
consisted of the 39th, 310th and 312th
B (D). The unit' A-36 s fir t entered
combat in july 1943, and during the fol-
lowing month the Group' quadron were
renumbered and redesignated in the same
fashion as those of the 27th BG(L). The
309th became the 525th FBS, the 310th
the 526th FBS, and the 312th the 527th
FBS. The 86th BG(D) itself became the
62 63
THE FIRST AMERICA MUSTANGS THE FIRST AMERICAN MUSTANGS
Officially a P-51A-l0-NA, 43-6263 was photographed over North Africa during the summer of 1943 by prolific official photographer Howard Levy. Although the first
unit to take the P-51A into action at unit strength was the 311th FBG's 530th FBS in the CBI Theatre later in 1943, P-51 As were to be found elsewhere in the world
earlier in 1943, albeit in rather more piecemeal fashion. This aircraft appears to bear the squadron emblem of the 527th FBS on its nose, in addition to the name
Hell's Angel. Howard Levy via R.L. Ward
A well known but none the less interesting
photograph of two P-51As of the 1st ACG over
rugged Burmese terrain in 1944. The nearest
aircraft, coded '13', was named Mrs Virginia,
but the aircraft in the background, coded T,
was allocated to the commander of the 1st ACG,
the colourful Col Philip Cochran, Both aircraft
wear the five diagonal white stripes around their
rear fuselages over their worn Olive Drab and
Neutral Grey colour scheme that signified the Air
Commandoes in that area. Cochran's aircraft is
P-51A-l0-NA 43-6199. USAAF
311 th before leaving the U A It was defi-
nitelya much better and more successful
aircraft in this exacting operational role
than the other main types of dive-bomber
operated by the USAAF at that ti me, the
Douglas A-24 and the Vultee A-31 and
A-35 Vengeance. Approximately 300 of
the 500 A-36As built found their way to
an operational command, and eighty-four
enemy aircraft were claimed shot down by
A-36A pilots. One A-36A was officially
passed to Britain (EW998, ex-42- 3685,
which was tested at Boscombe Down from
March 1943), but in the field a number
were used by the RAF on occasion as
operational demands dictated the 'bor-
rowing' of some US-operated Mustangs.
Eventually most surviving A-36As were
passed to training units. Some served as
'hacks' in the ommunications role, while
others were simply scrapped, having been
worn out by their operational exploits.
By mid-1943, at last, the US Mustang
had had a comparati vely good official
report written about it in the U ,in
contrast to the negative reports that it
had originally received from officers a
the Material Command at Wright Field.
In late 1942 the Material Command
had finally allowed the Army Air Forces
Proving Ground Command at Eglin Field,
Florida, to test the A-36A (three aircraft
were eventually assigned) and assess its
suitability for ombat. Eglin should have
had a Mustang to test long before that,
but vacillation and seemingly deliberate
obstruction from Wright Ficld had resu Ited
in constant delays. The subsequent report,
A line-up of P-51As of the 1st ACG. Believed to have
been photographed at Karachi, India, the aircraft
were awaiting redeployment to a forward base
nearer the fighting in Burma. The Air Commandoes
were by their nature nomadic, often operating from
austere airstrips while performing their task of
close-support of ground units, some of which were
operating behind enemy lines. USAAF
1943, the 311 th's headquarters moved
on to Dinjan in the same country from
October 1943, and later to Burma in july
1944 as the Allies made headway against
japanese forces. Primarily equipped with
the A-36A was the 528th FBS, based for a
time at Sookerating in ssam, northeast-
ern India, although in reality a number of
the dive-bombers were used throughout
the 311 th FBG. As was the case with many
of the Allison-engined Mustang units, the
311 th's squadrons lived a rather nomadic
existence and often operated from com-
paratively primitive airstrips.
The 311 th flew its first combat mission
with the A-36A on 16 October 1943, but
three of the eight aircraft committed were
lost. In reality, however, by the time the
311 th's squadrons entered combat the
A-36A had proved itself to be a capable
and sometimes very effective dive-
bomber; and some had ~ n flown by the
the unit's P-51/F-6A Mustangs described
earlier in this chapter, although july 1944
also marked the end of that unit's Allison
Mustang operations.
One further USAAF organization flew
the A-36A in combat, but it was based a
\'cry long way from the heatofNorth Africa
and the rain and mud of Italy. This was
the311th FBG intheChina-Burma-India
(CBl) Theatre. It comprised the 528th,
529th and 530th FBSs, and the first of
these units was equipped with the A-36A
when the 311 th started operations from
northern India in late 1943. These squad-
rons were previously known as BS (Dive),
but were redesignated as FBSs on 30
September 1943. Assigned to the Tenth
Army ir Force, the group operated
in support of Allied forces in northern
Burma. Originally stationed at awadih,
India, in September 1943, having moved
to India via Australia in july/August
A P-51A of the 311th FBG's 530th FBS is worked
on before another mission. This unit was the first
to take the P-51A to war in a major way at unit
strength. The aircraft carries a 75 US gal drop
tank beneath each wing, probably signifying that
it was being readied to embark on a long-range
bomber escort mission. In the CBI Theatre the
P-51A was often called on to perform this type of
mission, but the Allison-engined Mustang was not
at all suitable, lacking the medium- to high-level
performance needed to cover heavy bombers
effectively. The photograph was possibly taken
at Kurmitola or Cox's Bazar, which were forward
bases used by the 311th FBG during its long-range
escort missions from November 1943 onwards,
M.V. Lowe collection
Photographed performing training duties in Florida
in 1943, this P-51A bears the fuselage code 'E25',
which is believed to signify attachment to the
training airfield at Eglin Army Air Field, Although
they were comparatively small in number, the
P-51As performed valuable service, This one
shows off some of the distinguishing features of
the variant, including two O.5in machine guns in
each wing, a lack of armament in the lower nose,
and a single landing light installation in the port
wing leading edge. As with many Allison-engined
Mustangs, its Olive Drab upper surface colour
appears to be very worn. R.L. Ward collection
64 65
igned by Capt M.A. McKenzie, a Project
Offi er at Eglin and dated 15 April 1943,
was little short of a glowing testament to
the Mustang. In fact the report's wri ters
were not particularly impressed with the
A-36A as a dive-bomb r (they actually
recommended that the wing dive brakes
should be eliminated), but were highly
impressed by the type' flying characteris-
tic, stability, well balanced controls and
good tall characteristics. The Eglin te t
pilot who flew the three aircraft attained
a maximum speed of 324mph (521 km/h)
at the engine's optimum alti tude of 5,000ft
(1 ,500m). Unfortunately one of the thre
test aircraft was destroyed when it broke
up in a div , and speeds of some 450mph
(724km/h) were encount red even with
the wing dive brakes deployed. However,
the Eglin test pilot realized that when the
A-36 was unencumbered by bombs it wa
potentially an excellent low-level fighter.
Thi confirmed the views of many of the
British and Commonwealth pilots, who
were already flying Mustangs in combat
over northwest Europe. The scene was set
for the Mustang to be regarded as a fighter
for AAF service.
The First True
Mustang Fighters
Although the produ tion of Alii on-
engined Mustang by AA ceased in
the ummer of 1943 (hence the growing
shortage of A-36As for operation in Italy),
one further Allison Mustang version was
produc d before manufa ture ended. This
variant, the P-5IA, was, at last, a fighter
version for US service. The growing reali-
zation by many in the upper echelons
of the AAF that th Mustang was
a worthwhile combat aircraft, coupled
with increasingly glowing report from
the pilot who were flying it in combat,
at last started to result in the Mu tang
having more friends than enemies within
the military. It began to be apparent
to many that the Mustang was a b tter
aircraft than existing Army fighters such
as the P-40 and P-39, and was poten-
tially as good, if not better, than the
more advanced (compared with the P-39
and PAO) P-3 and P-47. Indeed, in a
scathing letter dated 31 August 1942 to
the chi f of the Material Command at
Wright Field (Echols), Maj Gen Muir
. Fairchild, director of military require-
ments at the HQ of the SAAF in
THE FIRST AMERICAN M STA GS
Washington, DC, expre sed surpri e at
the appar nt vacillation in the procure-
ment of the Mustang, tating: 'The P-51
airplane appears to be the most promising
fighter in existence. Its production and
incr ased performance are of paramount
importance.' This was certainly the tell-
ing-off that Echols and his colleagues at
Wright Field needed. In the ummer of
1942 the FY 1943 funding began. This
included a fre h and expanded budget for
new fighters to be purcha ed, and as soon
as possible the Allison-engined Mustang
wa added to the fighter procurement.
Th is took place on Z3 June 1942 (con-
tract No. AC-30479, NAA designation
A-99). Again, just who was able to get
the Mustang on to the list for purchase
is not known. Ther certainly appears
to have been little or no encouragement
from Wright Field towards the military
purchasing offices in Washington, and
even now there i some confusion as to
the exact intention of this purchase. It
ha been speculated that the total P-5IA
procurement was planned to be 1,200
aircraft, but several writ rs have sub e-
quently argued that th total of 1,200
included the 500 A-36As already men-
tioned. In the event only 310 P-5JAs
were funded. However, this was a good
start, and the new model included everal
further refinements to the basic Mu tang
design.
Power for the P-51A was provided
by the 1,200hp All ison V-I 71 - l.
Significantly, there was provision for the
carriage of underwing bombs or long-
range fuel tanks. Although, as previously
related, th Allison-engined Mu tang
already had fine endurance and range
on its internal fuel, th ability to carry
a 75 gal drop tank beneath each
wing added significantly to an already
good capability. It was the beginning of
the transformation of the Mustang into
a long-range escort fighter, although the
metamorphosis was by no means com-
plete. The P-51A dispensed with the
two synchronized machine guns in the
lower nose of other Allison Mustangs,
and simply had two 0.5in machine guns
in each wing. A small but ignificant dis-
tingui hing point of the e n w Mustang
was the addition of a vent window in the
left-hand tran parent windscreen panel.
The first P-51A flew on February 1943,
with Robert hilton piloting. Of the pro-
duction run of 310 machine, fifty were
supplied to the RAF under Lend-Lea e
66
a Mustang Mk lls to offset the req-
uisition of the fifty-seven earlier Mk lAs
intended for the RAF that instead were
used as P-51/F-6As. The AAF serials
for the complete P-51A production run of
310 examples were 43-6003 to 43-6312,
in three major production blocks. All
were built by AA at Inglewood, as was
every Allison-engined Mustang.
The AAF employed its compara-
tively small number of P-5 JA very spar-
ingly, but in the second half of 1943 they
started to reach combat unit. First to
take the P-5IA into action was the 311th
FBG. A previously exr lained, the 311 th
deployed to India to become a part of
the Tenth Army Air For e in September
1943. In addition to its 528th and 529th
FBSs, which flew a variety of tactical mis-
sions including light attack and recon-
naissance, the former in particular being
associated with the A-36A, the 311 th FBG
also included the 53 th FB . Despite its
name, this unit was from the outset prin-
cipally a fighter squadron, and although
it apparently had ome A-36A initially
assigned, it was primarily equipped with
the P-5]A. The unit's initial base was at
Dinjan, comparatively near the border
between northern Burma and India, but
the 530th forward-deployed to Kurmitola
and the famous Allied air base at Cox's
Bazar for it initial long-range forays
into action. On 25 ovember 1943 the
530th flew its first major combat mission,
escorting B-25 Mitchell medium bombers
tasked with a raid on the Japanese air base
at Mingaladon in Burma. The Mustangs
carried 75 U gal underwing fuel tanks
for this mission. The Japanese met the
raid in force and a number of major air
battles ensued, two Mustangs being shot
down. The Japanese were flying the
highly capable single-engine akajima
KiA3 Hayabusa 'Oscar' and the twin-
engine Kawasaki KiA5 Toryu ' ick'
heavy fighter. The 530th achieved its first
victory that day when Lt Jame England
claimed a' ick'.
Two days later the squadron flew
escort, together wi th P-38 Lightn ings
of the 459th Fighter quadron (FS), for
Allied raids in and around the Burmese
capital, Rangoon. The bomber force
compri ed Consolidated B-24 Liberators
of the 308th BG and B-25 . The P-51As
of the 530th truggled to provide cover
for the Liberator, and came up against
the battle-hardened 'Oscar' -equipped
64th entai of the Imperial Japanese
Army Air Force (IJA F), which they
had first encountered two days earlier.
Two Mustangs were shot down, as were
two Lightnings ::Jnd a Liberator. However,
the 530th also gained victories, James
England shooting down an 'Oscar' and Lt
Robert Mulhollem downing two 'Oscars'
and claiming a third as a probable. Years
after the war it became increasingly likely
that the 'probable' claim was particularly
,ignificant because it concerned an ace
pilot of the 64th, Lt Yohei Hinoki, who
,ucceeded in limping back to base badly
IIljured. Hinoki subsequently had a leg
amputated, and was only able to return
to combat within weeks of the end of the
war, thus depriving the Japanese of one of
their most gifted fighter pilots for much of
the rest of the conflict.
The Mustangs again escorted Allied
bombers for strikes in and around Rangoon
on I December 1943, once more with
mixed results, as one Mustang was lost but
one claim was al 0 made. hortly after this
the 530th's aircraft had to a t as defend-
ing fighter when the Japane e attempted
to strike at the Allies' forward airfields.
The Mustangs claimed two Mitsubishi
Ki-2J 'Sally' twin-engine bombers and an
escorting 'Oscar' fighter, without loss to
themsel ves. The Mustangs subsequently
deployed back to their base near Dinjan,
but were again called upon to defend
rather than attack on Z7 March 1944. On
that day a major Japanese air raid on the
complex of Allied airfield in the Ledo,
northeastern Indiaarea, took place. Several
pilots of th 50th were in the thick of the
action, and James England claimed two
'Oscars' plus a akajima Ki-49 Donryu
'Helen' twin-engine bomber, to becom
an ace. The 3]] th FBG sub equently
increasingly went on to the offensive a
the Allies slowly began to regain the ini-
tiative against the Japanese. The Group's
A-36As and P-5IAs were involved in
many attack that harassed the Japanese
aerial power in central Burma. On 30
May 1944 the 530th was redesignated
the 530th FS. Earlier that month, on the
11th, 12th and 14th, the squadron had
participated in thr e significant attacks
on the major Japanese air base at Meiktila,
when a numb r of Japanese aircraft were
destroyed in the air and on the ground.
The P-51 A's range capabilities were a sig-
nificant factor in these operations. Robert
Mulhollem shot down a akajima Ki-44
hoki 'Tojo' on the ]2 May mission to
become the squadron's second Allison-
engine Mu tang ace. everal of the unit's
Mustang pilots also scored a growing
number of ground victories. However,
the 311 th, wh ich had been redesignated
a Fighter Group in late May 1944, moved
to Burma in July 1944, from where it
flew some support mission for Merrill's
Marauders, the American special opera-
tions force that harried th Japane e on
and behind the front line. During August
1944 the 311 th was transferred to the U
Fourteenth Army Air Force in China,
taking up residence at Pungchacheng in
China. At that time increasing numbers
of Merlin-engined Mustangs were arriv-
ing, and would eventually completely
replace the vet ran and increasingly tired
Allison-engine Mustangs of the 311 tho By
then James England had become the top-
ranking Allison Mustang ace, with eight
confirmed aerial victorie , having scored
hi eighth, a 'Tojo', on 14 May 1944 in
the action over Meiktila airfield.
In the Chinese theatre the Allison-
engine Mustang had by that point already
seen considerable combat. This had started
at virtually the same time as the 31] th
FBG had taken the P-5IA into combat
over Burma. The USAAF Group that
flew the Allison Mustang in action over
hina was the 23rd FG, the succe sor and
rightful heir to the legendary American
Volunteer Group, or 'Flying Tigers', of
the early war years. The 23rd FG had been
activated in hina inJuly 1942 (although
it had existed, at least on paper, before
that time), and from the first contained a
number of the experienced pi lots who had
flown with the Fl yi ng Tigers. In the earl y
months of its existence the unit flew P-40
Warhawks, but it began to transition on to
the P-51A during the early winter of 1943.
On 4 ovember 1943 Col David L. 'Tex'
Hill became the new commanding officer
of the Z3rd FG, ju t as the P-51A started
to re-equip the unit's 76th F . At that
time the squadron was based at Hengyang
in China, with a forward detachment at
uichwan, but later in the month the unit
moved to Kw ilin, where the 2 rd FG was
headquartered. From there it flew its first
mission on 25 November] 94 . Specially
planned by Hill, this op ration took into
account the Mustang's excellent long-
range capabilities. Photo-reconnaissance
by a Lockheed Lightning the previous
day had shown considerable Japanese air
assets at hinchiku Airfield on Formosa
(now Taiwan). This base had previ-
ously been well beyond the range of the
67
23rd's PAOs, forcing U AAF bombers to
make une corted attack. However, on
25 ovember a raid was flown by B-25s
escorted by eight 76th FS P-51 s and eight
P-38Gs of the 449th FS. It was a major
success, the attacking force flying at low
level and achieving complete surprise. The
Lightnings escorted the medium bombers,
allowing the Mu tangs to strafe th air-
field and shoot up any Japanese aircraft
that took off. In the ub equent attack the
Lightnings and Mustangs created havoc
among the Japane e air assets, claiming
fourteen Japane e shot down and more
than twice that number destroyed on the
ground, while the Mitchell successfully
bombed the airfield's in tallations. Hill
himself shot down an 'Oscar', and none
of the atta king U aircraft was lost.
The Mustang gradually upplanted
the PAO a the main fighter in
hina during the fir t half of 1944, but
re-equipment was very low. The CBI
Theatre was comparatively low on the
AAF's list of priorities, and deliverie
of the later Merlin-engined Mustangs for
oth r commands were of greater prior-
ity. Nevertheless, several pilots achieved
aerial victories in the P-51A, and th type
proved to be effective in ground-attack
operations as w II. The 76th F made
good use of its limited number of P-51As,
although set-pi ce operations like th
25 ovember 1943 strike were not the
normal type of mission flown. Victorie
were omewhat piecemeal. On 12 February
the commanding officer of th 76th, Capt
John Stewart, su ceeded in shooting down
an 'Oscar' that had tried to escape from
him at low altitude. The Mustang easily
out-ran and outmanoeuvred th Japanese
fighter, which had hitherto b en a major
thorn in the side of Allied pi lot flying the
PA . The Z3rd FG eventually re-equipped
with a variety of Merlin-engined Mustang
model, but for the U pilot who flew the
type and were able to compare it with the
P-40 it was very clear which was th better
fighter. For the first time the U AAF
had a combat aircraft capable of holding
its own, and v ry often of bettering, the
Japanese fighters that had given the P-40
such a hard time in the months before the
Allison Mustang tarted to arrive at unit
level in China in November 1943.
One further unit in the CBI Theatre
flew the Allison Mustang against the
Japanese. Thi was the 1st Air Commando
Group (ACG). Very much a pioneer of
the type of combined forces operations
TilE FIRST AMERICAN IUSTA GS
CHAPTER 4
DevelopDlent of a Thoroughbred
Lack of Fighter Cover
This developing picture rcated a
dilemma. I aving neglected the devel-
opment of high-performance, long-range
fighters, the SAAF had nothing with
which ro protect it increasingly vul-
nerable bomher' on their deeper day-
light raids over Occupied Europe. The
American simply did nor have an escort
fighter worth the name, particularly one
with any kind of long-range capability.
The P-39 Aira obra and P-40 Warhawk
were immediately ruled out, lacking the
necessary range and performance. By late
J942 they were obsolete a far a ombat
in northwest Europe was concerned. Of
bombing campaign. However, as more
ambitious raids were launched against
better defended and farther-flung target
the losses started ro mount, and the need
for some form of escort for the bomber
grew in importance. This was e'pecially so
because of the growing fighter 'trength the
Luftwaffe was amassing for defence against
the US bomber missions. Luftwaffe fighter
unit were being withdrawn from other war
front ro counter the growing thre8t po ed
hy the increasingly co-ordinated Allied
bombing campaign against Germany and
the occupied countries.
When the need for an escort fighter to accompany
long-range high-altitude but increasingly
vulnerable USAAF strategic bombers over northwest
Europe began to gain increasing importance during
1943, the Americans had few options available. The
lockheed P-38 and Republic P,47 appeared to be
the best possibilities as makeshift bomber escorts,
but neither had been designed forthis role and both
had serious drawbacks. The unusual twin-engined
P-38 lightning, exemplified here by 42,104309,
a lockheed-built P-38J-15-l0, proved a poor
performer at high altitudes over northwest Europe
with the Eighth Air Force, even though its Allison
V, 1710s were turbosupercharged. The type was far
better at lower altitudes as a fighter in the Pacific
and for tactical ground-attack work over Europe.
M.V.lowe collection
69
The entrenched belief thar the bomber
was im'incible, and would alway get ro
its target, was the mindset of the SAAF
when it entered World War Two. Having
agreed ar the rcadia Conference in
December 1941 that the defeat of azi
Germany would take precedence, the
USA very rapidly became committed to
putting its military to the greate t test that
it had ever faced. Part of that challenge
fell to the AAF, with its heavy bomber
advocates ready ro take on Occupied
Europe's aerial defences by day with their
allegedly invincible bomber'. The U
daylight bombing campaign in norrhwe t
Europe began in mall-scale fa hion from
England on 17 August 1942, with a raid by
the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortresses of the
97th BG on rail targets in Rouen, France.
The organization tasked with the conduct
of the U F's strategic aerial war from
British base against azi Germany was
the Eighth rmy Air Force, which had
originally been brought into existence in
january 1942 (although the initial etting-
up of this new organization took several
months of planning, and some limited-
range tactical operations were originally
also the pre erve of the Eighth until it
became involved solely in long-range
strategic operations). Initial raids such as
the Rouen attack were encouraging, and
at first all went well with the infant U
During it initial service deployments the
Allison-engined Mustang had proved a
capable warplane. For many, however,
It \\'a clear from the start that the type
had a seriml limitation regarding high-
altitude performance. For the RAF this
was not a serious problem. Consigned
to low-level operations where their
speed, range and agility were of greatest
imporrance, the low-level TacR Allison
Mu tangs did an excellent job for the
RAF from 1942 onwards, 'ome continu-
ing on operations right through to the
war's end. High-altitude fighting for the
RAF could be performed by the Spitfire,
so the need to develop the Mustang into
a high-altitude performer was not of para-
mount importance; at least not to begin
with. one the less, the R F was rightly
always keen to improve performance, and
many in the RAF came to recognize that
the Mustang could be developed inro an
excellent all-round performer if the need
arose, with the addition of more power
and a high-altitude-rated engine. As 1942
drew on, the need for ever-more-capable
fighters to counter continuing Luftwaffe
developments made the development of
a better-performing Mustang an increas-
ingly attractive idea. For the USA F,
however, the llison Mustang's short-
comings were beginning ro be a part of a
much larger, developing pi ture.
aged except when deemed necessary, to
en ure that the valuable reconnai ance
data could be brought home safely and
not jeopardized in unnecessary aerial
combat. In common with other tactical
assets of the Ninth Army ir Force, the
107th moved across to northern France
after D-Day, initially being based briefly
at AA (Deux jumeaux) from late june
onwards. By then the increasingly tire'l
F-6Bs were being supplemented by recon-
naissance vcr ions of the Merlin-powered
Mustang, hut some soldiered on for a con-
siderable time after the invasion.
Production of the Allison-engi ned
Mustang ended with completion of
the last P-51 A in the summer of 1943.
Ithough the exact number of Allison
Mustangs built has been the source of
continuing confusion in many published
sources, the total is not hard to work out.
The one initial A-73X prorotype was
followed by 320 and then 300 Mustang
Mk Is for the RAF (at least one of which
was retained by N A). There were two
XP-5Is, which appear ro have been addi-
tional to the Mustang lk I production.
There were then 150 Mustang Mk IAs
(of which fifty-five went to the USAAF
as P-51/F-6As and two were retained by
AA). There were 500 A-36 Invaders
(one of which was officially handed over
ro the British, but other were borrowed as
neces 'ary), and 3/0 P-51 As (of which fifty
were supplied ro the RAF as Mustang Mk
lis and thirry-five became F-6Bs). Total
Allison Mustang manufacture, including
the prototypes (and assuming that the two
XP-5Is were additional airframes and nor
Mustang Mk Is), was therefore 1,583. Of
these, at least 763 were supplied to Britain
and 16 went to the AAF, with at least
four being used by AA.
Although it was torally overshadowed
by the exploits of the Merlin-engined
Mustang, the Ilison Mustang played a
very valuable role in the econd World
War. 1[' achievements arc now largely
overlooked, especially when compared
with those of its illustrious Merlin-
engined development. True, it had its
shortcomings, particularly at altitude, but
it was none the less a ompetent combat
aircraft that was far superior to many other
Allied fighters of the earlier war period.
everthele ,by the time AlIison-engined
Mustang production was at an end the
tage was already being set for the debut of
the legendary Merlin-engined Mustang.
68
small number of P-5 J A, also operated
in northwest Europe. Among the 260
P-51 s as igned ro the AF (exclud-
ing the fifty diverted ro Britain from the
310-aircraft production run), thirty-five
were converted ro reconnaissance stand-
ard. This entailed the addition of a K-24
camera behind the pilot, in an installa-
tion similar ro that in the original recon-
nais ance deri\'ative of the P-51, the
F-6A. The reconnaissance ver ion of the
P-51 A was designated F-6B (nor F-6A, as
incorrectly claimed in many publi hed
ources), and retained the normal arm8-
ment of the P-51A. It is pos ible th8t
some examples were fitted with a second
K-24 camem, mounted vertically in the
fuselage behind the radiator air outlet.
Approximately two dozen of these air-
craft were shipped ro Europe, where they
were assigned ro whar is believed to be
the only reconn8i'sance unit th8t flew
the type operationally, the 107th TR
of the 67th TRG, U inth Army Air
Force. In similar fashion to the Illth
and 154th 0 , which flew the P-51/F-6A
in North frica and the Mediterranean,
the 107th was an NG squadron (actu-
ally a component of the Michigan G)
that had been called to a tive duty on
15 Ocrober 1940. Shipped to Britain in
August/ eptember 1942, it had taken
some time for the AAF to organ-
i:e its reconnaissance assets in England
and get them into combat. Howe\'er,
the F-6B contingent started ro arrive in
Ocrober 1943, and this gave a consider-
able capability to the 107th, which was
designated a TR in November 1943.
Previously based at Membury 8nd then,
from December 1943 at Middle Wallop
in southern England, the unit began an
increasingly wide-ranging reconnaissance
of northern France from the end of 1943
onwards. This included PR and visual
reconnaissance, a well as weather recon-
n8i'san e and bomb damage assessment.
In the face of increasingly intense anti-
aircraft defences the squadron flew many
tactical reconnaissance mission along the
coast of northern France in preparation
for the lIied invasion in june 1944. This
extremely hazardous work was carried out
in conjunction with other Allied recon-
nai sance asset including AAF F-5
Lightnings, but the Mustangs' speed and
endurance made them particularly valu-
able. As with the RAF' TacR Mustangs,
tangling with the Luftwaffe was discour-
Reconnaissance in Europe
A world away from the P-51A operations
in the CBI Theatre, a comparatively
and c1ose-air-support mi sions that often
characteri:e military aerion roday, the
Air Commandos were et up within the
Frosupporrground force inspecific
areas and provide comprehensive aerial
capability for specific ground operations.
To th is end the 1st CG included figh ter,
bomber, transport and glider assets within
its organi:ation, and it was with the fighter'
that the P-51 A gained a measure ofsuccess
in the first halfof 1944. Operating primarily
in northeastern India and norrhern Burma,
the 1st ACe used its P-5IAs mainly in
support ofground forces, wh ich speci fica II y
included Wingate's Chindits behind the
enemylinesin Burma. Activated in Indiaon
29 March 1944, the 1st ACG was initially
based at Hailakandi, although in practice
its air elements were stationed wherever
required. Before that time a provisional
designation, the 531 th, had covered the
unit" early day; Air Commando person-
nel were famous for theirdisdain ofred tape,
and the official paperwork rook some time
rocatch upwith them! TheGroupoperated
a comparatively small number of P-SIAs
(although approximately thirty appear to
have been allocated to the unit on its crea-
tion), and they were distinctively adorned
with fivediagonalwhitestripesaround their
rear fuselages. The commanding officer of
the group was initially the colourful 01
Philip Cochran, but aerial vicrories were
in very short supply for the unit's Mu 'tang'
of the unit, fighting the japane e in the air
definitely not being a priority. However,
a notable victory was scored by a 1st ACG
Allison Mustang pilot when an 'Oscar'
was brought down over lmphal, India, on
17 April 1944 by Lt Col Grant Mahony.
This made Mahony an ace, his four previ-
ous vicrorie having been achieved in the
dark days of the Philippines and java cam-
paignsin late 1941 and early 1942. i ~ i r s t
was claimed on December 1941 in a PAO
while he was with the 3rd Pursuit quadron
on Luzon in the Philippines. In the 1st
ACG the Allison Mustang was replaced
later in 1944 by P-47s. However, for its
initial air operations (which included the
P-5IAs) between March and May 1944 the
IstA G wasawardeda Distinguished Unit
Citation.
DEVELOPMENT OF A THOROUGHBRED
DEVELOPMENT OF A THOROUGHBRED
The Allison V-1710
TODAY AND TOMORROW
",lac
d.at haIpa .... _gIl_ Win haw... * Rd..6J", on
poIoca an drpmd. * s......... 11>
fabP.' &-yfOt
Today, _ and unul .... war OJ won <very All.-. "'ll''''''' bud'
11> modard d.at nnhtacu 1M "muat" qualUl<O: I'rrfrw-
(commercial -F21 RI powered the A-36A Invader. None of these engines was optimized
for high-altitude work. but they were more than adequate for the lower altitudes at
which these early Mustangs operated. Later, the V-17l 0-119 powered the lightweight
XP-51J Mustang, and the V-1710-143/145 was the engine type for the later-production
F-82 Twin Mustang versions.
Allison flourished as an engine designer and manufacturer after World War Two,
and came to be asignificant manufacturer of jet engines, originally derived from other
manufacturers' products. The company was also involved in turboprop design and
development, and one of the most famous engines of this type, the Allison T56, gained
lasting fame as the original powerplant of the ubiquitous Lockheed C-130 Hercules
transport aircraft. Allison was also involved in light engine design for helicopters, the
Allison 250-series gas turbine becoming one of the most important engines for light
and medium helicopter applications, and powering such famous types as the vast Bell
JetRanger family of commercial and military helicopters. Ironically, bearing in mind the
fact that the Rolls-Royce Merlin replaced the Allison V-1710 in the Mustang, in 1993
Rolls-Royce acquired Allison, and the company remains to this day apart of the Rolls-
Royce organization, as Rolls-Royce North America.
There have been anumber of published estimates of how many V-171 Os were actu-
ally manufactured. The generally accepted figure of some 47,000 appears to be low,
and indeed the Allison company on its advertising claimed to have made more than
50,000 in their various series. Amore recent figure made available by Rolls-Royce sug-
gests that the real total was approximately 70,000 V-17l Os of all marks. some 48,700
of these being of the 'F' series.
The engine that powered the early versions of the Mustang,
and several other major US fighters of that era including the
P-38, P-39 and P-40, was the Allison V-1710. The only really
developed inline aero engine in the USA at that time, the
V-1710 was a successful engine that nevertheless was rated
in most of its production versions for low- to medium-level
optimum performance. This colourful contemporary Allison
periodical advertisement shows the V-1710, together with
a cartoon representing several Allison-engined fighters
supporting an amphibious landing. Author's collection
Central to the early history of the Mustang was the inline, liquid-cooled Allison V-1710
engine. A V-12 inline. the V-171O powered several major USAAC/USAAF fighters in
its rather straightforward. basic supercharged form during the early World War Two
period. These included the Curtiss 1'-40 series and the 8ell 1'-39, although the engine
installation in the 1'-39 was anything but conventional, being in the mid-fuselage
position behind the cockpit. driving the propeller via an extension shaft. In its turbo-
supercharged form (with exhaust supercharging!, the engine powered the Lockheed
1'-38 twin-engined fighter. There had been some intention for the 1'-39 also to have
turbosupercharging, but this was not installed in production Airacobras.
The V-171O (it was never given a name) was originally developed during the early
1930s. although work by James Allison's Indianapolis, Indiana-based company on
aero engines had started in the mid-1920s. An important reason for the creation
of the V-1710 (it eventually had a displacement of 1,710cu in, hence its name) was
as a potential powerplant for USN airships. Inline engine development in the USA
was slow during the 1930s. and only the V-1710 among several programmes was
developed to anything like its real potential. Even then this engine suffered from
development problems and application difficulties when it matured as a fighter engine
in the mid-to-Iate 1930s. Nevertheless, in its various production forms it gave valuable
service, powering several US-built fighters, and eventually proved to be a generally
reliable powerplant that (except for its application in the 1'-38) was optimized for
low- to medium-level operations. It was developed from the outset to lise ethylene
glycol rather than water for its cooling, a feature that allowed the use of a smaller
radiator than would have been required with simple water cooling. as glycol can carry
far greater heat than water. Allison also performed important work
on the design and development of steel-backed, bronze-lined engine
bearings, being one of the leaders in this aspect of piston-engine
development.
The first V-1710 prototype ran in 1931, but interest in the large
military airship in the USA was curtailed following the loss of the
airship USS Macon in 1935. During the development of the V-1710
Allison became a part of the giant General Motors empire, and con-
siderably extended its production facilities in the mid-1930s in the
expectation of large orders for the V-1710, which eventually matured
into a viable and ultimately successful fighter engine. This was partly
due to demand fostered by the development of the 1'-40 series. via the
Curtiss XP-37. which was adevelopment of the radial-engined Curtiss
1'-36 and was fitted with a turbosupercharged V-171 O. Although that
particular combination did not lead to a production series, the Allison
engine in simple supercharged form (as opposed to turbosuperchargedl
subsequently went on to power not only the vast Curtiss 1'-40 series,
but also the 8ell 1'-39 Airacobra and 1'-63 Kingcobra and, with turbo-
charging, the Lockheed 1'-38. It was central to the early story of the
Mustang as well, and was the motor of choice for the NAA engineers
and designers when development work on the Mustang began in the
spring of 1940.
There were various series of V-1710, including the 'F' series, which
powered the Allison Mustangs and the 1'-40 Warhawk/Kittyhawk
series. The 1, 150hp V-1710-39 (commercial designation V-171 0-F3RI
powered the Mustang Mk lilA and 1'-51 production models, as well as
the NA-73X prototype. The 1,200hp V-1710-81 (commercial -F20RI was
installed in the Mustang II and the 1'-51 A; and the 1,325hp V-1710-87
over North Africa, but at low to medium
altitudes, and often in the fighter-bomber
role. In the thin, damp and cold air of the
high-altitude war over northwest Europe
the Lightning was less than ideal, suffer-
ing in particular from engine and engine-
relClted problems. This was somewhat
ironic, because the P-38 was powered by
two turbocharged (exhaust augmented)
Allison V-I 710 engines that gave it the
best high-altitude performance of any of
the A II ison V-171 O-engined fighters of
the US AF, but it still proved to be less
than ideal for northwest European oper-
ating conditions. Some of the problems
concerned the engine intercooler and tur-
bosupercharging, a lack of range in earlier
models, frozen pilots due to an initial
deClrth of heated flying suits, and a variety
of other difficulties including compress-
ibility in high-speed dives brought about
by the type's unique twin-engine, twin-
boom layout. The P-38 proved to be more
successful at lower levels, particularly
when used as a tactical fighter-bomber, as
was also the case with some versions of
the P-47. The first bomber escort-related
operation by Eighth Army A ir Force
Lightnings was performed by the 55th
FG on 3 ovember 1943, when aircraft
from the Group covered a B-17 raid on
Wilhelmshaven. Continuing problems
and other fa tors led to the P-38 being
withdrawn completely by the Eighth in
September 1944.
In the USA a belated attempt was made
to develop a genuine long-range escort
fighter, but this proved to be a fiasco.
Under the guidance of Oliver Echols and
his teClm at Material Command at Wright
Field, great faith was placed in a Curtiss
design, the XP-60. However, this new
project drew on aspects of the already
far-outmoded P-40 design, and included
some of the thinking that went into the
The enormous Republic P-47 had to bear the brunt
of much of the early bomber escort work over
northwest Europe for the Eighth Air Force, even
though it was not designed for this role and was
unsuitable for many reasons, including its initially
short range. Attempts to address this problem in
later developments of the P-47 culminated in the
very-long-range P-47N, which saw some bomber
escort use late in the war in the Pacific. Illustrated
is 42-27387, the XP-47N prototype, converted
from a standard P-47D. Generally, however, the
Thunderbolt was best suited to low-level tactical
missions, at which it excelled over Europe later in
the war. M.V. Lowe collection
to be mounted both in the U A and
Britain to try to extend the PA7's range,
and this developed, as described in the
next chapter, into the carrying of external
jettisonable long-range fuel ranks. Even
then the Thunderbolt was less than ideal
as a long-mnge escort fighter, although
its roomy cockpit was of considerable
benefit to pilots on long-duration mis-
sions. Later-model PA7s, particularly
the P-47N, were gradually developed by
Republic Aviation into longer-legged
versions, which did a far better job much
later in the war as bomber escorts, par-
ticularly in the Pacific, although the 56th
FG continued to fly the Thunderbolt
(albeit not the long-range P-47N) with
the Eigh th Air Force to the end of the
war. But in the second half of 1943 it was
by no means likely that the Thunderbolt
could be turned into an escort fighter, and
the Eighth Air Force began to struggle
to achieve its objectives in the daylight
bombing campaign.
The twin-engine P-38 also proved
troublesome as a long-range, high-altitude
escort fighter. Again it had not been
developed specifically for the role, there
having been no requirement for such a
fighter in SA F thinking until practi-
cal realities took over during 1943. The
Lightning proved to be far more adaptable
to the air warfare of the Pacific, where it
had its greatest moments, and the two top-
scoring USAAF aces of World War Two,
Richard Ira Bong (forty aerial victories)
and Thomas McGuire, Jr (thirty-eight),
both flew the type with the Fifth Army
Air Force in the southwest Pacific. The
P-38 also performed much useful work
the new fighter designs coming to the
fore in the USA, the P-47 and, to a lesser
extent, the P-38, began to enter service
with the US Eighth Army Air Force
as 1943 progressed. The fi rst tentati ve
shakedown operation by the 4th FG from
England with its early-model PA7s was
made on 10 March 1943, but this was
simply a fighter sweep intended for famil-
iarization and training. In addition there
were technical problems with the enor-
mous Thunderbolt and its equipment and
power plant, and these, plus other factors,
including the indoctrination of inexperi-
enced US pilots into European Theatre
conditions and procedures, all tended to
delay the introduction of escort missions.
Early Thunderbolts also suffered from a
poor climb rate. It was not until 4 May
1943 that the P-47-equipped 4th and
56th FGs actually flew a first Eighth Air
Force bomber escort, when they covered
a B-17 raid on Antwerp in Belgium. In
the following weeks the Thunderbolts
became increasingly active, but a sig-
n ificant problem began to surface. The
P-47 simply did not have the range to
escort the heavy bombers all the way
to and from more distant targets. The
Thunderbolt had not been designed for
this role, and from the first it lacked the
long range required for such a demanding
job. This left the bombers still unde-
fended and vulnerable during potentially
the most dangerous part of their mis-
sions, when they were deep into well
defended German-held territory, a weak-
ness that was successfully exploited by the
increasingly more organized and ~ ctive
German air defences. A major effort hCld
70
71
failed XP-46 programme (the type that
some historians erroneously claim formed
the basis of the Mustang). The XP-60
was a complete failure and made very
few test flights, even though an order was
placed for at least 474 production aircraft.
Several other flawed attempts were made
to try to develop an escort fighter in the
USA, which similarly gained no Service
entry. The highest-profi led of these was
the Fisher XP-75 Eagle, another pro-
gramme to which Echols gave considera-
ble support. Designed by Donovan Berlin,
who as ch ief designer at Curtiss had been
fully involved with the P-36 and P-40
series, the P-75 was a hurried attempt to
put together a long-range fighter using
existing technology and ideas. Indeed,
the prototype XP-75 incorporated compo-
nents from other aircraft in its structure to
save time, in luding the fin of a Douglas
SBD/A-24 Dauntless. Needless to say, it
was not a success.
Thankfully for the increasingly hard-
pressed B-17 and B-24 bomber crews of
the Eighth Air Force, salvation was poten-
tially on hand as 1943 progressed. Even
so, it was not immediately obvious where
the knight in shining armour was going
to come from. As explained in the previ-
ous chapter, experience with the Allison-
engined Mustang as a bomber escort
showed that the P-51A was not ideal in
that role, lacking the high-altitude per-
formance to stay with heavy bombers like
the B-24, although as a low-level escort
for tactical bombers such as the B-25 it
was far better, drawing in particular on
its long-range capabilities, manoeuvrabil-
ity and stability as a gun platform. Long
DEVELOPMENT OF A THOROUGHBRED
before the 31 j th FBG was taking the
P-5IA into action as a bomber escort in
late 1943, however, moves were already
under way to transform the Mustang into
a superlative long-range high-altitude
bomber escort.
Ronald Harker and
Rolls-Royce
On 30 April 1942 a British test pilot
named Ronald Harker visited the AFDU
at Duxford airfield in Cambridgeshire.
Harker was a service-liaison company
test pilot for famous British aero-engine
manufacturer Rolls-Royce. It was his brief
to fly examples of the aircraft then in
RA F service or set to become operational
(whether they were Rolls-Rolls powered
or not), as well as any available cap-
tured enemy aircraft. His visit to Duxford
on that day was specifically to fly the
Mustang Mk I, which was on the verge
of becoming fully operational with 26
qn. Harker flew Mustang Mk I AG422,
and the impressions he formed on that
half-hour long flight, and the action that
followed them, helped change the course
of the Second World War. Harker was an
engine-oriented test pilot; it was not his
brief to look at the Mustang from the point
of view of an all-guns-blazing combat
with an Fw 190. Instead he examined the
Mustang from the viewpoint of evaluating
its engine performance, and how it could
be improved if r quired. He was highly
impressed by the Mustang, for which the
performance claims made by its manufac-
turer appeared to be justified. He found
72
that it was 35mph (56km/h) faster than
the then pre-eminent Spitfire Mk V, and
felt that it should prove a formidable low-
and medium-altitude fighter. Previously,
three Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks had
been made available to the Rolls-Royce
experimental flight test establishment at
Hucknall in ottinghamshire, and the
company's test pilots and engineers had
regarded these as less than impressive. In
comparison, Harker found the Mustang
to be a fine performer at low to medium
levels, but without doubt he was the first
person to recognize, from a practical,
hands-on perspecti ve, that the Mustang
would benefit from the installation of
an effective, powerful, high-altitude-rated
engine. At the time Rolls-Royce had just
such an engine in continuing develop-
ment. Th is was the 60-series deri vati ve
of the already famous and high Iy success-
ful Merlin. Developed from the inline
Merlins that had powered Spitfires and
Hurricanes during the early war years,
most notably during the Battle of Britain,
the 60-series Merlins were aimed specifi-
cally at giving the Spitfire an improved
high-altitude and all-round performance,
particularly to counter the Luftwaffe's
excellent Fw 190 single-engine fighter
They had improved supercharging, using
a two-stage, two-speed supercharger with
automatic control, a feature that Allison
was unable to develop successfully for the
V-1710 until late in the war.
Harker wrote a very important report
about his experiences of flying AG422.
Dated I May 1942, it was addressed to
his superiors and colleagues at Rolls-
Royce, including senior managers at the
company's main offices at Derby. One of
those for whom the report was destined
was Ernest Hives (later Lord Hives of
Duffield), the influential general works
manager and a member of the company's
board of directors. In the days that fol-
lowed there was considerable activity at
The pioneering work to re-engine the Mustang
from Allison to Merlin power began in Britain,
well ahead of official interest in the US. The first
aircraft to be modified by Rolls-Royce was Al975, a
Mustang Mk.l, which first flew under Merlin power
on 13 October 1942. It is seen here displaying the
many alterations in the nose area that the change
of engine type entailed. Particularly noticeable
are the different engine mounts and the rather ugly
'chin' for the repositioned carburettor air intake
and to provide air for the engine's intercooler
radiator. Via Chris Ellis
Rolls-Royce, and much communication
hetween the company and the Ministry
nf Supply (MoS) and other government
hodies, as momentum began to build with
.1 view to Rolls-Royce obtaining one or
more Mustangs to re-engine with the
Merlin. This was not as easy as it might
ilt first have seemed. The 60-series Merlin
had already been successfully tested, and
every new series example was seemingly
going to be needed for installation in the
new production Spitfire, the Mk IX. In
ilny case it was somewhat irregular for a
company to want to set about a significant
re-engining programme all by itself, par-
ticularly when the Service for which any
production spin-off would be destined, the
RAF, was at first rather lukewarm about
the whole idea.
One of the factors that tipped the
balance for Rolls-Royce was a set of pro-
jected performance figures for a possible
Merlin-engined Mustang, worked out by
Witold Challier, a Rolls-Royce perform-
ance engineer at Hucknall. Of Polish
descent, Challier, a talented aviation
mechanical engineer and performance
technician, had made his way to Britain
following the fall of Poland in 1939. He
based his predictions on flight-test data
gleaned from the testing of a standard
Allison-engined Mustang, combined with
other knowledge such as the known per-
formance capabilities of the new 60-series
Merlins. This was made possible not only
because the Boscombe Down perform-
ance data from the testing of Mustang I
AG351 and other early Allison-engined
Mustangs was available to him, but also
because Rolls-Royce succeeded in having
a prized Mustang assigned to them not
long after Harker's flight in Mustang
DEVELOPME 'T OF A THOROUGHBRED
AG422 at Duxford. This was in no small
part due to the influence of Ernest Hives,
who became increasingly enthusiastic
about a Merlin-engined Mustang follow-
ing a meeting with Harker in early May.
Hives subsequently convinced Sir Wilfrid
Freeman, Vice Chief of the Air Staff at
the Air Ministry in London, that Rolls-
Royce should have the opportunity to re-
engine a Mustang with the company's new
and very promising 60-series Merlin. The
outcome was the arrival at Hucknall, on
29 May, of Mustang Mk I AG51 . Rolls-
Royce at once set to work testing the
aircraft, and, using the resulting figures,
Challier came up with the breathtaking
conclusion that a Merlin 61-powered
Mustang could attain 441 mph (710km/h)
at 25,600ft (7,800m). This was on 8 June
1942, and would have represented one of
the most outstanding performance figures
for an Allied piston-engined fighter at
any phase of the war. Indeed, the figure
would have made the Merlin Mustang
some 20mph (J2km/h) faster than the
new and highly promising Spitfire Mk IX.
Admittedly Challier later downgraded
these estimates following further testing
of AG518, his eventual figures being
432mph (695km/h) at 25,500ft (7,800m)
at an all-up weight of 9,1 OOlb (4, 130kg)
on full supercharging. He also made pro-
jections for a Merlin XX-engined Mustang
rated for lower altitudes, estimating a
potential top speed of 393mph (63 2km/h)
at 18,600ft (5,700m) at 8,6001b (J,900kg)
on full supercharging.
These estimates created much inter-
est, both in Britain and in some quarters
in the USA. It was fortunate indeed that
the British made much of this informa-
tion freely available to interested parties
73
at the US Embassy in London, and to
NA representatives in Britain. As the
aircraft's manufacturer, A had a keen
interest in how the Mustang fared with its
customer, the RAF, and there were NAA
representatives and personnel in Britain
to liaise and transmit any useful informa-
tion to the parent company in California.
One of these was Philip Legan"a, an ener-
getic technical representative for the
Mustang programme who was in increas-
ingly close contact with Rolls-Royce as
early as June 1942. Legarra wa based at St
John's House on Smith Square in London,
and there was important liaison between
his office and AA at Inglewood at that
time, relating to developments at Rolls-
Royce.
A further important location for the sub-
sequent push to create a Merlin-powered
Mustang was the US Embassy in London.
Muchcorrespondence from the office ofthe
US Ambassador, John G. Winant, during
the summer of 1942 shows how impor-
tant the possibility of a Merlin-powered
Mustang was to those in the US military
and diplomatic corps who were prepared
to listen to the informed information from
Rolls-Royce. Chief among the pragmatists
who saw the potential of a Merlin-powered
Mustang was the ssistant ir Attache at
the embassy, Maj Thomas Hirchcock, Jr.
n accomplished pilot and also a well-
known sports celebrity in the SA before
the war (he was a world-class polo player),
Hitchcock was to playa useful role in
pushing the often less-than-impressed US
military in the right direction regarding
the Merlin Mustang. It was not an easy
job. At Wright Field, Oliver Echols had
become convinced that Mustang produc-
tion shou ld stop after the RA Forders were
finished. Although this hopelessly short-
sighted view was eventually overturned, as
much byevents following the US entry into
The Rolls-Royce installation of the Merlin in the
basic Mustang Mk.1 airframe is shown in detail
in this port side view of one of the Mustang
Mk.Xs. A large amount of design and engineering
work was needed to get to this stage, not just in
the integrating of the Merlin, which was a very
different engine to the Allison V-1710.for which
the Mustang forward fuselage had originally
been designed. The new engine mounts. re-routed
plumbing and four-bladed propeller are particularly
evident. This installation gave a very prominent
'chin' to the Mustang. with a bulky lower nose air
intake for the large box beneath the engine. which
was the intercooler/fuel cooler radiator.
R.l. Ward collection
DEVELOPMENT OF A THOROUGHBRED
74
mally taken by the Allison V-171O. The
work entailed considerable re-plumbing
for the engine's fuel, cooling and related
functions, with the intention of keeping
in place the Mustang's established layout
of the mid-fuselage mounted radiator and
Such was the growing demand for aero engines
that Packard actually ceased its luxury car produc-
tion in early 1942, a decision the company no doubt
regretted later. The next production model from the
Detroit production lines, the V-1650-3, marked the
start of the company's association with the Mustang.
Based on the Rolls-Royce Merlin 60 series that suc-
cessfully transformed the Spitfire into an excellent
all-round fighter, the V-1650-3 was to give the first
Merlin Mustangs, the P-51 Band P-51 C, an excellent
all-round performance to add to the Mustang's already
exemplary range and endurance. Atrue two-stage two-
speed supercharged V-12 inline engine, the V-1650-3
was one of the finest fighter engines of its generation.
Packard's engineers did not merely build what Rolls-
Royce showed them; indeed, important development
work on the supercharging for the Merlin series was
performed by both companies. This helped to keep
both the Spitfire and Mustang ahead of German engine
developments for Luftwaffe fighters, and was a key to
the outstanding success of the Merlin Mustang. There
was significant co-operation between the two compa-
nies, and Rolls-Royce had representatives in Detroit
to help the process along. At least one pattern Merlin
was supplied to Packard at the start of the process that
led to US production.
The V-1650-3 was a true 1,600hp-class inline piston
engine with emergency boost, but further development
led to the 1,720hp V-1650-7, which powered the P-51D
and P-51 K(and Australian-built Mustangs), and some
later examples of the P-51 BIC series. The P-51 D/K
series Mustang was asuperlative fighter at all altitudes;
arguably one of the best, if not the best. fighter that the
Allies produced during World War Two. It combined
the beautifully designed Mustang airframe with high-
quality manufacture and an excellent engine. Continuing
development led to the V-1650-9 that powered the light-
weight P-51 Hproduction model, which could produce an
exceptional l,930hp with war emergency boost water
injection. Packard received contracts for 75,986 Merlins
during the war, of which somewhere over 50,000 (some
sources suggest nearer to 60,0001 were actually pro-
duced before the end of hostilities.
Packard returned to making cars after World War
Two, introducing its first all-new postwar model in 1948.
Unfortunately, in contrast to its prewar pre-eminence
in the luxury car market. the company was unable
to capture a significant share of new car sales, and
a merger with Studebaker followed in October 1954.
This did nothing to revive the flagging fortunes of the
company, which had ceased to exist as a corporate
entity by the end of the 1950s; a sad end to a company
that had contributed much to the Allied victory in the air
war of World War Two.
Packard and the Merlin
T OF A THOROUGHBRED
75
specific division specializing in modern aero engine pro-
duction was formed within Packard, in which both of the
Vincent brothers played asignificant part, Jesse Vincent
becoming its vice-president of engineering. Britain's
MAP awarded its initial contract for production of the
Merlin in late June 1940. During that month the Merlin
was accepted as a stop-gap engine to power a propor-
tion (actually some 1,258 fighters) of aplanned procure-
ment of 3,000 warplanes intended for FY 1941 purchase
for US military use. Even at that time it was realized that
Allison was not going to meet all the US military require-
ments for inline-engines with its V-17l0. The Merlins for
US employment turned out to be for the Curtiss P-40F
version (and later the P-40Ll of the otherwise Allison-
engined P-40 Warhawk/Kittyhawk line.
The first Packard-built Merlin was ready for its initial
tests in May 1941 The reasons for the apparent delay in
getting the first engine ready lay in a number of factors,
not least of these being the difficulties that Packard came
across in adapting the Merlin to US production methods
and requirements. The manufacturing practices of Rolls-
Royce in Britain were considerably different to those of
Packard, and Packard needed some time to tool-up for
production. Many drawings were not clear enough for
complete outsiders to comprehend, and some of the nec-
essary calculations and dimensions were not present on
Rolls-Royce drawings and literature. Packard had to make
many of its own drawings, and found that even in appar-
ently simple matters, such as screw thread dimensions,
there were differences between US and British prac-
tices and usages. Although theoretically the British- and
US-built Merlins were interchangeable, in practice there
were significant detail differences. Eventually Rolls-
Royce had a permanent engineer based with Packard to
try to help the whole process along. British spark plugs
were found to be better than those manufactured in
the USA, and the USAAF ordered 100,000 British RC5/2
plugs, which would be the standard until better-quality or
more suitable American examples could be made.
The US designation for the Packard-built Merlin was
V-1650. The initial production model. the V-1650-1,
equated to the Rolls-Royce-built Merlin XX, and was later
known as the Merlin 28 in British and Commonwealth
use. It had a single-stage supercharger, was suitable
for low- and medium-altitude fighters, and was rated at
some 1,250hp at 11,500ft (3,50001). It was used in the
Curtiss P-40F Warhawk (and also the P-40L derivative
of the P-40Fl, but did not appreciably improve the type's
performance over the Allison V-1710-powered P-40E
Warhawk. It was also installed in the Canadian-built
Hawker Hurricane Mk Xand subsequent Canadian-built
Hurricane marks (sometimes being referred to as the
Merlin 29 for later Hurricanes), and the Canadian-built
Avro Lancaster Mk Xfour-engined bomber.
the minds of Rolls- Royce engi neers.
Fortunately the Allison V-1710 and the
Merlin were similar dimensionally (but
not identical), and the Rolls-Royce team
attempted to install the Merlin and its
associated equipment into the space nor-
The transformation of the Mustang from acapable low-
level fighter, reconnaissance and light-attack combat
aircraft into a world-class all-level multi-role fighter
came about with the re-engineering of the Mustang's
airframe to take the Rolls-Royce Merlin inline engine.
The story of how this was achieved is worthy of a
volume by itself, and was mixed up in the strange and
murky world of politics and favouritism that existed in
the USAAF's procurement and testing offices, as well as
III parts of the US government. On an engineering level.
for NAA it was not simply a question of replacing the
Mustang's original Allison V-1710 with a Merlin. The
whole process entailed a major redesign exercise that
resulted in the Mustang's airframe being tailored to the
Merlin and its associated equipment. In other ways the
Merlin Mustang story was atriumph of engineering and
mass production.
The Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit, Michigan,
was vital to this process, and emerged from the Mustang
era as a significant producer of aero engines, a situa-
tion that sadly did not develop into postwar success in
that sphere. Packard was, and still is, best known as a
producer of luxury cars. The predecessor to the Packard
company originated in the late 1800s in Ohio, formed
by brothers James Ward Packard and William Dowd
Packard. The Packard Motor Car Company itself was
formed in October 1902, and grew successfully in the
early decades of the twentieth century, partly owing
to the influence of the Vincent brothers. Charles and
Jesse Vincent brought considerable engineering talent
into the company, especially in the sphere of engines.
This included the design of afamous automobile engine,
the 'Twin Six', and development work on a ubiquitous
aircraft engine. The latter was the Liberty, which was
developed during World War One and became one of
the most widespread and well-known aero engines of its
time. Packard also worked successfully on engines for
marine use, including V-12 engines that powered US PT
Boats during the Second World War.
The company was therefore in agood position when
the need for production of the Rolls-Royce Merlin in the
USA became a matter of utmost importance at the end
of the 1930s. British and Commonwealth demand for
the Merlin, which was seeing increasingly widespread
application in BritiSh warplanes, was highly likely to
outstrip production capabilities in Britain, and the USA
seemed agood possible source of licensed manufacture.
A number of American companies appeared to be pos-
sible candidates, but one of the main contenders, the
Ford motor company, was unimpressed and did not want
to build engines for Britain. (Indeed, Henry Ford believed
that Britain would soon be overrun by Nazi Germany.1
Packard, on the other hand, was highly enthusiastic,
and agreed to build the Merlin in the summer of 1940. A
With all these ingredients finding their
way into the cooking pot in the summer of
1942, the task of actually fitting a Merlin
in a Mustang airframe started to occupy
Conversion Begins
the war. The RAF eventually overcame
its initial worries over the possible dis-
ruption of supplies of 60-series Merlins
for the Spitfire Mk IX, particularly when
Rolls-Royce appeared certain that Merlin
production would keep up with demand.
Part of this assurance must have been
based on the possibil ity of Packard pro-
duction of the Merlin 61 in the U A.
In any case, there was a growing disquiet
among some in the RAF and Air Ministry
in London as to the supply of fighter air-
craft for 1943, particularly in the face of
the threat posed by Luftwaffe's excellent
Fw 19 . Although there was great hope
for the pitfire IX, which did indeed
prove to be a very capable opponent for
the Fw 190, it was expected that there
would be a need for other fighter type
with increasingly good performance if the
AII ies were to stay ahead of the Gennans.
The possibility of a high-performance
Merlin-powered Mustang appeared [0
be a feasible and increasingly attractive
solution.
The starboard side of the Rolls-Royce installation
of the Merlin in the Mustang Mk.1 airframe,
shown here in one of the Mustang Mk.X
development aircraft. The work performed by
Rolls-Royce personnel in this project was crucial
to transforming the Mustang from agood into a
great combat aircraft, and is unfortunately often
overlooked in histories of the aircraft. The work,
which was carried out principally at Hucknall
in Nottinghamshire, entailed the installation of
Merlin 65s into five flying prototype/development
Mustangs. R.L. Ward collection
Mustang from his position in London, and
he formed a close relationship with some
of those at Rolls-Royce who subsequently
worked towards the creation of the Merl in
Mustang.
One important ingredient brought
the Merlin-engined Mustang a step
closer to reality in the summer months
of 1942. Thi was the potential of
production of the 60-series lerlin by the
Packard Motor Car Company of Detroit,
Michigan. Packard had been producing
the Merlin in its Mk XX form for some
time, having signed agreements with
Rolls-Royce in 1940 for the manufac-
ture of the Merlin in the A. Packard-
built Merlins were already successfully
powering Canadian-built Hurricanes,
and would power Canadian-built Avro
Lancaster four-engine bombers later in
One of the five prototype/development Mustangs employed by Rolls-Royce as flying test-beds for the Merlin installation in the Mustang, AM208 was the second
Merlin Mustang Mk.X to fly. It made its first flight under Merlin 65 power on 13 November 1942. This view of the aircraft in flight clearly shows the highly modified
nose contours of the Merlin installation, including the very prominent 'chin' air intake and the lack of an intake of any kind above the nose. M.V. Lowe collection
the war as by any informed debat , there
were many in the US military who were
not interested in buying the Mustang, let
alone turning it into a world-class fighLer
by installing a British engine. Indeed, in
August 1942 American aeronautical engi-
neer Dr Edward P. Warner of the Civil
Aeronautics Board, who had worked for
ACA for ome time during his career,
arrived in Britain to examine Witold
hall ier' performance projection for the
Merlin-powered Mustang. Fortunately the
overall chief of the SAAF, Gen 'Hap'
Arnold, eventually came around to the
view that a high-performance fighter was
vital for the ervice. This was providen-
tial, because he, like many AAF offic-
ers, had held the view before the war that
the bomber was the supreme aerial weapon.
Hitchcock was not afraid to support the
oil ooler, with the famous under-fu elage
intake. It was also intended to fit a new
propeller of greater diameter, 11ft 4in
(3,45m), compared to that installed on
Allison Mustangs.
The original intention was to usc the
first Mu tang loaned to Rolls-Royce, Mk
I C51, for the initial Merlin installa-
tion. However, by June 1942 that aircraft
di I not represent the most up-to-date pro-
duction standard (it was from the initial
Mk I production batch of 320 Mu tangs),
and it was replaced by AMI21 from the
second batch of Mk I airframes. This
aircraft arrived at Hucknall on 7 June,
and was followed on 26 June by AL9 3
and L975. All three were initially put
through their paces to ascertain their own
characteristics and basic performance, no
two air raft, even from the same produc-
tion run, being identical. (This is true for
any and every series-produced aircraft
type.) Mustang AM I 21was found to have
a maximum speed of 371 mph (597km/h)
and a maximum take-off weight of ,62 Ib
(3,91 kg). During August two more
Mustang Mk Is, AM2 3 and M20,
were allocated to Rolls-Royce.
The fir t aircraft to be converted was
L975. It had flown for 4hr 25min before
being retired from Allison-engined flying
of all type on 2 July to be converted to
Merlin power. The work was carried
out at Hucknall by Rolls-Royce engi-
neers, the company's Installation Design
Department making the necessary draw-
ings. The Merlin 61 was initially the
chosen engine type to be installed. Some
thought had been given to a 20-series
engine for one of the conversions, and it
had been hoped that the further devel-
oped Merlin 65 would be available. In the
end a Merlin 65 was the type used in the
initial conversion, as this mark began to
become available in small numbers. It was
potentially a more powerful engine than
even the ignificant Merlin 61, and had
improved gearing ratios for it two-stage
upercharger, and other developments. It
fitted into the Mustang's cowling ontours
without any particular r ~ Iems. (The
Merlin and Allison V-I 710 were similar
in general i:e, although the Merlin was
heavier by some 30 Ib (136kg).) However,
modified engine mounts were needed, and
a huge amount of replumbing and rewir-
ing were required.
One very necessary change was to the
carburettor intake housing. The Ilison
V-1710 used a simple downdraught car-
DEVELOPMENT OF A THORO GHBRED
buretion sy tem that called for the intake
to be on the top of the cowling; one of
the di tinguishing features of all Allison-
engine Mu tangs. The Merlin,on the other
hand, had an updraught U-type carbu-
rettor that necessitated the associated air
intake to be located below the engine.
Thi resulted in the nose contours being
considerahly altered. The Rolls-Royce
engineers were primarily concerned with
the installation rather than the aesthetics
of the whole process, and AL975 emerged
with a rather ugly chin that blunted the
aircraft's otherwise advanced stream-
lining and good looks. This large chin
intake also provided air for the engine's
intercooler radiator. In fact removal of
the original intake from the top of the
nose slightly improved the pilot's forward
view, even though the Merlin's thrust line
was elevated slightly compared with the
Ilison installation.
A larger cooling radiator for the
engine had to be installed owing to the
Merlin's greater cooling requirement, so
a different radiator was fitted in the lower
fuselage behind the cockpit. It shape
remained annular, however, as in the
Allison Mustangs, with the oil cooler in
its centre as before. This oil cooler radiator
was slightly smaller than previously. The
main cooling radiator was made by Morris
Motors, to the specific de ign required
by the Rolls-Royce engineers. For the
moment, the distinctive main cooling air
intake below the fuselage for these radia-
tors was to remain largely unaltered, but
there would later be big changes in this
area. Different fuel tanks were planned,
the intention being to feed fuel by way of
immersed pumps within the tanks, rather
than using the electrically driven booster-
pump system previously used. The exact
size of propeller that would be needed to
take up the Merlin's considerably greater
power compared with the Allison was not
finally decided before the conversion was
completed, so two different units were to
be tried out. One was a Rotol purpose-
made four-blade unit of 11ft 4in (3,45m)
diameter, and the other was the 10ft 9in
(3.2 m)-diameter four-bladed Rotol pro-
peller then being fitted to production
pitfire Mk IXs.
Work progressed comparatively
quickly. By early October 1942 the instal-
lation was ready, and ground running at
Hucknall started. By then L975 had a
new designation, being called a Mustang
Mk X, as were the four suhsequent
76
Merlin conversions. This was in line with
the Packard Merlin-powered Canadian-
built Hurricanes, which were de ignated
Hurricane Mk X. In addition AL975 had
a 'c' prefix added to its serial number,
ignifying that it had to be guarded at all
times when on the ground if away from its
usual factory location or base; it was a very
important and secret aircraft.
The First Merlin Mustang
The great day came on 13 October
1942. Piloted by Rolls-Royce's chief test
pilot at Hucknall, Capt R.T. hepherd,
AL975/C made a rather inauspicious first
foray into the air under its new power.
Proving that even the best ideas take
some time to perfect, the Mustang actu-
ally performed somewhat sluggishly. Its
new fuel tank and pumping system was
not ready, which temporarily re tricted
it to a maximum ceiling of I , OOft
(5,500m) and a top speed of only 376mph
(6 5km/h). The aircraft also suffered
problems with its new cowling panels
during the first flight. With the Merlin
65 in tailed it was hoped that 427mph
(6 7km/h) at 21, OOft (6,400m) in full
supercharger mode could be attained.
During subsequent test flights the -hape
of the lower no e intake was altered,
being given a more flattened underside,
and the exit outlet for the main intake
beneath the fuselage was changed. On
the seventh flight the purpose-built
11 ft 4in (3,45m)-diameter propeller was
installed instead of the Spitfire-sized pro-
peller used hitherto. Various tinkerings
with the cowling and other aspects sub-
sequently took place, including altera-
tions to a set of prominent louvres on
the fuselage sides behind and below the
exhaust, intended as an outlet for air
that had passed through the inter ooler
radiator. However, with the intended fuel
tanks and pump at last installed, and the
pitfire-type propeller unit reinstalled, a
speed of 422mph (679km/h) was achieved
on jJ ovember with full supercharging.
This was a cause for considerable celebra-
tion. Ithough the projected maximum
speed had not quite been achieved, the
Merlin Mustang was proving itself to be
a genuine 400mph-plus fighter. Ithough
severa I ex isting ai rcraft types were qu ite
capable of attaining that sort of speed
in a dive, few contemporary fighters
ould achieve it in level flight. Indeed,
it had become something of a holy grail
among fighter designers to try to hreak
the 40 mph (645km/h) barrier in level
flight. The Rolls-Royce COl!\'ersion of the
Mustang was certainly in that class,
The Merlin 65 fitted to AL975/C later
had to be replaced, and, although another
Merlin 65 was fitted, this aircraft was
eventually flown with a Merlin 7 - eries
for development work on that particu-
lar engine type. (It was finally damaged
beyond repair when its Merlin 71 failed
during a later test flight, the aircraft
having flown a total of 195hr 30min on
Merlin development work,) By then a
second Merlin Mustang Mk X had flown,
This was AM20 , which flew for the
first time under Merlin 65 power on 13
November 1942. The conversion work
carried out on this aircraft was similar to
that on AL975/C, but was significantly
different in having the moveable section
of the radiator air inlet below the lower
fuselage permanently closed. Being a Mk
I (like all five Rolls-Royce conversion
aircraft), it was built with the moveable
inlet characteristic of that production
model, I ut Rolls-Royce discovered that
the permanent closing of this moveable
section of the inlet did not adversely affect
performance, In the end this modification
was carried out to all of the Rolls-Royce
conver ion aircraft except for AL975/C,
Rolls- Royce considered that the move-
able intake section was not necessary at
all, ex ept possibly for enhanced engine
cooling when the aircraft was stationary
on the ground, and could not find a good
reason why it was able to open as wide as
it did (I 3in (33cm) in the fully open posi-
tion),
After initial flight-testing AM208 was
transferred to Boscombe Down on 2
ovember, where it was used for perform-
ance trials until the following pril. It was
here that the true potential of the Merlin
installation became apparent. Flying at a
maximum weight of 9,1001b (4, I3 kg),
AM20 achieved a maximum speed of
433mph (697km/h) at 22,OOOft (6,70 m),
Thi was with full supercharger, the
second stage of the upercharging being
set to engage at 15,50 ft (4,7 Om), and
a combat boost rating of + I lb. This was
a con iderable triumph, The proje ted
maximum speed of 427mph (6 7km/h)
was thu exceeded, and it wa believed
that th is wa due to the permanent closing
of the moveable section of the radiator
intake. A maximum altitude of 39,000ft
DEVELOPME T OF A THOROUGHBRED
(l1,900m) was also achieved, and a time
of ll.Jmin to 30,000ft (9, OOm). The e
were all spectacular figure for their day,
and signalled the excellent po sibilities
for any production configuration of the
Merlin-engined Mustang that might be
developed.
Unfortunately, flight testing also
uncovered everal important problems.
The Allison Mustang was a generally
pleasant aircraft to fly, with few real
vices, whereas the Merlin Mustang was
a completely different bea t. It was found
quite early on during Roll -Royce's testing
that it was quite a handful for its pilots,
The increased power, and other changes
such as trim and loading considerations
brought about by the installation of the
completely different engine type, together
with the introduction of the four-bladed
propeller (Allison Mustangs had three-
blade units), conspired to give the air-
craft some uncomfortable habits. These
mainly concerned directional stability.
The testingof AM20 at Boscombe Down
introduced these problem to ervice test
pi lot, some of whom were si ngu larl y
unimpressed. The aircraft was found to
sideslip during manoeuvre, omething
that did not happen with the Allison
Mustang, and directional trim wa very
different to the previous Mustang ver-
sions, particularly with power applied. In
an effort to solve the problems it was pro-
posed that the aircraft's fin area should be
augmented, Thi was done by increasing
the chord of the fin, which gave several
additional square feet of area, but ulti-
mately the addition of a small triangular
dorsa I fi Ilet extend ing forward from the
base of the fin was found to be of some
help. This feature is most closely associ-
ated with the much later P-51 D and Mk
IV series Mustangs, but it was also fitted
to some earlier Merlin Mustangs.
A further serious difficulty was encoun-
tered during the early testing of the Rolls-
Royce-converted Mustangs. It was found
that in some flight regimes, especially in
high-speed dive, the main undercarriage
doors became unlocked and extended
when a particular yawing motion was
encountered. The problem was eventually
traced to the door locking mechani m and
rectified, although some instances contin-
ued to occur. Indeed, the trouble appears
to have persisted for some time, because
later some operational Merlin Mustang
production aircraft uffered airframe fail-
ures and break-up in flight that were
77
eventually attributed to the undercarriage
doors extending when the aircraft was in
particular flying attitudes.
The third Roll -Royce Mustang Mk X
conversion to fly was AM203, which first
flew on 13 December 1942. It too was
fitted with a Merlin 65, and had the 11ft
4in (3.45m) propeller assembly. nlike
the initial two aircraft it was intended
for ervice evaluation with the AFD
at Duxford (and later at Wittering).
However, before del ivery there it a hieved
43 Imph (694km/h) in full supercharger at
2l,000ft (6,400m), but with the pitfire
Mk IX propeller installed the top speed
was increa ed by 3mph (5km/h), This
aircraft was painted with a special 'high-
speed' gloss finish created by anderson
and Holmes of Derby, rather than the
usual matt paint of Service aircraft, to
see if the glossy surface could improve
maximum speed, but subsequent trials
showed that this made no difference what-
soever. Later, AM2 3 was fitted with the
increased-area fin previou Iy des ribed,
which did not improve the type's flying
chara teri tics.
The fourth Rolls-Royce conversion was
AL963. This too flew with a Merlin 65,
and initially took to the air after conver-
ion on 21 January 1943. It was primarily
used for trials with an S fuel injection
pump, the purpose being to assist in the
development of fuel injection systems
that were compatible with the expanding
s ience of the two-speed, two-stage type
engine that was noll' making older form of
in Iine engine, such as the II ison V-17\ 0
with its simpler single-stage supercharger,
obsolete. Th is test work helped a long the
development of the even more advanced
Merlin IOO-series engine on which Roll -
Roy e was also working. This aircraft's
appearance underwent some important
changes, due to the repo itioning of
the intercooler radiator from under the
engine to the intake beneath the fuselage
where the main engine-cooling radiator
and oil cooler were situated. Thi led to
a redesign, into a more streamlined shape,
of the prominent chin that was other-
wise 0 characteristic of the Rolls-Royce
Mustang conversion. In addition, AL963
was fitted with a dorsal extension forward
of the fin leading edge in an attempt to
improve directional stability. (This con-
version might also have been applied
to AL975.) The aircraft later had its fin
chord increased. Mustang L963 flew for
the last time in January 1944.
Although the Merlin installation was
obviously developing into a successful
and practical reality, Rolls-Royce had
considerable misgivings as to what the
next step might be. In an internal memo
dated 1 July 1942, discussions involving
Thomas Hitchcock, the company, and
BrigGen A.J. Lyon (of the AirTechnical
Section of the Eighth Army Air Force in
Britain) were outlined. It was stated that
if the new installation and configuration
was to undergo acceptance procedure in
the USA, there was the possibility that,
at best, time was going to be wasted,
and, at worst, that the idea might ' ... not
be favourably received by strong vested
interests'. By that stage even Rolls-Royce,
thousands of miles away from the anti-
Mustang feeling at Wright Field and in
other sections of the US military, knew
the reality of the situation.
In practi e, a potential way around this
problem had to be found. Normally, any
new configuration of a military aircraft
destined for USAAF service would need
to be approved by Material Command
at Wright Field, and then committed to
operational trials at the Proving Grounds
at Eglin Field in Florida. Clearly this was
not a process that the new Merlin Mustang
was going to get through; at least not for
several years. Instead, the idea began to
grow that Eighth Fighter Command in
Britain should take a look at the Merlin
Mustang, with serving USAAF officers
seconded to Boscombe Down to observe
the planned British military trials. It was
at one time propo ed (and later acted on)
that two of the converted aircraft should
be turned over to the USAAF for trials
to be conducted under American param-
eters, but in Britain, and definitely not in
the USA. At the same time, NAA could
be kept abreast of developments while
attempts were made to get the Merlin
Mustang started on its long road to mili-
tary acceptance in the USA. It was even
proposed that one or more of the Rolls-
Royce converted Merlin Mustangs should
serve on operational trials with Eighth
Army Air Force fighter units in Britain
for comparison with existing types.
There were certainly fewer misgivings
among British procurement agencies.
Once the configuration had started to take
shape, the MAP began to look favourably
at the possibility of an initial production
run of 500 Merlin Mustangs. It was begin-
ning to appear that the Merlin-powered
Mustang could help to alleviate the
DEVELOPMENT OF A THOROUGHBRED
'fighter problem' for 1943 that had begun
worrying senior RAF and government
personnel as 1942 progressed. Among the
many letters and telegrams sent between
interested British officials during those
hard-working summer months of 1942
there was even the allusion that thought
should be given to licence-manufacture of
the Mustang in Britain, using parts sup-
plied by NAA. A potential site for British
assembly was identified as Air Service
Training (AST) at Hamble in Hampshire.
The whole idea was to ensure deliveries of
Merlin Mustangs to the RAF, while at the
same time trying to stay out of the procure-
ment issues in the USA and side-step the
increasingly perceived strong American
opposition to the Mustang.
The last of the five Rolls-Royce
Mustang Mk X conversions was AMln.
This aircraft had originally been intended
to be the first to be converted, but because
it was an NA-83 from the second batch of
Mustang Mk I airframes it went through
a longer period of performance testing
before conversion. It was found to be
7301b (331 kg) heavier than the earl ier
Mk Is from the original production series
(NA-73), and it first flew under Merlin
65 power in February \943. As with the
maiden flights of all five Mustang Mk Xs,
the test pilot was Capt Shepherd. By then
much of the basic testing of the Merlin
installation and compatibility with the
Mustang had been carried out by Rolls-
Royce, and AM 121 was therefore briefly
used for propeller development work. Th is
included a spell with Rotol during the
creation of special finishes for propeller
blades. At some point the aircraft appears
to have been fitted with a wider-chord fin.
It was turned over to the Eighth Army Air
Force's Vlll Fighter Command (FC) Air
T chnical Section (ATS) at Bovingdon
on \8 April 1943, where it served in
US colours and markings, after appar-
ently spending some time with the RAPs
AFDU. While bearing the codes 'VQ-R'
(the 'VQ' coding appeared on some air-
craft assigned to the ATS) it had a mishap
and ended up on its nose, apparently being
engaged in further propeller trials at the
time. It underwent a considerable amount
of evaluation with the ATS, where its
long range and endurance were of particu-
lar interest. However, the aircraft's poor
directional stability was a major stumbling
block with the ATS pilots and other Vill
FC personnel who flew it. According to
historian Roger Freeman in The Mighty
78
Eighth \\'lar Manual, AM 121 was reduced
to spares at Bovingdon in August 1944.
Nevertheless, it provided much useful
evaluation for those at Bovingdon, who
were at the sharp end of the shooting war
in Europe, in contrast to the desk-flyers
at Wright Field in the USA. One other
Mustang Mk X also reportedly flew briefly
with the USAAF in England. This was
AM203, the third Merlin Mustang to fly
in England, which was seconded to the
Americans in Britain during the first part
of 1943, again for evaluation purposes.
Initial American
Developments
Like any good aircraft manufacturer,
NAA was keen to promote its products
and look at ways of improving them or
modifying them to meet specific develop-
ing requirements. The considerable inter-
est shown in Britain during the early
summer of 1942 in the creation of a
Merlin-engined development of the basic
Mustang layout was keenly watched by
the company, although it was clear that
there was no specific USAAF need for
such an aircraft. everthcless, thanks
to the work of Thomas Hitchcock and
Philip Legarra in particular, the concept
of a Merlin Mustang became of increasing
importance to the company. Information
on the Merlin conversion programme at
Hucknall was made available to NAA by
Rolls-Royce, and with substantial lobby-
ing taking place in the USA, inspired by
Hitchcock and a sma II group of others,
the USAAF slowly started to take an
interest. Eventually, on 25 July 1942,
NAA received a contract for the conver-
sion of two Allison-engined Mustangs
into Merlin configuration, and work
began in earnest that September. This
was some time after Rolls-Royce had
started its conversion work on the first
Mustang Mk X, AL975, and Legan'a in
particular was frustrated by the lost time
and the apparently slow progress with the
conversion work at Inglewood, which had
little official prompting to spur it along.
On returning from the U A in early
September 1942 Legarra was disappointed
to note that the Mustang had the lowest
priority that could be granted to an aero-
plane, and this was repeated by Thomas
Hitchcock in a memorandum dated 8
October 1942, relating to the Mustang
and its progress thus far. Nevertheless,
attitudes in some quarters were changing.
In early June 1942 Robert Lovell, the
US Government's Assistant Secretary of
War for Air, was made aware of the
importance of the Mustang programme,
and particularly the Merlin Mustang
proposals and the significance that the
British attached to the aircraft, though
whether the RAPs opinions would have
carried any weight at all in Washington
DC is highly debatable. However, rather
more positively, Gen 'Hap' Arnold was
also indoctrinated regarding the qualities
of the Mustang, apparently by the US
Ambassador in London, John G. Winant,
and others, when he visited London in
June 1942.
evertheless, Hitchcock wrote wearily
in his memorandum dated 8 October
1942
DEVELOPMENT OF A THOROUGHBRED
Sired by the English out of an American
mother, rhe Musrang has had no rarenr in
rhe Army Air Corrs or ar Wrighr Field
ro arrreciate and rush its good roints ...
The develorment of the Mustang as a high
attitude fighter will be brnughr abour by
cross-breeding it wirh the Merlin 61 engine.
While the rrosrecr of an English engine in
an American airframe may arreal ro the sen-
rimenral qualities of rhose individuals who
are inreresrecl in furrhering Anglo-American
relarionships by joining hands across rhe
warer, ir does nor fully satisfy imrorrant
reorle on borh sides of the Ar1anric who
seem more inrerestecl in rointing with rride
to the develorment of a 100% national
rrnduct than rhey are concerned with the
very difficulr rroblem of raridly c1eveloring a
fighrer rlane that will be surerior to anything
the Germans have.
79
Two Allison-engined P-51s wete earmarked by
NAA for conversion into Merlin power, as the
focal point of the American efforts to introduce
the Merlin to the Mustang. This work took place
somewhat behind the advances being made by
Rolls-Royce in Britain. Nevertheless, the British
side kept the Americans well informed on progress
with the project, making life easier for the US
engineers. North American's aims in achieving a
viable Merlin-powered Mustang included the need
to create an efficient fighting machine retaining
the clean aerodynamics of the Allison-engined
Mustang, so the company's designers were
interested in effecting a neat and streamlined
installation. The second XP-51B, 41-37421, which
first flew in February 1943, shows here the
efficient streamlined front end of the NAA Merlin
integration, using an early Packard V-1650-3-series
engine. It also illustrates the unusual 'stepped'
lower-fuselage side profi Ie of the prototype US
Merlin conversions while the intakes and general
fuselage shape were being perfected. NAA
Fortunately, AA at Inglewood was by
then working on its own Merlin Mustang
conversions, having received the contract
for this work in July 1942. Although the
project went comparatively slowly, NAA
was interested as much in the aerodynam-
ics of the Merlin installation as in the
actual installation itself. Edgar Schmued
and his team had successfully designed
a beautifully clean and advanced air-
frame while creating the Mustang, and
it now had to be transformed to take
the Merlin engine while not losing any
of the Mustang's aerodynamic qualities.
This was somewhat different to the Rolls-
Royce approach, where the emphasis
was on making the concept of a Merlin-
engined Mustang work rather than on
the aerodynamics of the installation.
The whole job was quite a difficult task
One of the two Merlin-powered XP-51 B prototypes
shows off its new nose contours following
conversion to Merlin power. Initially designated
'XP-78', the two prototypes were former Mustang
Mk.IAs originally destined for Britain that had
previously been taken over by the USA as P-51s
and were armed with 20mm cannon. Evident
in this view is the 'stepped' appearance of the
lower fuselage just back from the nose, which
was eventually eliminated to streamline the new
Packard V-1650-3 (Merlinl installation as much
as possible, and the evolving shape of the main
lower fuselage radiator air intake. The intercooler
radiator was located differently compared with
the Rolls-Royce conversions, hence the much
smoother lower-nose contours of the NAA-
converted machines. This aircraft bears the NAA
company logo on its fin, a feature seldom seen on
Mustangs of any mark. NAA
DEVELOPMENT OF A TIIOROUGHBRED
Much work had to be carried out by NAA to create
the production-standard Merlin-powered Mustang.
The company later stated that it took 223.000 man-
hours to get the configuration right. Here. probably
the first prototype XP-51 B displays one stage in
the process. an interim lower-fuselage radiator
intake. although the photograph appears to have
been retouched to hide and enhance some details.
The wing-mounted 20mm cannon are absent.
but the aircraft bears an earlier style of fuselage
national insignia than seen in the pictures of the
prototype aircraft elsewhere in this chapter. in
which a later form of US national insignia with
side bars is present but the cannon are still fitted.
This suggests that the cannon originally fitted to
these aircraft were removed and then reinstalled
at a later date in these prototypes as a possible
production armament configuration for the P-51 B
that was not adopted. NAA
DEVELOPME T OF A TIIOROUGIIBRED
for N A, because the redesign neces-
sary to IT-engine the Mustang was not
simrly a case of installing the Merlin
where the II ison had been so neatly and
effectively mated into the airframe. The
cho en engine for the AA work was the
Packard-built derivative of the Merlin
61. In American designation terminology
this wa the Packard \1-165 -3, which is
now almost univer ally referred to as the
Packard Merlin, but which at the time
wa known and referred to in many docu-
ments simrly as the \1-1650.
The Packard comrany was only in the
early stages of adapting to the building of
the Merlin 61 when the requirement for
the type came from AA. The Merlin
was already successfully in production at
Packard's Detroit factories as the \I -1650-
I, which was equivalent to the low- and
medium-altitude British Merlin XX. (The
Packard-built version of this engine was
known to the British, when installed in
Briti h or Commonwealth-operated air-
craft, as the Merlin 2 .) The Merlin 61
was a very different engine to the Merlin
XX, and a great deal of effort was needed
for Packard to get Merlin 61 production
off the ground. It was early Packard-built
examples of this engine type that were
supplied for installation in I AA's Merlin
Mu tang conver ions, and therefore the
whole proces involved evolving technol-
ogy that had not been tried and tested
in combat. In es ence the \1-1650-3 wa
similar in configuration to the Merlin 61,
and featured a two-stage, two-speed super-
chargerrhat was to make such an important
contribution to the Mustang's subsequent
surge in performance at higher altitudes
80
The initial production versions of the Mustang that
arose from the work of Rolls-Royce and NAA into
the creation of a Merlin-powered development
were the P-51B and P-51C. This smart Dallas-built
P-51C-l0-NT. 43-24943. shows the beautifully
clean lines of the new nose arrangement with
a production-series Packard V-1650-3(Merlin)
installed. The aircraft is natural metal overall
except for the aluminium-painted parts of the
wings and the Olive Drab anti-glare panel ahead of
the windscreen. NAA
compared with the Allison-engined ver-
siems. There was considerable liaison
between Rolls-Royce and Packard on all
aspects of the Packard licence-production
of the Merlin, and Rolls-Royce had a tal-
ented advisor, J.E. Ellor, working with
Packard in Detroit. However, owing to
the distances involved, the very different
work practices of the two companie , the
differing ways in which Rolls-Royce noted
alteration compared with the Packard
practice, and many other factor under
wartime condition, the liaison between
the twO wa sometime carried on under
:lifficult circumstances. Packard found
that early models of the \1-165 -3 when
bench-run were troublesome and did not
at first give the required power output, but
continuing development work in Detroit
gradually overcame these difficulties.
ABOVE: The cockpit interior of a P-51B. Like all
combat versions of the Mustang. the P-51 B had a
well-thought-out interior. with everything within
comparatively easy reach. Much of the interior
design could be attributed to Edgar Schmued. and
this was certainly one of the neater World War
Two fighter cockpits. The interior colour was
generally dark green. the widely misinterpreted
US 'Interior Green' shade not having been brought
into widespread use at that time. although it was
introduced in later P-51 0 manufacture. The partly
obscured gunsight appears to be an N-3B reflector
sight. the standard issue for the P-51 B/C series.
although some later examples appear to have had
the N-9 gunsight instead. A number of Mustangs
also carried an additional simple ring-and-bead
sight in case the more sophisticated gunsight
malfunctioned. NAA
RIGHT: Showing off the Merlin-powered Mustang's
classic planform. an early P-51B flies over snow-
covered terrain. probably somewhere in California
during a test flight. Beneath the wings are two
jettisonable 75 US gal long-range fuel tanks.
The worn nature of the upper-surface Olive Drab
paint is noteworthy. this particular paint finish
always giving trouble and wearing very easily
into a worn and faded appearance. Although NAA
intended that the upper wing surface in particular
of every Mustang be kept as clean and as smooth
as possible to take full advantage of the laminar-
flow wing. camouflage paint, and the demanding
operating conditions in which many Mustangs
flew, made this very difficult to achieve. NAA
ABOVE: The result of all the hard work. A brand new Mustang Mk.III. recently delivered to Britain
(although the photo is actually dated April 19451. with its forward fuselage showing off the neat Packard
V-1650 (Merlin) installation that resulted from the Rolls-Royce and NAA work to integrate the Merlin and
the Mustang. The close-cowled engine installation and small unobtrusive intake below the nose are
particularly noticeable. The four-bladed Hamilton Standard propeller. in this case with blade cuffs. was
also a major feature of the new installation. R.L. Ward collection
81
Jt
"
II
III II
American Merlin-Powered
Prototypes
The Mustangs cho en by AA for the
prototype conversions to Merlin power
were the two the company had retained
from the batch of L5 Mustang Mk lAs
originally destined for the RAF, when
that batch was broken up following the
US entry into the war and fifty-five were
transferred as P-5 Ls to the AAF. The
aircraft in that batch received U as
well as RAF serial numbers, because they
were ordered for Britain under the then-
new 'Lend-Lease' arrangements. Like the
other Mustangs in that batch, both of the
AA aircraft, 4L-37352 and 4L-37421,
were armed with two 20mm cannon in
each wing. Under the AAF's pro-
DEVELOPMENT OF A THOROUGHBRED
curement poli ies a new de ignation was
sanctioned for the two aircraft, as they
were effectively going to be of a 'new'
pursuit type. Thus they were initially
designated XP-7 ,and that nomenclature
was employed in a con iderable amount
of documentation relating to them at
the time. However, in the end the estab-
lished type designation P-51 continued
to be used for the planned new Mustang
version with Merlin power, so the two
aircraft adopted the intended P-51 B des-
ignation eventually given by the SAAF
to the initial production model of the
Merlin Mustang. The two prototype
were thu eventually simply de ignated
XP-51B, the 'X' denoting 'experimental
prototype'. They were given the company
designation NA-lOI.
82
Ground personnel with fire extinguishers stand
by as a P-51 B or P-51 Cis run-up before being
prepared for shipment overseas. It was important
to prepare aircraft properly before they were
shipped, with protective covering to guard against
the depredations of salt water, and the preparation
of working parts to ensure they functioned as
intended on arrival. For the engine, a procedure
was tried which entailed running it on 65-octane
fuel as an inhibitor before loading the aeroplane on
to the transport ship. This theoretically protected
the engine until it could be run on 100-octane, or
the preferred 130-octane, after safe arrival.
Via Chris Ellis
An exploded diagram and major parts listing
for the Merlin-engined P-51 B (P-51 Csimilar)
from Technical Order 00-455-1. This was the
first production version to have Packard V-1650
(Merlin) power, actually the V-1650-3. Noteworthy
are Part 49, the famous lower-fuselage radiator
arrangement and its associated air intake (Part 19),
which had been modified for the Merlin-powered
Mustang layout, and the large lower wing panel
(Part 34), which was an access door for the main
wing fuel tank on each side but also gave great
strength to the wing structure. Drawing: NAA
Converting the aircraft to lerlin power
was a considerat Ie task. Indeed, AA
ubsequently aid that 223,000 man-hours
were expended getting the configuration
right. The fir t aircraft to be converted was
4l-37352, which pioneered the V-1650-3
installation. As at Rolls-Royce, AA's
de igners and engineer discovered that a
redesign ofthe engine mounts and cowling
was needed, and a considerable amount
of relocating of ancillary equipment and
pipework was required. The forward fu e-
lage also had to be strengthened to hold
the heavier Merlin, which weighed some
1,6901b (766kg) dry, compared with the
1,3351b (6 5kg) of the Allison V-17l0.
To keep the no e as 'clean' as possible, the
intercooler required to cool the fuel-air
mix from the engine's supercharger was
located in the intake duct for the radiator
and oil cooler beneath the fuselage. This
intake then underwent a laborious proce s
of redesign and tinkering to get the shape
right, while also giving enough cooling
air for all the different clements located
within it. The carburettor ai I' intake on top
of the nose of the II ison Mustangs was
moved beneath the nose, in much the same
way that Roll -Royce had done and for
similar reasons. However, the lower no e
wa much neater on the AA converted
Mustangs than the prominent 'chin' of
the Rolls-Royce machine. The AA
designers also adjusted the engine's thrust
line,givinga lightdownward lopetothe
cowling pan Is compared with the panel
line joints that run horizontally along
the Merlin Mustang's fuselage up to the
firewall. A four-bladed, cuffed Hamilton
tandard propeller unit was fitted.
Performance-wise, AA appears to have
hoped (as conveyed in a letter from Brig
Gen Lyon to Erne t Hives of Roll -Royce
on 4 eptember 1942) that the Packard
Merlin-powered Mu tang would reach
445mph (7l6km/h) at 28,000ft (8,500m).
Rolls-Royce was far ahead of AA in
getting a Merlin-powered Mustang into
the air, a hieving this on l3 October
1942. orth American Aviation followed
suit on 3 ovember 1942, when Robert
Chilton took 4l-37352 into the air from
Mines Field for its maiden flight under
V-1650-3 power. The flight wa reason-
ably succes ful until the engine started
to overheat, nece sitating a rapid curtail-
ment after ome 45min offlight, followed
by an urgent investigation. It was found
that the radiator had become partially
clogged as the result of dissimilar metals
in the cooling pipework reacting with
the engine's coolant to form and dislodge
residues that caused the system to become
contaminated and fouled. It was ome
weeks before the aircraft flew again, by
which time the nece sary alterations had
been made to the cooling pipes and a dif-
ferent radiator assembly had been tested.
It was some time before a satisfactory
intake shape below the belly could be
found for the new installation. The intake
needed to be larger owing to the V-1650-
3's greater cooling needs, which called
for a different radiator de ign and larger-
diameter pipework. Much of the rede ign
work on the intake was carried out by
Irving A hkenas, and a number of designs
were test flown before the shape was per-
fected. A problem with the initial hape
DEVELOPMENT OF A TIIORO GIIBRED
was intake 'rumble', caused by turbulent
boundary layer air along the lower fuselage
intermittently entering the intake. To
explore the problem a full-size Mustang
was installed in the huge wind tunnel at
ACA's Ames facility in alifornia. Ed
Horkey of AA actually sat in the cockpit
of the air raft while it was tested in the
wind tunnel up to 5 Omph ( OOkm/h)
so that he could experience the 'rumble'
effect that Chilton had discovered during
the initial te t flying. Eventually A hkenas
at NAA developed the well-known fixed
intake shape with its di tinctive slanted
lip, incorporating an all-important gap
between it and the lower fuselage that
allowed only 'clean' airstream air to
enter. A substantial gutter around the
upper extremity of the intake's structure
helped the previously troublesome bound-
ary-layer air to escape along the fuselage
sides. Thi was similar but by no mean
identical to the shape pioneered on the
A-36A amI P-51 A configuration, and
was characteristic of the series-production
Merlin Mustangs, though it now appear
that some of the first produ tion Merlin-
engined aircraft (early P-51 Bs) actually
flew with an interim shape of intake. In
essence it was a similar idea to the distinc-
tive air intake of the General Dynamics/
Lockheed Martin F- [6 jet fighter of more
modern times. The po itioning of the
radiator itself within the intake area also
caused problems for A . In the original
arrangement the radiator wa placed on
it side 0 as to fit into the existing space,
but this did not work satisfactorily and
a new radiator design from the Harrison
Di vision of General Motors, which could
be fitted upright, had to be developed.
This also necessitated the repositioning
of the oil cooler. [n fact the whole of the
Mustang's lower fuselage had to be altered
to suit the aerodynamic of the new in tal-
lation that Ashkenas had developed. As
previou Iy related, AA' de igners were
very concerned wi th the aerodynamic
of the whole re-engining process, and
had to get the shape of the aircraft right
once the Merlin and its related equipment
had been su cessfully installed. Edgar
Schmued actually visited Rolls-Royce in
England in March 1943 while this proces
was under way. Eventually the fuselage
beneath the cockpit was deepened, and
for production aircraft the po ition of the
wing was slightly lowered by 3in (7.6cm)
and altered relative to that of the Allison-
engined Mustangs. Thus the fuselage of
83
the Merlin Mu,tang P-51 B serie' wa ut-
stantially different to that of the Allison-
engined P-51 A and it predecessors in
many respects, even though the two still
looked similar.
The second XP-51 B, 41-37421, first
flew in Fehruary J943. As a measure of
how slow th is development process was
for A ,in the three months following
the first flight of the XP-51 B only thirty-
five flights were made, wherea during
the initial three months of Roll -Royce'
flight-test programme forty-six flights
were made at Hu knall, plus other at
Boscombe Down. Increasingly, however,
the XP-5l B started to fulfil N 's hopes
for the Merlin Mustang combination.
Eventually a speed of 453mph (729km/h)
with full supercharger was achieved at
2 , OOft ( , OOm), and, with the endur-
ance of some four hours on internal fuel
being carried over from the previous
Mustang marks, the Merlin Mustang
combination was set to be a winner.
While worked hard on the devel-
opment proce s for the Merl in Mustang,
Packard was also working overtime to
get the V-l650-3 into production. This,
too, proved to be a difficult process, but
the value of the engine and it projected
installation in the Mustang was at last
starting to stir many in the AAF. In
June 1943 Pa kard was awarded a ut stan-
tial cormacr for l3,325 V-1650-3 .
Merlin Mustang
Production Starts
The procurement process of the Merlin
Mustang was intrinsi ally entangled in
the mire of politics and extraordinary
blindness that seemed to inhibit many
in the AF's development, testing
and procurement office. As noted in
the previous chapter, even the pur-
chase of AlIi on-engined Mu tangs for
AAF service wa a difficult proce s.
The intended order for 1,200 Allison-
engined Mustangs, whi h eventually
materialized as only 310 P-5IAs, became
mixed up with the initial pro urem nt for
the intended opening produ tion model
of the Merlin Mustang. Thi was to be
the P-51 B, followi ng the abandon ing of
the originally planned P-7 designation.
A Ithough the testing of the two XP-51 Bs
by AA became increa ingly success-
ful and fulfilled the company' anticipa-
tions regarding the type's performance,
CHAPTER 5
Long-Range Escort
ironically the P-51B design had already
been ordered into production. In
December 1942 the first ignificant order
for Inglewood-built P-51 B- Mustangs
was place t An order for these aircraft had
been provisionally sanctioned in ugust
1942, conditional on the ucce s of the
intended Merlin installation by AA.
However, in a strange quirk of financial
gymnastic, although the initial aircraft
(P-5IB-I-NAs and P-5IB-5- As) were
ordered under FY 1943 funding, some of
the subsequent P-51 B-1 -N production
was allocated from the FY 1942 procure-
ment. In fact, the possibility of orders for
the P-51B came along at a good time.
ovember 1942 saw the start of a signifi-
cant shake-up of the procurement proce-
dures for combat aircraft, as a part of a
larger reform of the way that procurement
was handled for the US armed forces.
Henceforth, civil servant were given far
more responsibility in the whole proces ,
to try to ensure a etter ply of the
most needed war material. This had the
long-term effect of significantly reduc-
ing the damaging individual influence of
some officers, such as those at Material
ommand.
With the prospect at last of large-
scale orders for the Mustang, AA was
already in the process of altering its pro-
duction resources to fit the new, healthier
procurement climate. During 194 the
company had expanded significantly,
starting the construction of a brand-new
production plant just out iue Dallas,
Texas. Initially this factory was to take
over NA-16 series Harvardffexan pro-
du tion from Inglewood, and there were
serious d lays in the production of these
types because of this, as noted in BPC
orrespondence at that time. lowever,
with Dallas up and running successfully
from 1941, additional capacity eventu-
ally became available at the new factory
for further manufacture, and ome Merlin
Mustang production was as igned there.
The P-51 B equivalent made at Dallas wa
the P-51 C, which was practi ally identi-
cal to the P-51 B production model from
Inglewood. imilarly, the manufacture
of NAA' other major ongoing project,
the B-25 Mitchell medium bomber, wa
increasingly transferred from Inglewood
to a factory in Kansas ity, Mi souri.
The P-51 B in it production form was
powered by the Packard V-1650-3 of
I,595hp to I ,600hp with maximum boost
(1,380hp for take-off), with a Bendix
DEVELOPMENT OF A THOROUGHBRED
starter and a Bendix PD. I .Al or PD. I .
CIA carburettor andlriving a Hamilton
Standard cuffed four-bladed constant-
speed propeller of Ilft 2in (3.4m) diame-
ter. It was armed, like the llison-engined
P-51 A, with two 0.5in machine guns in
each wing. The internal fuel capacity was
I 4 U gal in two wing fuel tanks, and
(in all but the earliest prouuction aircraft,
although some were later retrofitted) an
5 S gal fuel tank (of which approxi-
mately 65 gal were usable) behind the
cockpit. Thisaduitional internal fuel tank,
although helping to extenu the Mustang's
range consiuerably, proved troublesome,
causing c.g. problems and some handling
difficulties when full. Like the P-51A,
the P-5IB could carry a 75 US gal drop
tank beneath each wing, but the wing
was sufficiently stressed to be able to carry
external fuel tank of up to l50 U gal
capacity. This gave a theoretical range, on
internal fuel, of 5 miles (I ,368km); and
with the 75 S gal underwing tanks, of
ome 1,24 miles (l,995km), a breathtak-
ing figure when compared with all other
Allied fighters. It maximum speed was
in the region of 440mph (710km/h) at
30,000ft (9,000m), the V-165 -3 giving
its maximum output at well over 2 ,000ft
(6, OOm), with a war emergency rating of
+ l Ib boost available for short periods. A
maximum altituue just short of 40, Oft
(12,200m) was attainable. These perform-
ance figures represented a quantum leap
in American fighter deSign, and placed
AA far aheau of all other pursuit aircraft
manufacturers in the A.
The P-51 B/ ' wing pan was the same
as that of the previous Allison-engined
Mustangs; indeeu, the span of the Mustang
was constant from the A-73X to the
later production models with Merlin.
The exa t span wa 37ft 0.3in (11.29m),
the OJin actually being 5/16in. However,
th P-5IB/C wa lightly longer than the
Allison-engined Mustangs, an important
point that many historians completely
overlook. While the Allison-engineu
Mustang measured 32ft 2. in (9. 3m)
overall (the 2. in actually being 2Y<in),
the Merlin Mustangs were slightly longer
at 32ft 3.3in (9. 4m) (the 3Jin actually
being 3'!1i6in).
As previously related, some thought
had been given to the Mustang being
assembled in Britain from parts supplied
by AA, to circumvent the opposition
to the Mustang in the SA. In the event
NAA does not appear to have liked the
84
idea, being at great pains to point out that
it prouuction schedules were baseu on the
uelivery schedules agreeu with Packard,
that all Merlin Mu tang production would
be Packard Merlin powered (including any
examples required by Britain), and that
thought would only be given to the type
being as embled el ewhere in the event
of Packard being unable to upply suffi-
cient engines on time. This turned out to
have a degree of irony. Although the idea
of assembly in Britain was never taken
up, Packard did fall behind in delivering
engines on time, and some completed
Mustangs were stored at Inglewood await-
ing their engines. Consequently the origi-
nal delivery timetable to the U AAF fell
a little behind schedule. In a further twist,
the iuea of Mu tangs being a sembled in
Britain received a body blow from another
quarter. The original thinking by the
MA P in Britain was for AST at Hamble to
assemble the aircraft. However, it became
obvious that the job would not just entail
assembly, but that a considerable amount
of engineering work would al 0 need to
be undertaken. This prompted ir Frank
priggs, the chief of the group of com-
panie to which AST belonged, to state
in a meeting with ir \X!i1frid Freeman ar
the MAP on 25 February 1943 that he
had no further interest in the project and
wished to be relieved of responsibility for
it. Eventually no decision was rea hed a
to who might build Merlin Mustangs in
Britain, but the problem was finally solved
when AA got intO full-scale production
of the type onc the large-scale orders
were forthcoming.
Eventually, 1,988 P-51 Bs were huilt at
Inglewood under the AA designations
A-L02 and NA-L04, and 1,750 P-51 Cs
came off the production lines at Dallas
under the AA designations N -10 and
A-lIl. The A-Ill block numbered
400 aircraft, and was from 1944 pro ure-
ment. The fir t production P-5IB-I-
to fly did so at Mines Field on 5 May 1943,
A having received the first produc-
tion V-l65 -3 engines for these aircraft
in April 1943, and the initial P-51 took
to the air in Dallas three months later, on
5 August 1943. The fi rst del iverie to the
AAF w re made in June 1943, and by
then the mire of ervice testing had begun
to be straightened out. Later in the year,
elements of the 354th FG became the first
front-line SAAFgrouptoequipfullywith
the type. The scene was set for the Merlin
Mustang to begin its combat career.
When the first Merlin-powered P-5l B
Mustangs started to leave the production
lines at Inglewood in May and June 1943,
it was by no means certain that they
would ever be used as long-range bomber
escorts. At that time the heavy losses of
the chweinfurt and Regensburg missions
of 17 August 1943 were several weeks in
the future, and the Eighth Army Air Force
was continuing its policy of daylight stra-
tegic bombing of Germany from Englanu
without fighter escort all the way to and
from its targets. The P-47 Thunderholt
had only recently started to provide any
kind of cover at all from Engli h ba es for
the Eighth ir Force's bomber, anu the
P-3 Lightning was still several month
from its first genuine long-range bomber
escort mi ions over north we t Europe. In
the h ierarcl,y of the AAF the Mustang
still faced opposition or indifference in
many quarters, even though it had been
ordered into fairly wide-scale production
as the P-51B with Merlin power. It must
he remembered that the long-range escort
fighter had never been includeu in the
thinking of the SA F's strategists or
their predecessors in the USA ,and
in any case the SAAF was till con-
sidered, in mid-1943, to be a part of the
Army (which indeed it was on paper)
and intenued in large part to support the
Army's ground forces.
The U AAF's Directorate of Ground
upport under Brig Gen D.M. Schlatter
was responsible for allocating combat
aircraft tI'l es to specific roles, anu the
Merlin-engined P-51B ended up being
recogni:ed principally as a tactical fighter
and reconnaissance aircraft. It is therefore
not urpri ing that when the fir t Merlin
Mu tangs started to arrive in Britain, in
October and ovember 1943, they were
not intended at all for bomher escort, or
for any other purely fighter role. The first
U AAF Group for which the aircraft was
intended was the 354th FG. This unit,
comprising the 353rd, 355th and 356th
F s, was to be assigned to the British-
based tactical inth Army ir Force, and
was intended for clo e air upport of A II ied
ground force, particularly during th
coming intended a ault on the German-
held French coast on the opening of the
long-awaited 'second front'. Originally
activated on 15 November 1942 at
Field, California, the 354th
followed a route somewhat similar to
that of many of the fighter groups created
arounu that time to bolster the rapidly-
growing USAAF. A period of training for
its newly-assigned pilots was carried out
using the P-39 Aira obra, but it was not
intended that the Group houlu go to war
with that air raft. Instead the Group filled
in before being sent over cas by provid-
ing aerial defence of the western A,
which was conducted partly as a training
assignment. The unit pent some time at
Tonopah, evada, then at Santa Rosa,
California and Portlanu, Oregon, before
at last preparing during October 1943 to
depart for England. Many of the Group'
first cadre of pilots were a igned when it
was at Tonopah, some having only just
newly graduateu at flying training schools
such as that at Luke Field, Arizona. Much
ti me was spent on tra in ing before the per-
sonnel headed across the SA by train,
minus their iracobras, to the famous
Camp Kilmer in ew Jersey. Camp Kilmer
was the starting point for many over-
seas deployments of combat Groups
heading for Europe by the northern route.
On 21 October the 354th's personnel
sailed for Britain aboard the nion Ca tle
Line troop hip MV thlone Castle (not
HM Athlone astle, as claime I by some
writers!). After a 12-uay voyage as a part
of a convoy, the ship reached Liverpool.
The fir t top for the Group's personnel
in England wa the airfield at Greenham
Common, Berkshire, and members of
the Group expected that they would be
a signed P-47s for ground-attack missions
over the Continent. It wa something of a
surprise to the offi ers to be told that the
unit would be equipped with Mustangs, a
type with which few, if any, of the 354th's
pilots were familiar.
85
Mustangs for Bomber Escort
In the background, however, a great deal
of high-level manoeuvring was taking
place. Those at the top in the Eighth ir
Force hau already come to realize that
proper, omprehensive escort for their
increasingly beleaguered daylight bomber
force was essential. By the final months
of 1943 ome raids were suffering losses
approaching 10 per cent, a figure well
above what wa considered prohibitive.
Tightly pa ked ormations of B-17s and
B-24 were proving unable to fight off
Luftwaffe fighters, despite their heavy
defensive armament and in pite of the
claims by the bomber advocates that the
bombers would alway be able to uefend
themselves and uccessfully boml their
targets in broau bylight. The Eighth
ir Force was going through what today
would be called 'a major reality check',
and the Merlin ustang, with it excel-
lent range and good all-round perform-
ance, even at high altitudes, appeared to
be a potential answer to the growing dif-
ficulties. The arrival in Britain of initial
deliveries of the Merlin Mustang looked
promising, but these were intended,
the desk-flyers in the , to be ground-
attack aircraft for the inth ir orce.
omething had to be done, so in a s ric
of deals, the precise background of whi h
has never completely come into the open,
the Eighth and inth Air Force worked
out some ompromises. Temporarily,
the inth Air Force's 354th F and it
prized Mustangs would be attached to
the Eighth Air Force, but would return
to the inth' full control in the future,
when the Eighth had it own Mustang
groups assigned; so long as the Mustang
doubters in the U A could be persuaded
to assign Mustang unit a fighter, rather
than fighter-bomber, groups.
Further deals also related to other
incoming groups, but in the short term
the 354th became the first Mustang
roup to take the Merlin Mustang into
comhat over northwest Europe. The unit
LO, G-RANGE ESCORT LO G-RA GE ESCORT
One of the finest exponents of the Merlin Mustang
in combat over Europe was Capt Dominic Salvatore
Gentile of the 336th FS of the famed 4th FG. Based
at Debden in Essex, the 4th FG was one of the
true high-flyer units of the Eighth Air Force, and
vied with the P-47-equipped 56th FG to be the top-
scoring Fighter Group in VIII Fighter Command.
Named Shangri-La, Don Gentile's famous Mustang
was P-51 B-5-NA 43-6913, coded VF-T. It is seen
here in the spring of 1944, at the time the Mustang
was starting to make an enormous impact on the
air war over Germany. Gentile's final confirmed
score was 21.833 aerial victories, plus six on the
ground. He had formerly flown with one of the
Eagle Squadrons of US volunteers in the RAF,
Spitfire-equipped 133 Sqn, with which he achieved
his first two aerial victories. USAAF
The true pioneer in bringing the Merlin-engined P-51 into combat, and thus starting the process by which the Mustang was to make such a significant
contribution to the Allied cause in the air war, was the 354th FG. One of this unit's early P-51 Bs, P-51 B-l-NA 43-12451, is seen here, almost certainly at Boxted in
the early weeks of 1944 (the photograph was passed for publication by the US censor on 20 January 1944). Underlining the fact that the 354th FG was actually a
tactical Ninth Air Force Group effectively 'on loan' to the Eighth Air Force for bomber escort duties, this aircraft carries eight mission markers on its nose in the
form of bomb symbols. A 355th FS aircraft, it was coded Gu-l and at one stage in its career was named Live Bait and Gwendolyn when flown by 1st It Clayton
Gross, a six-aerial-victories ace. Gross claimed four Bf 109s while flying this aircraft. Its former pilot, 1st It Gil Talbot, had originally named it Peggy and claimed
an Me 410 while flying it, although it is possible that Talbot might have been piloting an anonymous P-51B coded Gu-U in that action. USAAF
Ready to depart on what was almost certainly
a bomber escort mission, P-51 B-l-NA 43-12410
is carrying a pair of 75 US gal metal long-range
fuel tanks beneath its wings. The 'GO' code is
for the 355th FS of the 354th FG, the pioneering
Mustang fighter group that started worthwhile
bomber escort work for the Eighth Air Force from
December 1943 onwards. Nevertheless, the 354th
FG was actually a part of the Ninth Air Force, many
planners in the USAAF seeing the Mustang, even
at that stage, purely as a tactical fighter-bomber
rather than the excellent fighter that it undoubtedly
was. The rather rough, stencilled appearance of the
white code letters on this aircraft is noteworthy.
USAAF
A busy ground crew scene at Boxted around P-51 B-
1-NA 43-12451 Peggy, one of the best-known of the
early Merlin-powered Mustangs allocated to the
354th FG for its pioneering bomber escort work
from late 1943 onwards. The aircraft is being fitted
with 75 US gal long-range underwing fuel tanks.
A 355th FS aircraft, it was coded GO-I. and at the
time this photograph was taken it was allocated
to 1st It Gil Talbot. It later passed to 1st It Clayton
Gross and was renamed Live Bait and Gwendolyn.
II the claims of these two pilots are combined,
43-12451 was responsible for the destruction of
five German fighters; four Bf 109s and an Me 410.
It has the white nose, wing and tail bands of early
Merlin Mustangs in the ETO, added as additional
recognition features. USAAF
therefore found itself in a totally differ-
ent kind of war to what it had expected,
under a completely different ommand.
The leader of the Eighth Air or e's VIII
FC from August 1943 was the talented
and pragmatic Maj Gen William Kepner,
who wa subsequently to oversee the great
build-up of fighter force- in Britain,
and the deci ive effect it wa to have on
the air war over northwest Europe.
The intention was to get the 354th
FG equipped with P-51 Bs and combat-
ready in the shortest possible time, no
mean feat for a Group that had not flown
Mustangs before. The unit moved from its
temporary base at Greenham ommon to
the Essex airfield of Boxted around the
middle of November 1943. Its CO, 01
Kenneth Martin, was asked by IX Fighter
Command (to which the unit still teel-lIli-
cally belonged) how long it would take to
get the Mustang into combat. He answered
two weeks, and he was to be proved right,
even though th is sounded high Iy opti mis-
tic. The first Merlin Mustangs arrived for
the 354th just before the move was made
to Boxted, and ome of the unit's pilot
were also able to get in some time on
Allison-engined Mustangs of the Middle
Wallop-based 107th TR ,which was ju-t
taking the F-6B reconnaissance version
of the P-51 A into combat. (It has been
suggested in at least one published source
that these Allison Mustangs \Vere loaned
by the 10th TRG, \Vhich is cumpletely
incorrect, as the 10th did not even ex ist at
that time
l
) Once at Boxted the 354th put
in a rapid and extensive period of training,
and, remarkably, was ready for the first
planned operation, on l December. On
that day twenty-four P-51Bs of the unit
flew the familiar 'shake-down' mi sion
over nearby enemy-held territory in
Belgium and the Pas-de-Calais in Fran e.
The Group \Vas accompanied by a highly
experience 1 and gifted air leader, Lt 01
Donald Blakeslee of the veteran 4th FG,
whi h had gro\Vn out of the original
American-manned Eagle quadron of
the R Fof the earlier period. A t that time
the 4th F \Vas operating Thunderbolt,
but it ubsequently converted to Mustangs
in 1944 and became one of the leading
exponents of Merlin-powered P-5l in the
ensuing months. This initial mission \Va
comparatively successful, and, to put it in
historical context, it was flown only day
after the firt genuine Mustang bomber
escort missions in the BI Theatre,
carried out in late ovember 1943 by the
An interesting official USAAF crash report photo
dated 11 August 1944, depicting the accident that
befell P-51 B-l0-NA 42-106710, Janie Girl, operated
by the 503rd FS of the 339th FG, Eighth Air Force.
Usually assigned to It Earl Erickson, although
apparently not flown by him on the occasion of this
crash landing, Janie Girl shows the natural-metal
finish adopted for production Mustangs instead of
the original standard Olive Drab and Neutral Grey
scheme; the USAAF gradually dropped the use of
camouflage paint during 1944. This change was
made in P-51B production from 43-7083, and in
P-51C production from 42-103179. Also prominently
displayed are the red-and-white nose and spinner
markings that were assigned to the Fowlmere-
based 339th FG. USAAF
86 87
LONG-RANGE ESCORT La G R N G ~ ESCORT
Although usually committed to bomber escort
work, Eighth Air Force Mustang units were often
called upon to perform tactical missions as well, a
role that became increasingly important, especially
the attacks on German airfields as a part of their
escort missions deep into Germany. During the
D-Day period in June 1944 many of the Eighth Air
Force's air assets were specifically committed
to the support of Allied ground units in the bitter
fighting in Normandy, and in combatting German
fighters that attempted to intervene. This evocative
scene at Bottisham in Cambridgeshire during June
1944 shows Mustangs of the 361st FG's 376th FS,
coded 'E9', taxying out ready for take-off on one
such mission. All of the Mustangs are marked with
black-and-white so-called 'invasion stripes'. The
P-51B-l0-NA in the foreground, 42-106707/E9-S,
Sleepytime Gal, was assigned to Lt Clarence E.
Sullivan, Jr. USAAF
Showing off its Malcolm hood to advantage, Lady
Patricia taxies out for a sortie, aided by a ground
crew member directing the pilot from his position
on the port wing. The aircraft has had the upper
portions of its black-and-white 'invasion stripes'
painted out roughly with dark green or Olive
Drab paint, dating the photograph from a little
after the immediate D-Day period in June 1944.
The aircraft belongs to the 363rd TRG, a Ninth Air
Force reconnaissance unit that had formerly been
a Fighter Group but switched roles in late August
and early September 1944. The 'B3' code was then
assigned to the 161st TRS. Although it started
life as a P-51B-15-NA, this Mustang has been
converted into an F-6C reconnaissance aircraft;
note the camera window and fairing next to the
number '3' on the fuselage side. USAAF
Mustangs found their way to Roll -Royce
at different time. A further problem con-
cerned spark plugs. American spark plugs
proved to be inferior to British one and,
until -manufactured rlugs could he
brought up to the same standard, Briti-h
RC5/2 plugs were used.
Although these initial problems with
the Merlin Mustang appeared serious,
solutions were found to most of them,
One problem was oillo s from the engine'
breather system, whi h proved to be dif-
ficult to rectify. Rolls-Royce in Britain
became involved in attempt to olve this
and other problems with the early Merlin-
engined Mustang. number of Merlin
Mustang were seconded to the company,
the first being P-51 B-l- A 43-12425,
delivered to Hu knall on 7 October 1943.
Subsequently, at least eleven more Merlin
Resplendent in black-and-white 'invasion stripes',
early P-51 0-5-NA 44-13550/A9-M of the 380th FS
of the 363rd FG is seen in the period after O-Oay.
A Ninth Air Force Fighter Group, the 363rd flew its
Mustangs mainly on tactical missions in support of
ground forces, but later became a reconnaissance-
dedicated unit. This early P-51 D does not have
the dorsal fin extension or 'fin fillet' fitted to later
P-51 Ds to try to improve directional stability.
Its upper-surface 'invasion stripes' have been
somewhat crudely painted out with dark green
paint, as was the practice shortly after D-Day.
USAAF
as described in Chapter 10, but the 354th
FG had to ground some of its air raft in
early 1944 owing to these serious difficul-
ties.
Problems were also encountered with
the P-5IB's Packard V-1650-3 engine.
Getting it into production had been a
major ta k, and the produ tion engine
differed from the virtually 'hand-made'
initial rrototypes in a number of respects.
so troublesome for the P-3 as well. High
flying was not a rroblem for the B-17 and
B-24 bomber of the Eighth ir Force
(although it wa very demanding for their
crews), but the high altitude and free:ing
temperatures were far more of a challenge
for the Mustang. Congealed oil due to the
cold, frosted windscreens and coolant leaks
were only some of the difficulties faced by
maintenance crews and VIII F technical
staff, and a number of remedies were tried
in attempts to cure the problems.
erious, too, was the jamming of guns.
The P-5! B was comparatively lightly
armed, with only four 0.5in machine
guns compared with the Thunderbolt's
eight, and when some of these jammed
during missions it further decreased the
figh ter's effecti veness. Th is was caused
by two eparate problems. One was the
effect of lubricating oil congealing (not
icing-up, as claimed in several published
source) due to the cold at high altitude
if the Mu tangs' electric gun heater were
not wit hed on in time before the air-
craft gained height, or before the guns
were fired at altitude. The other cau e of
gun jams was the awkward canted-over
seating of the weapons and the equally
awkward curved ammunition feed chutes.
They often occurred when the gun were
fired while the aircraft was manoeuvring
and pulling g, and centrifugal force held
back the moving ammunition, causing
the breech mechanism to jam. Solutions
were eventually found to these problems,
sions before the end of the year, but
by early 1944 the 354th was still the
only Mustang-equirped VIII FC Group.
Although several German fighter had by
then been downed, the 354th had also lost
several Mustangs, including three on the
20 December Bremen mission. Worryingly,
all losses up to that point appeared to have
been due to mechanical problems rather
then enemy action. One such loss was the
CO of the 353rd F ,Maj Owen eaman,
who had attempted to ditch his Mustang
in the North ea with engine problems.
AIthough the lower fuselage radiator
intake was one of the innovations in the
Mustang design and helped the type's per-
formance and streamlining, it also made
the Muscang almost impossible to ditch.
Indeed, later in the war U pilots were
instructed to avoid ditching a Mustang
at all costs unless it was absolutely neces-
sary. Historian Roger Freeman could only
find one example of a u cessful Mustang
ditching, and normal practice came to be
a bale-out once sufficient height had been
gained. British experience wa similar; the
RAE at Farnborough conducted test in
late 1943 that resulted in the issuing of a
report at the end of the year recommend-
ing a l ale-out over water on all accounts
if there was enough height.
Other problems rlagued the early
Merlin Mustangs during their initial
operations as bomber es orts. Most were
associated with the cold, thin air in which
the aircraft operated, and which proved
In 1944 the Merlin Mustang rose to ascendancy
as a supreme escort fighter. A growing number
of US fighter pilots began to exact a heavy toll
on the Luftwaffe's fighter arm, which proved to
be a key ingredient of the eventual Allied aerial
victory over the Germans in the later stages of
the Second World War. One of the many Eighth
Air Force pilots who became 'aces', with five
or more aerial victories, 1st Lt Gilbert O'Brien,
is seen in the cockpit of his P-51 B, Shanty Irish.
O'Brien flew with the high-scoring 357th FG from
Leiston, Suffolk, and achieved seven confirmed
aerial victories between March and July 1944.
This Mustang is P-51 B-5-NA 43-6787, coded G4-Q.
USAAF
less-capable (in terms of bomber e ort
capability) Allison-engined Mustangs of
the 311th FBG.
The first genuine Mustang bomber
escort over Europe was the 354th FG's
second mission, on 5 December. On that
day the VIII FC put up a covering force of
P-3 s, P-47s and thirty- ix Mustangs from
the 354th to escort U heavy bomber
on a raid against Amiens in France. This
was comparatively uneventful. The third
mission, on 11 December, wa' a mile-
tone for the Eighth Air Force and for
the Mustang, for it was the fir t Mustang
bomber e cort into Germany. The target
was Emden, but the 354th lost its first
Mustang without any significant contact
with the Luftwaffe. The Mustangs flew
with 75 U gal external fuel tank, which
were now starting to reach England in
useful quantities. Kiel was vi 'ited on the
next escort, on 13 December, at just about
the Mustangs' extreme range with the 75
U gal drop tanks. Another Mustang was
10 t, and ome inconclusive combats took
pia e with twin-engine Messerschmitt Bf
110 heavy fighters. On 16 December the
Mu tangs shepherded the heavy bombers
to Bremen. During that escort the 354th
achieved the first Mustang aerial victory
over northwest Europe, when Lt harle
Franci Gumm, Jr, hot down a Bf I 9. A
graduate of the Luke Field flying training
programme in Arizona, and from one of
the 354th FG's original cadre of pilots,
Gumm was a first lieutenant in the 355th
F , and was to become one of the fir t
Merl in Mustang aces when he a hieved
his fifth victory near Brun wick on 21
February 1944. He eventually achieved
six confirmed aerial victories, but sadly
was killed in a Mustang flying accident
on I March 1944.
The Mustangs flew several more mis-
88 89
LO G-RANGE ESCORT LONG-RANGE ESCORT
The first Allied aircraft to touch down in southern France following the Allied landings of August 1944 was a P-51. Having begun life on the Dallas P-51 C
produc.tion line, it belonged to the ll1th TRS and was flown by USN pilot Robert Snowden on detachment to the unit. Short of fuel, he landed on an airstrip that
was stili under constructIOn. The Mustang was named Val Galli after Snowden's wife, Val, who worked in the Chance Vought factory at Stratford, Connecticut,
and posed as a 'Rosie the Riveter' for a wartime publicity poster. USAAF
Beautiful close-up detail of a Mediterranean-
based P-51 BIC of the 332nd FG with several of the
unit's pilots. The only black American (in modern
parlanceI-manned Fighter Group to see combat in
World War Two, the 332nd FG spent much of its
time as a part of the Fifteenth Air Force on bomber
escort and related duties. This view clearly shows
the gun ports of the two wing-mounted 0.5in
machine guns, and the smart flying gear of the
pilots. The pilot on the left wears RAF-style flying
boots, an RAF Type B flying helmet, gloves, and
has rolled up the sleeves of his flying suit, which
appears to be a regulation-issue AN-S-31 Summer
Flying Suit. The Mustang, named Skipper's Oarlin'
III, was the personal mount of Capt Andrew Turner.
USAAF
FC preferred to have all the Mustangs
it could lay its hands on. Consequently
a further deal was struck, in which the
357th with its preciou Mustangs joined
the Eigh th Air Force, wh iIe the 35th
with its Thunderbolt was reassigned on
I February as a fighter-bomber Group
within the inth Air Forcc. The 357th
thus became, in early February 1944, the
first all-Mustang unit actually to belong
to the Eighth Air Force; it certainly was
not the last. Activated on I D cember
1942, it had originally trained on P-39s
at a number of bases in alifornia and
elsewhere in the western A before
moving to England in ovember 1943.
In late January and early February 1944 it
exchanged bases wi th the 35th FG and
moved into it- wartime home of Leiston
in uffolk, destined to becomc one of the
centres of excellence of Mu tang opera-
tions in the ETO. Comprising the 362nd,
363rd and 364th FSs, the Group flew its
first mission, the familiar 'shake-down'
either arrived in the ETO fresh with new
Mustangs, or subsequently converted
on to the type as it became available in
growing numb'rs. The next Group to
join the Eighth ir Force with Mustangs
was the 357th FG. This unit, like the
354th, was originally assigned to the tac-
tical inth Air Force as a ground-attack
unit, the de k-flyer back in the A
still regarding the P-51 purely as a tacti-
cal aircraft. Just before this, the Eighth
Air Force had received yet another P-47
unit, the 35 th FG, which had become
operational on 20 December 1943. Hardly
surprisingly, however, by early 1944 VIII
been claimed that Lt Charle' Gumm was
the fir t Merlin Mustang ace, but his fifth
confirmed victory did not come until 21
February.) In any case, Howard's actions
on II January significantly helped to
enhance the Mustang's reputation as a
great fightcr, and gained it a great deal of
publicity. In the wider context of the air
war over northwest Europe it was obviou-
that the Luftwaffe now had a deadly adver-
-ary; one that would grow in strength and
numbers in the coming months.
The 354th FG subsequently continued
to increase its prowess in the P-51, and
was duly joined by other Groups that
One of the great exponents of the Mustang in
Europe was the 355th FG, based at Steeple Morden
in Cambridgeshire. One of that Group's Malcolm
hood-equipped Merlin Mustangs, P-51B-15-NA
42-106950 The Iowa Beaut, of the 354th FS, is
shown here, formating very closely on the camera
aircraft. It has sometimes been claimed that this
Mustang was being test flown to slow-time a new
engine when this and several similar photographs
were taken, but the aircraft is carrying 108 US
gal compressed-paper underwing drop tanks,
suggesting that it was being used for other
purposes at the time. USAAF
several other occasions), ex-'Flying Tiger'
Howard had found himself alone when
other members of the Group had become
involved in dogfights elsewhere along the
bomber stream. Even though several of
his Mustang' machine guns had jammed,
finally leaving only one working, Howard
successfully drove off attacks by a number
of German fighters of different types,
shooting down several. For this action
Howard was subsequently awarded the
Medal of Honor, the U A's highest mili-
tary award for gallantry. Very few fighter
pilots received this award, and Howard's
was the only one made to a fighter pilot
in the ETO.
Although Howard's gallantry and great
airmanship during that famous encounter
cannot be disputed, historians have sub-
equently argued over how many aircraft
he actually hot down that day, and of
what types. Howard' actions were wit-
nessed by the crews of several bombers,
and he himself claimed two destroyed.
nfortunately ome writers have suhse-
quently claimed that he hot down no
fewer than eight enemy fighters, which
is nonsense. The Luftwaffe's own records
most definitely do not support that claim,
and subs quent investigations have offi-
cially credited Howard with three victo-
ries: two Bf 1lOs and an Fw 190. Some
wri ters have also trumpeted that Howard
fought off'a whole group ofBf II Os', which
again misunderstands the fact that the
401 t BG came under attack from everal
aircraft type while Howard was defend-
ing it bombers. If the three victories with
which Howard is officiall) credited from
that mission are correct, it makes Howard
the first Merlin Mustang a e, for, added to
his first victory on 20 December 1943 (a
Bf 109) and his next on 30 January 1944
(a Bf 110), they would give him a total of
five before anyone else in the 354th FG
had achieved that total. (It has sometime
among the German twin-engined fighters,
which were no match whatsoever for them.
Fourteen Luftwaffe aircraft were claimed
by the 354th without loss to the unit, but,
more importantly, the Bf II0s were unable
to press home their attacks on the US
bombers successfully. Thi action effec-
tively spelled the beginning of the end for
theBf] 10asabomberinter eptor.lnmany
ubsequent actions the escorts brought
down Bf II0s in significant numbers, and
the German fighter was o ~ letely with-
drawn from bomber interception dutie
except as a last resort as 1944 wore on.
The next major action for the 354th
took place on II January, and this mission
proved to be one of even greater signifi-
cance for the Mustang. On that day the
Group escorted the heavy bombers to
Halberstadt and Oschersleben, the latter
being a major production centre for the
potent Fw 190 fighter. The Luftwaffe
re ponded in force to this raid, and several
major air battles took place. Again the
354th caught several Bf 1lOs, together
with the similarly outclassed twin-engine
Messerschmitt Me 410, and also brought
down a number of single-seat fighters.
The overall score for the Group was
sixteen destroyed for no los es, sev ral
pilots coring well.
However, the big story of the day did
not break for a time, until members of
the B-17-equipped 401 t BG made it
known that one of the Mustang pilots
had Single-handedly fought off repeated
attacks against their Flying Fortresse.
The pilot concerned was the modest but
highly capable Maj James H. Howard.
Leading the 354th on that day (and on
and in the opening weeks of 1944 the
Merlin Mustang started to come into it
own. This was achieved with great dash
and dmi ng from the pi lot of the escort
fighters, and for the first time the fight
was being taken to the Luftwaffe over
its own territory. Indeed, it had already
started to become noticeable that inter-
cepting Luftwaffe fighter pilots tended to
keep their distance when escort fighters
were pre ent, preferring to concentrate
on unprotected part of bomber forma-
tions or lone straggler. The presence of
the escorts was thus starting to have a psy-
chologi al effect on ome German fighter
pilots, who were increasingly not having
things all their own way in their attempts
to stop the heavy bombers from reaching
their targets.
In the vanguard ofthe Eighth Air For e's
effort was the 354th FG, and in January
1944 some epic air battle took place that
set the scene for the future of the air war
over Germany. The fir t of these occurred
on 5 January, during the Group's twelfth
mission. s a part of the III-strong protec-
tion cover for a 245-aircraft force of heavy
bombers attacking Kiel, many of the forty-
one 354th FG Mustangs became embroiled
in a major battle with Bf 110 heavy fight-
ers that were attempting to attack the
bombers as they turned for home. The
ensuing a tion was the first real victory
for the Mu tang escort. p to that time
the lumbering Bf II fighters, which had
enjoyed so much succes earl ier in the war,
had often been able to cau e considerable
damage to the bomber formations. Now
the tables were suddenly turned. The agile
and aggre sively flown Mustangs got in
90 91
over northern France, on 11 February
1944. On this occasion the mission
acted as a diversion for a B-24 Liberator
bombing raid. The Group was led by Maj
] im Howard of Medal of Honor fame, con-
tinuing the practice of having experienced
officers accompany 'rookie' groups during
their initial combat indoctrination. The
357th FG became one of the Eighth Air
Force's crack fighter units in the coming
months, and was continually in combat
until 25 April 1945, mounting 313 mis-
sions with the Mustang.
In the followi ng mon ths an increas-
ing number of Mustang-equipped Groups
joined the Eighth Air Force, or existing
units began converting on to the Merlin
Mustang from their PA7s or P-38s. Thus,
by late 1944, the Eighth Air Force's FGs
werealmostexclusively Mustangequipped.
The last Groups to convert on to the P-51
(except for the 56th FG, which flew PA7s
to the end) were the 78th and 356th FGs,
which did so in the final weeks of 1944,
parting with their PA7s. A more com-
plete breakdown of the Eighth ir Force's
magnificent fourteen Mustang-equipped
FGs may be found in the Appendices at
the end of this book. With the consequent
build-up of Mustangs in the ETO, the for-
tunes of the Luftwaffe seriously began to
take many turns for the worse. A growing
number of US pilots started to gai n impres-
sive scores against the enemy, and many
of the German losses were irreplaceable as
experienced pi lots started to be shot down
in increasing numbers.
Long-Range Fuel Tanks
It was not just the appearance of the
Merlin Mustang, with its excellent endur-
ance and high-altitude combat capabil-
ities, that started to win the war for
the Allies in the skies over northwest
Europe, and particularly over Germany
itself. In the USA, interested parties had
at last started to take the initiative over
the heads of the increasingly sidelined
Mat rial Command to get the USAAF
fit for the real air war that was being
fought. In the autumn of 1943 a pro-
gramme had been initiated by Brig Gen
Muir S. Fairchild to have external fuel
tanks developed and made operational
for US fighters. Not surprisingly, Material
Command had lagged behind on this
issue as well as so many others, even
when combat reports from the Pacific
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
concerning the effectiveness of locally
produced drop tanks for PA7s had started
reach ing the USA. Fa irch iId was a man of
huge influence, and he was also pragmatic
enough to see how the air war was devel-
oping. As a major general he had been
Director of Military Requirements at the
HQ of the USAAF in Washington, DC,
in August J942, when he had written
to Oliver Echols at Material Command,
expressing his surprise at the apparent
slowness in procurement of the Mustang.
Now, in 1943, Fairchild once more
needed to take the initiative to get things
done. He and his staff officers instituted
a programme called the Fighter Airplane
Range Extension Program (FAREP),
centred on the design and manufacture
of jettisonable long-range fuel tanks for
USAAF fighters. Fairchild had Europe
as well as the Pacific in mind, and it was
the growing success of this programme
that helped to gi ve a II SAF escort
fighters (the P-38, PA7 and P-51) greater
range. In the PATs case the programme
included not just drop tanks, but the
installation of underwing pylons as well,
as these had not been included in early
PA7 production (although it soon was).
The PA7's range was virtually doubled,
allowing Thunderbolts to escort heavy
bombers deeper into Germany. In these
early days of the FAREP the most readily
available external tanks were the tear-
drop-shaped 75 US gal aluminium tanks
initially produced as ferry tanks for the
P-40 Warhawk and P-39 iracobra. They
were, however suitable for range exten-
sion on combat missions, and Fairchild's
programme resulted in the adaptation of
these tanks and a substantial increase in
their production. Efforts were made to
develop purpose-built tanks as well, and
as a result several new shapes eventually
came to the fore. One was a metal 110 US
gal tank, while in Britain, thanks to the
efforts of specialist papermaking company
Bmvater, a compressed-paper fuel tank of
108 US gal was developed. Production
of the latter rarely exceeded demand in
the subsequent months, but eventually
the 'battle of the long-range fuel tanks'
was won, many thousands of all the types
developed being manufactured. It was not,
however, simply a question of hanging
these tanks at the most convenient loca-
tion under an aircraft. Much thought
had to go into plumbing-in fuel lines to
connect up to the tanks, flight-testing
had to be carried out in both the USA
92
and Britain to check the feasibility of the
new installations and to ensure they were
safe for combat use, and it was necessary
to determine just how far each fighter type
could fly at different boost settings with
the additional fuel loads. It was also neces-
sary to develop a pressurized fuel system so
that fuel could be drawn from the tanks.
On 27 September 1943 a milestone
had been reached with the first really
long-range escort over northwest Europe,
when British-based Thunderbolts with
long-range tanks got as far as Emden on
the northwestern fringe of Germany. Four
Eighth Air Force Thunderbolt Groups,
the 4th, 56th, 78th and 353rd, had
covered the bombers on the Emden raid,
and for the first time were able to escort
them all the way to the target and back.
Three of the Groups used 75 US gal tanks,
while the 4th FG employed the new 108
US gal tanks. The raid was psychologi-
cally a great success for the bombers, and
for the US fighters it resulted in several
successful air battles with Luftwaffe fight-
ers, twenty-one being claimed for the loss
of one P-47. But the real importance of
this raid was that it showed how effective
proper fighter escort for the bombers could
be, and demonstrated that escort fighters
all the way to the target and back were
thenceforth essential.
Following the mauling that the Eighth
Air Force bombers had suffered in the
summer of 1943, the advent of real fighter
escort suddenly promised to get the US
strategic bombing campaign in the ETO
back on track. It also demonstrated to
the Luftwaffe that the American fight-
ers were becoming, day by day, a thor-
oughly formidable opponent, with the
range to take the fight to the Luftwaffe
over its own home ground. American
fighters were now able to range over the
skies of Germany, which must have been
a chilling thought for those in Germany's
military who were sensible enough to rec-
ognize the huge significance of the fact.
One wonders, however, if the success of
th is mission was ever noticed by the many
doubter of effective escort fighters back
in the USA, particularly the desk-flyers of
Material Command at Wright Field, who
had done so much to stall the advent of
the escort fighter in the SAAF. When
it entered service several weeks after the
Emden raid, the Merlin Mustang could
reach targets such as Emden virtually
without the help of drop tanks, but with
the addition of external fuel tanks it could
go much further. The Merlin Mustang was
starti ng to move into its successfu I mode
as a long-range escort in early 1944, as the
FAREP really began to get into gear, and
from then onwards the long range and
endurance imparted by the humble but
all-important drop tanks proved to be a
vital part of the overall winning strategy.
As the early months of 1944 wore on,
the Merlin Mustang began to win its
spurs and take the fight dramatically and
increasingly successfully to the enemy.
From February 1944 onwards major day-
light air raids took place, leading to large
air battles over Germany, which were
to have dramatic effects on the German
ability to wage war in general, and on the
Luftwaffe in particular.
One of the objectives of the combined
hOlTlbing offensive of the British and US
forces was the destruction of the major part
of the German aviation industry, and this
took the form, in February 1944, of the so-
called 'Big Week' of major bombing raids
by the Eighth ir Force on many aircraft
factories across Germany. The first raid
was mounted on 20 Fehruary, and, with
only bad weather hampering efforts, raids
continued until 25 February, several major
factories being badly damaged. These raids
had an important effect on production at
the affected plants, although from the late
summer of 1943 the Germans had been
gradually dispersing their aircraft produc-
tion and completion facilities, making it
harder for the llies to cause any deci-
sive long-term damage. The escort fight-
ers were very busy during those raids,
however, and made claims for some 208
German fighters for the loss of forty of
their number. Such losses were becom-
ing a major headache for the Luftwaffe.
Unlike the Allies, the Germans did not
have a large and ongoing capability to
replace pilot losses, while the demise of
experienced pi lots was a considerable prac-
tical and psychological blow. The aircraft
losses were also important, for although
the numbers could be made up at that
stage of the war, the quality of manufac-
ture of German fighters increasingly suf-
fered due to the dispersal programme and
the almost continual bombing of factories
and infrastructure.
A further series of massive daylight air
raids was staged in March 1944, as the US
heavy bombers made a concerted series of
attacks on the capital of azi Germany,
Berlin. These started on 4 March, and
again the bombers benefited from a strong
La G-RANGE ESCORT
escort of fighters, which were already
coming to be called the 'Little Friends'
of the lumbering B-17s and B-24s that
they were now protecting much more
effectively. Even so, the US forces cer-
tainly were not yet in the ascendancy
by any means, and the Eighth Air Force
suffered its largest-ever loss of bombers
in aerial combat, sixty-nine, on the infa-
mous 6 March Berlin raid. Like the vast
majority of the Eighth Air Force's dayl ight
bombing efforts in the ETO, this mission
was directed against specific military or
industrial targets, the Erkner ball-bearing
plant being a specific objective. The 730
B-17s and B-24s were escorted by a force
of just over 800 fighters from the Eighth
and inth Air Forces (showing that the
Ninth could also perform escort work when
required) and the RAF, 100 of which were
Mustangs from the 4th, 354th and 357th
FGs. Unfortunately the bombing was not
particularly accurate and eleven escorting
fighters were lost. However, the escorts
cla imed eigh ty-one German aircraft, many
being the now outclassed Bf II0s, whose
ranks were swelled by Bf J 10 nightfight-
ers. The use of these as day fighters was
a particularly desperate measure, as they
were hopelessly burdened by their radar
equipment. Providing target and target
withdrawal support for the bombers were
the Mustangs; no other Allied single-seat
fighter could fly to Berlin and back at that
time. The 357th and 4th FGs were in the
thick of the action in and around Berlin,
the Mustangs bei ng seriously outn umbered
but well able to look after themselves. The
357th destroyed at least twenty of the
enemy for no losses, while the 354th made
claims for seven German fighters. The 4th
FG had only recently transitioned on to
the Mustang from the PA7 (its first mis-
sions with the P-51 B were flown in late
February 1944), but this group was even-
tually to top all of the Eighth ir Force's
Mustang units in terms of aerial kills, and
a fierce but friendly rivalry grew between
the 4th with its Mustangs and the 56th FG
with its beloved Thunderbolts, as to which
could achieve the most aerial victories.
The epic air battles that took place over
Germany in the early months of 1944 were
the largest of the war up to that time. They
confirmed, beyond any doubt, the absolute
necessity for long-range escort fighters for
the US heavy bombers, and the fact that
the Mustang was by far the best fighter for
that role. Nevertheless, there were still
many problems to be overcome, and mal-
93
functions were still quite common. On
the 6 March Berlin mission, for example,
the 357th FG's contingent was depleted
because fifteen Mustangs had to abort for
various technical reasons or other prob-
lems. There were losses as well, the CO of
the 354th FG, Col Kenneth Martin, being
brought down on II February in an aerial
collision with a Bf 109 and spending the
rest of the war as a PoW. Without doubt,
however, the escort fighters had a major
influence on the way the air war devel-
oped from that time onwards to the end
of the war, with the Luftwaffe being faced
down over its own territory by an increas-
ingly numerous and deadly foe.
Many American pilots started to amass
significant numbers of aerial victories.
One was Capt Dominic Salvatore Gentile
of the 4th FG. 'Don' Gentile was one of
the American pilots who had enlisted in
the British and Commonwealth forces
early in World War Two while his
country stayed out of the conflict, joining
the R F in September 1940. Eventually
transferring to 133 Sqn, one of the three
Eagle Squadrons of the RAF manned by
US personnel, Gentile scored his first
two aerial victories in a Spitfire Mk Vb
of that unit near Dieppe on 19 August
1942, the day of the disastrous British and
Commonwealth landings at Dieppe, and
the same day that Fg Off Hollis Hills of
414 Sqn achieved the first aerial victory
in a Mustang. Gentile transferred to the
S AF when the Eagle quadrons were
absorbed to form the nucleus of the 4th
FG in September 1942, and scored 4.333
victories in PA7s with the 4th G's 336th
FS. When the 4th FG rapidly converted on
to the Mustang in February 1944 Gentile
became one of the Merlin Mustang's
greatest early exponents on escort mis-
sicms. His first kills flying a Mustang (two
Fw 190s) came on 3 March, beginning a
remarkable scoring run of 15.5 victories
in just over a month. His final kills were
three Fw 190s on 8 pril, bringing his
combined score to 21.833 aerial victories.
His exploi ts ga ined him considerable fame
and press attention, and he was rotated
back to the USA on leave later in April
1944 and saw no further combat in the
war. He was one of many Eighth Air Force
Mustang pilots who amasse I onsiderable
air-to-air combat scores in 1944, as the
Merlin Mustang really proved its worth
on escort missions and the other diverse
tasks that it was called upon to perform
in the ETO
It was perhaps appropriate that the first-ever Mustang
air-to-air victory was achieved by an American pilot
flying an RAF-operated Mustang. Moreover, to add to
the international flavour of the occasion, the pilot and
the Mustang concerned were assigned to an RCAF
squadron. The pilot was Fg Off Hollis 'Holly' Hills, and
like many Mustang pilots he had an interesting story to
tell. Born in Baxter, Iowa, in March 1915, Hollis Harry
Hills was one of a comparatively small but significant
selection of Americans who became members of the
RCAF to fight against the Germans before the USA's
official entry into World War Two. He joined the RCAF in
September 1940 for flying training, and in October 1941
was posted to 414 'City of Sarnia' or 'Sarnia Imperials'
Sqn, RCAF, which had formed at Croydon in August of
that year. At the time of Hills' arrival the squadron was
flying the Curtiss Tomahawk, and it was not until the
summer of 1942 that it began converting to the Mustang
Mk I. The squadron was not completely operational at
the time of the Dieppe operation on 19 August 1942,
but some of its pilots were nevertheless involved from
the start.
On the early morning of 19 August Hills took off with
fellow squadron pilot Fit Lt 'Freddie' Clarke for an armed
reconnaissance in the Dieppe area. They made their
second such foray later in the day, by which time the
whole Dieppe operation was already going badly wrong.
Hills was acting as 'weaver' for Clarke, the two intending
to cover the road from Abbeville to Dieppe and watch for
German movements. As the two 414 Sqn pilots headed
for the French coast at very low altitude, Hills spotted
a flight of four Fw 190s, higher, but on a course that
would place them favourably behind the two Mustangs.
Hills called a warning several times to Clarke about
the Fw 190s, but Clarke's radio had failed. Oblivious of
the threat, Clarke received fire from the lead Fw 190,
which hit his Mustang hard. Hills intervened to try to
cut off the lead Focke-Wulf, but instead was engaged
Ground Victories
[t was not just in the air that the American
fighters put the Luftwaffe to the sword as
1944 progressed. Major General Kepner
was a keen advocate of taking the fight
to the Luftwaffe wherever possible, not
just in defence of the heavy bombers but
on its home ground as well. The gaining
of air superiority and the ultimate defeat
of the Luftwaffe was a major objective for
the Allies if the much-vaunted 'second
front' was to be opened in northwest
Europe in 1944. Allied leaders meeting
in Casablanca and Washington in 1943
had developed their intention to launch
an invasion of the European mainland
during [944, and air superiority was seen
as a key issue. The Allied air arms had to
achieve this if there was to be any hope
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
First Blood for the Mustang
by the wingman. In the ensuing foray Hills successfully
manoeuvred behind the second Fw 190 and hit it with
at least two bursts from his Mustang's mixed machine-
gun armament. The Fw 190's engine caught fire and its
canopy came off. It crashed into trees somewhere along
the Abbeville road leading to Dieppe.
Hills immediately went looking for Clarke, and spotted
him heading for Dieppe harbour streaming glycol and
being chased by the lead Fw 190. Hills managed to catch
the pair, and distracted the German pilot by firing at his
aircraft enough to cause him to break off his chase of
Clarke and instead come after Hills. The two engaged
in a low-level game of cat and mouse for several
minutes before the German gave up the encounter and
headed inland. Meanwhile, Clarke had succeeded with
considerable airmanship to pancake his Mustang into
Dieppe harbour. He is believed to have been the first
pilot to survive a Mustang ditching in water. Saved by
an unknown soldier or sailor who swam to the ditched
Mustang and pulled him to safety, Clarke was returned
to England by ship and later reunited with Hills. He was
duly able to confirm Hills' shoot-down of the Fw 190.
In the New Year's Honours List for 1943 'Holly' Hills
received a Mentioned in Dispatches for his actions that
day. The real unsung hero of the brief but frantic action
that brought about the Mustang's first aerial victory was
Hills' Mustang. A Mk I from the initial production batch
for the RAF, AG470 carried the code letters RU-M. Hills
achieved ace status much later in the war. Intending to
join one of the American Eagle Squadrons in Britain but
seemingly turned down, he joined the USN in November
1942. While flying in the Pacific with the USN FS VF-32,
equipped with Grumman F6F-3 Hellcats, he scored four
further aerial victories.
Number 414 Sqn went on to have a long and exten-
sive history. Having been fully in action over the Channel
and northern France with its Allison Mustangs during
the D-Day period, the squadron began re-equipping with
of such a major undertaking succeeding.
Indeed, it became a stated objective not
only of VIII FC, but of the Eighth Air
Force itself, to take the war aggressively
to the Germans whenever and wherever
possible. [n January 1944 the leadership of
the Eighth Air Force underwent a signifi-
cant change. On 6 January 1944 Lt Gen
James H. Doo[ittle became its new head.
'J immy' Doolittle was a towering figure in
the USAAF, whose no-nonsense, prag-
matic approach was a world away from
that of the desk flyers and vested interests
in the USA. At once the nature of the
task of the escort fighters changed. The
bomber escort work that had developed
during the previous six months or so had
entailed the fighters staying with the
bombers as much as possible, and only
straying away to chase off and engage
94
Spitfires later in the summer of 1944. It disbanded in
Germany in August 1945. Coming fully under the control
of the RCAF in the post-war period, 414 Sqn operated
Canadair Sabre jet fighters in Europe during the 1950s,
while the Cold War was the main preoccupation. It later
became an electronic warfare squadron, and was finally
made inactive in the early years of the twenty-first
century.
The victory that Hills achieved on that costly day
over Dieppe was the very first of the many hundreds
achieved in Mustangs throughout the war. It has often
been overshadowed by the exploits of the US-operated
Mustangs in the later stages of World War Two, but it
was nonetheless of great significance in the story of the
Mustang.
The first-ever aerial victory achieved in a
Mustang was scored by an American pilot flying
with the RCAF in 4t4 Sqn, near Dieppe on 19
August 1942. The pilot was Fg Off Hollis Hills,
seen here in the cockpit of a Curtiss Tomahawk
of the squadron before or during the unit's
transition to the Mustang. RCAF
attacking German fighters. Now, with
Doolittle in charge, the whole picture
changed. Subsequently the escorts were
able to fly ahead of the bombers and seek
out the Luftwaffe, to chase the German
fighters to their destruction, and, if fuel
permitted, shoot up anything on the
ground if the bombers were considered
safe after leaving their designated targets.
With the advent of the Merlin-powered
Mustang, with its great range and fire-
power, the capability to do this grew more
and more through 1944.
On the way back to England from the
infamous 6 March Berlin mission, ele-
ments of the 357th FG descended to [ower
altitudes to take on some Luftwaffe fight-
ers. Led by Maj Thomas Hayes of the 364th
FS, the Mustangs then shot up a Luftwaffe
airfield at Ulzen, inflicting unspectacular
hut none the less important damage. This
was possibly the first time that a Luftwaffe
airfield in Germany had been attacked by
Mustangs; it was not to be the last. [n the
weeks that followed, as the escort fighters
flew over Germany more and more, and
the opportunities to follow Doo[ittle's
freer approach to escort work became more
frequent if fuel levels permitted, Luftwaffe
airfields increasingly became the targets
for attack by the escorts. [n fact, Mustang
attacks on Luftwaffe airfields had been pre-
dated by similar operations by P-47s. An
early exponent was the 353rd G, which
for a short time in March and April [944
had even operated a special section, nick-
named 'Bill's Buzz Boys' in honour ofGen
Kepner, that had specifically carried out
airfield attacks and shot up anything else
that presented itself as a target. Although
at first most attacks by other Groups were
opportunistic, in time the whole operation
became more organized, particularly when
it started to become obvious to Vill FC
that shooting-up the Luftwaffe on its own
bases cou[d become a part of the wider
plan to defeat the Luftwaffe altogether.
Indeed, on days when the bombers could
not fly because of predicted bad weather
over their briefed targets, the escorts were
allowed to go off on their own and carry
out their own fighter sweeps. In an effort
to encourage the ground-strafing of air-
fields, Vlll FC took the unusual step of
giving ground 'kills' the same status as
aerial victories, allowing pilots to reach
the mythical and generally sought-after
'ace' status solely through ground victo-
ries. [n the event some Groups aggres-
sively went after ground targets on their
way back from bomber escort work,
although ground strafing was a very haz-
ardous business. Luftwaffe airfields were
generally well defended by light anti-
aircraft guns of various calibres, and when
the threat from marauding Mustangs and
Thunderbolts became more serious as the
year progressed, airfield defences tended
to be increased even more. This began
taking a toll on the attacking US fighters,
and although airfield attacks yielded some
spectacular results, the losses grew_ At one
stage it was four times more likely for a
US pilot to be brought down by light anti-
aircraft fire around airfields or other high-
value installations than by the actions of
Luftwaffe fighters, and some Group com-
manders were reluctant to sanction the
ferocious ground attacks in which other
Groups revelled.
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
Although the Mustang was as suitable as
any other Allied fighter for the aggressive,
offence-driven work that airfield attacks
and other ground strafing entailed, it had
one drawback that all liquid-cooled inl ine-
engined fighters suffered. This was simply
that a hit from enemy fire in the coolant
piping or radiator could effectively bring
the aircraft down, because a serious loss
of coolant would soon cause the engine to
overheat and seize. The enormous P-47,
with its large air-cooled radial engine, did
not have this disadvantage, and in many
ways the Thunderbolt was more suited to
the type of ground-attack that Mustangs
were tending to indulge in virtually every
day by the autumn of 1944. evertheless,
the Mustangs and Thunderbolts of the
Eighth Air Force were able, with their
almost incessant pursuit of the Luftwaffe
both in the air and on the ground, to help
significantly to turn the tide for the Allies
in the air war over continental Europe.
Although the Luftwaffe remained a force
to be reckoned with, its many previous
all-conquering successes earlier in the war
were long in the past as J944 wore on. It
started to be very dangerous for aircraft
wearing German insignia to take to the
skies at all in many parts of the rapidly
shrinking Third Reich. This, coupled
with the whittling away of the Luftwaffe's
prowess by the RAF from 1941/1942
onwards, and the increasing capability of
the Soviet armed forces in the east, meant
that air superiority started to become very
patchy for the Germans.
[n addition to the American fighters
being mor numerous, often more aggres-
sive[y flown by better-trained pilots, and
provided with better fi repower for fighter-
versus-fighter dogfighting, the USAAF
gained a further advantage for its pilots as
the air war over Europe persisted. This was
the introduction of the so-called 'g-suit'.
Developed to allow pilots to pull more gin
aerial manoeuvres by preventing the pilot
from blacking-out in tight turns, the g-suit
was an important innovation that further
tipped the balance in air combat away
from the Luftwaffe. In Britain as well as
the USA, attempts were made to develop
a flying suit that would prevent blood
from draining away from the pilot's brain
during tight turns, by putting pressure on
the lower parts of the pilot's body at the
appropriate times and thus preventing
him from losing consciousness. A British
system called the Frank suit, which used
water to achieve the de ired results, was
95
tested by the 4th FG in March and April
1944. However, the weight and compara-
tive cumbersomeness of this suit caused it
to be rejected in favour of the US Berger
suit, which used a system of compressed
air. The 339th FG was the first to tryout
this suit in the Eighth Air Force, although
it had already been used by some Ninth
Air Force units. Eventually the Berger suit
was standardized, and became another
useful tool in the Allied fighter pilots'
armoury.
The Definitive P-51D
Without doubt the P-51 B/C Mustangs
were highly successful in the bomber
escort role, as well as proving to be good
tactical aircraft as well, and the type con-
tinued in combat well into the last few
months of the war. However, by the time
the early Merlin Mustangs were proving
themselves over northwest Europe in the
big air battles of early 1944, AA was
already working on a much-improved
Mustang. One problem with many of the
fighters of the late 1930s and early 1940s
was the high rear fuselage line behind the
cockpit, giving a poor rearwards view for
the pilot. A fighter pilot needs to be able
to see as much of the 360 degrees around
his aircraft as possible, but the view aft
was a problem for many of the fighters
of that era. Even the Spitfire, Bf 109 and
P-47, good fighters though they were, had
the 'razorback' -type spine that restricted
the view rearwards.
The solution was simple and obvious,
but would require considerable re-
engineering on all of these types to
achieve the desired effect. This entailed
cutting down the high rear fuselage line
by lowering the spine aft of the cockpit,
and installing a clear rearwards-sliding
'all-round-vision' canopy. As an interim
measure, as described later in this chapter,
a neat 'blown' rearwards-sliding canopy
was made available for the P-51B/C
series by a British company. Known as
th 'Malcolm hood' after its designer and
manufacturer, the Malcolm hood did away
with the heavily-framed, multi-pan I
sideways-opening cockpit canopy of the
P-51 B/C. With the installation of a simple
rail allowing it to slide backwards to open
and forwards to shut, the new canopy was
a major improvement. Nevertheless, the
Malcolm hood was never available in
the numbers necessary to refit all P-51B
LONG-RANGE ESCORT LONG-RANGE E RT
propeller. The P-SID had a Hamilton
Standard Four-blade unit similar to that
of the P-S1 B/ ,usually with blad cufFs.
However, Fears about the availability of
this unit (Hamilton tandard propeller
were almost universal on US combat air-
craFt in World WarTwo, alongside urtiss
Electric units) led to the adoption of a
Four-blade, uncufFed and slightly lighter
Aeroproducts propeller of II Ft (3JSm)
diameter as an alternative For the P-SI D.
Dalla -built production Mustangs with
this propeller were designated P-SI K.
In addition, the blown, teardrop-shaped
cockpit canopy that was introdu ed on
the P-SID was produced in two separate
shape. Again the anomaly was in the
Dallas production, the canopy Fitted to
many Dalla -built P-S1D and P-SIK
being of a slightly altered hape, with a
light tep at it rear. In spite of th modi-
Fjed Fuselages of the P-S1 D/Ks, th ir Fuse-
lage l.ength remained the same as that of
the P-SIB/C.
in the new P-SID NAA also took the
With a southern Californian landscape as its
backdrop, a P-51D-l0-NA makes a pre-delivery
test flight and formates on the camera aircraft.
Its painted silver upper wing surfaces are very
apparent. This production block was the first to
introduce the fillet ahead of the fin to try to improve
the P-51 D's somewhat marginal directional
stability, as seen here. Directional stability was
a problem with all Merlin-engined Mustangs,
but was especially marked on the P-51D/K series
because their cut-down rear fuselage exacerbated
it. Some pilots who were used to the more
directionally stable P-51 B preferred that earlier
mark of Merlin Mustang, while pilots who had
experienced the much more docile and far more
directionally stable Allison-engined Mustangs
found the P-51 D something of a wild beast and
almost a different aircraft. Nevertheless, most pilots
found the P-51 Da superb fighting machine. NAA
Even with the characteristic Mustang peculiarity
of the famous underfuselage radiator air intake,
there is no doubting that the P-51D was an elegant,
even beautiful, aircraft. Cleanest of all were the
initial production P-51 D-5-NAs, which did not have
the dorsal fin extension or 'fin fillet' ahead of the
tailplane introduced a little later in production to
improve directional stability. This is one of those
early P-51 Ds, 44-13366, displaying in particular the
cut-down fuselage line behind the cockpit and
the sliding unframed 'bubble' canopy, which were
major developments in the P-51D series compared
with all previous production Mustangs. NAA
immediately howed that the modiFied
I' ar Fuselage and new cockpit canopy vere
a vast improv ment over the P-S1B/C
arrangement, and provision was made For
immediate tooling-up For the production
version, to be deSignated P-Sl D.
By this stage NAA had little trouble in
getting new orders For the Mu tang; a Far
ry From the situation earli I' in the war.
The new P-S1 D wa included in FY 1944
Funding, apparently at the expense of
orne planned P-Sl B production. (There
is a story that the very First production
P-SIDs were actually P-SIB look-alike,
as several aircraft were built beFore the
deFinitive P-Sl D layout could become
Fully esrabli hed on the Inglewood pro-
du tion lines.) Th initial P-Sl D-S- A
was 44-132S3.ln addition to manuFacture
at Inglewood, the P- SI D was also made
at the NAA Factory at Grand Prairie,
Dallas. Moreover, a version of the P-SID
specific to the Dallas production line was
also produced. Known as th P-SIK, it
was similar to the P-SID except For its
and P-SIC Mustangs. In any case, AA,
heing the good manuFacturer that it was,
had rapidly begun to try to eliminate the
problem by designing a new Mustang Fuse-
lage. The manuFacturers oFthe SpitFire and
Thunderbolt replaced the razorback rear
Fuselage on later production models with
a cut-down rear Fuselage, and Fitted a new
teardrop-shaped rearwards-sliding co kpit
canopy. in effect NAA went For the same
approach, and in 0 doing created the
deFinitive Mustang shape.
Work on the new development, a a
company venture, began in the autumn
and early winter of 1943, and at least
one aircraFt, P-SIB-1- A 43-12L02,
was taken From the Inglewood produc-
tion line and modiFied to incorporate
the reFinemen ts and mod iFications. In
addition, two P-S1 B-I0- A, 42-1 6S39
and 42-1 6S40, were used For engineer-
ing and mock-up installation work. The
flying prototype, 43-12102, took to the air
For the First time on 17 November 1943.
Wind-tunnel work and Flight testing
Former P-51B-l-NA 43-12102 over rugged southern
California countryside on a photo sortie during
development work for the definitive P-51 D
layout. This aircraft still retained some features
of the P-51 B, such as the inboard location of the
wingtip navigation lights, which in the final P-51 D
configuration were relocated at the extreme wing
tips. NAA
Constant improvement of the basically sound
Mustang design as a result of combat experience
and to meet evolving needs led to what many
believe to be the best of the Mustang breed, the
P-51D and P-51K series. The transition from the
P-51B/C to the 'D'-model Mustang involved a
number of modifications, including an increase
in the wing gun armament and major changes to
the fuselage in the cockpit area and in the rear
fuselage compared with the P-51 B. This aircraft,
43-12102, one of the trials Mustangs used in the
P-51 D development programme, was effectively the
flying prototype for the new layout. A former P-51 B-
l-NA, it was given a full make-over including the
cut-down rearfuselage and new rearwards-sliding
clear unframed 'bubble' or 'all-round-vision'
canopy. Note the Douglas SBD Dauntless in the
background. NAA
The flying prototype for the P-51 D development
programme, former P-51B-l-NA serial number
43-12102, flies over southern California during
the development of the P-51 D series. Painted
in basic Olive Drab and Neutral Grey finish, it
displays the cut-down rear fuselage line and new
rearwards-sliding clear unframed 'bubble' canopy
incorporated in the production P-51 D. These
changes gave the pilot a much better all-round
view than in the P-51 B/C series (and indeed in
the Allison-engined Mustangs!. which had a high
'razorback' rear fuselage line. NAA
96 97
LONG-RA GE ESCORT
LONG-RA GE ESCORT
This highly significant photograph helps tell
the story of how the Mustang became such an
incredible performer as far as long range was
concerned. Ground crews of the Eighth Air Force's
357th FG at Leiston, Suffolk, crowd around a
compressed-paper 108 US gal drop tank. With one
of these under each wing the Mustang could escort
US heavy bombers from East Anglia to Berlin and
back, an incredible feat that allowed the bombers
to do their job while the Mustangs could more
than hold their own against any German fighters
they encountered. When the fuel in the tanks was
expended or enemy fighters were encountered,
the tanks would be jettisoned, and many of them
littered the fields of Germany. British papermaking
company Bowater was instrumental in the design
and manufacture of these highly significant
enhancers of the Mustang's capabilities.
USAAF via Roger A. Freeman
Although P-51 Os were delivered to the USAAF
in natural-metal finish, with their wing upper
surfaces sprayed in silver paint, some units
preferred to repaint the upper surfaces of their
aircraft as an aid to camouflage. One such unit was
the 361st FG of the Eighth Air Force. A well-known
P-51D-5-NA, 44-13926/E2-S of the 375th FS, shows
off its recently-painted upper surfaces. The actual
colour used on this and other Mustangs of the
361st FG has been the subject of argument for many
years. Several in-flight colour photographs taken of
these aircraft at the time suggested that the colour
was dark blue, but it is now generally accepted
that the shade was dark green or even regulation
Olive Drab. The extreme nose and spinner are
yellow, the assigned identification colour for the
361st FG. USAAF
Basking in the summer sunshine before 14 August 1944, when it had a taxying accident, early P-51 044-13708 of the 3615t FG shows off the lines of the early
production P-51D Mustang, without the dorsal 'fin fillet'. A P-51D-5-NA named Duchess of Manhanan, it was assigned to the 374th FS of the 361st FG at Bottisham
in Cambridgeshire, and has the regulation yellow extreme nose and spinner assigned to this Group. All of the Eighth Air Force's FGs used coloured noses of one
form or another for identification. This aircraft's pilot was Capt Henry B.Lederer, and the 'Duchess' was his wife, who came from Manhattan. USAAF
With its cockpit canopy partly covered to protect
it from the elements, P-51D-l0-NA 44-14519 has
been sitting idle for some time, as evidenced by
the lowered flaps and the large wheel-door covers
just visible behind them, showing that hydraulic
pressure has bled off. The aircraft belonged to the
363rd FS of the 357th FG at Leiston, Suffolk, and had
the unit's red-and-yellow nose and spinner colours.
Named Daisy Mae, it was usually flown by It Alan
Abner. R.l. Ward collection
Fitted with a pair of 108 US gal compressed-paper
drop tanks, P-51 D-l0-NA 44-14495 Dallas Doll of the
352nd FS, 353rd FG of the Eighth Air Force awaits
its next mission. Based at Raydon in Suffolk, the
aircraft wears the black and yellow nose and
spinner markings of that Group. It was flown by It
Frank Bouldin, Jr. USAAF
Just as significantly, the P-51D had
a new engine. For some time Packard
had been working towards introducing a
slightly different version of the V-16S0,
and this was produced as the V-1650- 7 spe-
cifically for the P-Sl D. Generally similar
to the V-16S0-3 of the P-S1B/C, it had
improved and altered supercharger drive-
gear ratios, slightly different connecting
rods, and detail differences. Most impor-
tantly it was able ro deliver 1,nOhp with
maximum boost (with a war emergency
rating of +181b boost available for short
periods), and 1,490hp for take-off, giving
the P-S1D a maximum speed of 437mph
The whole gun installation was also
significantly changed. The four-gun,
canted installation of the P-Sl B/C that
had caused so many problems in service
was completely replaced by a six-gun
arrangement. This comprised three O.Sin
M2 Brownings in each wing, in line with
the leading edge, in an upright position.
This virtually eliminated gun jamming
during manoeuvring at a stroke. The
ammunition bays and related hatches in
the wings had to be changed to suit the
new arrangement. The 8S US gal fuselage
fuel tank introduced on the later P-S1B
was installed as standard in the P-S1D.
opportunity ro incorporate several other
changes that combat experience had
shown to be necessary. One concerned
the sorting out of the armament problems,
particularly gun jamming. The P-SID's
wing, although being of the same span as
that of all previous Mustangs, was altered
in several respects, and some adjustment
of the geometry of the main undercar-
riage also rook place. Most importantly,
the wing structure was strengthened ro
allow a bomb of up to 1,000lb ro be carried
under each wing, and a stronger pylon just
outboard of the main undercarriage was
introduced.
98
99
The Eighth Air Force produced many high-scoring
air aces during the major air battles that took place
over Germany in 1944 and early 1945. Among them
was Lt Col John C. Meyer of the Eighth Air Force's
352nd FG. One of Meyer's several Mustangs is
seen here, P-51 0-10-NA 44-14151, Petie 2nd, coded
HO-M. It has the distinctive dark blue nose and
spinner of the 352nd FG, together with the unusual
style of representing the aircraft's code letters that
was prevalent in this Group, with the aircraft's
individual letter on the fin. Meyer was one of the
top exponents of the Mustang, scoring twenty-one
aerial victories (plus others while flying the P-47)
as well as thirteen ground victories. His eventual
score was twenty-six aerial victories. like a
number of Second World War fighter pilots he also
served in the Korean War, flying F-86A Sabres.
USAAF
(703km/h) at 25,000ft (7,600m). Thi was
just slightly less than the P-51BI ,and
indeed the V- J650- 7 was a lower-altitude-
rated engine, but the overall gain in power
improved all-round performance, includ-
ing the all-important take-off figures_
With twO 1,0001b bombs or two 10 S
gal drop tanks the P-51D took off with
more power compared with the P-51B.
Nevertheless its rate of climb was not as
good as that of the P- 51 B, mainly because
it wa som 45 Ib (200kg) heavier under
some operational loading . The maximum
range, however, was at lea t 1,65 mile
(2,65 km).
The P-5ID began repla ing the
P-51B on the Inglewood production
line in February 1944, and was intro-
duced at Dallas to super ede the P-51C
from eptember 1944. The P-5ID was
built under several NAA designations:
A-I 6, '19, 'Ill, '122 and '124. The
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
P-51K was the -111. Produ tion
totalled 7,956 P-51Ds (incluJing 1,454
at Dallas) and 1,337 P-51K . In addition,
ten Dallas-built P-SIDs were completed
as two-seat TP-51 0 and, as related later
in thi chapter, there were al 0 dedicated
reconnais ance conver ions under the F-6
designation. The TP-51D had full dual
controls, the rear oc upant being seated
in the space where the 85 U gal fu e-
lage fuel tank and radio equipment would
normally have been, the latter being relo-
cated.
everal more two-seat trainer Mustangs
were also produced, it is believed as field
modifications, and long after the war a
numberof two-seat conver ions were made
by Temco and Cavalier (of which more
later, in hapter ). one of the e should
be confused with the unit-modified two-
seat P-51 BI used a operational train-
ers, 'hacks', joy-riders and beer-carriers by
100
One of the most colourful and eyecatching
Mustangs of all was P-51 0-20-NA 44-72218 Big
Beautiful Doll, the personal mount of John O.
landers, who flew with several FGs in Europe
and the Pacific and was eventually CO of the
Eighth Air Force's 78th FG at Duxford. This iconic
aircraft epitomizes the flamboyant and aggressive
flyers who took the Mustang to war and achieved
such great success, not just in Europe but in all
areas where the P-51 fought. Big Beautiful Doll
bore landers' then-rank of lt Colon the canopy
frame and carried the full late-war markings of
the 78th FG. The nose markings were black and
white, edged in red, and the rudder was black.
Commanding the 78th FG from February 1945,
landers achieved the rank of full colonel in May
1945. R.l. Ward collection
Eighth Air For e Mustang roups late in
World War Two.
The new teardrop-canopied, six-gun
P-SIDs started arriving in England for
the Eighth Air Force in May and June
1944. By then Europe had the priority for
new Mu tang deliverie , as the Mustang
increasingly proved its worth in air-to-air
combat over northwest Europe. The first
of th new aircraft found their way into
the hands of group and squadron com-
manders, who used the new big view from
the cockpit to keep an eye on their own
fighters, the bombers they were defend-
ing, and the overall picture of air battle as
they took place. In practice the P-SI 0 was
found to be just slightly slower than the
P-51 B/C at altitude, but its strengthened
wing allowed greater loads to be carried.
Indeed, much later in P-Sl 0 production
'zero-length' mountings for up to five
unguided air-to-ground RP were incorpo-
rated on the production line. (In theory,
three RPs ould be carried in addition to
the usual pylon ju t outboard of the main
undercarriage legs, or all five if the pylon
was not atta heeL)
The P-5IKs began arriving in England
in the autumn or early winter of 1944. In
practice, at oJlerational level, the earlier
P-SI B/C continued to erve well into the
P-SI D/K era, and very often squadrons
would fly mixed formations of the two dis-
ti n t types. Some pilot a tuall y preferred
the P-51 B/C, while many new pi lots arri v-
inglaterin 1944 or early 1945 flew nothing
but P-SIDs. In the field some P-SIB/C
airframe were re-engined as maintenance
demanded with the newer V-1650-7, and
it seem likely that ome P-SID ended
up wi th the carl ier V-1650-3 for the same
rea on. Later P-SIDs and P-5IKs were
also fitted with an ex client new gun ight,
the K-14, whi h was a major advance on
previous equipment. A computing 'gyro-
scopi ' gun ight that wa a significant
aid in deflection shooting, it gradually
replaced the previous -9 reflector ight
used in ome P-Sl B/Cs and early P-5IDs
(the earl ier N-3Bsight was standard for the
P-SIBandP-51 ).TheK-14wasanoth r
British contribution to the Mu tang story,
a it was based upon a Briti h de ign and
originally used in bomber gun turrets. A
bulky piece of equipment, it wa difficult
to position on the coaming above the
Mu tang's in trument panel. Eventually
an installation pioneered by the 357th FG
gained widespread acceptance.
However, 10 of the high fuselage line
behind the cockpit made the P-51 0 erie
rather a handful as far a directional sta-
bility wa concerned. This problem had
LO G-RA GE ESCORT
already been apparent in the P-5IB and
P-SIC serie, Merlin-engine Mu tangs
in general being omewhat 'wilder' to fly
than their Allison-engine counterparts
with their beautiful handling qualities.
orth American tried a number of solu-
tions, but the one that appeared to be the
be t was the addition of a dorsal exten ion
from the fin leading edge. This dorsal fin
was introduced on the production line later
in 1944, but ome air raft in the initial
44-13. .. eries were retrofi tted wi th it in
the field. As described elsewhere, a similar
extension was also tried out on the P-Sl B
and P-51 erie, tailored to the different
rear fuselage line of those model.
Later production 1-51 D/Ks incorpo-
rated a number of further minor equip-
ment or instrumentation improvements
compared with earlier production aircraft,
some as the result of combat experience.
Most signifi antly, however, virtually all
tho e who flew the P-5 10 in combat found
it superb. It combined range, speed and
manoeuvrability in an excellent airframe
that wa ea ily the match of any pi ton-
engined fighter it came acro . Moreover,
if speed could be built up in a dive, or it
adversary could be lured into a turning
dogfight, the Mu tang could al 0 battle it
out with a new menace in the skies over
Europe, th early German jets. Truly, the
Mustang had grown into a magnificent
fighting machine.
Mustangs and Jets
The prowes of the aggreSSively-flown
-operated Mustang escort was there-
fore not imply re tricted to often suc-
101
lieutenant Colonel John D. landers in the cockpit
of his P-51D-20-NA, 44-72218/WZ-1 Big Beautiful
Doll, of the 78th FG. landers was one of the highest-
scoring Eighth Air Force pilots, with 14.5 aerial
victories and twenty ground-strafing victories,
although six of the aerial victories were achieved
in the Pacific while flying Curtiss P-40Es with the
49th FG. R.l. Ward collection
cessful dealings with the
piston-engined fighters. in the back-
ground to the air war raging over con-
tinental Europe as 1944 wore on, a
threat wa materializing in the form of
the advanced aircraft type that German
engineers and de igners were developing.
In the summer of 1944 the Me serschmitt
Me 262, powered by two Junkers ]umo
004 turbojet engines, made it combat
debut, as did the rocket-powered Me 16 .
The jet age was dawning, and in the long
term this was bad new for the Jli ton-
engine fighter. Ithough combat aircraft
such as th Mu tang were the ultimate
expre ion of the piston-engined fighter,
the jet engi[ e threat ned to cause the
type' eclipse very soon. The jet air raft
of the ummer of 1944 onwards were not
I articularly Ie, fuel-efficient or com-
bat-ready, but they were a udden shock
to the Allies and definitely represented
the shape of things to com.
In the skies over Europe during the
summer and autumn of 1944 the opening
encounters took place between the
merican e cort fighter ami the fir t
German jets. The e advan ed aircraft
could have po d a considerabl threat
to the growing lIied air suprema yover
mainland Europe, had they been availa Ie
in signifi an t numbersordeveloped further
from their initially rather rude form.
Th operational fighter ver ion of the Me
262, the Me 262A-la, had a top pe d of
54 mph ( 70km/h) at 19,6 5ft (6,000m),
while the Me 163B could reach the then
incredible speed of 593mph (954km/h)
at 29,500ft (9,000m), although the latt r
could only manage thi for hort periods
owing to it criti ally hort endurance on
full power. The Me 163wa al odangerou
to operate, its volatil liquid fuels posing a
considerable risk to it ground crew and
pilots.
Nevertheless, the e new fighter
presented a potentially large threat to
the Allies, and when u ed against U
bombers and fighter th y tarted to
score uccesses. Among the first casual-
ties were three 352nd FG Mustangs that
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
---_._------------------------------
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
Captain Reps P. Jones of the 77th FS flies P-51 D-
lO-NA 44-l4823/LC-F Miss Miami. As a carry-over
from the days when the 20th FG flew P-38s, many
of the unit's Mustangs carried geometric symbols
on their fins to signify which squadron they
belonged to, in addition to the assigned squadron
code letters. Arthur E. Sevigny,
20th FW Association
When the individual Eighth Air Force fighter
Groups were given responsibility in late 1944/
early 1945 for operational training and theatre
indoctrination for new incoming pilots, it was
left to the Groups themselves to sort out just what
aircraft they would assign to their so-called
'Clobber Colleges'. This resulted in some bizarre
conversions of war-weary retired P-51s into
'trainers'. One truly unique example was this
20th FG P-51B, which had two Malcolm hoods.
There was not a lot of room in the rear cockpit
for the second occupant, who hopefully was
not claustraphobic. Here the two-seater flies
alongside a normal P-5l Din the vicinity of the
20th FG's base at King's Cliffe.
Arthur E. Sevigny, 20th FW Association
An interesting formation of 77th FS P-51 Ds,
Lieutenant Robert King is flying his P-51 D-5-NA,
44-13687, coded LC-B and named Dizzy Rebel,
at the rear of the formation, The photograph
was taken while the Mustangs were flying
near Deenethorpe village in the vicinity of their
base at King's Cliffe, Northamptonshire. No
two examples of the aircraft are alike as far as
the presentation of their various markings are
concerned, and some look distinctly war weary.
Mustang LC-J, in the centre right of the picture,
has had its wings painted 'in the field' with dark
green or Olive Drab paint; P-51Ds were delivered
in natural-metal/silver finish.
Arthur E. Sevigny, 20th FW Association
A pleasing in-flight formation of three P-51Ds
of the 20th FG's 77th FS, carrying 108 US gal
compressed-paper long-range fuel tanks
beneath their wings. They are 44-14975/LC-K,
44-15605/LC-M and 44-15321/LC-S, all from the
NAA Inglewood P-51D-15-NA production block.
Arthur E. Sevigny, 20th FW Association
problems that beset this big, twin-engine fighter in the
cold, damp and thin air over northwest Europe. The P-38
was far better at lower altitudes, and the Group excelled
at ground attack as apart of its escort missions, and also
flew cover over the invasion fleet in the English Channel
during the D-Day period
In July 1944, in line with the continuing policy for the
FGs of the Eighth Air Force to standardize on the P-51,
the 20th received its first Mustangs at King's Cliffe. The
20th flew its last all-P-38 mission on 19 July 1944, and
the next day operated a mixed force of Lightnings and
Mustangs. The last Lightning mission was flown on 21
July. The first all-Mustang mission was flown on 24
July 1944, when fifty-four Mustangs took to the air from
King's Cliffe Thereafter the Mustang proved as useful to
the 20th as it did to every other unit that flew it in action,
and the Group performed the whole range of bomber
escort missions as well as shooting-up anything on
the ground that presented itself as a target. During the
first month of operations with P-51s the Group claimed
seventy German aircraft. This was virtually the same
number that it had destroyed from February 22 to July
21, 1944, while flying P-38s, underlining the Mustang's
superiority. Pilot losses were considerably fewer as
well. Some escort missions were subsequently of seven
hours' duration, whereas the average mission time for
the Lightning had been 4hr 2min. It was found that the
Group's Mustangs could escort the heavy bombers to
Berlin while drawing fuel only from their 108 US gal
external fuel tanks, and after dropping them still have
over four hours-worth of internal fuel. In September 1944
the Group provided cover, along with many other Allied
aerial assets, for the massive Allied airborne operation
to capture key bridges in Holland over the river Rhine.
Indeed, the Group was involved in all the major Allied
operations as the war ran into 1945, including air cover
for the Allied ground forces opposing the Germans'
Ardennes offensive, escorting the heavy bombers, and
also adding to the generally deteriorating war situation
in Germany with attacks on many Luftwaffe airfields
and other military targets as a part of the escort work.
On 10 April 1945 the 20th formed a part of the escort
on the heavy bombers' Oranienburg raid, which drew
determined attacks by Messerschmitt Me 262 jet fight-
ers.ln aseries of air battles the 20th's pilots claimed five
of the jets, while elements of the Group shot up several
airfields in the Potsdam and Brandenburg areas to the
west of Berlin, claiming the destruction of fifty-five
Luftwaffe aircraft on the ground. Work of such success
and intensity would not have been possible in the P-38,
but was just asmall but significant part of the havoc that
P-51 s from all the Eighth Air Force's Mustang Groups
were achieving at that time. The war ended with the
20th FG's overall score of aerial victories standing at
The 20th FG
colourful times for the few pursuit units of the USAAC,
with little possibility of the huge overseas deployment
of US aerial assets that became a reality only a few
years later.
In 1939 the 20th was redesignated the 20th Pursuit
Group (Fighter!. and became the 20th Pursuit Group
(Interceptor) in 1941, the latter representing the growing
need for interceptor fighters if the Second World War
ever travelled as far as the continental USA. The final
wartime title of 20th FG was adopted in 1942. By then
the unit had long since ended its use of the P-36, and
had started flying its successor, the Curtiss P-40. Some
P-39s were also flown by the 20th FG, as the unit served
primarily as an air defence organization in response to
the fears of aJapanese assault on the continental USA
following the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.
During 1942 and into 1943 the unit moved to several
different bases in the continental USA before its final
major move to March Field, California, in January 1943.
The arrival at March Field coincided with the Group tran-
sitioning to the Lockheed P-38, the aircraft with which it
would eventually enter combat. The Group was finally
assigned for service in England, and Group personnel
sailed for Europe aboard the famous ocean liner Queen
Elizaheth in August 1943. The 20th's HQ was established
at its one and only airfield in England, King's Cliffe in
Northamptonshire, by the end of the month, the group
remaining there until October 1945.
At the time of its assignment to the Eighth Army Air
Force the 20th FG comprised the 55th, 77th and 79th
FSs. The Group was initially equipped with P-38Hs at
King's Cliffe, and flew its first missions, in concert with
the P-38-equipped 55th FG, late in 1943. As more P-3Bs
became available (they were initially in short supplYI
the 20th began to play its part with P-38Js in the vital
role of escort work for the Eighth Air Force's bombers,
and also used the Lightning for many strafing attacks
on enemy airfields and other targets. The Group was
awarded a Distinguished Unit Citation for its role in this
dangerous occupation on 8 April 1944. The 20th did the
best it could with the P-38, but experienced many of the
Of the fifteen operational FGs in the Eighth Army Air
Force that flew on bomber escort duties under VIII FC,
fourteen were eventually equipped with the P-51. Only
one, the 56th FG, continued to fly the P-47 throughout
its operational wartime career. The highly successful
operational record of tho e fifteen FGs was especially
significant in the context of the wider war because
their bomber escort duties effectively saved the Eighth
Air Force's strategic bombing campaign over northwest
Europe, and that campaign made a significant contribu-
tion to the eventual Allied victory in 1945. But for the
escort fighters, the US daylight bombers may well not
have prevailed. This was a hard lesson for the many in
the Army Air Forces who had long advocated the role
of the heavily defended bomber, which they argued
would always reach its target without the need for
fighter cover. Clearly the Germans had not read that
script. In concert with the equally successful escort
fighters in the Fifteenth Army Air Force operating in the
Mediterranean area and southern Europe, the escort
fighters of the Eighth were massively successful in
taking on the Luftwaffe and beating it over its own
homeland. The Eighth Air Force's escorts sometimes
worked with fighters from the Ninth Air Force and the
RAF, who also performed escort duties with Mustangs
for the US strategic bombers (in addition to carrying out
many other tasks, as described elsewhere).
Each Group of the Eighth Air Force eventually became
a part of this winning team, but although they all con-
tained the usual three squadrons, each of the FGs was
different in its lineage, original creation and postwar
fate. One of the Groups that had existed before the US
entry into World War Two was the 20th FG Originally
placed on the active list as the 20th Balloon Group in
October 1927, it became the 20th Pursuit Group in 1929.
Activated in November 1930, it was originally equipped
with the Boeing P-12 biplanes, and based at Mather
Field, California. Later moving on to the Boeing P-26
monoplane, the 20th subsequently became asignificant
user of the advanced and forward-looking Curtiss P-36
Those final years of peace in the later 1930s were
102 103
lieutenant John B. Lee of the 79th FS at the
controls of P-51 D-15-NA 44-15198/MC-L-bar,
inscribed E.K. and Jay Bee/Suzanne on the port
side of the nose and Geronimo on the right.
The 20th FG received a considerable number of
Mustangs from the P-51D-15-NA production block
when it transitioned to the Mustang from the P-38
in the summer of 1944. The 'L-bar' underlining of
this aircraft's individual letter 'L' signified that it
was the second 'L' in that squadron.
Arthur E. Sevigny, 20th FW Association
Aclose-up of the artwork on June Nite, with a
thoughtful-looking Ernest Fiebelkorn. Also of note
are the famous 'piano keys' that formed a part
of the assigned nose identification for the 20th
FG. This Mustang had the shaped metal shroud
around all six exhaust stacks on each side of the
nose; some P-51s had this shroud fitted, others
did not. Arthur E. Sevigny, 20th FW Association
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
The 20th FG's top-scoring air ace was the
giant 1st Lt (later Capt) Ernest Fiebelkorn, with
nine confirmed aerial victories, 8.5 of these in
Mustangs. His assigned aircraft was this Dallas-
built P-51D-5-NT, 44-11161, coded LC-N. As can
be seen, Fiebelkorn was rather tall. The dark
circle immediately behind him is the fuel filler
point for the Mustang's fuselage fuel tank.
Arthur E. Sevigny, 20th FW Association
104
2115, a fairly modest total compared with some of the
other FGs, but a part of the overall picture of unrivalled
superiority achieved by the Mustang. Ground victory
claims were 237. The 20th FG's top-scoring air ace was
the giant Capt Ernest Fiebelkorn, with nine confirmed
aerial victories, 8.5 of these in Mustangs.
The end of the war saw the 20th continue to be sta-
tioned at King's Cliffe for several months, but the Group
was deactivated on 18 October 1945 and its remaining
personnel returned to the USA, via the famous Camp
Kilmer in New Jersey. That was by no means the end of
are believed to have been shot down by
Me 163s in early August 1944. It was the
Mustang, however, alone among Allied
fighters, that probably had the most real-
istic chance of taking on these new fight-
ers, and the very first to be brought down
fell to the guns of a P-51 on 16 August
1944. On that day Eighth Ai r Force heavy
bombers raided targets in southeastern
Germany, and were covered by a number
of fighter groups, including the Mustang-
operating 359th FG from East Wretham,
Norfolk. Among the Luftwaffe aircraft
that responded to the raid were several
Me I63Bs of JG 400. A number of them
intercepted the B-17s that the 359th was
protecting. 0 piston-engined fighter,
not even a Mustang, could conceivably
catch an Me 163 with its rocket motor
running, but the machine had a short
endurance due to its limited fuel capac-
ity and high burn rate. The 359th FG's
Lt Col John Murphy and his wingman,
Lt Cyril Jones, caught two Me 163s as
they manoeuvred, presumably with their
power off, to engage the bombers. Jones
scored hits on one, apparently without
result, but Murphy was able to engage in
a turning fight with the second. The tail-
less German fighter could not hope to out-
turn a Mustang, and Murphy shot down
his quarry to record the first success of
the Eighth Air Force over the new breed
of German fighters. Murphy was flying
P-510- 5- A 44-13966, coded CS- K, on
that significant mission.
On 29 August the first Me 262 jet
fighter was destroyed by Eighth Air Force
figh ters when P-47D Thunderbolts of the
78th FG from Duxford caused one of the
German jets to crash-land near Brussels,
after a chase in which no shots were fired
but in which the heavy Thunderbolts had
dived on the Me 262 and caught up with
their quarry. The kill was shared by Maj
Joe Myers, COof the 82nd F ,and another
78th FG pilor. Diving in the direction of
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
the story, however. Like several other Mustang groups,
the 20th was born again in 1946, being reactivated
on 29 July, and for a short time flew Mustangs at its
new base in the USA at Biggs Field, Texas, and several
months later at Shaw Field, South Carolina. The 20th
entered the jet age when it re-equipped with Republic
F-84 Thunderjets, and was redesignated the 20th FBG
in January 1950. There followed a long spell back in
Europe. Moving to Wethersfield in mid-1952, the 20th
became a part of a new postwar US command, the
USAFE, and its association with Europe continued during
an Me 262 and thus building up speed was
one of the best ways of engaging these fast
aircraft, but other means were discovered,
including attacking them at their poten-
tially most vulnerable moments. The first
major combat success by Mustangs over
the Me 262 came on 7 October, when Lt
Urban Drew of the 361st FG from Little
Walden, Essex, shot down two. On this
occasion Drew used a tactic that was to
become an important means of combat-
ting the German jets, catching them at
or near their own bases when they were
landing or taking off. Flying his colourful
P-51 D-15-NA, 44-14164, coded E2-Dand
named Detroit Miss, Drew caught the Me
262As as they were taking off from their
home airfield of Achmer and brought
them both down.
Although this proved to be one of the
best ways to combat the German jets, it
sometimes came at a considerable pric
owing to the impressive array of light
anti-aircraft weaponry deployed at many
air bases as they came under increasing
attack by the American fighters. Indeed,
so tempting and vulnerable were the Me
262s when landing and taking off that
a number of long-nose Focke- Wulf Fw
190D fighters were assigned specifically
to airfield defence at some Me 262 bases
to tackle any Allied fighters awaiting the
opportunity to strike at the jets. Many of
the initial fighter operations by the fighter-
configured Me 262s (many were diverted
for use as fast fighter-bombers) were
carried out by Kommando Nowotny, a
semi-autonomous operational evaluation
unit led by high-scoring Luftwaffe fighter
ace Walter Nowotny. On 8 November
1944 Nowotny was shot down and killed
in an Me 262A by Mustangs, the kill
being shared by two Eighth Air Force
pilots, one of whom was the 20th FG's Lt
Ernest Fiebelkorn. The top-scoring ace of
the 20th FG with nine aerial victories,
Fiebelkorn sadly lost his life in Korea in
105
several significant periods in the following years. In
the latter stages of the Cold War it was based at RAF
Upper Heyford, with General Dynamics F-111 Eswing-
wing strike aircraft as a Tactical Fighter Wing, but still
retained its three wartime squadrons, the 55th, 77th
and 79th. With such a long pedigree it is no surprise
that the 20th still exists. Currently based at Shaw AFB,
South Carolina, the 20th FW operates the highly potent
Lockheed Martin F-16C, and includes the 55th and 79th
FSs. It is fitting indeed that aunit with such along tradi-
tion should continue to fly to this day.
1950 while flying a nightfighter F-82G
Twin Mustang with the 4th Fighter-All
Weather Squadron. His shooting down
of owotny was illustrative of the ever-
growing problem that the Luftwaffe was
having to face; the loss of valuable and
irreplaceable experienced pilots in what
had become for the Luftwaffe an increas-
ingly deadly air war, even in its own air-
space.
Mediterranean Mustangs
In the Mediterranean and southern
Europe four FGs flew the Merlin Mustang
for bomber escort and related casks: the
31st, 52nd, 325th and 332nd FGs. All
of these had some combat experience
before their time on the Mustang, but
they became Mustang operators specifi-
cally under the the Fifteenth Army Air
Force, the southern Europe equivalent
of the ETO's strategic Eighth Army Air
Force. Activated on I November 1943
from a major reorganization of US air
assets in the Mediterranean Theatre of
Operations (MTO), the Fifteenth ir
Force was planned as a B-24 and B-17
equipped strategic force that would pri-
marily bomb Axis targets in northern
Icaly, the Balkans, and southern and
central Europe, the areas that were out of
reach of the Eighth Air Force's bombers,
except during the 'Frantic' shuttl mis-
sions via bases in the Ukraine. The 31st
and 52nd FGs had started their combat
careers with the Eighth Air For e in
England during 1942, flying Spitfires, but
had subsequently shipped out to orth
Africa later in 1942. They had fought
through the campaign there, and later in
Sicily and Italy, still with Spitfires under
the tactical MTO-based Twelfth Army
Air Force. However, both were eventu-
ally chosen for long-range bomber escort
operations in support of the Fifteenth Air
Force's heavy bombers, it having become
obvious to the leadership of the Fifteenth
that fighter escort was just as necessary in
the MTO as it was in northern Europe.
Many Merlin Mustangs destined for
southern Europe staged through a major
air depot, the 36th Air Depot, at Maison
Blanche in modern-day Algeria. Shipped
by sea, these ai rcraft had to be assembled in
the somewhat spartan conditions in orth
Africa before being ferried to their units,
sometimes by the very pilots who were to
fly them in combat. The 31st FG, com-
prising the 307th, 308th and 309th FSs,
was assigned to the Fifteenth Air Force
in April 1944, and the 52nd, comprising
the 2nd, 4th and 5th FSs, followed during
May. At that time the 31st FG was newly
based at San Savero in Italy, its home for
much bf the rest of the war, while the
52nd was newly installed at Madna, south
of Termoli, again its 'home from home'
for the following months. Both units
were in action straight away, the need for
bomber escort being paramount. The 31st
flew its first big operation on 21 April, a
bomber escort to the infamous Rumanian
oil installations at Ploesti, while the 52nd
A nice formation of Italian-based 308th FS, 31st
FG Mustangs, two of which are immediately
recognizable. The P-510-5-NA 44-13311/HL-C
OKaye was flown by Capt (later Majl Leland P.
Molland, who finished the war with 10.5 aerial
victories, while P-51 0-15-NA 44-15459/HL-B
American Beauty was the personal aircraft of Capt
John J. VolI, the top-scoring ace of the Fifteenth
Air Force, with twenty-one aerial victories, all
achieved in Mustangs. Each aircraft carries the
unit's distinctive diagonal red tail stripes. USAAF
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
flew its first major mission, also to Ploesti,
on 18 May.
Helping the two Groups with their oper-
ational transition on to the Mustang was
Maj James Goodson, a veteran of the RA F
Eagle Squadrons and an accomplished
pilot with the 4th FG in England. While
flying with the 31st FG on 23 Apri I he shot
down two Bf 109Gs between the famous
landmark of Lake Balaton in Hungary and
Wiener eustadt in Austria, the latter
being the bombers' objective. Goodson
stayed with the Fifteenth from 12 April
to 10 May, his two victories on 23 April
contributing to his overall total of four-
teen aerial victories (nine in Mustangs),
plus fifteen ground victories. Both the
31st FG and the 52nd FG were awarded
106
A gathering of representatives from three of the
Fifteenth Air Force's FGs in Italy. Nearest the
camera is a 308th FS, 31st FG P-510 coded HL-Z
and adorned with that Group's distinctive diagonal
red tail stripes, and next to it is a 4th FS, 52nd FG
P-510 coded 'WO'. Next in the line is a red-tailed
332nd FG P-510 with a T on the fuselage. Although
they did not receive media attention like that
lavished on the more glamorous exploits of the
Eighth Air Force's FGs in England, the Fifteenth Air
Force's Mustang Groups in southern Europe made a
significant contribution to the air war over Europe.
USAAF
two Distinguished Unit Citations apiece
for their sterling escort work on behalf of
the Fifteenth Air Force's bombers, which
increasingly had a positive effect on the
effectiveness of the Fifteenth's strategic
bombing effort.
Two further Groups became Merlin
Mustang operators with the Fifteenth Air
Force in the early summer of 1944. They
were the 325th and the 332nd, and with
the existing two groups they formed a part
of the Fifteenth Air Force's 306th Fighter
Wing (FW). Unlike the 31st and 52nd
they had no connections with the Eighth
ir Force. The 325th was already a part of
the Fifteenth Air Force, having operated
P-47s in Italy from late in 1943, primarily
for bomber escort work. In fact the unit
was a veteran of the orth African and
Italian campaigns, having initially oper-
ated PAO Warhawks within the Twelfth
Army Air Force from April 1943. In late
May 1944 the 325th began to convert on
to the Mustang, and its P-5 1s subsequently
sported the famous 'checkertail' yellow-
and-black markings that were the trade-
markofthisGroup. BasedatLesina in Italy,
the 325th (comprising the 317th, 318th
and319th FSs) participated in manyofthe
long-range bombing raids of the Fifteenth
Air Force, the heavies someti mes strik-
ing at targets in Germany itself, includ-
ing distant Berlin. Some of these missions
could easily be of seven hours' duration,
putting strain on aircraft and pilots just as
in northwest Europe, with the added 'pleas-
ures' at the Italian air bases of sometim s
awful weather conditions and less-than-
ideal facilities. The tour of duty for MTO
fighter pilots was also longer than for their
northern Europe counterparts, many flying
300hr-plus before being rotated home.
The fourth and last Fifteenth Air Force
Merlin Mustang unit to enter combat was
the 332nd FG, unique among USAAF
front-line Groups in being predominantly
black-American manned. Originallyoper-
ating P-39s with the tactical Twelfth Air
Force in early 1944, the 332nd converted
on to P-47s for a very brief period before
transitioning to the Mustang in June 1944.
Again assigned to the Fifteenth Air Force
in May 1944, the 332nd unfortunately had
to face a considerable amount of unnec-
essary prejudice, and often its claims for
aerial victories were turned down. The
332nd flew its first major operation on 7
June with the PA7, the customary 'shake-
down' figh ter sweep, in th is case in the
Bologna area. The final mission with
the P-47 was flown on 30 June, by which
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
time several bomber escorts had been
flown. The first major operation with the
Mustang was undertaken on 6 July. The
332nd comprised the 99th, 100th, 301st
and302nd FSs, it being unusual for an FG
to have four assigned squadrons. The 99th
FS had already flown P-40s as a part of the
79th FG in North Africa and Italy. Based
at Ramitelli, the 332nd performed fighter
escorts and ground strafing lik the other
three Fifteenth Air Force Mustang groups,
and gained a Distinguished Unit Citation
for escorting the heavy bombers to Berlin
on 24 March 1945, one of the longest raids
carried out by the Fifteenth Air Force.
Like their counterparts in the ETO,
the Fifteenth Air Force's pilots found
the Mustang ideal for bomber escort and
ground strafing, and it was easily the equal
of any fighters that it encountered in
aerial combat. Over southern Europe this
included Italian and Rumanian fighters in
addition to German, but encounters with
German jets were not uncommon in the
final months of the war. The first Me 262
to be shot down by Fifteenth Air Force
Mustangs was brought down by two pilots
of the 31st FG on 22 December 1944,
while they were on a reconnaissance
over southern Germany. The Fifteenth,
like the Eighth Air Force, flew 'Frantic'
shuttle bombing missions, staging through
air bases in the Ukraine. The first was on
2 June 1944, when the 325th escorted
heavy bombers to Poltava and Mirgorod
(the figh ters landed at Pi ryati n), attack-
ing Debrecen in Hungary on the way.
107
An interesting detail view of the cockpit area of
1st Lt Bob Goebel's P-51. An eleven aerial victories
ace, Robert John Goebel flew with the 308th FS
of the 31st FG from Italian bases during April to
September 1944. He was among many talented
exponents of the Mustang in the MTO, the 31st
FG being one of the crack fighter units of the
Fifteenth Air Force, primarily on bomber escort
work. Some of the Group's Mustangs can be seen
in the background, with the unit's diagonal red
tail stripes prominently displayed. The Mustang in
which Goebel is sitting is P-51 0-5-NA 44-13500 (not
44-13300 as sometimes claimedl. coded HL-O and
named Flying Outchman. USAAF
This initial MTO 'Frantic' ended on 11
June; two further shuttle missions were
flown by the Fifteenth Air Force, one in
July and the final one in August 1944. A
considerable number of pi lots became aces
while flying the Merlin Mustang with the
Fifteenth Air Force, but highest-scoring
of all was Capt John J. Voll of the 308th
FS, 31st FG. As a second lieutenant, Voll
achieved his first aerial victory on 23
June 1944, an Fw 190 north of Bucharest,
Rumania, and his scoring run continued
until 16 November, when he brought
down four German aircraft south of
Aviano in Italy. These gave him a total of
twenty-one aerial victories in the Merlin
Mustang, making him one of the highest-
scoring Mustang pilots of all time in terms
of aerial victories (he was joint second,
with Lt Col John C. Meyer of the Eighth
Air Force's 352nd FG). ppropriately,
one of his assigned Mustangs was P-51D-
15- A 44-15459, coded HL- Band named
merican Beauty.
Tactical Mustangs
In addition to the significant work that
Mustangs performed as bomber escorts in
the ETO and MT , and in successfully
shooting-up many ground targets, such
as airfields, they also played an important
role specifically as a ground-attack air-
craft. Three Groups within the tactical
inth Army Air Force, the 363rd, 354th
and 370th FGs, operated the Mustang
primarily in a dedicated tactical fashion,
although even they were called upon
on occasion to provide escort duties.
As already recounted, the 354th actu-
ally operated with the Eighth Air Force
from December 1943 onwards specifically
on bomber escort work until the Eighth
had enough of its own Mustang Groups.
in reality, such was the pressing need
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
The Mustangs operated by units of the Ninth Army Air Force have tended to receive little attention compared with those of the Eighth. Several FGs flew the P-51
in the Ninth Air Force, including the 370th FG on mainly tactical missions from early 1945 onwards. Activated comparatively late, in July 1943. the 370th comprised
the 401st. 402nd and 485th FSs. Moving to England in early 1944. the Group was at first equipped with P-38s. and was very active during the D-Day period. flying
fighter-bomber missions in support of Allied ground forces. like other tactical units in the Ninth Air Force. the 370th moved to the Continent after D-Day and
followed the Allied advance across Europe. In early 1945. as more and more Mustangs became available. the Group gradually converted to the P-51 D. principally
during February and March 1945. At that time it was based at Y-32 Ophoven!Zwartberg in Belgium. and its Mustangs saw considerable action during the Rhine
Crossing in March 1945. and the drive into the Ruhr. These four photographs are from personnel of the 401st FS during that period. or possibly when the unit was
moving on to Y-99 Giitersloh in Germany. They show the spartan conditions in which tactical units of the Ninth Air Force often had to operate. and the dangers of
working in less-than-ideal operational environments. Photos: via Srecko Bradic
in to provide extra support against tacti-
cal targets in the immediate area of the
ground fighting. Indeed, so important wa
the Eighth Air Force in this phere that,
later in the year, two of it fighter unit,
the 361 t and 352nd FGs, were actually
tationed on the Continent to be near to
the front lines, specifically so that they
could provide tactical support.
A significant part of the 361st moved
from Little Walden to A-64 Saint-Dizier
late in 1944, and came under the control
of XIX Tactical Air Command (TAC),
and in mid-February 1945 relocated into
BelgiumtobebasedatA- 4Chievre .The
352nd FG was normally based at Bodney in
Norfolk, but a major part of its air echelon
moved to Y-29 As h in late 1944 to come
under temporary control of IX TAC,
and thence to Chievres in late January/
early February 1945. The move of both of
these units to the Continent was pecifi-
cally 0 casioned by the German offensive
in the Ardennes, and both Groups were
able to provide much-needed additional
air support to the hard-pressed ground
forces when weather permitted.
nfortunately the deployment had a
particularly tragic consequence. Among
those deployed with the 352nd FG con-
tingent was Maj George Preddy, Jr. At
that time Preddy wa the leading !ustang
ace in terms of aerial victories, with a
tally of21. 33. He had tarted hi combat
career in the Pacific during 1942, but had
opened his impressive list of aerial vi to-
ries in D ember 1943 with the 487th FS
while the 352nd FG was initially flying
P-47s within the Eighth Air Force. The
Group converted on to Mustangs in the
spring of 1944, and Preddy started a sig-
nificant run of aerial victories to add to
the three he had eventually achieved in
Thunderbolt. His considerable prowess
as a fighter pilot was shown on 6 ugu t,
when he shot down six Bf 109 during
a bomber escort mission, one of several
Eighth Air Force pilots to achieve multiple
victories in a single flight. On Chri tmas
Day 1944 Preddy and other pilot of the
352nd deployment were airborne over the
battlefield, and Preddy hot down two Bf
109s southwest ofKoblenz. nfortunately,
while ro sing the front line n ar Liege he
was shot down by ground fire and killed.
Tragically, the gunfire that brought down
his Mu tang came from a U Armyanti-
aircraft battery. 0 one subsequently
bettered Preddy's 23.833 victories in the
Mustang, and to this day h remains the
having been disrupted by bad weather),
and several pilot from the 354th FG gave
the Group a helping hand for the fir t
operation. A number of bomber escorts
were flown, but in mid-April the Group
departed Rivenhall for the advanced
landing ground at taplehurst in Kent,
ready for more tactically-oriented mis-
sions connected to the coming invasion.
Thereafter the 363rd began to move over
to the Continent from late June, although
it was also temporarily involved in com-
batting VI flying bombs, its base in Kent
being under the path of the-e unmanned
devices. Eventually, in late June and early
July 1944, the 363rd moved to A-IS
Maupertus, now the site of Cherbourg
Airport, and used A-7 Azeville from the
following month. The Group used its
Mustangs primarily for tactical missions
in support of U ground forces, but in
late August and early September it role
was completely changed when it became
the 363rd TRG, primarily flying F-6C and
F-6D Mustangs until the end of the war.
The third of the trio of Ninth Air
Force tactical Mu tang Groups was the
370th FG. A long-standing P-3 Group,
this unit started flying Mustangs in the
latter stages of the war. Activated com-
paratively late, in July 1943, the 370th
(comprising the 41st, 4 2nd and 45th
F s) moved to England in early 1944 and
was equipped with P-3 s before, during
and after D-Day, subsequently following
the Allied advance across Europe. In early
1945, as more and more Mustangs became
available, the Group gradually converted
to the P-5ID, principally during February
and March 1945. t that time it was based
at Zwartberg in B Igium, and its Mustangs
saw consid rabl action during the Rhine
Crossing on 24 March 1945, and sup-
ported the 2nd Armoured Division in its
drive into the Ruhr. It fini hed the war at
Y-99 Gutersloh in Germany.
In addition to the e dedicated tactical
a et, it is often forgotten that Eighth Air
Force Mustangs played a highly important
role before, during and after D- Day by per-
forming many tactical mis ions against
German forces in northern France, in
addition to their normal bomber escort
duties. These embraced a wide range of
targets, but importantly included rail and
communications, a the A II ies attempted
to stop German reinforcements reach-
ing the main area of battle in ormandy.
During that time the Eighth Air Force's
heavy bombers were often also brought
ll\'er to the Continent, flying its final mi -
'Ions from La henden on 22 June before
,tarting to move over to A-2 Criqueville
111 ormandy. It was from here, on 4 July
1944, that the 354th mounted a very
'pecial mi ion. everal weeks earlier the
Croup had converted one of its veteran
'\I'ar-weary' P-5IBs, 43-6 77, into a
rwo-seater for in tructional purpose
and joy-riding. However, on 4 July rhis
Mustang was used to fly none other than
the upreme Allied Commander, Gen
Dwight D. Eisenhower, from Criqueville
over the then-fronr lines and particularly
around the Saint-Lo area. The pilot for
rhis epic and rather risky flight was Maj
Gen Elwood Quesada, head of IX Fe.
Subsequently the Mustang was appropri-
ately named The Stars Look Down.
From A-2 Criqueville rhe 354th duly
followed the fighting, and made several
more base moves before ending the
war in Ansbach and Herzogenaurach in
Germany. For a short time the Group
was forced to give up it prized Mustang,
when ir converted on to the P-47 (the fir t
FA7 mission was flown by rhe group on 26
ovember 1944), but normal operations
were re tored when Mustang were again
flown by the Group in combat from 16
February onwards_ In a repeat of its D-Day
operations the 354th, alongside the huge
aerial assets that the Allies could muster
by thar point in the war, flew over for
Operation Varsity, the Rhine Crossing
on 24 March 1945. Perhaps unsurpris-
ingly, the top Mustang aces of the inth
Air Force flew with the 354th FG. At the
head of them was Maj Glenn T. Eaglcston
of the 353rd F , who achieved 18.5 aerial
vicrories in Mustangs between 5 January
1944 (an Fw 190 near Meldorf during
rhe famous Kiel raid that helped estab-
lish the Mu tang a a successful e cort
fighter) and 25 March 1945 (a Bf 109
near A chaffenburg), and a further two
victorie in Korea, flying orth Ameri an
F- 6A abres.
The econd of the inth Air Force's
Mustang Group wa the 363rd FG
(3 th, 3 Ist and 3 2nd F s). Originally
activated March 1943, thi Group
moved to England in late 1943 and
entered combat with the Merlin Mustang
in February 1944. It was based initially at
Keevil in Wiltshire, but from late January/
early February at Rivenhall in Essex. The
Group's first Mustangs did not arrive until
24 January. The first mission was flown on
24 February (previous planned missions
from a rendezvous over Portland acros to
the area of Utah Beach in the early hours
of 6 June. The Mustang staged back via
toney ros in the New Foresr, but flew
their econd mi sion of the day, again
covering paratroop-carrying C-47s, in the
carl y morning of 6 June.
In the following days the 354th was
involved in various dive-bombing attack,
and on 14 June escorted inth Air Force
medium bombersona raid nearCaen. Five
intercepting Bf 109s were shot down on
that occasion. In keeping with other tacti-
cal air assets, the 354th eventually moved
the move to an advanced landing ground
at La henden in Kent, where it was nearer
to the Continent as the pace of tactical
operations picked up during preparations
for the invasion of Europe. evertheless,
the 354th FG continued to escort the
heavy bombers whenever required, and
on 4 May the Group was a part of a major
bomber escort effort to Berlin. D-Day
itself, 6 June 1944, saw the 354th in action
right at the start. On the late evening of
5 June the Group's Mustangs took off to
give cover to Douglas C-47 transports car-
rying airborne rroops and towing gliders
for tactical fighters before, during and
after the D- Day period, that on occasion
Eighth Air Force FG were detached to
operate on purely tactical missions in
addition to their bomber escort work.
After playing such an important role in
introdu ingthe Merlin Mustangtobomber
escort work, the 354lh FG increasingly
reverted to it intended original role of
tactical operations during April 1944. On
IS pril the Group flew its la t mission
from Boxted, a fighter sweep to Luftwaffe
airfields in northern Germany around
Rostock. Gradually the Group then made
108
109
top-scoring Mu tang pilot in terms of
aerial victories. H also had five ground
victories to his credit, and one wonders
how many more aerial victories he would
have achieved if he had not be n brought
down in this disastrous 'friendly fire' inci-
dent.
They Also Served
A number of units that flew the Mu tang
in a combat environment are rarely publi-
cized, and their exploits are littl known.
A typical example is the P-51-operating
weather scouting force of the Eighth
Air Force. Th need for this small but
important organization arose primarily
from the vagaries of the weather over
northwest Europe. All too often, early
Eighth ir Force daylight bombing raids
were thwarted by cloud cover over the
intended target areas, even when it had
been expected that weather would be fine
enough to permit bombing. In tho e far
distant day meteorology was nowhere
near as pr ci e as it is today, and lacked the
large amount of data now available, and
there were certainly nosatell ites to I rovide
an overall picture of the weather in areas
di tant from one' own location. The RAF
already had a functioning weather data-
gathering programme when the Eighth
Air Force began operations in 1942, but
thank to the fforts of several individu-
als, notably Col Bud P aslee, the SAAF
in England eventually al 0 developed its
own organization. This included specially
converted B-17s for long-range weather
reconnaissance, esp cially out over the
Atlantic, de Havilland Mosquitoes bor-
rowed from the British for target-related
flight ov r Occupied Europe, and P-51
Mu tangs. The P-51s were ideal for targ t
weather assessment ahead of the bomber
stream, and were often (but not always)
flown by former bomber pilots who had
converted on to the P-51 at the train-
ing base at Goxhill or, later, at opera-
tional unit level. Goxhill wa home to
the 496th Fighter Training Group, which
provided theatre operational indoctrina-
tion training for newly arrived pilot as
well as more g neral training dutie . Its
assigned Mustang training squadron was
the 555th.
The weather-scout Mustangs would
normally arrive in the target area some
L5min ahead of the leaders of the bomber
stream. They passed vital weather data
LONGRANGE ESCORT
to the raid's lead crews by coded radio
message, and loitered in the target area to
advise oncoming formations on bombing
results, impart information on weather
variations, and provide other relevant
facts such a the extent of mokescreen
and fighter opposition. Being armed and
also escorted by standard Mustang fight-
ers, the weather scouts could hoot their
way out of dangerous situations if inter-
cepted. Their presence in the target area
ah ad of the bombers did not neces arily
reveal the intended target to the German
d fences, because they looked like part
of the normal fighter escort. This made
them more suitable than the Mosquitoes
sometimes u ed for these tasks, often
escorted by Mu tang. The first solely
P-51 weather scouting mission was flown
on 16 July 1944, using a provisional
Flight of Mustangs that had b en formed
at Steeple Morden within the 355th FG,
and in August/September 1944 this FI ight
became the I t outing Force. It subse-
quently moved to Honington to operate
within the 364th FG, one of the Eighth's
fighter units delegated to the B-17-
operating I t Bombardment Division
(later Air Divi ion). Eventually the other
two Bomb Division of the Eighth Air
Force also had their own couting Force.
The B-H-operating 2nd Bomb Division
was assigned the 2nd couting Force based
at teeple Morden with the 355th FG, led
by Lt Col John Brooks, who had formerly
flown Liberators with the 39th BG. The
3rd Bomb Division (originally some B-H
units but eventually all B-17-equipped)
received support from the 3rd Scouting
Force, which flew a a part of the 55th
FG at Wormingford. perations were
mounted in 10 e liai on with the bom-
bardment unit, and often consisted of two
flights of four Mu tang, which included
the weather scouts themselves and their
escorts. Most, if not all, of the Mustang
used were of the teardrop-canopy P-51
type. The Mustanas were generally very
uccessful in this role, and apparently did
not require any specific modifications for
weather scouting, although nothing could
be done on many occa ion about the poor
weather over northwest Europe! The
weather-scout pilot were not intended to
behave as fighter pilots, and were briefed
to avoid combat unle it became neces-
sary. everthele, scouting pilots some-
times had little choi e but to engage in
combat, and seventeen aerial victories
were attributed to them by the end of the
110
war. By then the 1st Scouting Force had
become a part of the 492nd Be's 57th
B (which was attached dire t1y to the
1st Air Divi ion from March 1945), and
had moved to Bassingbourn (home of the
1st Air Divi ion' 91st BG) during that
month, while the 3rd couting Force had,
on paper at lea t, become a part of the
62nd B of the 493rd BG. The e w r
rare ca e of front-line Merlin Mustangs
being on the 'books' of operational bom-
bardment units.
In addition to the Eighth Air Force
weather scouts, the inth Air Force oper-
ated a similar unit that was associated
with Mustangs. This was the 9th Weather
Reconnaissance Squadron (Provisional),
and like its equivalents in the Eighth ir
Force it flew Mustangs ahead of planned
bomber missions (but in this instance
medium-bomber or light-bomber mis-
sions, and ground-attack sorties) to report
on local weather conditions and provide
other relevant information. Its aircraft
usually worked in pairs, one for the recon-
naissance task and one to provide cover.
Originally operating a mix of early-mark
Merlin Mustangs, some of which were
decidedly war-weary, the quadron had a
large influx of P-51 D Mustangs when the
354th FG temporarily operated P-47 late
in 1944 and had to relinquish it beloved
Mustangs.
Operationally, Mustangs were also
used for variou other tasks in the ETO,
most notably a radio relay aircraft. These
Mustangs w r d tailed to orbit well away
from the aerial activity during raids, and
relay radio m ssages as required between
the bomber stream and other Allied air-
craft, or other locations, when required.
There were several reasons for this. The
comparatively primitive state of radio
equipment at that time resulted in com-
paratively short-range capabi Iity, resulting
in the n ed for an airborne relay tation.
With the great distances involved in some
of the bombing raids, the bomber would
in any case b operating well over the
'horizon', nece sitating an airborne relay
point to transmit communications back
to Britain. This was, however, a part of
a mu h wider picture. In the back round
to the day-to-day aerial activity that was
taking place, countermeasures were often
being found to jam or redirect radio com-
munications, and the Allies needed to
keep pace with German attempt to listen
in to and jam Allied communi ations.
The radio relay aircraft were not immune
from interception, and this was why a
high-performance type like the Mustang
was used for the role.
The training of pilots to fly lerlin
Mustangs wa initially undertaken by
.1 number of fighter training group in
the continental A, with in-th atre
Indoctrination taking place at dedicated
local training unit. In the , several
training group had Mustangs on their
hooks, particularly as the type became
more numerous when deliverie of Merlin
Mustang increased. nits such as the
,nnd FG at Esler Field, Loui iana, and
the 53rd FG at Fort Myers, Florida, had
Merlin Mustangs on their roster. Within
the Eighth Air Force in England, the
496th Fighter Training Group at Goxhill
provided theatre operational indoctri-
nation training for newly arrived pilots.
However, in late I944/early L945 the
individual Eighth Air Force F were
given responsibility for operational train-
ing and theatre indoctrination for new
incoming pilots. This initially appeared to
be an extra burden that the roup could
do without, but eventually it became a
valuable part of each Group's activities,
and new pilots were able to assimilate the
particular procedure and spirit of their
new posting much more easily. Mo t, if
not all, of the fourteen Mustang FG in
the Eighth Air Force converted a small
number of war-weary P-51 B/Cs into two-
seaters to help with this proce s.
LONGRANGE ESCORT
Mustangs Triumphant
There can be little loubt, if any, that the
advent of the Mu tang a an e cort fighter
in the Eighth Air Force saved th
trategic bombing campaign over north-
west Europe. That campaign went from
strength tostrength as 1944 continued, the
bomber consistently getting through to
thei r targets despi te the be t efforts of the
Luftwaffe, with which the Mustang were
always able to cope. In general, the greatest
danger to the bombers became anti-aircraft
fi re (it had been a danger from the fi rst),
which could not be combatted in any par-
ticularly successful way. But the Mustang
was always on a par with any piston-engine
fighters the Luftwaffe operated, even the
excellent inline-engined Fw 190D that
began operations in eptember 1944.
A considerable number of S pilots
became aces wh iIe fl yi ng the Mustang
in air-to-air combat, and the action of
Mustang pilots in atta king anything that
moved on the ground as a part of their
e cort duties en ured that the Germans
were always under pressure. Co-operation
with the oviet nion following com-
plicated negotiations had resulted in the
Eighth Air Force flying everal 'Frantic'
huttle mi sions in the ummer of 1944,
in which the Mustang's great range had
allowed Soviet air bases in the kraine to
be reached by the fighter in concert with
the heavy bombers.
111
Of the seven 'Frantic' shuttle missions
flown, four were performed by the Eighth
ir Force. The first was in June/July 1944
(21 June to 5 July), and entailed the
heavy bombers of the 3rd Bomb Divi ion
carrying on to I taly after topping over
in the Ukraine. The fighter force for this
first 'Frantic' comprised the three squad-
rons of the 4th FG (the 334th, 335th and
336th F s), together with a quadron of
the 352nd FG. The total flight time for
the fight rs between the 4th FG's base at
Debden in E sex and the krainian air
base at Piryatin was almost seven and a
half hours. Although other FG covered
the bombers and then returned to England,
the bombers flew on with their escort
from the 4th FG after bombing a ynthetic
oil factory south of Berlin. The escorting
Mustangs had to fight off some erman
fighters over Poland, and the whole force
then landed in the Ukraine, the bombers
heading for Poltava and Mirgorod. ome
Mustang ground crews had flown in the
bombers to give maintenance cover for
the fighters after landing, before the next
leg of the mission on 26 June. Before
then, however, the Germans success-
fully bombed the airfields at Poltava and
Mirgorod, inflicting sub-rantial losses on
the parked B-17s, some eventy being
destroyed or badly damaged. This made
the operation the costliest endeavour of
the Eighth ir Force's whole bombing
campaign, although casualti s among
per orlllel on th ground were mercifully
light. The remaining bombers and fight-
ers then made their way to Italy on 26
June, the Mustangs landing at Lucera.
(Two Mustangs were left b hind in the
kraine.) The Mustangs then e corted
Fifteenth Army Air For e heavy bombers
Illustrating the fact that different marks of Merlin
Mustang often flew together in combat. this neat
formation from the Eighth Air Force's 339th FG
includes three P-51 Ds in company with a Malcolm
hood-equipped P-51 B. The aircraft are from the
505th FS of the 339th FG, up from Fowlmere, and
sport that Group's distinctive red-and-white nose
and spinner markings. Nearest the camera is
Pauline. P-51 D-20-NA 44-72437 coded 6N-C, the
assigned aircraft of Maj (later It Coil Joseph Thury.
the squadron CO. Thury began using this particular
Mustang in the spring of 1945, following a previous
Pauline, which dates the picture to that period and
illustrates the fact that P-51Bs were still current as
front-line types even at that late stage. Joe Thury
was a famed strafing ace, amassing an eventual
total of 25.5 ground victories plus 2.5 aerial
victories. Steve Ananian, 339th FG Association
LONG-RA GE ESCORT LO G-RA GE ESCORT
marauding Allied fighters, all had a seriou
effect on the Luftwaffe's ability to wage
war succe fully. Moreover, the Allie
were waging an increasingly succe sful
bombing campaign against Germany'
oil and aviation-fuel indu try, and there
were rippling losses of experienced and
capable pilots. Thus the Luftwaffe wa in
an increasingly difficult position as the
war rea hed its critical stages. But it wa
certainly not a beaten force even as 1945
air uperiority over the battlefield and in
general in the wider air war was becoming
almost universal. The dispersed German
aircraft industry continued producing
fighters in large number, but the inferior
quality of many of these aircraft due to
poor manufacturing pra tices and quality
control, the effects of Allied bombing of
factories and parts suppl iers, and the dif-
ficulty of delivering the finished machines
to operational units owing to numerous
In late 1944/early 1945 the individual FGs of the Eighth Air Force were given responsibility for operational training and theatre indoctrination of new incoming
pilots. allowing the inexperienced pilots to assimilate the particular procedures and spirit of their new posting much more easily. Most, if not all, of the fourteen
Mustang FGs in the Eighth Air Force converted a small number of 'war-weary' P-51 BICs into two-seaters to help with this process in their so-called 'Clobber
Colleges'. Some of the trainers were, however. kept as single-seaters, including this 55th FG P-51B-l-NA, 43-12438, which has an added 'fin fillet' and wears
that Group's 338th FS 'Cl' code, The training Mustangs were generally individually coded in a different manner to the operational Mustangs, as shown by the '5'
number on this crashed example. Many wore the letters 'WW' on their tails to signify their retired or 'war-weary' status. USAAF
Wearing the 'WZ' code letters of the 78th FG's
84th FS. this War-Weary' P-51 B has had a mishap,
probably during the early part of 1945. The use
of 'retired' front-line Mustangs for training was
of great importance, and not just for new pilots
joining a FG. Some Groups, like the 78th. only
started to fly the Mustang operationally quite late
in the war, and considerable familiarization flying
was required even for some established pilots
before combat could be undertaken. The 78th was
a successful user of the P-47 to the final weeks
of 1944, before transitioning completely to the
Mustang. USAAF
on 2 July, before the whole force returned
to England on 5 July. This had been
something of a logistical nightmare, and
the 4th FG 10 t one of it fine t pilots
Juring a foray into the Balkans on 2 July,
when Lt Ralph Hofer wa shot down and
killed near Mostar in Yugo lavia, With
a score of fifteen aerial victories (thir-
teen in Mustangs) he was one of the
top aces in the Group, and was the only
high-scoring Eighth Air Force pilot to be
killed in aerial combat during the war.
Three more 'Frantic' shuttles were flown
by the Eighth Air Force, in ugust and
September 1944, again with Mu rang
providing fighter cover.
By the latter stages of 1944 II ied
ground forces were closing in on Germany
itself from the west and east, and Allied
Several Eighth Air Force units flew other fighter
types before transitioning to the Mustang. One was
the 364th FG at Honington, Suffolk. which entered
combat with P-38s before flying P-51s in combat
from July 1944. Some of the unit's pilots achieved
aerial victories on both types, including Capt
Ernest Bankey. Jr. Originally flying P-38s and then
Mustangs with the 385th FS. Bankey later flew with
the Group's headquarters section and achieved
9.5 aerial victories (8.5 in Mustangs) plus eight
ground victories. He is seen here with Lucky Lady
VII, P-51D-25-NA 44-73045 coded 5E-B. which he
flew late in the war and was piloting when he shot
down two Bf 109s on 16 April 1945. The Mustang
wears the Group's blue-and-white nose markings.
Rear-view mirrors were often a matter of taste;
Bankey preferred the style seen here. USAAF
Allied air power was so successful in establishing
air superiority over German-occupied territory
as the war continued that even German airspace
became a dangerous place for luftwaffe aircraft of
any kind, operational or training. As the Germans
became more desperate some bizarre experiments
were tried out to try to influence the course
of the war. Here a roving 55th FG P-51 Dflown
by 1st It Bernard H. Howes of the 343rd FS has
chanced upon a Mistel guided-bomb combination
of KG 200 near Hagenow. in the form of a piloted
Messerschmitt Bf 109F attached to a Junkers
Ju 88A bomber. on a ferry flight from Kolberg to
Tirstrup in Denmark on 3 February 1945. In this
still from Howes' gun camera a crew member is
very wisely exiting the contraption while Howes
presses home his attack and shoots down the
Heath Robinson device. USAAF
On a rainy day at Base Air Depot 1 at Burtonwood.
lancashire, in early 1945, brand-new P-51D-20-NA
44-72472 shares the flight line with several US
transport types before onwards assignment. The
Base Air Depots at Warton and Burtonwood in
northern England reassembled and prepared
Mustangs that had crossed the Atlantic by sea to
the port of liverpool. for assignment to combat
units or wherever they were needed. In the right
background is a C-47 Skytrain of the Eighth Air
Force's 27th Transport Group. identifiable by the
yellow stripes at the top of its fin.
Gordon Stevens collection
112 113
dawned, and the Allies did not relax the
incessant hammering away at its capabil-
ity and sources of upply. n I January
1945 the Luftwaffe showed that it could
strike back by mounting a major attack
on Allied airfields on the Continent
(Operation BodenJ)/acce) , although the
long-term value of this undertaking was
highly questionable because the Alii s
were easily able to make up the losses,
something the German found much
harder to do.
Nevertheless, on everal occasions later
in 1944 the Luftwaffe had re ponded in
strength to attempt to combat Allied
daylight bombing, and everal major air
battles took place that were reminis-
cent of the big air battles over Germany
in the orening months of the year. On
2 ovember the Luftwaffe attempted
a large-scale interception of 6 3 B-17s
attacking the oil plant at Merseburg, near
Leipzig in eastern Germany, the defend-
ing force including fairly large numbers of
Me 163 rocket fighters. The Germans had
not attempted a large-scale interception
of the heavy bombers for ome time, but
on that day everal epic air battles ensued.
These ended in disaster for the Germans,
Eighth Air Force fighters claiming l34
German aircraft in the air, a total possi-
bly approaching half the attacking force
of ome 300 Luftwaffe fighter. This was
a ignificant defeat, and the Luftwaffe
attempted only three further large-scale
interceptions of the heavy bomber until
the ell' Year, although, to be fair, the
weather hampered many subsequent
operations.
At that time the average number of
fighters available to ea h of the Eighth
Air Force's FGs was eighty-six, and Gen
Doolittle remained con erned that a
major effort by the Luftwaffe to saturate
a bomber mission and bring down more
than a hundred bombers remained a pos i-
bility. In fact, Luftwaffe commanders had
such plans in mind, and it is perhap ju t
as well that these never came to fruition.
Two reason for this were the pounding
that Luftwaffe airfields were often taking
from the marauding American fighters,
and the effect of Allied bombing on oil
supplie .
In an effort to make the escort cover
for the bomber more effective, on I
October 1944 the Fighter Groups of
VLII F had been subdivided into the
65th, 66th and 67th FWs, which were
operationally linked to the 2nd, 3rd and
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
1st Bombardment Divi ions (later Air
Divisions), respectively. This allowed a
simplified chain of command and ea ier
planning of the direct fighter support for
operations, with the Groups within each
FW theoretically escorting the BGs within
its associated Bomb Divi ion. In practice
fighters often upported the bombers from
divisions other than the one to which
they were linked, and in the heat of battle
the fighter would come to the aid of any
bomber that were under attack. In fact,
quite elaborate ystems for the escort had
been devised to allow for penetration,
over-target and withdrawal support, and
by the early weeks of 1945 bomber e cort
had developed into a detailed and well-
tailored proce that was far from the situ-
ation that had existed when the Eighth
Air Force first went to war, without any
e cort at all for its bombers.
On three further occasions in
ovember 1944, on the 21st, 26th and
27th, the Luftwaffe attempted large-scale
interrurtion of the Eighth Air Force's
heavy bombers, and on ea h occasion
the escorting Mustangs and Thunderbolts
ut a swathe through the German fight-
ers. On 27 ovember an estimated 750
sortie were flown by Luftwaffe aircraft,
representing the last real occasion when
the Germans essayed a large-scale attempt
to shoot down the heavy bombers in sig-
nificant number. On that day alone
the escorts claimed at least ninety-eight
German fighter with no losses to the
bombers. Although comparatively large
numbers of bombers were lost on the 21
and 26 November raids, it was obvious
to the American fighter pilots that their
German opponents were, in the main,
very poorly trained, showing very little
knowledge of tactics or leadership.
The four disastrous attempts by the
Luftwaffe to strike a winning blow against
the heavy bombers in ovember 1944,
coupled with imilar failure in July and
September, howed how fruitfully the air
war over Germany and Occupied Europe
was developing for the Allie. On 14
January 1945 the Luftwaffe tried again,
and this was one of the last occasions
when the heavy bombers were put
under large-scale threat over Germany.
One of the target wa Derben, to the west
of Berlin, and a considerable number ofFw
19 sand Bf 109 attempted to intercept
the heavy bombers. An almost complete
rout followed, the escorting Mu tangs
claiming 9.5 victories, and total claims
114
for the raid, including those made by the
bombers' enthusiastic gunner, swelled
the figure to 161. Th is was the highest
total ever claimed for an Eighth Air Force
raid, and although actual Luftwaffe losses
were somewhat lower it was none the less
a crushing blow for the defending German
fighters. mong the high corers that day
wa the 357th FG, which had many suc-
cessful days on bomber escort and claimed
a new record of fifty- ix victories from a
serie of victorious encounter with the
defending fighters.
It was not just in the air that the
merican fighters were gaining impres-
si ve victories. Ground strafing had become
increasingly successful, and it wa not just
airfields that were attacked by the wide-
ranging Mustangs. Just about any target
that seemed of military value was fair
game, and in Fd ruary 1945, as a part of
Operation Clarion, the Eighth Air Force
FGs attacked transportation and com-
munications targets wherever anything
worth shooting at was een. The only low
point for the Mu tang was the increasing
appearance of Me 262As during February
1945, as more of these jet fighters started
to join front-line fighter units, rather
than production of this advanced aircraft
being committed solely to bomber vari-
ant. When aggressively flown, the Me
262A was easily a match for the Mustang
in terms of sreed and overall performance,
but its turning circle was much greater than
the Mustang's, and several Mustang pilots
were able to bring down these impressive
jets in turning dogfights.
Overall, however, Allied air superiority
was almost complete by th is stage of the
war. 1t was extremely dangerous for any-
thing bearing German national insignia
to venture into the skies, and even train-
ing aircraft aprarently well out 0 the way
in southern Germany were highly likely to
find a Mustang on their tails if they dared
venture aloftduri ngdayl igh t hours. Indeed,
most ferrying of German aircraft had to
take place at night, but even on their own
airfields the Luftwaffe's front-line aircraft
were highly vulnerable. Allied strafing
of German airfields reached a crescendo
a the war moved into March and April
1945. If the Luftwaffe was contemplat-
ing any attempt to mount a last-minute
defence, it would have been shattered by
everal incredible attacks by Mustangs
on Luftwaffe airfields at that time. One
of the most noteworthy was on I Apri I.
The German jet fighters had a particularly
successful day against the Eighth Air
Force' heavy bombers, but the Mustang
were waiting for them as they returned
to their airfields, and claims were subse-
quently made for twenty of the advanced
aircraft. However, the real de truction
that day was wrought at everal Luftwaffe
air bases. The 39th FG in particular made
claims for ninety-four destroyed, Lt Col
Joseph Thury adding four to his growing
score. He eventually finished the war in
second place within the rank of Eighth
Air Force ground trafers, with 25.5
destroyed. On 16 April, however, despite
orders that ground strafing should ceas ,
the Eighth Air Force achieved a stunning
victory. Four Mustang Groups, the 4th,
78th, 339th and 353rd FGs, each claimed
over one hundred aircraft de troyed on
the ground, and the day's total claims
ran to 752
1
This was utterly disastrous for
the Luftwaffe, and during the month of
April claims were made for the destruc-
tion of ome 1,400 German aircraft on
the ground. It was truly the end for the
Luftwaffe. The cost, however, had been
high. Many more Mustang pilots were lost
in strafing attacks than were hot down in
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
aerial combat, and the Eighth Air Force'
leading Mu tang sn-afer did not urvive.
He was Lt 01 Elwyn Righetti, CO of the
55th FG, who only entered combat in late
1944 but quickly became legendary for his
strafing atta ks on Luftwaffe airfields. He
eventually achieved 7.5 aerial victories,
but scored twenty- even strafing victories,
including nine on the day that he was shot
down, 17 April 1945.
It is impossible to calculate the exact
number of German aircraft destroyed by
Eighth Air Force Mu tangs, particularly
as claim tended to be higher than actual
erman losse ,buta figure of4, 163 ground
vi tories by all fifteen VIII F Groups in
all aircraft types flown has been Widely
suggested. Aerial victories have similarly
been said to have exceeded five thousand.
The top-scoring Mustang roup was the
4th FG, but the 4th also fl II' P-47s in its
early combat career. In t rms of aerial
victories in the Mu tang alone, the 357th
FG must rank as number one, and its
364th F was one of the highest-scoring
Mustang squadrons of the war, with some
211 aerial victories alone, and at least sev-
enteen aces in its ranks.
115
Normally assigned to Capt John W. Simpson
(ex-356th FGl, P-51D-20-NA 44-72239 was part of
the 1st Scouting Force/857th BS, and is seen on a
captured former luftwaffe airfield. It represents
the exceptional but rarely mentioned work of
the Scouting Force Mustangs in the Eighth Air
Force, which were primarily tasked with weather
scouting in advance of heavy-bomber missions.
Named Zoom Zoozie, this aircraft carries the red
bordering to the vertical tail that was a feature of
1st Scouting Force markings, and a red spinner and
white noseband. USAAF
The historic terminal building and control tower
of Speke Airport, liverpool, provides the backdrop
for a gathering of Mustangs from different sources.
At the end of the war in Europe a considerable
number of Mustangs became redundant overnight.
Many were scrapped, while others were assigned
to the Allied occupation forces in Germany. Some,
a comparatively small number, were returned to
the USA. Several explanations have been offered
over the years to explain this particular gathering,
especially as the aircraft are a real mixed bag. In
the foreground is reconnaissance F-6K 44-12527,
wearing the tail markings and 'Ql' code of the
22nd TRS, 69th TRG, Ninth Air Force (note the two-
camera installation in the rear fuselage). Two other
reconnaissance Mustangs of that Group are also in
the line-up, and behind them is an Eighth Air Force
'CY'-coded P-51D of the 343rd FS of the 55th FG. It
is assumed that the aircraft are being prepared for
return to the USA. USAAF
Reconnaissance Assets
The Allison-engined Mu tang had found
a particular niche for it elf in the 1011'-
level armed TacR role, and it distin-
guished itself greatly in this task with
both the RAF and the AAF. It was a
hard act to follow, but as more Merlin-
engined Mustangs became available, so
reconnaissance versions were developed
and built by A . As mentioned previ-
ously, the reconnai ance ver ions of the
Mustang were de ignated F-6 (F denoting
'Photographic'). The original Allison-
engine reconnai sance-configured P-51
was the F-6A, and the reconnai sance
conversion of the P-5IA wa the F-6B
(not F-6A, as incorrectly claimed in scores
of published sour es). Following on from
the e were three dedicated reconnaissance
models based on the Merlin Mu tangs.
The e were the F-6 reconnai ance con-
figuration based on the P-51 and P-51 Bj
the F-6D reconnaissance versions of the
P-51 Dj and F-6K reconnaissance version
of the P-51 K. These three were not built
as separate versions on their own a sem-
bly lines in A 's factorie , but were
'converted' into reconnai sance configu-
ration on the production line and/or after
completion, as needed. A breakdown of
identified serial numbers is included in
the Appendices at the end of the book,
but it is impossible to pin down the exact
number of 'conver ion' (although many
hi torians claim to have done so). Widely
a cepted figures are seventy-one P-51 B-
10- As and twenty P-5IC-I - Ts on-
figured as F-6Cs from existing P-SI B/C
manufacture, 136 or possibly 146 P-SI Ds
finished as F-6Ds, and 163 P-SI Ks config-
ured as F-6Ks.
Apart from their camera installations
and the a sociated wiring, and the camera
controls in their cockpits, these aircraft
were similar to standard fighter Mustangs
and were fully armed. In many cases they
operated alongside normal Mustang fight-
ers in the reconnaissance units to which
they were assigned. (This even extended
to French post-war use, when recon-
naissance-equipped and standard fighter
Mustangs served in the same units_) The
reconnaissance installation for the F-6C
(ex-P-51 Band P-51C) compri ed two
rear fu elage-mounted cameras, usually
two K-24s or a K-22 and a K-24, although
configurations varied. The port for the
oblique camera wa visible low in the rear
port fuselage side; the other was behind
the outlet flap of the lower fuselage radia-
tor intake fairing, pointing vertically
downwards. ome also had a camera
mounted behind the pilot, in similar
fa hion to the TacR Allison-engined
Mustang. A number of camera combina-
tions were used, and some field and d pot
modifications made to standard fighter
Mustangs to convert them for TacR had
non-standard features.
The F-6D and F-6K could carry a much
larger K-17 camera in addition to the two
K-24s in the F-6C. The K-17 also took
photographs obliquely to the left, and
its port was highly visible on the port
fu elage side of the aircraft that carried
it, because it wa ituated across the rear
bar of the blue-and-white 'star and
bar' national in ignia. The K-I 7 used roll
film of a much larger size than the K-24,
with a negative dimension of9sq in (23sq
cm), from which very-high-quality and
detailed black-and-white photographs
could be made. However, not all F-6D/Ks
carried this camera. The window for the
vertical K-24 camera in the rear fuselage
of these Mu tangs was often fitted with a
special cover that could be opened when
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
the camera wa in use, but was usually
closed to prevent dirt obscuring or dam-
aging the camera window when the air-
craft was taxying. In addition to the e
formal reconnaissance-camera configura-
tions, some later tandard P-SI D/K fighter
Mustangs were fitted with a trike camera
(often a K-25) behind the pilot's eat,
pointing to the left and sl ightly down-
wards, which could be used during mis-
sions to photograph anything of interest.
These strike cameras were frequently used
for 'unofficial' purpose, such as taking
air-to-air shots of fellow pilots in their
Mustangs for the family photo album or
for squadron colleagues.
In northwest Europe a comparatively
large number of squadrons flew recon-
naissance-configured Merlin Mustangs.
However, in southern Europe only one
squadron took these marks into combat.
This was the III th TR , wh ich had flown
AlIison-engined reconnais ance Mustangs
from its time in orth frica and icily
in the summer of 1943. The Illth began
receiving Merlin Mu tangs in the summer
of 1944, when many of its remaining
Allison-engined Mu tangs were becom-
ing very worn. Appropriately nicknamed
the' noopers', the III th continued in
combat in the Mediterranean and south-
ern European combat areas right to the end
of the war, eventually flying reconnais-
ance Merlin Mu tangs in Italy, through
France from southern France northwards,
and eventually into Germany itself.
Originally a member of the 6 th
Observation (later Reconnaissance,
then Tactical Reconnaissance) Group,
the III th TRS fought on into 1945 as a
separate squadron assign d directly to the
XII TAC, following the disbandment of
the 68th in 1944. In fact the III th went
through a number of direct assignments
as required, including an organization
called the Provisional Reconnaissance
Group, but in France on 20 April 1945 it
was assigned to the new 69th TRG, and
in July 1945 to the 10th Reconnai ance
Group (RG). At one time the quadron
had a number of pilots a igned to
it. Many bases were usedl y the III th and
its detachments, including Pomigliano,
anta Maria, Galera and other locations
in Italy, Borgo on the island of Cor ica,
and at Saint-Raphael, Valence, Dijon
and Azelot in France. A Distinguished
Unit Citation was awarded to the 111th
for operations over Germany in February
1945, and the squadron s rved briefly
116
in Germany, at FLlrth near uren,berg,
as a part of the Allied occupation forces
from July to October 1945. The Ilith
was finally deactivated in mid-December
1945 at Creil in France, and in May 1946
returned to the control of the Texas NG.
During the later months of it exi tence
it flew a mixed bag of reconnai sance
Mu tangs, including some F-6Cs with
Malcolm hoods. A number of its Mustangs
appear eventually to have pa sed to the
34th PR (Photographic Recon na issance
quadron. Although the unit's primary
mission, like that of all the observation
units, was tactical reconnaissance, with
ground attack as a secondary role, one
pilot of th III th managed to join the
ranks of the small number of Mustang
reconnai sance aces in aerial combat.
He wa Lt Valentine Rader, who gained
6.5 victories between 22 February and 10
April 1945 in F-6Cs, while the squadron
was operating over German soil.
The 69th TRG, to which the Illth
TRS wa eventually a Signed in 1945,
wa a lat comer to the action in Europe.
Originally activated in eptember 1941
a the 69th OG, the Group tayed in th
A and acted primarily in a training
capacity, while al 0 providing antisubma-
rine cover along the Pacific coa t after
the Pearl Harbor attack. Redesignated
the 69th TRG as early as Augu t 1943,
in January 1945 the Group began training
with reconnaissance Merlin Mustangs,
and it moved from its final base in the
USA, Key Field, Mississippi, to Europe
in February and March 1945. Temporary
residence was taken up at Nancy, but
the Group was only in action for a short
time, ending the war at Haguenau, to the
north of trasbourg in France. Assigned
to the inth Air Force, the Group flew
the usual round of photo and visual recon-
naissance missions until the war's end. Its
squadrons included the III th (as previ-
ously related), 10th and 22nd TR s, and
the 34th PR . The first three of these
flew the F-6, although the 22nd wa pri-
marily a Lockheed F-5 unit that appears
to have later taken on some of the III th's
Mu tangs.
Before thi , the reconnais ance versions
of the M r1in Mustang had been in service
with a number of initially British-ba ed
units for many months. As recounted in
Chapter 3, Allison-engined reconnais-
sanc Mustangs had equipped the 107th
TR of the 67th TRG, initially based
at Membury and then, from December
1943, at Middle Wallop in southern
England. This squadron was highly active
with its Allison-engined F-6B up to and
during the D-Day period, hut increasingly
obtained lerlin-powered reconnaissance
Mustangs as well. It continued to operate
the e to the end of the war, initially
moving from Middle Wallop to northern
France after D-Day, at first being based
briefly at A-4 (Deux Jumeaux) from late
June onwards. After numerous changes of
base the squadron ended the war at R-II
Eschwege inGermany. TheGrouptowhich
it was assigned throughout that period,
the 67th TRG, received a Distinguished
Unit itation for its reconnaissance work
along the coast of northern France from
mid-February to mid-March 1944 in the
run-up to D-Day, and had several other
reconnaissance Mustang units attached.
These in luded the 109th TR ,an G
squadron from Minnesota that joined the
Group in ovember 1943, having been
called to active duty in February 1941.
The squadron followed a similar path to
the 107th TRS, also ending the war at
Eschwege. Also assigned to the 67th TRG,
although actually a part of the 10th Photo
Group (PG) forehe latter stages ofrhe war,
were the 12th and 15th TR s, which flew
F-6s in 1944 and 1945. Another quadron
of the 67th TRG, the 33rd PR , i - al 0
believed to have flown F-6s, although it
was principally equipped with F-5s. This
squadron went through a host of assign-
ments and reassignments during its time
in the ETO, as operational requirements
demanded. Eventually the 67th TRG was
redesignated the 67th RG in June 1945,
its job well and truly accomplished.
As previously related, the Mustang-
equipped 363rd FG had its role com-
pletely changed in August 1944, and was
reassigned from a Fighter-Bomber Group
to become the 363rd TRG. Its squadrons
also underwent a change of designation
on 25 August 1944, becoming the 160th
TR (ex-30th F ), 161st TR (ex-31st
F ) and 162nd TR (ex-3 2nd F ). In
keeping with other inth Air Force tacti-
cal reconnais ance unit, the 363rd TRG
ub equently flew in support of Allied
ground forces, specifically aiding the US
inth Army with its aerial reconnais-
.ance activities. To that end the Group
continued to be based on the Continent,
fir tly at A-35 Le Mans in France, but
then undergoing a numberofbase changes
to keep up with the ground fighting and
II ied advances. Its constituent squadrons
LONG-RA GE ESCORT
started at A-3 Montreuil in France, but
again moved forward as the ground war
progre ed, although the 162nd TR only
remained a part of the Group for several
weeks before going through a number of
direct attachm nt to higher echelons and
fini hing the war as a part of the 10th PG
at R-2 FUrth in Germany. The Group's
Mu tangs flew tactical reconnaissance
sorties and al 0 performed artillery spot-
ting and related activities, in addition
to carrying out ground strafing where
appropriate. To thi end a mixed bag of
Mustangs was operated, both fighter ver-
sions and various marks of F-6. One of the
162nd TRS's pilots, LtJoe Waits, who also
flew wi th the 15 th TR , became an ace
with 5.5 aerial victories, a rare achieve-
ment among the inth ir Force's recon-
naissance pi lots.
Perhaps the best-known of the U
Mustang reconnaissance units in the ETO
was the 10th PG. This unit was activated
as the 73rd OG in eptember 1941, but
through various reorganization was recre-
ated as the 1 th PG (Reconnai sance) in
December 1943 while (on paper) based at
Key Field, Mississippi, a centre of recon-
naissance training and administration in
the U A. The unit moved to England
in January and February 1944, eventu-
ally taking up re idence at halgrove in
Oxford hire. Its large number of constitu-
ent units included everal F-6-equipped
squadrons, including most significantly
the 12th and 15th TR s. Both had pre-
viously been assigned to the 67th TRG,
but joined the 10th PG on 13 June 1944,
although on paper they remained assigned
to the 67th for several further weeks. The
15th TRS moved in to Chalgrove in late
June 1944 from its previous base of Middle
Wallop. The squadron had already flown
missions over northern France from late
March, and several of it pilots had gained
aerial victories. It flew its first TacR mis-
sion with the 10th PG on 29 June. The
12th TR similarly joined the 1 th PG
in mid-June, but was rapidly sent over to
France from Middle Wallop, to A-9 Le
Molay, to provide reconnaissance cover-
age forGen Omar Bradley's First Army
forces in their fighting in the ormand
bocage, and to cover Operation Cobm and
the breakout around the French town of
Saint-Lo in July 1944. The 15th TR in
particular was a highly aggressi ve squadron,
and very often became involved in aerial
combat, even though the brief of the TacR
units always remained that of getting the
117
intelligence first and foremost. Four of its
pilot became aces, including Capt John
Hoefker with .5 aerial victories in F-6Cs
and F-6Ds, and Capt Clyde East, who
achieved the incredible score of thirteen
victories. This was an exceptional score
for a Mu tang reconnais ance pilot, and
was only one short of the fourteen gained
by Edward Mc omas of the II th TR in
China. East began hi coring on D-Day,
6 June 1944, by shooting down an Fw 190
near Laval while the 15th was still a part
of the 67th TRG, and continued scoring
aerial victories right up to the last day of
the war, on 8 May 1945. He was the quin-
tessential reconnaissance pilot, having
originally flown with the R AF, and had
actually at one time been a member of
414 qn, which flew TacR Mustang Mk
Is (one of this unit's pilot, \-Iollis Hills,
had achieved the first-ever Mustang aerial
victory back in (942). After the war, East
remained a reconnaissance pilot and flew
reconnais'ance Mu tangs in Korea with
the nited tates Air Force ( AF)
before also flying intelligence-gathering
sorties during the Cuban Missile risis in
October 1962.
In keeping with other tactical recon-
naissance as ets, the 15th TR also even-
tually moved over to France, taking up
residence at A-27 Renne / aint-Jacque
in August 1944, where the HQs of the
10th PG and the 12th TR were alo
located. From then onwards the squadron
lived a nomadic life, like the 12th TR
following the advancing Allied armies.
During the German Ardennes offensive
of late 1944 (the so-called 'Battle of the
Bulge'), the reconnaissance Mustangs
of the 10th PG flew whenever po ible,
maintaining contact with scattered
ground forces and observing, where prac-
ticable, German troop movements in the
appalling weather condition prevailing
at that time. By early May 1945 the 15th
had taken up residence at FUrth, where
the 12th TR also saw out the final days
of the war. Both squadrons flew a mix of
F-6 and F-6D reconnaissance Mustangs,
the two type- being equally capable in the
TacR role.
One further reconnaissance Group flew
the Mustang. This was the Eighth Army
Air Force' 7th PG, officially the 7th
Photographic Group (Reconnai san e),
based at Mount Farm in England. The
7th PG had a long history that stretched
back to 1943, having originally been acti-
vated as the 7th PG on I May 1943 <lnd
moved to England in July of that year.
The various operational squadrons of the
7th predominantly flew F-5 Lightnings
and reconnaissance Spitfires during their
wartime service, on long-range strate-
gic reconnaissance missions and damage
assessment sorties following heavy bomber
raids, as opposed to the shorter-range
TacR of the inth Air orce's recon-
naissance units. However, in early 1945
the group started to receive a number of
P-51Dand P-51K Mustangs. This was not
primarily for reconnaissance purposes,
for the group continued to successfully
operate the F-5 Lightning until the war'
end. However, the unit's Lightnings had
started to take particularly high losses in
the latter stages of the war, especially due
to Me 262A jet fighters, which were able
to catch the high-flying Lightnings with
some ease. Mustangs were therefore taken
on charge by the Group specifically to
provide its own escort for its reconnais-
sance Lightnings, which they did until
the end of the war. Squadrons within the
Group that are known to have flown the
Mustang escorts include the 22nd PRS
(not to be confused with the 22nd TRS,
which flew with the 69th TRG previ-
ously mentioned). The 7th PG moved to
Chalgrove late in March 1945, but flew
the escort Mustangs up to and in its final
operations.
An American Footnote
As a footnote to the story of the Merl in
Mustang in its highly successful combat
career in northwest Europe with the
USAAF, it is worth reflecting on what
happened to two of the characters in
the Mustang story. In the case of Oliver
Echols, whose offices at Wright Field had
found so much fault in the Mustang, and
who was eventually proven so wrong when
the Mustang turned out to be one of the
tools that helped win the war, his career
could arguably be seen to have moved
sideways. Starting in November 1942 but
extended in September 1944 and at other
times, the whole procurement and proto-
type testing process for USAAF aircraft
was dramatically changed, taking away
much of the power that Wright Field,
and particularly its Material Command,
had wielded in the past. The Material
Command was amalgamated in September
1944 with the ir Service Command of
the SAAF to create a new body called
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
the Air Technical Service Command
(ATSC). Henceforth, procurement issues
were dealt with in ways that did not allow
for individual preferences or grievances
to hamper technical developments. Just
how far the USAAF's commander, Gen
'Hap' Arnold, was involved in this rea-
lignment of procurement offices is not
terribly clear, but Arnold certainly was of
the opinion that it was the Army's own
fault that it did not have the Mustang
available sooner for the type of opera-
tions in which it eventually excelled.
Echols was not made the ch ief of th is
new command; instead it was headed by
the talented William Knudsen, the suc-
cessfulleader of General Motors who had
also overseen the Office of Production
Management. Instead, Echols eventually
ended up as a part of the Allied military
administration that oversaw Germany
immediately after the war. He later left
the military altogether, and was employed
by the Northrop Corporation during the
mid-1950s. With a huge touch of irony,
Mustang designer Edgar Schmued also
worked for Northrop during that period.
Sadly there was a tragic footnote to
the career of one of the Mustang's great-
est friends. During the period in 1942
when it was becoming clear to many
that a re-engined Mustang, powered by
the Rolls-Royce Merlin rather than the
Allison V-1710, could well be an excel-
lent all-round warplane, one of the most
outspoken American exponents of this
idea was Maj Thomas Hitchcock. He was
of course proved correct in his support
of the Merlin Mustang, and he deserves
considerable credit for continually pro-
moting the Mustang over the heads of
the many doubters in the US AF. After
his posting in London, during which he
had advocated the Mustang so fervently,
Hitchcock returned to the USA, and
eventually in the early weeks of 1944
he was put in charge of the 408th FBG.
Based at Abilene Army Air Field, Texas,
this PA7 outfit was delegated to train-
ing, so the frustrated Hitchcock returned
to Britain. Assigned to the headquarters
staff of the Ninth Army Air Force, he
flew Mustangs when he could. On 18
April 1944 he was flying over Wiltshire
in a P-51 when he indulged in some
high-speed diving. Tragically the wings
came off the Mustang and the wreckage
crashed near the historic cathedral city of
Sal isbury, killing Hitchcock. An examina-
tion of the Mustang's remains revealed a
178
problem with the gun-bay hatches, which
had bulged during the dive, putting too
much strain on the wings, which came
apart. As a result of this accident the
gun-bay doors and latches were modified
on Mustangs, but it was a tragic end to one
of the Mustang's greatest friends, a highly
talented pilot and champion of successful
wartime co-operation between the SA
and Britain.
Merlin Mustangs for the RAF
Although Allison-engined Mustangs per-
sisted in RAF service in northwest Europe,
albeit in dwindling numbers, right to the
end of the Second World War, the British
operated a significant number of Merlin
Mustangs as well. This included both
'razorback' and bubble-canopy aircraft,
and of course the famous Malcolm hood
of British design and manufacture was
comparatively widely used on P-51 BIC
Mustangs of the USAAF in Europe, as
well as on their British counterparts.
British procurement of the Merlin
Mustang started somewhat later than that
for the USAAF. The initial, Inglewood-
built P-51B Mustangs intended for the
RAF were known as Mustang Mk Ills.
Later, Britain also received Dallas-built
P-51Cs, but these were similarly known
as Mk Ills. At least eighteen RAF squad-
rons eventually flew the Mk Ill. Serial
numbers allocated for Mk III production
began with FBIOO, and 1,011 Mk [lis
were actually intended for delivery to
Britain under Lend-Lease. (At least, that
is the number of serial numbers allocated
in several major blocks, but a number of
P-51 Bs were later given British serials
in the batch SR406 to SR440, while
some were not delivered through can-
cellation or due to crashes (for example,
KH687) before delivery.) A more com-
plete listing of the British serial numbers
is included in the Appendices at the end
of this book. There was some 'juggling'
of the planned British contract aircraft
to fulfil USAAF needs. It has also been
suggested that some negotiation between
British and US officials resulted in a
number of 'deals' being struck, in which
some Spitfires were allocated to US
fighter units in return for British use of
a number of the Mk III Mustangs. The
number of Mk Ills that actually reached
Britain was probably something over 900
(910 has been suggested by a number
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
A neat echelon of 19 Sqn Mk.11I Mustangs with
Malcolm hoods. This famous RAF unit made good
use of its Merlin Mustangs, serving as a part of
2nd TAF during and after the D-Day period, and
flying as a part of the Peterhead Wing in Scotland
from February 1945. The Malcolm hood conferred a
number of benefits in enhanced view for the pilot,
and because of its shape it also gave a little more
room in the cockpit for tall pilots.
R.L. Ward collection
119
Mustang Mk.11I FX889 is representative of the
considerably large number of this mark that
actually reached Britain, totalling approximately
850, although the final count could have been more
like 910. These Mustangs were finished by NAA
before shipment, using US paints that approximated
to British shades, and a number of camouflage
patterns were employed, including some odd
variations from British practice. According to US
colour charts the colours used were Olive Drab
(ANA 613) and Sea Gray (ANA 603) for the upper-
surface disruptive camouflage, and light Gray
(ANA 602) for the undersides (US official names
quoted). Although this photograph is dated April
1945, it was probably taken somewhat earlier, and
the aircraft has been fitted with a Malcolm hood.
R.L. Ward collection
Probably photographed at a Maintenance Unit in
Italy or the Middle East, this RAF Mustang Mk.lII,
FB33?, carries underwing long-range fuel tanks
with prominent shackles attached. Although
RAF Mustangs generally did 110t fly long-range
bomber escort missions of the type more commonly
performed by US Mustangs, they were sometimes
called upon to perform such work, and were often
involved in protecting medium bombers.
R.L. Ward collection
of historians), but may well have been
around the 50 mark. In any ca e, initial
deliveries were made in late 1943, and,
before operational entry, trials of the
new Mustang type were conducted at
the &AEE at Boscombe Down, as wa-
cu tomary and necessary.
The fir t Mk III to reach Boscombe
Down was FX90 in October 1943,
and it was followed by appro, imately
eleven other in the following month.
Testing confirmed a number of per-
formance figures, including a maximum
take-off weight of 9,1901b (4,168kg),
which showed some growth compared
with the figure of ,6nlb (3,911kg) for
the Allison-engined Mustang Mk l. The
Mk lll's range on internal fuel of 150gal
(682 litres) was found to be 1,045 miles
(1,682km), easily more than any contem-
porary British fighter. Maximum speed,
determined using FX953, was 450mph
LONG-RA GE ESCORT
(724km/h) at 2 ,00 ft ( ,50001), an
excellent figure for its day. Attempts were
made to overcome the gun jamming prob-
lems that were encountered principally
with U -operated P-51B/Cs. To this end
Mk III FZ1 3 was used for gun-heating
experimental work, and also had a device
fitted to a ist the belt-feeding of the guns.
nfortunately while flying during these
trials in July 1944 one of the Mustang'
wings detached, and the pilot was lucky
to survive the subsequent involuntary
bale-out. Trials with a variety of weapons
were also carried out, including under-
wing 500lb bomb, but for some reason
attempts were made to fly with a bomb
under one wing, and an external fuel tank
under the other. Perhaps not surprisingly,
this created unenviable directional char-
acteristics.
Aircraft intended for operational units
were initially assigned to squadrons of No.
In Wing at Gravesend in Kent. As igned
to the 2nd TAF, this Wing comprised
19, 65 and In qns, all of which were
previou Iy equipped with pitfire. The
first aircraft arrived just befor hristmas
1943, and wa allocated to 65 qn. The
early British Mustang Mk III did not have
the additional 5 gal fu elage tank that
wa to prove troublesome in U service,
so their endurance was Ie s than that of
the Mu tang serving with quad-
ron . This did not pose a serious problem
because the RAF did not at that time have
a long-range fighter requirement on the
scaleofthe U AF'sgrowingand in reas-
ingly perceived needs, and in the event
S fighter units, as previously described,
came to have specific priority on P-51 B/
output. Indeed, the USAAF received
some of the Mustangs originally intended
for Britain when US production began
to lag behind the suddenly expanding
LO G-RANGE ESCORT
The highly motivated Polish airmen who served with the RAF created an impressive record of service during the war years. One of the best-known Polish flyers
was Sq Ldr Eugeniusz Horbaczewski, who flew with 315 (Deblin) Sqn. RAF. Here. one of the unit's Mk.lll Mustangs. FB353/PK-H. proudly displays the Polish
insignia on its nose. The squadron flew Mustangs from March 1944 onwards, including anti-Vl flying bomb operations among its activities. R.L. Ward collection
Photographed on or just after D-Day in June 1944.
Mustang Mk.1I1 FZ196 was assigned to 306 Sqn.
Operating the Merlin Mustang from the spring of
1944 until early 1947. 306 Sqn was one of several
Polish-manned Mustang squadrons in the RAF. The
aircraft. coded UZ-D. carries full black-and-white
'invasion stripes' on its fuselage and wings.
R.L. Ward collection
Units of the 2nd TAF closely followed the fighting
on the ground after D-Day in June 1944. and
were often forced to operate from very austere
landing grounds hastily prepared by engineers.
or from battered former Luftwaffe airfields. Here.
Mustang Mk.lll FZ190/0V-A of 19 Sqn. RAF. is being
worked on at Advanced Landing Ground B-12 at
Ellon. A ubiquitous RAF-style starter trolley in the
foreground is plugged into the Mustang's fuselage
just below the letters 'OV'. Situated to the south
of Bayeux in Normandy. northern France. Ellon
was used from mid-July 1944 onwards by 19 Sqn
and was one of the hastily constructed landing
grounds that. once the fighting had moved on.
quickly reverted to its previous relative tranquillity.
The battered church in the background was later
repaired and is there to this day.
R.L. Ward collection
Well known for its 'shark-mouth' decorated Curtiss
P-40 Kittyhawks in the Middle East. 112 Sqn.
RAF. began flying Merlin-powered Mustangs as
replacements for the Kittyhawks in the summer of
1944. By that time the squadron was involved in
operations in southern Europe. and maintained the
'shark mouth' tradition by painting its Mustangs
in the same way. The Mustang did not have the
pronounced 'chin' air intake of the Kittyhawk. but
the effect was still very impressive. as shown here
by Mustang Mk.1II FB241/GA-0. Mustangs bearing
the individual letter 'a' in 112 Sqn were usually
flown by Fit Lt Raymond Hearn. one of the unit's
most celebrated pilots. R.L. Ward collection
An interesting general view of the parking/
maintenance area of 112 Sqn. RAF. and its Mustang
Mk.llls at an Italian airfield. showing the austere
conditions in which many Mustangs operated.
particularly those engaged in tactical operations
where the aircraft had to follow the ground war
very closely. R.L. Ward collection
120 121
1.0. 'G-RA1'iGI I'SCOIU
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
Several Mk.1II Mustangs of 309 Sqn, RAF, lined up in December 1944 or January 1945. This was one of the RAF's Polish-manned squadrons, and identifiable
Mustangs include WC-J, WC-F and SR418/WC-D. Unique among the Polish squadrons in flying Allison- and Merlin-engined Mustangs during its long time on the
type, 309 Sqn originally became a Mustang operator in the summer of 1942. R.L. Ward collection
ducing a neat, unframed bulbous canopy
that came to be known as the 'Malcolm
hood'. excellent piece of engineering
not only improved vi ibility in all po
directions, it also had the merit of allow-
ing easier entry into and from the
Mustang by replacing the cumbersome
framed anopy of the standard produc-
tion P-SI B/P-SIC, and it gave a little
more headroom for taller pilots. Initial
test (it is widely believed that Mustang
Mk lA FD473 was used for an early instal-
lation) proved the effectiveness of the
new canopy, and production was initi-
ated, though these canopies were alway'
in short supply and much sought-after.
They started to reach RAF around
February 1944.
peller shaft having a particular tendency
to throw oil. This was eventually traced
to poor seals, worsened by the RAF prac-
tice of diluting lubricant with fuel to allow
easier starting in cold weather, something
that AA in Inglewood could never
have foreseen. Although the Mustang's
cockpit was comparatively roomy, par-
ticularly compared with types u h as the
Bf 109, an early problem noticed by RAF
pilots, as well a their counterparts,
was the lack of visibility and restriction of
head movement caused by the P-Sl BIC's
heavily framed sideways-hinging canopy.
Help was already at hand, however. As
already recou[ ted, the British company
R. Malcolm Ltd forever associated itself
with the Mustang by designing and pro-
Photographed at liineburg in 1945, this Mustang Mk.1II of 126 Sqn, RAF, coded 5J-A, shows the drab colouring of end-of-war-era British Mk.llls. Although the
Mk.llls were intended to be painted in the USA with American paint equivalents of British shades, some appear to have been repainted in Britain with Dark Green
and Ocean Grey on their upper surfaces and Medium Sea Grey below. However, the use of mixed grey shades seems to have persisted even at that late stage of
the conflict. M. Robinson via R.L. Ward
US requirement for the Merlin Mustang
in Europe. Illustrating how valuable
the Mustang had uddenly become to the
Eighth Air Force' bomber campaign, the
U AA actually reque ted that a number
of the RAF's Mu tang Mk III squadrons
should f1y as escorts in support of some of
the arly 1944 U bomber missions. This
was a far cry from the opposition that the
Mustang had initially encountered from
some in the AAF.
nfortunately the Mu tang Mk III
suffered several teething problem as it
entered RAF service. The u of British
oxygen equipment for the pilot, coupled
to the U system in talled in the Mu tang,
demanded a number of alterations. Oiland
coolant leak were encountered, the pro-
Displaying to advantage the 'shark mouth' painted
on the lower forward fuselages of many 112 Sqn
Mustang Mk.llls, this aircraft was photographed
at lavariano in Italy in the summer of 1945, after
the war's end. There were slight variations in the
mouth design from one aircraft to another.
R.L. Ward collection
Proudly displaying the red-and-white Polish
insignia on its nose, Mustang Mk.1I1 FZ149/UZ-W
was operated by Polish-manned 306 Sqn, RAF. It
has a white spinner, nose and wing identification
bands, and is finished in the then-standard
scheme of Dark Green and Ocean Gray on its
upper surfaces and Medium Sea Gray underneath,
although it may have originally have been painted
in the US equivalents of these colours. It also has a
Malcolm hood. The location of the photograph was
originally thought to be Church Fenton, but is now
believed to be Andrews Field, in October 1944.
R.L. Ward collection
A further view of the parking/maintenance area of r
112 Sqn, RAF, and its Mustang Mk.llls at an Italian
airfield, with Mustang GA-A in the foreground.
Despite the spartan conditions in which many
Mustangs had to operate, the type was generally
able to stand up to these conditions well, although
maintenance was very tough on the ground crews,
who often had to look after the aircraft and even
perform quite major tasks in the open air in less-
than-perfect weather. R.L. Ward collection
122
123
LO G-RANGE ESCORT LO G-RA GE ESCORT
An exploded diagram and major parts listing for
the Merlin-engined P-51 0, dated (amended) 9
November 1945. By that date production had come
to a close, but revisions to technical orders and
manuals continued for years afterwards while the
type remained in service. The P-51D was the major
production version that featured Packard V-1650-7
(Merlin) power. Notable are Part 14, the famous
lower-fuselage radiator arrangement, the cut-down
rear fuselage spine aft of the cockpit, and the three
O.5in machine guns in each wing (Part 9). The latter
two features were principal distinguishing points
of the P-51 0, differentiating it from the previous
P-51 BIC series and the Mustangs that preceded
those versions. Drawing: NAA
units during the next few weeks, which
gradually became more ambitious and
longer-legged. On the 8 March USAAF
mission to Berlin, RAF Mustangs flew to
meet returning Eighth Air Force bombers
12 miles (190km) west of the German
capital. Although the British contribu-
tion was often no more than some three
do:en Mu on these operations, and
they were rarely in a po ition to engage
Luftwaffe fighters, they did occasionally
deter them from the formation. In
the e\'ent th is escort work did not last
long, and by April the Eighth Air Force's
Mustang force had grown to several oper-
ational squadrons, which could fulfil the
demands of bomber escort themselve ,
in concert with existing P-47 and P-3
Lightning units. This allowed the RAF
squadrons to be redirected to operations
of a more tactical nature, as the run-up to
the planned invasion of northern France
continued. By that time the RAF had
received sufficient Merlin Mustangs to
establ ish a second Bri tish-based th ree-
squadron Wing, No. 133 Wing. Like o.
122 Wing it was assigned to the 2nd T AF,
being based at Coolham in ussex from
early pril 1944. It comprised one British-
(129) and two Polish-manned squadrons
(3 6 and 315), which, like those of o.
122 Wing, had previously been equipped
with pitfire. Indeed, the Polih connec-
tion with the Mustang was significant.
Many Polish nationals had joined the
RA F to continue the fight against the
Germans after their country had been
overrun in eptember 1939, and eventu-
ally the Poli h contingent within the RAF
numbered several fighter squadron. The
Poles fought bravely and with consider-
able tenacity., and their operations while
flying are an often overlooked
but none the Ie s noteworthy part of the
Mustang's story.
4
Revised 9 November 1945
cockpit. All things arc relative, however,
and many of the former pitfire pilots
were loath to relinquish their beloved
upermarine fighters until the Merlin
Mustang had thoroughly proved itself.
The RAF first took its Merlin Mustangs
into combat on 15 February 1944, when
19 and 65 qns flew a morning sweep
over the northern French coast. This
was a fairly typical hakedown exercise,
but in the afternoon of the same day the
two squadrons were in action again when
they e corted US heavy bombers attack-
ing VI launch site in the Pas-de- alai
area. This was the start of comparatively
regular escort duties with bomber
16 -21
11
18
22
17
9
10
AN Ol60JE4
Figure l-Generol Airplane Auembly
1
24
14
23


12
Section II
A...mbly Parts List
British and ommonwealth pilots, par-
ticularly those used to the comparatively
docile and pleasant-handling Alii on-
engined Mustang, found the new Merlin
Mu tangs something of a handful until
their handling and power-on vices had
been mastered. evertheless, the Mustang
was popular with many pilots who had pre-
viously flown the pitfire, for a number of
specific reasons. The former' wide-track
undercarriage was far more suited to the
rather austere airfields that the tactical
Mu tang pilots sometime encountered.
Similarly, the Mustang's far greater endur-
anceand range was a step up compared with
the pitfire, and it certainly had a roomier
The starboard side of Mustang Mk.lVA KMZ7Z
Dooleybird of 19 Sqn. The medium blue colouring
from the nose markings was carried back along the
edge of the Olive Drab anti-glare panel ahead of
the cockpit and around the cockpit canopy framing.
The name Dooleybirdwas not carried on the
starboard fuselage side. This highly individually
painted aircraft was famously featured as one of
the colour scheme options in the Matchbox model
kit of the Mustang in 1973. A.S. Ooley via R.L. Ward
Looking somewhat the worse for wear following
its transatlantic shipment, Mustang Mk.IV KMZ19
shows off the lines of the RAF's equivalent to the
P-51K with the Aeroproducts propeller. These
aircraft were sometimes known as Mk.IVAs, and
the photograph was dated March 1945. A number
of details can be seen in this picture, including the
shroud around the six exhaust stacks, which was
not fitted to all Merlin Mustangs; the underwing
pylon, only one of which was ever fitted under
each wing, and the design of which went through
a considerable evolution, the final P-51D/K style
being different to those fitted to previous marks;
and the fuel filler port and ground line point just at
the rear end of the sliding cockpit cover.
R.L. Ward collection
One of the most colourful of the British and
Commonwealth-operated Mustangs was
Dooleybird, often flown by Fit Lt A.S. Ooley of 19
Sqn in 1945. A former P-51 Kwith an Aeroproducts
propeller (anti therefore really a Mustang Mk.IVA,
although usually called a Mk.lV), its serial was
KMZ7Z and its squadron codes were QV-V. The
nose and spinner markings were medium blue
and white. Note the RAF starter trolley behind the
aircraft's starboard undercarriage leg.
A.S. Ooley via R.L. Ward
124 125
Tactical Missions
With the AAF increasingly able to
meet its requirement for Mustangs to
escort its daylight heavy bomber raids
from England, the spring of 1944 saw
the RAF' Mustang Mk III employed
primarily in tactical mi sions across the
Channel. These took in a large number
of targets, and the Mustangs would often
carry two 500lb bombs, although escort
mission w re also flown for Allied
medium bomber performing tactical mis-
ion. On occasion the RAF' Mustangs
additionally escorted RAF Coastal
Command strike aircraft and fl w anti-
shipping patrols, for which the Mustang's
endurance made it ideal. In April 1944
Polish-manned 316 qn converted to the
Mustang Mk 1II from the Spitfire and was
initially ta ked primarily to give cover for
oastal Command strike aircraft (par-
ticularly Bristol Beaufighter ) operating
off the Dutch and German coastlines.
When the great day, 6June 1944, finally
dawned, the RAF's Merlin Mustangs, like
the ervice's existing Allison-engined
Mustangs, were involved in the intense
aerial activity of the lIied invasion. By
that time o. 122 Wing had relocated
from Gravesend to Ford in ussex (now
the site of the infamous open prison).
The Mustangs flew cover for the second
wave of troop carriers and glider-towing
transports, and aloe corted Coastal
ommand Beaufighters. Two pilots of 129
Sqn ucceeded jointly in shooting down
an Fw 190. On 7 June a number of No.
133 Wing's Mustangs became involved
in some of the most intense aerial fight-
ing of the D-Day period. In a number of
air battles inland from the Allied beach-
heads, seventeen Bf I 9s and Fw 190
were claimed shot down, albeit for the
loss of four Mustangs. During ubsequ nt
days both Wings had a number of success-
ful engagements with the Luftwaffe. It is
something of a myth that the Luftwaffe
was not a tive during the D-Day period,
for several air battles and smaller skir-
mi he took place at that time, ev n before
Luftwaffe reinforcements could arrive in
the northern France area. ev rtheles ,
the RAF Mustangs were primarily tasked
with tactical missions, which they per-
formed with great apability, air-to-air
combat not being officially encouraged
unle really neces ary. During that time
th Mustangs remained based in southern
Rritain, although on occasions Mustangs
LOI G-RANGE ESCORT
would stop off to refuel at the increa -
ing number of airstrips that the Allies
were creating in Normandy following
the invasion. Eventually, in keeping with
other Allied tactical air as ets, a move
was made over to the Europen mainland.
tarting on 25/26 June, o. 122 Wing
gradually moved some sixty of its service-
able aircraft over to an area inland from
the Normandy beachhead, to the airstrip
at Martragny (B-7) between the historic
towns of Bayeux and Caen.
However, o. 133 Wing remained
in England, moving temporarily to
Holmsley outh in Hamp hire later in
June (about 22 to 25 June), before moving
to Ford before the nd of the month. The
Wing wa later employed, as a supple-
ment to the Air D fence of Great Britain
(ADGB) organization (the temporary
and much di liked renaming of RAF's
Fighter ommand), to mount defensive
action against the increasing threat of VI
flying bombs. Under Operation Diver the
Mustangs operated with other RAF fight-
ers and in concert with anti-aircraft guns
against these unmanned and unguided
weapons, which were being dispatched
against England, and especially London,
in growing numbers from launch sites in
northeastern France. During July 316 Sqn
was moved from its base at Coltishall in
orfolk to join in these d fensive sortie,
temporarily operating from We t Mailing
in Kent and then Fri ton in ussex. In two
months the squadron's pilot setthe highest
core for VI flying bombs hot down by
any Mustang squadron, downing seventy-
four before returning to Coltishall in the
autumn. The highest-scoring V1ace in the
squadron was W/O Tadeusz Szymanski,
who brought down eight (some sources list
nine) of the weapons, in addition to 1.5
aerial victories against 'real' aeroplanes.
Bringing down flying bombs was haz-
ardous work, because of the risk of the VI
exploding wh n fired at. Mustangs had
something of a speed advantage among
Allied fighters, and could catch flying
bombs in a shallow dive, the VIs normally
flying at peeds approaching 400mph
(640km/h). If gunfire did not work, some
pilots re orted to trying to end the bombs
out of control by tipping them over with
their wingtips; one of Szymanski's suc-
cessful encounters ended thi way. The
Mustangs often flew standing patrols, and
under ground-ba ed radar guidance could
be vectored on to the small, fast-moving
target. In the ontinuing attempt to get
126
higher speed from the Mustangs om
experimental butrlotparticularlysucce ful
use was made of the then new t30-oetan
fuel (rather than the 100-octane normally
used; unfortunately the higher rated fuel
ometimes caused engine damage, includ-
ing burnt-out valves). everthele,
Merlin Mustangs proved useful against th
flying bombs, bringing down at least 25 .
Thi total included five destroyed by the
363rd FG of the inth Air Force, which
also became involved in anti- V1 work for
a short time. Only pitfire Mk XIV and
Hawker Tempe t Mk V fighters achieved
more succes es against the flying bomb,
and twenty-one Mustang pilot becam
VI aces, of which sixteen were Poles. Thi
significant contribution to the defence of
London and th Home Counties by th
Mu tang-flying Polish airman is sadly all
too easily overlooked nowadays.
Meanwhile, on the Continent, o. 122
Wing's Mustangs were continuing their
tactical work in support of the Allied
armies. In mid-July the Wing began to
move from B-7 to a new landing ground,
B-12, near the commune of Elion just
be ide the road from Bayeux to Viller -
Bocage. This was done to keep up with
the changing ground situation a Allied
forces began to move outwards from the
initial gains in that area following D-Day.
The first to move, on the 15th, was 19
qn, but the advance was premature and
the German succe fully shelled the area
during the night, killing several quad-
ron personnel and damaging a number
of Mustangs. Further shelling followed
as Mustangs from the Wing's other two
squadrons arrived, and it was only on
the 19th that the Wing could properly
take up residence. It was while flying
from Ellon that the Wing's Mustangs
used 1,0001b bombs for the first time.
This was a major development for the
Mk Ill, which could just about manage
two uch bombs, but because of the local
tactical situation the Mustangs did not
need to fly with full fuel tanks on all mis-
sions, which allowed them to carry these
weapons. evertheless, longer mis ions
were also frequently carried out. On 2
August Mustang of the Wing escorted
de Havilland Mosquitoes of o. 2 Group
carrying out a precision raid on a barracks
in Poitiers, south of the River Loire. As
the ground situation became more fluid
the Mustangs were able to extend their
coverage as the Allies began to break out,
and an important new mission became
Amid all the publicity that is usually given to the well-
known aces and celebrity pilots of USMF-operated
P-51 Mustangs, particularly those of the Eighth Army
Air Force. it is all too often forgotten that most Mustang
pilots were not high-scoring aces. nor were they
treated as celebrities by the press agencies of the time.
Nevertheless. they were often no less skilled or capable
as their illustrious and well-known colleagues. but their
names are rarely mentioned and their individual deeds
are largely overlooked. Those who flew the often highly
under-rated Allison-engined Mustangs in particular are
often given little publicity. This is also true of the vast
majority of the many BritiSh and Commonwealth pilots
who flew Mustangs with the RAF. who often collectively
receive no mention at all in some published works on the
Mustang, or whose deeds only gain a few short lines.
Yet the contribution of all of these pilots was consid-
erable, and collectively added to the sum total of the
events that led to the final Allied victory.
To take lust one indiVidual out of the many possible
examples. a pilot from the Ninth Army Air Force's 363rd
FG can serve as an example of the countless unsung
heroes who flew the Mustang In combat. Jim Brink of
Fayetteville, North Carolina, had been interested in air-
craft since about 1926, inspired by the tales of the aerial
fighting of the First World War. One of many future
USMF pilots who took to the air before World War Two,
hiS earliest flying experience was In a Lincoln-Page J-1
biplane. Jim enlisted in the USMC and was eventually
assigned to the 382nd FS. training on the P-39. He spent
some time as atest pilot In the Accelerated Service Test
Branch at Wright Field, and flew the P-47. P-51 B. Vultee
A-35 Vengeance dive-bomber and P-39N.
Jim was later assigned permanently to the 363rd FG
of the US Ninth Army Air Force in northwest Europe.
It was here that he became fully acquainted with the
Mustang in a combat enVIronment. the 363rd FG being
one of the few Ninth Air Force units that flew the
Mustang In combat on tactical missions (although it
later became atactical reconnaissance unit). Flying with
the 363rd's 382nd FS, Brink flew the P-51D primarily on
ground-attack and dive-bombing missions, in addition
to performing some escort work, mainly as cover for
medium bombers. On 18 June 1944 his P-51 was hit
by anti-aircraft fire. He says: 'I managed to get back
over England and then the engine caught fire and I
parachuted to safety ... I had an injured left foot. It had
hit the horizontal stabilizer during bail-out.' He flew his
next combat mission four days later. Then came atour of
duty in the Pacific as an instructor in P-4os and P-47s. He
was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross by Lt Gen
Hoyt S. Vandenburg, the head of the Ninth Air Force,
Ferry pilot Florene Watson warms up a P-51D
before a delivery flight. Sadly, the contribution
made by female pilots to America's war effort has
largely been forgonen. The WASP organization
provided ferry pilots in a similar fashion to the
ATA in Britain, and female pilots were more
than capable of handling even a potentially
wild beast like a Merlin-engined Mustang.
wingsacrossamerica.org via Nancy Parrish
LO G-RA GE ESCORT
Unsung Heroes
in August 1944. After the war Jim stayed in the newly
formed USAF and transitioned to jets. He flew P-8os,
F-84Es and F-86s in Germany. His last assignment was
out of Pope AFB, North Carolina, flying Lockheed C-130E
Hercules all over the world. He retired from the USAF
in 1968 after 'a wonderfully fulfilling career during a
momentous age in history.' His log book makes very
interesting reading, and shows over 5,ooohr of flying.
Often overlooked, but none the less vital to the success
of the Mustang in combat. were the thousands of person-
nel performing 'behind-the-scenes' tasks and duties. All
of the numbered Army Air Forces in the field grew into
large organizations as the war progressed, and encom-
passed the whole range of tasks that are necessary to
allow those 'at the sharp end' to do their job efficiently.
From cooks to records clerks, and ground crews to
repair specialists, the USAAF and the Commonwealth air
forces required the skills of agreat many non-combatant
personnel to allow the air war to take place. Although
many Mustangs arrived in the theatres of war by ship
or overland, completed Mustangs imitially needed to be
ferried by air from the NM factories to a transportation
point (although for overseas shipment, many were simply
crated and shipped by road or rail!: and then from assem-
bly depot in-theatre to modification centre or operational
base. Much of this ferrying work was accomplished in
Britain by the Air Transport Auxiliary (ATAI, the male and
female pilots of this organization thus haVing a unique
opportunity to fly high-performance, state-of-the-art
combat aircraft. In the USA, women pilots of the Women
Airforce Service Pilots (WASPl organization ferried P-51 s
in weather conditions equally as good or bad as those
encountered by their Commonwealth counterparts.
Preparing Mustangs for combat after arrival in theatre
was normally the responsibility of air depots, where
speCialists would prepare the aircraft or suitably modify
them to meet the particular combat conditions in which
the Mustangs were to operate. Test/check pilots would
then ensure their airworthiness before they were ferried
to operational units. In Britain, for example, US aircraft
arriving by sea at the port of Liverpool would be trans-
ported, still disassembled, by road to the Lockheed facil-
ity at Speke airfield. There they would be put together
and flown to the air depots at Burtonwood, or Warton in
Lancashire, tested, and if necessary be modified before
they were Issued to combat units. Warton in particular
was charged with the responsibility for Mustang arriv-
127
als, although in practice there was some overlap of
work carried out on the P-51 sdestined for the Eighth Air
Force. Major engine work on in-line engines, including
the Mustang's Packard V-1650, was carried out primarily
at Warton. The two locations eventually came to be
known as Base Air Depots, Burtonwood being BAD 1or
1st BAD, and Warton being BAD 2. Asignificant amount
of maintenance was also carried out there on damaged
aircraft that were beyond repair at unit level.
Within the Eighth Air Force as a whole, VIII Air
Force Service Command oversaw the overall logisti-
cal and maintenance effort associated with this work,
through a variety of centres and depots that existed in
England. The amount of work involved was staggering.
For example, 4,372 Mustangs passed through Warton
between August 1943 and the summer of 1945, the first
P-51Bs arriving in October 1943. At its peak Warton had
over 10,000 personnel working round the clock. AP-51B
that had been damaged on arrival at Liverpool docks in
February 1944, sin 43-6623, was rebuilt at Warton and,
appropriately named Spare Parts, was flown as a 'hack'
from Warton until lost in an accident in late 1944.
On the operational airfields themselves, the day-to-
day work of making front-line Mustangs available for the
day's operations was carried out by ground crews whose
members specialized in particular tasks. In the Eighth Air
Force, for example, an aircraft would often have a crew
of three ground specialists looking after it These were
the Crew Chief, Assistant Crew Chief and an armaments
specialist. A close teamworklng enVIronment normally
existed between these personnel. heightened by the
aircraft themselves being assigned to particular pilots.
However, as with any military organization in the field,
these distinctions were blurred as day-to-day demands
dictated, and often the assistant crew chiefs would help
out with work on other squadron aircraft if reqUired,
and pilots sometimes did not fly the particular aircraft
nominally assigned to them. Nevertheless, this was a
closer working relationship between pilot. ground crew
team and their assigned aircraft than usually existed in
the RAF. It was reflected in the way many US Mustangs
were 'personalized' by their pilots and ground crews by
the application of personal names or other decorations.
The ground crews carried out their tasks patiently and
usually in the open air unless some major task had to
be carried out, hangarage often being scarce at many
fighter airfields.
The first Merlin-powered Mustang variant for the
USAAF was the P-51 B. Seen on a pre-delivery test
flight, P-51B-1-NA 43-12408 was from the initial
production batch built by NAA at Inglewood. NAA
North American Aviation Inglewood-built P-51 B-
15-NA 42-106950, The Iowa Beaut, photographed
in the summer of 1944, was operated by the
354th FS, 355th FG. based at Steeple Morden in
Cambridgeshire. It sports rough Olive Drab or
locally-painted dark green upper surfaces and
ten 'kill' markings beneath its cockpit canopy.
but the identity of the pilot or pilots who achieved
those victories in the aircraft remains a point of
some debate. At the time of the photograph The
Iowa Beaut was assigned to a virtually unknown
pilot, Robert Hulderman (some historians call him
Hulbermanl, who was certainly not an ace. It is
believed that some of the victories achieved in The
Iowa Beautwere scored by Capt Fred Haviland, Jr,
a six-aerial-victories and six-ground-victories ace.
USAAF
Standing beside a P-51A, two female ferry
pilots indulge in some hangar flying. Both were
members of the WASP organization. On the left
is Barbara Jane Erickson, and on the right Evelyn
Sharp. Sharp was killed on a delivery flight in a
P-38 Lightning. while Erickson was awarded the
Air Medal for making four delivery flights across
the USA in five days during 1943. including a
particularly long flight in a P-5t USAAF
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
Standing on the wing of his P-51 B Roscoe II.
fitted with a Malcolm hood, Jim Brink of the
382nd FS of the 363rd FG is representative of the
large number of virtually unknown pilots who
flew the Mustang and never received the high-
profile treatment of their 'ace' colleagues. but
nevertheless made a significant contribution to
the final Allied victory.
Jim Brink via Srecko Bradic
128
Photographed at BAD 1 at Burtonwood in early
1945. this brand new Mustang shares the flight
line with several other US types before onwards
assignment. The Base Air Depots at Warton and
Burtonwood in northern England reassembled
and prepared Mustangs shipped to Liverpool, for
onward assignment to combat units.
Gordon Stevens collection
The clear air and blue sky of southern California in
the summer of 1941 form the backdrop for AG346,
the second production Mustang. It became the first
Mustang to be delivered to Britain. in late October
1941. and wore the Dark Earth/Dark Green/Sky
colour scheme shown. sprayed with American
paint equivalents to the British shades. This
aircraft saw a considerable amount of combat with
the RAF, and was active over Normandy in the post-
Invasion period. NAA
Displaying a very worn upper surface coat of Olive
Drab paint. P-51B 43-12201 was a P-51B-1-NA from
the initial Merlin-powered Mustang production
batch built by NAA at Inglewood. It wears the red-
bordered 'star and bar' US national insignia used
for a short time during the summer of 1943, before
the fully blue-bordered national insignia was
introduced. NAA
The sole P-82C Twin Mustang shows off its glossy
all-black exterior and the unusual lines of the
Twin Mustang. With the serial number 44-65169
this aircraft started life as a P-82B, in a production
block of aircraft powered by the Rolls-Royce
Merlin. It was converted to serve as a nightfighter
development aircraft, fitted with a large fairing
attached to the wing centre section that housed an
SCR-720 airborne radar, and was given the post-
war buzz-number PQ-169. The Twin Mustang as a
type eventually found its true role as a nightfighter.
NAA
Underlining the close connection between the
heavy bombers and the Mustangs that became their
protective 'little friends', several blue-nosed P-51s
of the Eighth Air Force's 352nd FG fly in company
with B-24 Liberators of the 458th BG in the late
summer or autumn of 1944, USAAF
Colour in-flight photographs of RAF-operated
Mustangs are comparatively rare. This beautiful
image shows Mustang Mk.l AG633 Eileen of 2
Sqn, ACC, during the summer of 1942, when that
squadron was working-up on the type before its
first combat operations later that year.
R.L. Ward collection
Miss Rogers, an early production P-51D, served
with the 4th FS, 52nd FG, Fifteenth Army Air Force
in the Mediterranean and southern Europe. Built by
NAA at Inglewood, it was a P-51 D-5-NA. The code
letters 'WD' denoted the 4th FS. USAAF
Featuring in a series of company publicity
photographs, one of the early production
lightweight Mustangs, P-51 H-1-NA 44-64164, shows
off the refined lines of this version, The red, white
and blue colouring on the spinner of this aircraft is
thought to represent NAA's flight testing division.
NAA
Following the end of World War Two a number
of US fighter units moved to Germany as a part of
the Allied occupation forces. One of these was
the 355th FG. which moved from its wartime base
at Steeple Morden, Cambridgeshire, to Augsburg-
Gablingen. This P-51D-25-NA. 44-73294. named
Ofe-V/II. was the personal aircraft of 357th FS CO
Major William J. 'Billy' Hovde, who achieved 9.5
victories while flying Mustangs with the 355th FG.
His aircraft carried the red/yellow/red occupation
forces identification bands around its rear
fuselage. 355th FG Association via Peter Randall
There is only a small number of surviving F-82 Twin
Mustangs. and most of them are non-airworthy
museum exhibits or wrecks. One potentially
airworthy example is F-82B 44-65162. the third
production F-82B-1-NA, which for many years was
in the hands of the famed Confederate Air Force
at Harlingen, Texas. as N12102. It is seen here in
happier days. before an accident in October 1987
rendered it unflyable and in need of extensive
repair work. John Batchelor
Painted in a somewhat fictitious 361 st FG colour
scheme, this Mustang is the well-known P-51 D
named Gunfighter, which has been operated for
many years by Brig Gen Regis Urschler, former
commander of the 55th SRW. Nowadays a part of
the Commemorative Air Force Museum. although
privately funded by Urschler, the aircraft is
currently painted in 55th FG colours as a tribute
to the predecessors of the 55th SRW. It is P-51 D-
25-NA 44-73264, civil registration N5428V.
John Batchelor
Eighth Air Force Mustang units flew a variety
of locally improvised two-seaters towards the
war's end. This was partly to provide operational
conversion training to newly arrived fighter pilots,
following the decision to allow the FGs themselves
to adopt this role in late 1944/early 1945. In the
foreground here is VF-4 of the 336th FS. 4th FG. The
line-up appears to have been taken at Debden.
home ofthe 4th FG. on 23 March 1945. possibly on
the occasion of a group commanders' conference.
The third Mustang in the line is P-51 D-20-NA
44-72519/LC-D Gumpy, which was assigned to Col
Robert P. Montgomery. CO of the 20th FG at that
time. Arthur E. Sevigny, 20th FW Association
One of the highest-scoring aces of the famous 4th
FG was Duane Beeson from Boise, Idaho. Finishing
the war with 17.333 aerial victories over northwest
Europe. Beeson achieved 5.333 of these in two
different Mustangs. His personal P-51 B-5-NA,
43-6819, named Bee. shows considerable wear and
tear to its original paintwork. USAAF
One of the last P-51s of any type to receive a US
military serial number, Cavalier Mustang 67-22581
operated in Bolivia before being sold into private
ownership in late 1977 and civil-registered
C-GMUS. It approximated roughly to Cavalier II
standard, and is seen here during 1984 still wearing
its Fuerza Aerea Boliviana colours but with its
Canadian civil registration and the name What's Up
Doc? John Batchelor
A line-up of completed Merlin Mustangs at
Inglewood, with FZ132, a Mustang Mk.1II intended
for the RAF even though it wears US national
insignia. third in the line. Interestingly. that aircraft
and the example nearest to the camera have a
camouflage pattern that appears to be Dark Green
and Dark Earth on their upper surfaces, even
though that colour combination had been dropped
by the RAF in the mid-war period. before FZ132
was completed. The middle aircraft in the line is
destined for the USAAF and wears Olive Drab and
Neutral Grey camouflage. NAA
The personal P-51D-20-NA of Col William Clarke.
CO of the 339th FG in the spring of 1945. at the unit's
base at Fowlmere in Cambridgeshire. Named Dotty
on its canopy frame for Clarke's wife Dorothy (not
'Dolly' as often claimed). the aircraft was also
called Happy IV. It sports the red and white nose
checks that identified aircraft of the 339th FG.
Steve Ananian, 339th FG Association
A P-51 0 of the 358th FS, 355th FG, in flight over
Germany at the end of the war. The 355th FG
became one of the units that stayed on in Europe
after the end of hostilities to become part of the
Allied occupation forces in Germany. The Mustang
is P-51 D-20-NA 44-72420.
355th FG Association via Peter Randall
The war won, Wolverine and Arlene bask in the
German sunshine in the summer of 1945. Assigned
to the 354th FS of the 355th FG, both aircraft wear
the red/yellow/red occupation forces identification
bands. Wolverine was P-51 D-25-NA 44-73156,
assigned to It Ervin Nelson. Arlene was P-51D-
20-NA 44-72482.
355th FG Association via Peter Randall
Betty, P-51D-25-NA 44-72896 ofthe 354th ~ 355th
FG, poses on the tarmac at Augsburg-Gablingen
after the war's end. It wears the red/yellow/red
occupation forces identification bands painted on
many occupation aircraft in the period from the
summer of 1945 onwards.
355th FG Association via Peter Randall
The CO's kite. Sporting coloured bands to denote
a command aircraft, Dallas-built P-51 D-5-NT
44-11200 was flown by Lt Col (later Col) Claiborne
H. Kinnard, Jr, the 355th FG's CO from February until
7 June 1945. The Mustang is pictured in Germany,
probably in June of that year. Kinnard was a
high-scoring ace, with eight aerial and seventeen
ground victories in Mustangs.
355th FG Association via Peter Randall
Showing off its elegant if rather square-cut
lines, the NA-73X graces the skies over Southern
California. This photograph is sometimes claimed
to have been taken during the aircraft's first flight,
but this seems highly unlikely, and the addition of
rudder stripes suggests the period leading up to its
crash on 20 November 1940, or after the aircraft had
been repaired following the accident. NAA
One of the occupation force P-51 Os of the 355th FG
in the summer of 1945 was Mr Lucky, P-51D-25-NA
44-73041, seen here at Augsburg. There was a
certain amount of reorganization for the occupation
force units, the 355th officially moving to Augsburg-
Gablingen in July 1945 and later, during 1946, to
Schweinfurt.
355th FG Association via Peter Randall
One of the most famous of post-war civil Mustangs
was Ole Yeller. the Rockwell International-titled
former P-51D-30-NA 44-74739. civil registered as
N51 RH. Flown for many years by the legendary
Robert A. 'Bob' Hoover, the aircraft was often used
as the lead-off aircraft for the Reno air races. It
had been converted into basic Cavalier Mustang
configuration by Trans-Florida Aviation in the early
1960s, and finally passed out of Hoover's ownership
in 1999. William T. Larkins
The first production Mustang Mk.1. AG345.
shows off its undersides against the backdrop
of a blue Californian sky. This aircraft was never
delivered to Britain. but was retained by NAA
for development work and related duties. It was
painted in a Dark Green/Dark Earth/Sky colour
scheme using American paints. NAA
Mustangs were an important part of the tactical
reconnaissance assets of the United Nations forces
during the Korean War. Here. RF-51 D 44-84853
oh-Kaye-Baby displays the distinctive markings
of the 45th TRS. which was stationed at Kimpo
near Seoul following the United Nations success
in starting to push the North Korean forces out of
what is now South Korea. R.L. Ward collection
t he bombing of barges on the River Seine
to prevent their use by the retreating
Germans. This sometimes entailed the
use of 1,0001b bombs, but during this time
several of the Wing's Mustangs came
under attack from US-operated fighters,
the old problem of US pilots' poor air-
craft recognition apparently coming to
the fore once again. As a result the stand-
ard upper-wing red-and-blue roundel on
'ome aircraft was abandoned in favour of
red/white/blue roundels in an attempt to
prevent misidentification.
Many ground-attack sorties were flown
by the Wing's Mustangs against German
ground forces, and on some occasions
large numbers of German fighters were
encountered, the Mustangs being able to
look after themselves in these combats.
On 20 August, for example, 19 and 65
Sqns fought a large air battle with Fw
190s during a fighter sweep in the Paris
and Fontainebleau areas, the Mustangs
claiming nine confirmed victori for
the loss of one of their own. Three of the
Focke-Wulfs were claimed by 65 Sqn's
Fit Lt L.M.A. BUlTa-Robinson, which
made him a Mustang ace, as he had shot
down two He Ills in April 1944. By that
time the ground situation was improv-
ing steadily for the Allies, and the Wing
moved to keep up with the advances. This
resulted in a brief move to Saint-Andre
(B-24) in early September, before the
Wing moved on to B-40 Beauvais to the
north of Paris. Even this was too slow to
keep up with the Allied armies, and from
9 September the Wing moved into B-60
Grimbergen, to the north of Brussels in
Belgium, illustrating how fast the Allies
were advancing at that time. However,
while at Grimbergen, although tactical
operations continued (including attacks
on the rail network), the Mustangs were
additionally ta ked with air cover for
the ma sive Allied airborne operation to
capture bridges in Holland over the River
Rhine. This involved operations over
Nijmegen and Arnhem, and a number of
air battles ensued with German fighters.
However, although their presence was of
importance to these operations, a major
change for the three Mustang squadrons
was about to take place.
By September 1944 RAF Bomber
Command was increasingly carrying
out daylight raids against targets in the
western part of Germany. Fighter escort
and support was necessary for these mis-
sions, and to meet this growing require-
LONG-RA GE ESCORT
ment No. 122 Wing's Mustang squadrons
were withdrawn from Belgium in late
September and their involvement with
2nd TAF ended. The final Mustang aerial
victory for No. 122 Wing Mustangs on the
Continent was achieved by 122 Sqn on
27 September, with the shooting down
of a Bf 109G in the Arnhem area. The
three No. 122 Wing squadrons then left
Grimbergen, 19 and 122 Sqns on the
28th and 65 Sqn the following day. They
joined No. 150 Wing to become a part of
the ADGB organization, and were subse-
quently based at Matlask in Norfolk. The
Mustangs were replaced within No. 122
Wing at Grimbergen by Hawker Tempest
squadrons (Nos 3, 56 and 486 Sqns).
Th following month No. 133 Wing,
still with Mustangs, was also moved into
East Anglia, taking up station at Andrews
Field in Essex, where it was later joined
by the former No. 122 Wing squadrons
and 316 Sqn from Coltishall to form a
'super Wing' of seven Merlin Mustang
squadrons. This simplified maintenance,
supply and administration, and also pro-
vided the luxury of concrete runways for
the winter months, a facility unavailable
at the orfolk airfields.
Nevertheless, with the increasing need
for long-range fighters at that stage in
the war, the RAF proceeded to convert
six further fighter squadrons to Merlin
Mustangs during late 1944/early 1945: 64,
118, 126, 165,234 and 309 Sqns. All were
fonner Spitfire operators except for the
Polish-manned 309 Sqn, which had tem-
porarily converted on to Hurricanes from
its venerable Allison-engined Mustangs
before the changeover occurred. In late
1944 a second 'super Wing' was formed,
thi time at Bentwaters in Suffolk, an air-
field originally constructed for US heavy
bombers but never used to house them.
This expansion of the RAF Mustang
Mk III fighter force to some 250 aircraft
during the autumn of 1944 was made pos-
sible by substantial further deliveries of
new Mustangs from the USA. Many of
these aircraft were from NAA's Dallas
production, Dallas manufacture of the
'razorback' Mustang continuing for a
several months (up to July 1944) after
the Inglewood plant had changed over
(in February/March 1944) to the bubble-
canopy P-51 D. In the event over a third of
the total Dallas production was supplied
to Britain. By that time the USAAF in
Europe had largely re-equipped its combat
squadrons with the newer P-51D.
129
Comparative Trials
In an interesting series of trials the
AFDU conducted a comprehensive com-
parison of a captured Bf 109G and a
late-production Mustang Mk III. These
trials also included comparisons with a
captured Fw 190A and several Allied
fighters, including the Spitfire Mk IX,
Spitfire Mk XIV and Tempest Mk V. The
resulting AFDU report, dated 8 March
1944, sung the praises of the Mustang.
Regarding the Bf 109, it was found that
the altitude for maximum pelformance
from the aircraft's Daimler Benz DB 605A
engine was 16,OOOft (4,900m), but at that
height the Mustang was 30mph (48km/h)
faster in level flight. The Mustang was
also faster by 50mph (80km/h) at 30,000
feet (9,000m). Like several other Axis
fighter, the Bf 109 had a slightly better
rate of climb up to some 20,000 feet
(6,000m), but from there upwards the
Mustang gained a slight advantage. When
the two aircraft were 'zoom climbed'
(employing speed obtained in a dive to
increase the speed of climb) there was no
noticeable difference in their respective
rates. In a dive the Mustang Mk III could
draw steadily away from the Bf 109G. In
turning manoeuvres the Mustang could
out-tum the Bf 109, but there was little
to choose between them in rate of roll.
The Messerschmitt's firepower was much
heavier than the Mustang's, with three
20mm cannon and two 13mm machine
guns (although operationally the Bf 109G
would need underwing 'gondolas' to
mount the additional two 20mm cannon,
in the Rii.stsatz 6 add-on modification,
thus slightly impairing overall perform-
ance). However, the German fighter had
nothing like the Mustang' endurance,
lasting only some 90min under combat
conditions - a paltry time compared with
the long-legged Mustang. The Bf 109's
cockpit was far more cramped, and its
pilot also had a comparatively restricted
view.
In the comparative trials with the Fw
190A, which was perhaps the most for-
midable German fighter in the mid-to-
late war period, the Mustang was found
to be nearly 50mph (80km/h) faster up
to 28,000 feet (8,500m), which increased
to an excellent 70mph (l13km/h) above
that height. Little overall difference was
found in rate of climb, but there was a
slight advantage for the Mustang in turns.
The German fighter had a vastly superior
rate of roll, but was very capably out-dived
by the Mu tang. Overall, the Mustang
emerged very well from these compara-
tive trial, and when compared with the
Tempestand pitfire MkX[V, which were
aid to have comparatively 'no endurance'
(!), the Mustang looked very good with
its xcellent range capabilitie . The report
concluded: 'The Mustang III i a delight-
ful and easy aircraft to fly. It advantage
over the pitfire [X lie in a con iderably
greater range and greater all-round peed.
[t can outstrip the Fw [90 in a dive, fol-
lowed if desired by a shallow climb. Its
only erious drawback is a slightly less rate
of climb than the Spitfire IX, particularly
at hight.' However, bearing in mind the
speed of the Mustang, particu larl yin a
div , the report also concluded: 'A pilot
needs to understand the effect of com-
pressibility speed. Practices should not be
attempted.'
The two Fighter Command Mu tang
airfields, Andrews Field and Bentwaters,
were the main source of R F long-range
fighters for the remainder of hostilitie in
northwest Europe. Each had over 120 air-
raft, illustrating how important it was to
base these large numbers of Mu tangs at
ites once considered for heavy bombers,
where there was enough room to house so
manyfightersand the infra tructure needed
to support them. The Mustangs' principal
task was to escort RAF heavy bomber to
the Ruhr and further-flung targets involv-
ingdeep penetration into hostile airspace.
ompared with the experience of th
US escort Mustangs, the RAF's escort
missions were more often than not com-
paratively uneventful in respect of contact
with the enemy, although in the final six
months of the war the Luftwaffe began to
take an active interest in th somewhat
looser formations of the Lancaster and
Halifax bomber that were being escorted.
However, by that time the German fighter
force was considerably depleted, and there
were few large air battle compared with
the situation for American Mustang e cort
pilots earlier in [944.
ev rtheles , some major dogfight did
take place. On 12 December [944 over
eighty Mustangs from Andrew Field pro-
vided cover for [40 Lancasters of o. 3
Group flying to bomb the Ruhrstahl steel-
works at Witten. On that occa ion the
Luftwaffe responded in force, with a mas
attack from above by forty to fifty Bf [09s.
The Mustangs engaged in combat, claim-
ing five of the enemy plus two probables for
LO G-RANGE ESCORT
the loss of one Mustang, but eight bombers
were lost and the fighter attack helped to
scatter the bombing, resulting in substan-
tial damage to the town itself but no hits
on the steelwork. On 23 March 1945
Luftwaffe jet fighter made their fir t con-
certed attack on an RAF daylight bomber
formation. Mustang from Bentwater
were on hand to see fifteen to twenty
Me 262s come rapidly in on the flank
of a Lancast r for e bombing a bridge at
Bremen. The Mustangs immediately dived
after the jets, but the Messerschmitts'
superior speed allowed most of them to
escape. Even so, Fg Off A. Yeardley of
126 Sqn was able to open fire on one of
them, which was observ d to dive into
the ground. This was th first known jet
victory achieved by an RAF Mustang. The
Andrews Field anJ Bentwaters squadrons
were even more successful on 9 April,
when three Me 262s were claimed when
eight to ten of them attacked o. 5 Group
Lancaster bombing oil storage tank
and U-boat shelters at Hamburg. Several
of the escorting Mustangs from 64, 306
and 309 Sqns engaged the jets, three of
which were shot down by Polish pilots of
309 Sqn. The following day, while on an
escort to Leipzig, RAF Mustangs had their
only known combat with Mes er chmitt
Me 163 rocket fighters. One was inter-
cepted, and a it attempted to dive away
from the bombers it wa somehow caught
and shot down by an Australian pilot, Fg
OffJohn Haslope of 165 qn. On return to
Bentwater his Mustang Mk Il[ was found
to be in a very poor state of repair, with
several degree more dihedral on its wings
as a result of Has lope pulling out of the dive
that had given him enough speed to catch
the rocket fighter. It was the seventh and
last Me 163 that was confirmed destroyed
by Mustang pilots, the others falling to the
guns of S-operated Mustangs. Haslope
was awarded the OF for his achievement,
but sadly, having become an airline pilot
after the war, he wa killed in Australia
in [951 while flying a Tran -Australia
Airlines Douglas 0 -3.
[n addition to the Mustang lll, the
British also received significant numbers
of the bubble-canopy P-51D/K, known
as the Mu tang Mk IV in British service.
(The de ignation lk IVA has ometimes
been used for the P-51Ks, and ome offi-
cial documents of the period refer to this
designation, although it is often ignored
by historians.) The USAAF had over-
riding priority on the P-51D/K models,
130
but a very early Mustang Mk [V (TK589,
ex-44-13332, the first Mk [V to arrive in
Britain, and lacking a dorsal fin exten-
sion) had reached Boscombe Down for
evaluation as early as June 1944. It was
discovered during the A&AEE' te t
that the Mk [V was the heaviest of all
th Mustang operational variants to serve
with the RAF, weighing-in at 9,9 21b
(4,52 kg) maximum with its internal
fuel tanks full (at least 220 gal effective,
about 1,000 litre ). [t wa also found to
be 25mph (40km/h) faster than earlier
Mustangs. evertheless, Boscombe Down
te t pilots additionally found that the Mk
IV had a number of vices compared with
the Mk Ill, and limits were placed on
the amount of 'g' that could be pulled in
dive pull-outs due to elevator vibration.
One won lers if the loss of Col Thoma
Christian, Jr, CO of the Eighth ir Force's
361st FG during a dive-bombing attack in
August 1944, had any effect on these con-
clusions. Four Mk [Vs eventually served
at Boscombe Down. adly one of them,
KH64 ,wa involved in a fatal accident
in January 1945, when a gun bay panel
departed the aircraft. This was one of four
Mustangs of all types 10 t during theirtime
at the A&AEE, but it was th only one
that involved a fatality. In total, Britain
receiv dorwasduetoreceive 76Mk[Vs,
comprising 2 1 Mk [V, and 595 Mk [VAs
(as with the Mk lll, that is the number of
serial numbers allocated), serial numbers
beginning with KH641. Although many
of these reached Britain for the gradual re-
equipment of the Mustang Mk [II squad-
rons, in practice the two types operated
alongside each other in some squadrons.
nd, as related in the following chapter,
some were sent to the Far East, where they
were imply scrapped owing to the war's
ending. At least another fifty- ix intended
Mk IV deliveries were cancelled. The
British Mk IV Mustangs were generally
similar to their S-operated counter-
parts, but one difference was the installa-
tion of AP -13 tail-warning equipment.
ometimes called a 'tail-warning radar',
this was not a 'radar' in the modern sense,
with a large dish antenna and radome, but
was a simple sender/receiver that some-
what crudely warned of aircraft to the
rear. Visibly, it consisted of several small
antennae projecting from the side of the
fin on each side, and was installed on
later U -operated Mustangs. Although
the installation appears to have been
carried on machines supplied to Britain,
it was not wired-in, as a number of former
British Mustang pilots have confirmed.
ome little-known operations by
British-ba ed RAF Meriin-powereJ
Mu tangs were flown near anJ over
German-occupied orway. As previously
related, RAF Merlin lustangs sometime
e-corted Coa tal Command strike air-
craft. [ncluded in these operation were
long-range mi ions from cotland to
the orwegian coast, where the Coastal
Command Beaufighters and Mosquitoes,
among them those from the well-known
Banff Strike Wing, were tasked to attack
German shipping including freighters car-
rying vital iron ore to Germany. Usually
employing Peterhead as their base, the
Mustangs were often detacheJ from
squadrons based further south, or were
from temporary squadron-strength deploy-
ments, but in early 1945 the Peterhead
detachment grew into a Wing with the
arrival of 65 qn in January, and then 19
Sqn in February, both Mustang-equipped.
IndeeJ, a stated earlier, 65 qn had been
the first RAF squadron to equip with the
Mustang Mk IV. These orwegian opera-
tions were particularly arduous for the
Mustangs and their pilot. Flights across
the orth ea between cotlanJ anJ
orway entai led ome two to two-anJ-
a-half hours over the open sea, anJ the
flight out in company with the strike air-
craft had to be made at as Iowa height as
possible to avoid detection by radar. Once
over orwegian waters the RAF aircraft
were at the mercy of anti-aircraft fire, a
well as defend ing Luftwaffe fighters. These
included Bf 109Gs and Fw 190As of the
composit fighter wing JG 5, and some
int nse air battles ensued. The Bf 109G
had a somewhat better turning circle at
low peeds than the larger and heavier
Mustang, and at the low levels that many
of these combats took place the Germans
held th aJvantage in acceleration and
climbing peed. The re ult were some-
times even in these low-level encoun-
ters, as discovered by the U Eighth Air
Force's 4th FG, which undertook some
of these e cort mi sions in August 1944,
when the RAF Mustang were otherwise
engaged with anti-VI operation. Indeed,
almost right up to the end of the war,
intense operations were carried out along
the Norwegian coastline, 19 and 65 qns
continuing to duel with JG 5 well into
April 1945. Among the successful RAF
pilots was the COof 19 Sqn, Sqn LJr Peter
Hearne, whose final score in Mustangs,
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
five aerial victories, made him a member
of the elect group of RAF Mustang aces.
imilarly little known is the u e of the
Mustang a a target-nlarker for heavy
bombers. This wa accompli hed by
renowned RAF bomber pilot Wg Cdr
Leonard heshire, who had recognized
the pos ibility of using a fa t ingle-
engined aircraft to mark targets accu-
rately for oncoming heavy bomber. The
Mustang appeared to be the ideal aircraft
for the job, combining peed, range and
the ability to fight its way out of a diffi-
cult situation if the need arose. Cheshire
first used a Mustang, borrowed from the
USAAF and operated from Woodhall
Spa in Lincolnshire, to mark the Siracourt
V-weapon storage site for 617 Sqn's
Lancaster bombers on 25 June. Makeshift
smoke-marking equipment was installed
under the Mustang's wings, and Cheshire
successfully marked the target for the
heavy bombers despite having no previ-
ous experience of flying the Mustang. The
raid was a succes , the Lancasters hitting
the site with 12,0001b 'Tallboy' bombs.
Cheshire used a Mustang on two further
occasions, in early July 1944, to mark
target for617 qn.WgCdrJ.B.Tait,who
took on some of Cheshire's respon ibili-
tie when Cheshire's tour of duty ended,
also used a Mustang as a target marker on
at least one occasion, and possibly more.
Before the end of the war in Europe,
several further R F squaJrons converted
to the Mustang. ome began flying the
Mustang [V straight away, while others
flew a mix of Mk [lIs and Mk IVs. They
included 154 qn (which only flew the
type for a short time before Jisbanding at
the end of March (945), the Canadian-
manned 441 and 442 Sqns (although the
former had received only a few examples
before hostilities ceased, and did not fly
them in combat), 61 I qn of the Royal
Auxiliary Air Force, and Polish-manned
303 Sqn. The last-named unit flew one
of the final RAF Mustang mission of
the war, when it participated alongside
other Mustang-equipped Polish squad-
rons, including 309 qn, in an escorr of
RAF heavy bomber on 25 April in a raid
on the famous Berchte ga kn mountain
retreat of Adolf Hitler. At the time of
VE-Day in May 1945 there were sixteen
RAF Merlin Mustang squadrons in
Britain with approximately 320 aircraft.
In comparison, the Eighth Air Force had
some 1,600 Mustangs at its disposal at that
time.
131
Mediterranean and Southern
European Operations
In addition to operation over northwest
Europe, Merlin Mu tangs also served with
RAF and Commonwealth squadron in
the Mediterranean and southern Europe
theatre. The principal Briti h tactical
fighter in the MTO had for some time
been the Curtiss Kittyhawk (the RAF's
equivalents of the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk
family), in various versions. A numb r
of Briti h squadrons had successfully
operated the Kittyhawk in Norrh Africa
and in the early stages of the Italian
campaign, but during 1944, as more
Merlin Mustangs became available, the
Mustang began to replace the venerable
but much-loved Kittyhawk. The first
MTO RAF squadron to re-equip with
Merlin Mustangs was 260 Sqn, based at
Cutella in southern [taly. Thi squadron
received it first Mustang Mk III in
the spring of 1944, the transition from
Kittyhawk to Mustang taking several
weeks and involving ome of the squad-
ron' pilot picking up their new aircraft
from Casablanca in North Africa, where
they haJ been hipped. The squadron
was a part of 239 Wing, which had
slogged through the campaign in orth
Africa a a parr of the RAF's Desert Air
Force. Other constituent parts of this
Wing also converted to the Mustang
during 1944. These included the famous
112 qn, noted for the 'shark-mouths'
painted on the prominent undernose air
intakes of its Kittyhawks. A real veteran
unit of the fighting in orth frica and
then Italy, 112 Sqn received its Mk
Ills in the summer of 1944. Eventually,
several more squadrons converted to the
Mk [II in the MTO, including 213 qn
from the early ummer of 1944, 249 qn
in the early autumn (it received it first
Mustangs in early September, eventually
to replace its pitfire Mk V ), 3 qn
Royal Au tralian Air Force (RAAF) in
ovember 1944, and 5 Squadron, outh
African Air Force ( AAF) in eptember
1944. All were operational on the type
by the end of 1944, by which time some
277 Mk III had been delivered in the
MTO. The e unit became accustomed
to flying tactical missions against a
whole range of targets, including com-
munications, airfields, troop concentra-
tions and armour, as well as performing
the many other tasks that fell to the
capable and versatile Mustangs. Some
CHAPTER 6
Far East Battleground
of these were flown with the aid of
forward air controllers, who pinpointed
targets by radio from spotter light air-
craft 'uch as Piper LA Cubs or Austers.
Level- and dive-bombing missions were
performed, and sometimes the Musrangs
carried a 1,0001b bomb beneath each
wing, this being the maximum ordnance
that could be safely carried, although
500lb bombs were far more common.
nderwing unguided RPs were often
available. These were usually mounted
on individual launch rails in a somewhat
cumbersome fitting that reduced the
Mustang's performance and manoeuvra-
bility, though this was not considered
to he a serious prohlem because there
was a relative lack of enemy fighter
activity. Es ort missions were also flown
in support of Allied medium bomhers
and occasionally heavy bombers. Aerial
combat against German and Repuhlican
Italian forces was particularly infrequent,
and there was little chance for any of
the British and Commonwealth pilots
to run up tallies of aerial
victories.
In addition to operations over Iraly, the
MTO-based British and Commonw alth-
manned also flew in
combat over the Balkans from on
the Adriatic coast of Iraly. ome of these
missions were in support of Yugoslav par-
tisans, and in June 1944 a separate organi-
zation within the Allied aerial command
structure, the Balkan ir Force, was
formed specifically to oversee these opera-
tions. Within the Balkan Air Force's No.
2 3 Wing, lustangs operated primarily
with 213 and 260 Sqns. In the spring of
1945,213 qn temporarily moved over to
Yugoslavia in support of local operations
against the increasingly i olated German
occupying forces. During late 1944/early
1945 the hubble-canopy Mk IV started
to become available, and by the end of
the year forty-six had been del i\'ered to
the RAF ami Commonwealth units in the
LONG-RANGE ESCORT
MTO, numbers increasing after the New
Year to the extent that some of the squad-
rons had virtually fully re-equipped with
this type by the end of hostilities. As an
ill ustration of how effecti ve the Musrangs
were as a part of the Allied tactical air
effort in the Mediterranean theatre, on 5
ay 1944 a combined force of Mustangs
and Kittyhawks bombed and successfully
breached the Pe'cara dam in Italy. This
action has received little publicity, but it
was as audacious as the highly celebrated
dams raid by 617 qn Lancaster bombers
in May 1943.
It is no reflection on the relati \'e skilis or
tenacity of British fighter pilots compared
with their Ameri an counterparts to point
out that few RAF pilots actually became
Mustang ace in aerial combat. More often
than not, RAF Mustang were involved in
tactical missions in which combats with
enemy fighters were far fewer than in the
large air battles at high altitude in which
S Mustang pilots often participated. The
top-scoring R F Mustang ace was Fg Off
Maurice Pinches of 122 qn. His 6.333
victories (some sources attribute him 6.5)
were achieved mainly over lormandy in
the D-Day period, including ,1 Bf 109 on
17 June near Dreux. Just behind him was
the Greek-born Fit gt B.M. Vassiliades
of 19 qn, who gained six of his nine
victorie' in Mustangs. There were seven
recognized RAF Mustang aces (pilots
who scored five or more aerial victories
in Mustangs), although a number of other
pi lot who were aces by vi rtue of thei r
combined s orcs while flying a number of
operational types gained some of their kills
in Mustangs. The highest-scoring Polish
pilot who flew with the RAF, for example,
was Wg Cdr rani law kalski, who rose
to lead No. I 3 Wing. His total score was
twenty-two victories, two of which were
achieved in the Musrang Mk III (on 24
June 1944, when two Bf 109Gs that he
was manoeuvring to attack collided in
mid-air).
132
Final victory
Reconnaissance Mustangs of the U A F
had the last say in the air war over north-
west Europe. In early May 1945 clements
of the 10th PG were based in southeastern
ermany, many of the unit's PR Musrangs
being stationed at Furth airfield. On th
final day of the war in Europe, May 1945,
with German personnel surrendering to
British or S forces wherever possible to
avoid being captured by the Russians, a
huge amount of aerial activity took place
around Hirth. German aircraft began
appearing from many locations, including
the so-called Protectorate of Bohemia and
Moravia (the former Czechoslovakia),
their pilots and crews anxious to surren-
der to any available U before the
Ru could get their hands on them.
From nowhere, Fw 190 , J u h and a wide
miscellany of other aircraft started to fill
the skies. Many of the locally-hased U
units, including the 12th and 15th TR s,
became involved in the curious occupation
of rounding-up the e urren Icring strag-
glers and escorting them to local -held
airfields. However, although Mustangs of
these two squadrons successfully guided
in a number of Luftwaffe aircraft and flew
many patrols, and even though the war
was officially ending, some of the German
pilots were not so keen to surrender. A
number of dogfights took place during the
day, even into the evening, and several
German aircraft were shot down by the
reconnais ance pilots. At roughly 20:00hr
on the evening of May two Mustangs of
the 12th TRS were patrolling along the
River Danube when they were 'bounced'
by fi ve Fw 190s. In the ensu ing moments Lt
RobertC. Little manoeuvred in hehindone
of the Focke-Wulfs and shot it down. He
was probahly flying his assigned Mutang,
Dallas-built F-6C-I-NT 42-103206,
coded ZM-G. It is now widely regarded as
the very last aerial victory of the Second
World War in Europe.
The great success of the Merlin Mustangs
over northwest and southern Europe has
tended to overshadow their achieve-
ments in other parts of the world. This is
not only true of the CBI theatre, where
Merlin Mustangs supplanted their earlier
II ison-powered prede essors from mid-
1944 onwards, particularly in China. It
was also the case in the Pacific, where
Ilison Mustangs had not previously
operated, but where Merlin-powered
Mustangs performed long-range bomber
escort as well as tactical missions with
great accomplishment much later in the
\var.
Combat in the CBI
In the CBI the lIison-powered P-51 of
the 23rd and 311th FGs had represented
a major exten ion of the U A F' fire-
power after they had become operational
in the latter part of 1943, as descri bed
in Chapter 3. Following on rom this,
Merlin-powered Mu tangs subsequently
served with three U FG in the CBI,
as well as in two air commando units
and two little-publicized joint Chinese-
An"lerican FGs. It is true, however, that
the CBI was often overlooked in terms of
procurement, leading to the much-quoted
remark that this was a 'forgotten' area
The arrival of Merlin-powered Mustangs in the
CBI and Pacific Theatres represented a major
upgrading of Allied air power. Allison-engined
Mustangs had already performed important
service in the CBI when the first Merlin Mustangs
started to arrive in small numbers in the early to
middle months of 1944, but deliveries were usually
well behind the higher priorities of the ETO as
a whole. This line-up of P-51Bs and P-51Cs in
China represented a part of that comparatively
slow build-up of Allied air power in the CBI, but
with the arrival of the Merlin Mustangs in useful
numbers it was possible to start replacing the
venerable Curtiss P-40s and earlier Mustangs that
had already helped to hold the line against the
Japanese. USAAF
of conflict. Certainly the allocation of
Mustangs, once the worth of the type had
at last been recognized by the U AAF,
tended to be bia ed towards Europe. It
wa not until the ummer of 1944, several
months after the Merlin-powered P-51
had tarted to make its mark with S
units over northwest Europe, that Merlin
Mustangs were able to start making an
impact in India and, particularly, in
China.
Nevertheless, Merlin Mustangsdid start
toarrive in the CBI, albeit in small numbers
initially, in the first half of 1944. Among
the early recipients was the veteran 23rd
FG, which wa already ucce sfully flying
the Allison-engined P-51. The first four
Merlin Mustangs were received by the
23rd in February 1944. They were flown in
from India late in that month, Col Clinton
Vincent (one of the foremost pilot of the
23rd FG, hut at that time head of the 6 th
Composite Wing, of which the 23rd was
a part) leading the aircraft into Kunming
after a delivery flight from India. The first
squadron of the Group to recei ve these
aircraft the following month was probably
the 76th F , which at that time wa still
flying Allison-engined P-5 Js. During the
remainder of 1944 a trickle of Mustangs
wa delivered, allowing the Group to
enhance it combat effe tivenes consid-
erably, although Allison Mustangs, and
133
particularly PAOs, continued to be oper-
ated alongside the new arrivals until later
in the year.
The fighting in China was intense
during several specific campaign and
offensives, with Chinese forces backed by
American units fighting the Japanese in
a number of specific areas. In mid-1944
the 23rd was involved in the defence
against a major ]apane e drive down the
Hsiang Valley in the I unan Provin e of
China that began on 17 June 1944. In
spite of bad weather conditions and heavy
ground fire, the 23rd provided air upport
for hinese ground forces and repeatedly
stru k at enemy troops and transporta-
tion. The group was rewarded for its con-
siderable efforts with a Distinguished nit
Citation.
Conditions in hina were very differ-
ent from those that had heen encoun-
tered in India. Although some of the
Indian bases were somewhat spartan,
at Ieasr many were established airfields
with some measure of facilities and many
had reasonable runways (although this
did tend to depend on the weather).
In China, however, the air bases were
often dramatically different. Some were
built by local Chinese labour, which,
although usually very enthusiasti , was
hard put to make anything more than
flying strips with primitive conditions.
FAR EAST BATTLEGROUND
The 'shark mouth' nose is most closely associated
with the American Volunteer Group or 'Flying
Tigers', later the 23rd FG, but it was also seen on
other units' aircraft as well. This 51st FG Merlin
Mustang belongs to either the 25th or 26th FS, there
being some confusion as to the allocation of the
yellow tail bands that adorn its tail. It is equipped
with the three-shot 'bazooka' rocket rails and their
highly cumbersome mounts that were much less
preferred than the 'zero-length' RP attachments
fitted to late-production P-51 Os. The missile
carried in these 'bazooka' pipes was generally a
4.5in unguided RP. USAAF
134
The impact of the Merlin Mustangs in the CBI was
immediate. They were able to fly all the variety of
missions flown by their European counterparts, and
take on any Japanese aerial opposition. The 311th
FG, one of the recipients of Merlin Mustangs in the
CBI, had already established itself as a successful
Mustang unit with its various achievements using
Allison-engined Mustangs, which it started to fly
in 1943. The first Merlin Mustangs started to reach
the 311th during the spring of 1944, and it used
the Mustang's range and combat capabilities to
great effect while based in China. Here, yellow-
and-black tailed P-51C-10-NT 42-103896 Princess
of the 530th FS, 311th FG, escorts a C-47 transport
over China on 24 July 1945. In common with many
CBI Mustangs it carries an MN-26C d/f loop on
its fuselage spine, indicative of extra navigation
equipment carried owing to the miles of rugged
and inhospitable terrain over which these aircraft
operated. USAAF
A line-up of Mustangs of the 311th FG, probably
at Pungchacheng in China in 1945. The nearest
aircraft is P-51K-1-NA 44-11444 The Worldly
Wench, with the black-and-yellow tail markings
and white spinner of the 529th FS. My Ned, in the
background, was with the 530th FS. The 311th
FG fought a long war with the Mustang, having
originally started with Allison-engined Mustangs
in 1943. R.L. Ward collection
I:vcn the more established bases lacked
,mything but the most basic facilities,
,md the whole adventure became a real
lcst for the Mustangs. That the P-Sl
often emerged with flying colours was
tcstament to the hard-pressed ground
crews and maintenance personnel who
worked on them, as well as to the Merlin
Mustang's ability to operate in less than
ideal conditions. Added to these factors
was the fact that virtually all supplies had
he flown in from India over a part of the
Himalayas (the famous 'Hump' route),
or by equally perilous overland routes.
Poor-quality airfield surfaces, sometimes
inferior or even contaminated fuel, and
the long distances involved in some mis-
sions, coupled with the threat of japanese
attack against the more forward airfields,
made for a very different war to that
heing waged in Europe. The overall avia-
tion organization tasked with taking the
war to the japanese in China was the
Fourteenth Army Air Force, which had
heen activated in China in March 1943.
It was headed by the unique Maj Gen
Claire Chennault, who had built a formi-
dable reputation earlier in the war with
his leadership of the 'Flying Tigers'. The
23 rd FG, together wi th the 311 th FG,
which had moved in from lndia in the
summer of 1944, plus the little-known
Slst FG and the even lesser-publicized 3rd
and Sth FGs (Provisional), the last two
jointly Chinese and American-manned,
all operated in the later stages of the war
with the Fourteenth Air Force, together
with the 2nd ACG. All of these units
eventually flew Merlin Mustangs, and
their considerable presence for ground-
attack and fighter missions was a major
problem for the japanese, who gradually
lost aerial supremacy even over their own
FAR EAST BATTLEGROUND
rear areas as the Mustangs covered more
and more of the vast Chinese interior.
The 76th and 74th FSs of the 23rd
transitioned on to the Merlin Mustang as
1944 progressed, but it was not until the
autumn of the year that the Group's P-40-
operating 7Sth FS began to convert to
the P-Sl. This shows how difficult it was
to obtain significant numbers of Merlin
Mustangs in the Chinese theatre, despite
Chennault's desire to obtain as many as
possible. The complete transition of the
unit on to the Mustang did not take place
until October or November 1944. The
23rd continued to be headquartered at
Kweilin, as it had been during its Allison
Mustang days, and flew many signifi-
cant missions with the Merlin-engined
P-Sl, including several successful attacks
on japanese airfields and installations.
In these strikes the range and excellent
performance of the P-Sl proved vital,
no other fighters in the theatre being
able to perform such attacks while at the
same time being capable of looking after
themselves if intercepted. Noteworthy
but by no means unusual was the attack
on anking and its surrounding areas
on 8 December 1944, when a number
of japanese airfields were shot up and
attacks made on river traffic. Several of
the Mustangs carried bombs, wh iIe others
flew as top cover. In effect, the 23rd's
Mustangs were able to mount such raids
as a combined attack and fighter force,
and it was just this type of action that
sapped the japanese resources and made
even their rear areas a dangerous place to
be. evertheless, the japanese remained
a formidable force in some parts of China,
and several major counteroffensives were
launched by japanese forces during 1944.
Indeed, a successful japanese attack was
135
made in the direction of the 23rd's head-
quarters at Kweilin, which eventually
fell to the japanese in September 1944
after stubborn defence by American and
Chinese forces. Several Fourteenth Air
Force airfields were captured during that
period. The 23rd moved its headquarters
to Liuchow and then to Luliang, never to
return to Kweilin.
Several 23rd FG pilots achieved con-
siderable successes while flying the Merlin
Mustang, and just as in Europe the number
of aces piloting the type started to grow.
Perhaps the greatest exponent was Capt
john 'Pappy' Herbst of the 74th FS, 23rd
FG. Although somewhat older at 34 than
most of the 23rd's pilots when he join d
the group in May 1944, Herbst was an
exceptional and experienced pilot who
flew Merlin Mustangs with the 23rd to
great success. In addition to a possible
aerial victory in the Mediterranean under
conditions that are still shrouded in some
mystery, and several kills achieved while
flying P-40Ns with the 23rd's 74th FS,
Herbst scored most of his victories in the
P-SIB/P-Sle. Th se started on 17 june
1944, when he was temporarily with the
76th F of the 23rd, and continued into
early 1945, when he scored the last of his
eighteen aerial victories in the CBI on
17 january by shooting down a Nakajima
Ki-44 hoki 'Tojo' near Kiangwan airfield,
making a total of fourteen in the Mustang.
This made Herbst the leading ace in terms
of aerial victories in the CBI.
Ground attack was virtually as impor-
tant a mission for the China-based Merlin
Mustangs as aerial combat, and these
aircraft were instrumental in blunting
several japanese offensives and aiding
Chinese and American ground forces,
in addition to shooting up many enemy-
held airfields. The Mustangs often carried
bombs, or RPs on 'zero-length' rocket rails,
although the use of the long three-tube
bazooka-type RP installation much publi-
cized in recent years a being extensively
used by Mustangs was not as widespread.
The P-Sl B/P-SlC in particular suffered
The 75th FS was the last of the 23rd FG's squadrons
to transition to the Mustang, doing so in late 1944.
This 75th FS Mustang appears to be a P-51 K with
its uncuffed propeller blades, and shows the drab
mid-1945 markings of the squadron with a black
tail and plane-in-squadron number ('56') on the
nose without the famous 23rd FG shark-mouth,
but bearing the tiger shark squadron badge on the
fuselage side. R.L. Ward collection
FAR EAST BATTLEGROUI D FAR EAST BATTLEGROU D
Mustangs of the 2nd ACG in India were distinctively marked. This P-51D-15-NA, 44-15338, photographed in India in early 1945, has black lightning bolts on its
fuselage and wings in addition to an exclamation mark on its fin and the individual identification number '84'. The Air Commandos made good use of Mustangs as
ground-attack aircraft. R.L. Ward collection
from instability problems when carrying
these weapon, thi being aggravated by
the e.g. difficultie caused by the fuselage
fuel tank installation in those marks. The
cumbersome three-tube installation also
proved drag-producing and inaccurate. In
similar fashion to the situation encoun-
tered in Europe, the P-51 B/C's four angle-
mount d 0.5in wing-mounted machine
guns uffered from jamming problems.
These were only really solved for good
with the arrival of P-5ID/Ks with their
six-gun wing armament, in which all six
machine guns were mounted upright, thus
eliminating ammunition feed problems.
Also a part of the 23rd FG from mid-
1944 was the I 18th TRS. Yet another
NG squadron that had been federal-
ized and duly saw overseas combat, the
II th wa attached to the 23rd FG on
or around 16 June 1944. Formerly a part
of the Connecticut G, the squadron
was ordered to active ervice in February
1941. After everal de ignation and ba e
changes in the continental U A, during
which antisubmarine coastal patrols were
flown and much training arried out, the
squadron moved to the CBI in early 1944,
and was at first stationed in India, wi ere
it initially operated with rAOs under the
Tenth Army Air Force. However, having
become a part of the Fourteenth Army
Air Force in June 1944, the unit was duly
stationed alongside the F s of the 23rd
FG in hina, and was eventually fully
equipped with Merlin lustang. Despite
being designated a reconnaissance unit,
the 11 th did a great deal more than that.
For most of its time in hina it flew as
a fighter and ground-attack squadron in
addition to performing reconnaissance
tasks, and achieved a great deal of success
in the e various duties. The squadron par-
ticularly made a name for itself in anti-
shipping attacks, using its Mustangs for
skip-bombing to considerable effect along
the long hinese coastline. Much of the
I 18th's succe s was due to its exceptional
commander, Maj (later Lt Col) Edward
McComas. Not only was McComas an
able lead 1', but he also proved to be
a gifted fighter pilot, eventually rival-
ling and equalling 'Pappy' Herbst as the
leading Mu tang exponent in the CBI.
On 16 October he was part of an armed
reconnaissance flight to Japane e-held
Hong Kong that was intercepted by a
number of Japane e fighters. McComas
shot down one of the hapless akajima
KiA4 Shoki 'Tojo ' to gain his first aerial
victory. This was the start of a remarkable
scoring run that resulted in fourteen vic-
tories in just over two months. This record
included five Nakajima KiA3 Hayabusa
'Oscars' on 23 December, making him one
of the few pilots in China to claim five
victories in a single sortie. His final victim
was another 'Oscar', also over Hong Kong,
on 24 December. All of his victories are
lei ieved to have been achieved in the
P-5IC, although the 11 th later con-
verted on to the P-51 D, as indeed did
all the squadrons of the 23rd FG, appar-
ently tarting with the 75th F early in
1945. In total the four squadrons of the
23rd finished the war with 467 confirmed
aerial victories (this is the 'official' figure
quoted by Frank Olynyk in his book Scars
and Bars, although adding up the scores of
the 23rd FG' four squadrons gives a total
of 491. 75, and veterans of the unit claim
considerably more), plu at least 320
ground victories and more than 131, 00
tons of japanese shipping sunk, in addi-
tion to countle s vehi Ie and enemy
troops accoun ted for. Th is was at the co I'
of some 110 aircraft lost in a rial combat,
and was achieved in more than 24,000
combat sorties. The 23rd had certainly
continued with great success the tradi-
tions of the American Volunteer Group
in China.
In addition to the 23rd FG, Merlin
Mustangs were also flown by the 311 th
and 51st FG in China. The 311th had
already e tablished it elf as a succes ful
Mustang unit with its many achieve-
ments in Allison-engined Mustangs,
which it started to fly in 1943. The first
Merlin-engined Mustangs started to reach
the 31 Ith during the spring of 1944, the
squadrons of the 31 1th transitioning
on to the P-5IB/P-5IC letween May
and August/September of the year. This
gave the roup the opportunity to fly
the Merlin Mustang operationally before
the move to China to be ome a part of
the Fourteenth Army Air Force in August
1944. The Group continued to fly attack
and fighter missions, the Merlin-engined
Mustangs considerabl y enhancing its
capabilities compared with the Allison
Mustangs, especially for escort work and
operating at higher altitudes. Merlin
Mustangs of the Group also carried out
many succe ful tactical mis ions against
Japanese ground target when eventually
ba ed in hina. The 53 th F , which had
flown the P-51A from India, as described
in Chapter 3, became parti ularly suc-
136
ce sful with the P-51 B/P-51 C. It became
necessary for squadron of the 31 I th to
operate from a remote Chinese-held
airbase at Hsian in northern China, from
where many operations were flown against
the Japanese rear in the Yellow River area
using the comparatively primitive concli-
tions at the base. The fi rst squadron of
the 31 Ith to operate from there was the
53 th, which was detached to Hsian
between October 1944 and February
1945, and carried out a highly succe sful
series of three raids during the Christmas
1944 and ew Year 1945 period again t
the Japanese air base at Tsinan. The raids
were mounted at extreme range, th
Mustangs having to fly with 110 US gal
external fuel tanks and using their guns
alone to create havoc among the local
Japanese air assets. The success of these
attacks underlined the growing aerial
dominance over the japanese during that
period in many areas of China. Just a
in Europe, Mustangs were successfully
helping to wre tie control of the air from
the enemy, which became a ignificant
factor in loosening the Japanese hold over
the occupied ar as of China. The 530th
was relieved at Hsian in February 1945 by
the 528th FS of the 311 th FG, but by that
time an old hand with the Mustang had
successfully added to his score of aerial
victorie . This wa Jame England, who
had become the top-scoring ace among
Ilison-engined lustang pilot with his
eight aerial victories in the P-51 A while
operating from India. By then promoted
to Major, England achieved two further
aerial victories in the P-51 , the la I'
bing achieved on 18 December 1944
near Hankow airfield, to give him a final
total of ten and making him one of the
most accomplished all-round fighter
pilot in the CBI.
As well as the 23rd and 31 Ith FGs, the
51 st FG also flew the Merlin Mustang in
China. Like the other U units in theCBI,
the 51st flew a long and little-publicized
war in that theatre, having arrived there
<IS early <IS Mmch 1942. Originally acti-
vated as the 51st Pursuit Group in january
1941 under the command of 01 I-Iomer
anders, the Group became the 51st
PursuitGroup (Fighter) in March 1941 and
spent everal months training for combat
while also acting as a part of the we t coast
defence force while stationed at March
Field, CaLifornia. (According to the unit's
diaries, several of its Curtiss fighters were
somewhat ironically deployed for a time
at Mine Ficld, Inglewood, the home of
AA.) The Group's three squadrons were
initially equipped with early-model PAOs,
and the 51st came to be called 'Homer's
Volunteer roup' due to its willingness to
move overseas for combat following the
Pearl Harbor attack. The Group moved
by ship to AustraLia in january 1942 with
a consignment of PAO , and eventually
reached India via Ceylon in larch of
that year. It was redesignated the 51st FG
in May 1942, and ubsequently defended
the Indian side of the 'Hump' aerial supply
routes. The Group was headquartered at
Dinjan in India from October 1942, but in
October 1943 the 51st wa transferred to
China and became a part of the Fourteenth
Army Air Force. Henceforth, the Group's
headquarters were at Kunming, and the
51 st subsequently guarded the eastern end
of the 'Hump' route, in addition to flying
a range offighter and ground-support mi -
ions for and Chinese forces. Like the
23 I'd and 311 th FGs, the 51 st started to
receive Merlin Mustangsduring 1944, and
by the Latter part of the year had received
sufficient virtually to retire its venerable
PAOs. By the early weeks of 1945 the
Merlin Mustang was becoming numeri-
cally the most important U fighter in
the CBI. The component squadrons of the
51 st were the 16th, 25th and 26th F s,
which flew the P-40 and then the P-51,
and the 449th FS, exclusively a P-3 -
equipped squadron.
Chinese Pilots
imilarly little-pubLicized participants in
the CBl weI' the two joint Chinese
and American-manned 3rd and 5th FG
(Provisional) (FG(P). These were part
of the Chinese-American Composite
Wing, and like other FGs in the
BI they originally flew P-40 Warhawks,
but Later received Merlin Mustangs. The
quadrons within the e two Groups were
jointly commanded by an Am rican and
a Chinese officer, and their personnel
were usually a mixture of the two nation-
alities (the Chinese personnel w re a
very diverse group, from many different
parts of the vast Chinese hinterland).
The most succes ful in terms of its use
of the Mustang was the 3rd FG(P), con-
sisting of the 7th, th, 2 th and 32nd
F (Provisional) (F (P). The latter two
squadrons were activated in August 1943,
but the former two were activated in
ctober of that year in India, before
movingto hina inJanuary 1944.1nitially
based at Kweilin, both subsequently made
many base changes to suit the ground war
situation in hina, the 8th F (P) oper-
ating in the area of the Yangtze River.
At that time all the squadrons of the
Group were equipped with P-40s, but in
late 1944/early 1945 Merlin Mustangs
tarted to become available, and these
were sub equently operated alongside
the Warhawks. The Mustangs allowed
137
the Chinese and American pilots to per-
form much longer-range missions than
had been possible solely with the P-40,
and ground-atta k missions were flown
against many far-flung Japane e instal-
lations, including important en my air-
fields in the Hankow area. nfortunately
a japane e offensive to capture the Allied
airfields in the Laohokow area forced
the 8th F (P) to fall back to Ankang
in March 1945, and thereafter shortage
of fuel was a constant problem for ome
of the Chine e-American units. In May
1945 the 8th was still flying a handfuL of
Warhawks, in addition to a mixed bag of
F-6 and other Merlin Mu tangs. lthough
japanese air activity was generally on the
wane in hina by that time, everal pilot
of the 3rd FG(P) scored aerial victorie in
the Mustang. These included the Group'
highest-scoring ace to achieve all hi
victories in the Group and to achieve vic-
tories in Mu tangs, Lt Heyward Paxton,
jr, who scored three victorie in january
1945inP-51 s.Apilotofthe7thF (P),
he finished the war with 6.5 victories,
again underlining the comparative scar-
city of japanese a riaL opposition. Paxton
was hot down on 14 january 1945 in the
vicinity of Hankow airfield, but succes -
fully returned to friendly lines after some
two week, despite being injured. Pilots in
this theatre were ju I' as Likely to achieve
ground victories, owing to the consider-
able number of japanese airfields that
FAR EA T BATTLEGROUND FAR EAST BATTLEGRO I D
In the Pacific the Air Commandos used the Merlin Mustang principally to provide support for ground forces, fighter missions against enemy aircraft being only a
part of their assigned task. The 3rd ACG, which included in its list of assigned squadrons the 3rd and 4th FS(C)s, operated in the Philippines against the Japanese
after moving there in late 1944/early 1945. One of the unit's Mustangs was the famous P-51 D-20-NA 44-64076 Jumpin' Jacques of the 3rd FS(C), which carried that
squadron's blue-and-yellow tail markings and blue nose trim, in addition to the black theatre fuselage bands. USAAF
The Merlin Mustang was a vital weapon in the Allied arsenal in the Pacific, but was only flown by the USAAF in that war zone. The type's long-range capabilities,
which proved so significant in the war over Europe, were similarly of seminal importance in the war against the Japanese. Here P-51D-20-NA 44-63959 awaits a
long-range mission in the summer of 1945. This aircraft was assigned to the 4581h FS, 506th FG, the highest-numbered Group to fly the Mustang and the last to be
formed on the P-51 specifically for combat. USAAF
later stages of the war the japanese were
developing a number of excellent piston-
engined fighter designs, although, unlike
the Germans, the japane e were never
able to develop and deploy jet or rocket-
powered fighters successfully.
The Merlin Mustang's employment
in the Pacific was effectively in two very
different combat areas, resulting in very
different sets of parameters for it, depend-
ing on where it was operating. [n the
southwest Pacific (often called the outh-
We t Pacific Area, or WPA), Merlin
Mustangs eventually flew with units of
th Fifth Army Air Force. Thi air force
the japane e in that arena were the P-40
Warhawk and P-39 Airacobra, while later
the PA7 Thunderbolt and P-3 Lightning
became the main fighters. The P-40
and P-39 helped to hold the line until the
P-47 and P-38 could be developed and
deployed in large numbers, although the
P-40 continued to playa part in limited
numbers until well into the final phase
of the Pacific war. Jn stark contrast to
the situation in Europe, the P-3 found
a particular niche in the Pacific and
was highly ucce sful. However, advances
in japanese fighter technology also rook
place during that period, and by the
presence felt in that arena. Even then, it
was not until later in 1944 that Merlin
Mustangs started to arrive in any mean-
ingful number. omewhat ironically,
given their great successes as escort fight-
ers over northwest Europe and southern
Europe during that period, many of the
first Merlin-engined P-51s to fly combat
in the Pa ific did so as reconnaissance
aircraft and fighter-bombers. By th time
of the Merlin Mustang's app arance in
the Pacific, the air war in that va t area
had already raged for almo t three year.
To begin with, the principal U AAF
fighters involved in the air war against
Allison-engined Mustangs did not par-
ticipate in the vast Pacific battleground,
and so it was solely Merlin Mu tangs
of the AAF that made the P-51's
Merlin Mustangs
in the Pacific
Operation were flown over a wide variety
of targets, and again due to the compara-
tive scarcity of japanese aerial opposition
by that time there was ample scope for
the P-51D of the two quadrons to on-
centrate on many diverse ground targets.
upport was provided for the Allied forces
crossing the Irrawaddy River in February
1945, and attacks were made as far away as
Thailand, the Mu tang's excellent range
again proving of great value.
The British and Commonwealth air
forces did not use Mustangs in the CB[
or Pacific during the Second World War.
However, some U -built Mustangs were
nearing their combat debut with the
RAAF as the war in the Pa ific dr II' to
a close in August and Sept mber 1945.
( umbers 4 and 6 qn, RAAF, briefly
flew the Mustang during that period, but
did not play any part with this aircraft in
the conflict.) [n the CBI, RA F-operated
Hurricanes, pitfires and Thunderbolts
bore the brunt of the air war for the British
alongside their American all ies, consider-
able use bing made of these types over
Burma. All provided sterling service in
that theatre, but there wa a plan for the
Mustang to operate over Burma with
British forces as 1945 wore on. To that
end a considerable number of Mustang
Mk [Vs was sent to India by sea to be
assembled and made ready for combat.
ome were put together at Dum Dum air-
field, Calcutta, which was a convenient
point for Mustang assembly. However, the
war's end immediately made these aircraft
redundant. Many were new Mk IVs in
the KM serial-number range, but this did
not save them from being scrapped. The
Americans certainly did not want them
back, even though they had been supplied
under Lend-Lease, for by then the AAF
had more than enough Mustangs, many of
which were in any case becoming redun-
dant because of the end of the war and the
anticipated coming into service of the first
front-line jets. Sadly, up to 350 Mustangs
(and possibly more) wer simply broken
up in India, never having had the chance
to fire their guns in anger.
the 9th, 2 th, 24th and 40th reconnais-
sance quadrons, these quadron u ing
a variety of different de ignations du to
the diverse nature of th task they per-
formed. The 24th, for example, was a
combat mapping squadron and primarily
flew th Con olidated F- 7, the photo!
mapping version of the B-24 Liberator
four-engine heavy bomber. Of the th's
four quadron , the 20th TR was most
closely linked to the Mustang, flying the
F-6D during 1945. Befor being a signed
to the 8th PRG in April 1944 the squad-
ron had been as igned directly to the
Tenth Army Air Force, but had also been
a part of the 5306th PRG (Provisional)
for a few weeks in early 1944. It had
arrived in the theatre in late 1943, and
used a variety of bases during its time in
the CB[, including Dinjan in India, but
flew detachments from various locations
as operational circumstances demanded,
including Myitkyina and Akyab in Burma.
The squadron flew the PAO during much
of its time in the CB1, in addition ro the
F-6. It did not have any aces among its
ranks, and so has gone little-noticed by
historians.
Two A Gs also flew the Merlin
Mustang in the CBI. One of these was the
I t AC ,which had successfully operated
Allison-engined Mustangs during 1944,
as de cribed in Chapter 3. The Group
received Merlin Mustangs predominantly
in 1945, having transitioned on to the
P-47, although for some of that period
it acted mainly in a training capacity.
imilarly Merlin Mustang-equipped was
the 2nd AC ,which was new to Mustang
operations when it was activated on 22
April 1944. This Group included in its
ranks the [st and 2nd F (ommando),
both originally a tivated in April 1944
under a different title. [n keeping with the
1st ACG, the 2nd ACG included within
it inventory not only F but also liaison
and troop-carrier elements, and like the
I tAG it was also an early exponent
of the kind of combined forces opera-
tions and clo e air upport familiar today.
The 2nd moved to India in eptember to
ovember 1944, and was headquartered
at Kalaikunda in India from that period
to the end of the war, although in prac-
tice its assigned unit flew from a variety
of airfields and air trips near the front
lines when required. The unit's Merlin
Mustangs were in action from early 1945
onward, and from February 1945 were
officially stationed at Cox' Bazar in India.
were target for the far-ranging Mustangs,
an lone of the 7th F (P)' pilots hold a
particular distinction. With 31.5 ground
victories, Capt Thomas Reynolds was
the highest-scoring ground-victories
ace in the whole of the U AAF. ome
twenty-five of these were achieved in
Mustangs, in addition to possibly three of
his four aerial victori s. The top-scoring
Chinese pilot in the Chinese-American
Composite Wing was Capt Kuang-Fu
Wang, th Chinese 0 of the 7th FS(P)
from March 1945 to the war's end. He
achieved 6.5 aerial victories, one of the e
(a akajima KiA4 hoki 'Tojo') in a
P-5IK on 7 March 1945, although the
others were scored in PAONs.
The joint Chinese-American 5th
F (P) comprised the 17th, 26th, 27th
and 29th FS(P)s. Like the 3rd FG (P),
the 5th was activated in India before it
moved to China in the middle of 1944.
The 17th FS(P), for example, was acti-
vated on II March 1944, but moved from
India to Ling-Ling in China at the end of
May 1944. At the time of its creation the
Group was equipped with P-40 , but re-
equipment with Mustangs followed much
later. However, the Group was in the
thick of the fighting well into 1945, and
received a Distinguished Unit Citation
for its ground-attack work during the
fierce fighting in April and May 1945,
sometimes called the Battle ofChihkiang.
The Group did not produce any P-51 aces,
again showing the predominantly ground
support nature of its work.
Rarely mentioned in hi torie of the
Mustang, but none the less important,
wa the use of reconnaissance Mustangs
in the Bl. The little-documented th
Photographic Reconnai sance Group
(PRG) provided reconnaissance cover
for the extensive region of the Bl, with
it headquarters at Bally in India, but its
squadrons were located allover the va t
cm area. Activated as the th PRG on I
October 1943, the Group moved to India
in February-March 1944. It covered th
whole area of the Bl, including Burma,
India, China, French Indochina and
Thailand, and carried out PR, visual
reconnaissance and mapping, in addition
to undertaking ground-attack work and
some escort mission for Allied bombers.
The Group was redesignated the th RG
in june 1945. In effect it 'mopped up'
several reconnaissance quadrons that
were already operating in the cm before
it arrival, and eventually it contained
138 139
FAR EAST BATTLEGROU D
in the TacR role, 0 long as there were not
too many japanese fighter around. The
arrival of ufficient numbers of F-6D in
October and ovember 1944 allowed the
squadron to re-equip with Mustang, and
these represented a quantum leap forward
in capability over the venerable but gen-
erally well-liked Airacobras. Certainly
everal member of the quadron needed
ome refresher training on operating a
'taildragger' after 1eing familiar for so long
with the Airacobra's tricycle undercar-
riage. While the S2nd was transitioning
on to the Mu tang the 71st TRG moved
from Biak, an island off the ew Guinea
coast, to Leyte in the Philippines, in early
November 1944, the S2nd also making the
move to the Philippines during that time
and eventually being based at an jose,
Mindoro, and later at Lingayen on Luzon
in the Philippine. This placed the 2nd
clo e to where the action was increasingly
taking place, as Allied force worked on
the difficult task of removing the japanese
occupiers from the extensive Philippine
i lands. Like their fighter-reconnais ance
counterparts in Europe, in addition
to reconnaissance missions the unit's
Mustangs parti ipated in fighter missions
and ground-attack ortie wh n required.
just before hri tma 1944 apt
William A. homo became th squadron's
commander, and Mustang operations in
the Pacific have forever after been closely
a sociated with this highly-successful indi-
vidual. Before joining the n wly-formed
U AAF in the summer of 1941, homo
had studied at the Cincinnati allege of
141
sonnel were the very first U personnel
to fight, when japane e forces struck by
air against Pearl Harbor and other instal-
lations in Hawaii on 7 December 1941,
everal locally-based US fighter pilots
scori ng aerial victories during the japanese
attacks. The Seventh Army Air Force was
forma II y created from th i organ ization
in February 1942, and initially provided
air defence for the Hawaiian islands.
However, from mid-1943 the eventh
took on a more offence-ba ed role, and
eventually provided bomber escort for
Boeing B-29 uperfortress bomber of the
Twentieth Army Air Force, with which it
became closely associated.
In the SWPA the Merlin Mustang first
came toprominence within the FifthArmy
Air Force as a I' connaissance aircraft. The
first Mustang to join a unit of the Fifth Air
Force were the reconnaissance-configured
F-6Ds that began to equip the S2nd TR
of the 71 t TRG in November 1944. The
lateness of thi arrivalund rline the fact
that Merlin Mustangs de tin d for opera-
tions in Europe had considerable prec-
edence over any planned deliveries for
the Pacific. General Kenn y had long
argu d for Mustangs to join the Fifth Air
Force, but it was only after he had be n
I' placed in june 1944 by Lt Gen Ennis
Whitehead that the prospect of Mustangs
operating in the WPA started to become
a possibility. The S2nd TR had latterly
flown reconnais ance-configured Bell
P-39N and P-39Q Airacobras, which,
although not sparkling performers, had
none the Ie acquitted themselves well
Partnering the 15th FG on Iwo Jima was the 21st FG, one of whose Mustangs is shown here after suffering a mishap that could have had a much more serious
outcome than appears to have been the case. Named Little "ANGEL" the 104. P-51D-20-NA 44-63532 belonged to the 21st FG's 46th FS. 80th the 15th FG and the 21st
FG were a part of the Seventh Air Force's VII Fighter Command. but came under the administration of the Twentieth Air Force for 8-29 support operations. USAAF
had been in the thick of the fighting in
the ew Guinea area and in the defence
of Au tralia ince 1942. (The Fifth AAF
was actually created in February 1942,
out of the old Philippine Department
and original Far East Air Force (FEAF),
which had effectively ceased to exi t
with the fall of the Philippines and
etherlands East Indie to the japanese
in early 1942, although the title FEAF
was rekindled later in the war when U
air asset had been considerably tran -
formed and expanded.) nder the very
individual and successful leadership of
Lt Gen George C. Kenney, the Fifth had
been a part of the Allied effort alongside
British Commonwealth and Dutch effort
to halt the japanese advances in New
Guinea and successfully defend northern
Australia, then gradually to take the fight
to the japanese in their many conquest in
the WPA. Into this large area of opera-
tions the Merlin Mustang was eventually
introduced, although by then the P-47
and P-3 were already well establi hed
there and highly successful. On the other
hand, in the other main area of operations
for the Mustang in the Pacific, the central
Pacific and, eventually, over japan itself,
the Mustang with its great range was to
prove highly valuable as a very-long-range
bomber e cort, although it was in combat
for only a matter of month in that area.
The U AAF organization that operated
in the central Pacific was the eventh
Army Air Force, originally activated as
the Hawaiian Air Force in ovember
1940. Some of this organization's per-
Several FGs provided escort for Pacific-based 8-29
Superfortresses on long-range bombing missions
over Japan. One of these was the Seventh Air
Force's 15th FG. which took up residence on Iwo
Jima during the latter stages of the fierce fighting
to take this Japanese stronghold. The Group flew
its first major escort for the 8-29s from Iwo Jima
on 7 April 1945. One of its Mustangs, 44-63822
Li'lButch of the 47th FS, had this mishap on Iwo
Jima while carrying two sway-braced 110 US gal
metal drop tanks beneath its wings. It displays
the squadron's black-and-yellow markings. This
aircraft was from a batch of 1,000 P-51D-20-NAs
from NAA's Inglewood plant. USAAF
Capt (later Mail Robert 'Todd' Moore of the 15th FG
was the top-scoring ace of the Seventh Army Air
Force. with twelve aerial victories. eleven of these
being achieved in Mustangs. Moore originally flew
P-40s with the 45th FS. but later flew Mustangs
with the 78th FS before returning to the then-
Mustang equipped 45th FS. He named his assigned
aircraft Stinger, and is seen here with P-51 D-20-NA
44-63483 Stinger VII of the 45th FS. in which he
gained six victories. USAAF
140
FAR EAST BATTLEGROU D
A well-known posed but none the less interesting
view of a Mustang being waved off for a long-
range mission. The aircraft belongs to the 506th
FG. the last Group to become operational on the
Mustang, and shows this FG's very late war colours
of solid-colour tailplanes, rather than the striped
tailplanes of several weeks earlier. The 506th flew
very-long-range missions against Japanese targets
in the latter stages of the war, having flown its first
operations in May 1945. Clearly visible beneath the
starboard wing is a metal 110 US gal drop tank. the
largest such jettisonable fuel tank normally carried
by Mustangs on very-long-range operations during
World War Two. USAAF
FAR EAST BATTLEGRO ND FAR EAST BATTLEGROUND
With the stark Iwo Jima landscape as a backdrop, two Mustangs of the 21 st FG's 46th FS are readied for another long-range mission. Both are from the 44-63...
batch of 1,000 P-51D-20-NAs, afair proportion of which found their way to the Pacific, while others were assigned to the Eighth Air Force in Europe. USAAF
SHOMO, WILLIAM A. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Major, U.S. Army Air Corps. 82d
Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. Place and date: Over
Luzon. Philippine Islands, 11 January 1945. Entered service
at: Westmoreland County, Pa. Birth: Jeannette. Pa. G.O.
No.: 25. 7April 1945. Citation: For conspicuous gallantry
and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond
the call of duty. Maj. Shomo was lead pilot of a flight of
2fighter planes charged with an armed photographic and
strafing mission against the Aparri and Laoag airdromes.
While en route to the objective, he observed an enemy twin
engine bomber, protected by 12 fighters, flying about 2.500
feet above him and in the opposite direction. Although
the odds were 13 to 2, Maj. Shomo immediately ordered
an attack. Accompanied by his wingman he closed on the
enemy formation in a climbing turn and scored hits on
the leading plane of the third element. which exploded in
midair. Maj. Shomo then attacked the second element from
the left side of the formation and shot another fighter down
in flames. When the enemy formed for Counterattack. Maj.
Shomo moved to the other side of the formation and hit
a third fighter which exploded and fell. Diving below the
bomber he put aburst into Its underside and it crashed and
burned. Pulling up from this pass he encountered a fifth
plane firing head on and destroyed it. He next dived upon
the first element and shot down the lead plane; then diving
to 300 feet in pursuit of another fighter he caught it with his
initial burst and it crashed in flames. During this action his
wingman had shot down 3planes, while the 3remaining
enemy fighters had fled into acloudbank and escaped. Maj.
Shomo's extraordinary gallantry and intrepidity in attacking
such afar superior force and destroying 7enemy aircraft in
one action is unparalleled in the southwest Pacific area.
Arecipient of the Medal of Honor for his
outstanding and courageous airmanship on 11
January 1944 in defending B-17s of the 401st BG
from fighter attack, James H. Howard of the 354th
FG was the only Mustang pilot in Europe to be
awarded the USA's highest military award for
gallantry. The P-51 Bhe was flying on that famous
occasion remains anonymous, but Howard is
seen here, still the centre of media attention,
several weeks later, in the cockpit of his P-51B-
5-NA 43-6315/AJ-A, named Ding Hao!, with his
then rank of lieutenant colonel painted beside
his name. Note the Malcolm hood fitted to this
aircraft. USAAF
These somewhat dry accounts give anone the less inter-
esting insight into the individual actions of these two
very different pilots, in two completely different theatres
of war. Both actions were significant at the time in
bringing the Mustang to the atention of awide audience
and in helping to establish the outstanding record of the
aircraft in the minds of the public.
Jim Howard's route to success and fame as a fighter
pilot was somewhat unconventional. He was born James
Howell Howard in Canton, China, in April 1913. Despite
his Chinese roots, 'Jim' Howard subsequently completed
his education in the USA, graduating in 1937. Interest
in aviation led him to apply for flying training with the
Mustangs and the Medal of Honor
HOWARD, JAMES H. (Air Mission)
Rank and organization: Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Air
Corps. Place and date: Over Oschersleben, Germany. 11
January 1944. Entered service at: St. Louis, Mo. Birth:
Canton, China. G.O. No.: 45, 5 June 1944. Citation: For
conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity above and beyond the
call of duty in action with the enemy near Oschersleben.
Germany, on 11 January 1944 On that day Col. Howard
was the leader of agroup of P51 aircraft providing support
for a heavy bomber formation on a long-range mission
deep in enemy territory. As Col. Howard's group met the
bombers in the target area the bomber force was attacked
by numerous enemy fighters. Col. Howard. with his group,
and at once engaged the enemy and himself destroyed a
German ME. 110. As aresult of this attack Col. Howard lost
contact with his group, and at once returned to the level
of the bomber formation. He then saw that the bombers
were being heavily attacked by enemy airplanes and that
no other friendly fighters were at hand. While Col. Howard
could have waited to attempt to assemble his group before
engaging the enemy, he chose instead to attack single-
handed a formation of more than 30 German airplanes.
With utter disregard for his own safety he immediately
pressed home determined attacks for some 30 minutes,
during which time he destroyed 3 enemy airplanes and
probably destroyed and damaged others. Toward the end
of this engagement 3of his guns went out of action and
his fuel supply was becoming dangerously low. Despite
these handicaps and the almost insuperable odds against
him. Col. Howard continued his aggressive action in an
attempt to protect the bombers from the numerous fight-
ers. His skill, courage. and intrepidity on this occasion set
an example of heroism which will be an inspiration to the
U.S. Armed Forces.
of historians who refer to the Medal of Honor as a
Congressional award. especially American writers who
really ought to know better, is amazing.
The two Mustang pilots who were awarded the
Medal of Honor during World War Two were Maj James
H. Howard of the Ninth Army Air Force's 354th FG in
England, and Capt William A. Shomo of the Fifth Army
Air Force's 71 st TRG in the Philippines.
The following are the transcripts of the citations
for the two Medal of Honor awards, using the spell-
ing and abbreviations (and later ranks) in the original
transcripts:
The Medal of Honor is the USA's highest military gal-
lantry award, and is roughly equivalent to the famous
and equally meritorious Victoria Cross of the British
armed services. Awarded for valour by military per-
sonnel in American military service, it was created in
1862, when President Abraham Lincoln approved the
establishment of 'medals of honor' for presentation
to mark particularly conspicuous acts of heroism or
endeavour. There were initially two Medals of Honor.
a navy award (actually created in 1861, and the army
medal of 1862. At that time the increasingly brutal
and hardfought American Civil War was taking place,
and the first medal was presented in March 1B63 for
actions the previous year. Eventually the Medal of
Honor was available for award to members of all of the
American armed services, plus the US Coast Guard. In
fact there have been several different Medals of Honor
over the years. Currently. three types exist. for naval.
army and air force personnel. The Air Force Medal of
Honor was created in 1963. Previously, USAAC/USAAF
recipients were awarded the Army Medal of Honor. US
Navy and USMC aviators have always been awarded
the Navy Medal of Honor. The first American aviation
personnel to receive the Medal of Honor won the award
during World War One, when four airmen received it
(three of them posthumously). In the Second World
War thirty-eight members of the USAAC/USAAF were
awarded the Medal of Honor. The vast majority of these
were bomber crew members, but several recipients
were fighter or fighter-bomber pilots. Two of these
were Mustang pilots.
Before describing the deeds of these two pilots,
however, it is important to bring to light an often
overlooked fact relating to the Medal of Honor. and
to put right a mistake that is frequently made in many
published sources. The Medal of Honor is NOT correctly
named the 'Congressional Medal of Honor', as claimed
in myriad books and magazine articles. The Medal of
Honor is a Presidential award (the US President is head
of the US armed forces!. although it is approved for the
President to make the award by the Congress of the
United States. When it has proved possible in the past.
the Medal of Honor has been personally presented by
the President of the USA to its recipients. The number
Hien 'Tony' fighters. Lipscomb added to
the rout by downing three more of the
e cort . The remaining japanese aircraft
fled, while the Mustang pilot photo-
graphed the scattered wreckage of their
prey. This remarkable feat was all the
more noteworthy because the 'Tony' was
one of the best of the japanese fighters of
the later war period. However, the aircraft
that homo and Lip comb brought down
were apparently not flown as aggressively
as the two reconnais ance Mustangs. For
his shooting down of the seven Japanese
aircraft Shomo was subsequently awarded
the Medal of Honor, the highest U mili-
tary award. A with Maj jim Howard in
England exactly a year carl ier, Shomo was
subsequently the ubject of considerable
media activity following the award of this
The end of the road. The Second World War was
brought to a close by the dropping of the atomic
bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki in August 1945
and the subsequent Japanese surrender. Mustangs
had contributed greatly to the overall defeat of the
Axis powers in all parts of the world where there
had been significant fighting, but the ending of
the conflict suddenly deprived them of the main
reason for their existence. These apparently brand
new Mustangs, all from Inglewood P-51D-20-NA
production, were photographed just after the
atomic bombs were dropped, apparently before
assignment to units, although it is thought that at
least one had been earmarked for the 348th FG.
USAAF
reconnaissance to take a look at the air-
strips at Laoag and Atarri. While flying
along the northern Luzon coa tline,
homo and Lipscomb chan ed upon a
formation of twelve japanese fighters
escorting a single Mitsubishi G4M 'Betty'
bomber. This formation's purpose, and
whether or not the 'Betty' was actually
on a bombing mi ion or was carrying an
important per on, have never been deter-
mined. However,displayingtheaggre sive-
ness of Mustang pilots in Europe and the
Mediterranean in their dealings with the
Luftwaffe, homo and Lip comb did not
hesitate to attack the japanese formation,
despite being consid rably outnumbered.
In the ubsequent completely one-sided
encounter homo shot down the 'Betty'
plus ix of the escorting Kawasaki Ki-6l
Mortuary Re earch and had trained a a
licensed embalmer. He had been with
the 2nd ince ovember 1943, and had
flown the P-39Q throughout many of the
subsequent weeks, but the type was largely
uperseded by the F-6D. On 10 january
1945 he led a fighter-reconnaissance
mission to the japane e-held T uguegarao
airfield on Luzon. Discovering an obsolete
Aichi D3A 'Val' dive-bomber in the vicin-
ity of the airstrip, he hot it down over the
agayan River, south f the air base. This
was the first Mustang victory in the Fifth
Air Force, and indeed in the Pacific as a
whole. The next day was rather more his-
toric, however.
Returning to the T uguegarao area the
following morning, homo led wingman
Lt Paul Lipscomb on a two-aircraft armed
142 143
USN, at atime when that service was starting to modern-
ize after its long-running relationship with colourful but
increasingly outdated carrier-borne biplane naval fight-
ers. He was therefore already something of a veteran
navy pilot when interest in the air war that was already
taking place over China prompted him to return to China.
Resigning his commission with the USN in the summer of
1941, he joined the developing American Volunteer Group
as a flight leader. He flew with the AVG's 2nd Pursuit
Squadron, 'Panda Bears', which had Curtiss P-40Cs. His
abilities as a fighter pilot were immediately apparent,
and he gained two air-to-air victories over Japanese air-
craft plus an additional one-third shared victory (making
2.333 air-to-air victories!. in addition to four Japanese
aircraft destroyed on the ground. He was thus a fighter
pilot with valuable combat experience when he subse-
quently returned to the USA and joined the USAAF. He
was duly inducted at the rank of captain, and officially
rated as apilot in the USAAF in January 1943.
Originally assigned to the 329th FG, Howard joined
the 354th FG in May 1943. Although at that time this
unit was working-up on the P-39, as we have seen else-
where in this book, the 354th FG has become unofficially
known as the 'Pioneer Mustang Group' of the USAAF by
introducing the P-51 Bto combat while operating from
Britain in late 1943. Howard was suitably impressed by
the Mustang, especially in comparison with the P-40 that
he had previously flown in combat over China. However,
he was also one of the tallest pilots to fly the Mustang
in combat, his 6ft 2in (1.88m) stature making it neces-
sary to move the aircraft's seat right back and adjust the
rudder pedals as far forvvard as possible to enable him to
fly the P-51 Bcomfortably,
Although he is rightly famous for the 11 January 1944
mission for which he was awarded the Medal of Honor,
Howard had already flown the P-51 Bsuccessfully before
that combat. He opened his scoring on the type on 20
Oecember 1943, when he shot down a Bf 109 during a
bomber escort mission to Bremen and Wilhelmshaven.
By 11 January Howard had been promoted Major, and
was also in command of the 356th FS. His exploits
during the mission have been considerably written up
over the years, to the extent that a number of myths
and half-truths relating to his actions that day have
become 'facts'. In truth, it must be remembered that
in January 1944 the Mustang was only in its infancy
as a long-range escort fighter, and actions such as the
11 January mission helped establish the Mustang as
the significant fighter that it proved to be. Most of the
cover for the bombers that day was actually provided
by P-47s, and one of the heavy bombers' targets was
the significant Focke-Wulf Fw 190 production plant at
Oschersleben, southwest of Magdeburg. As stated in
the Medal of Honor citation, Howard ended up defending
a box of bombers alone, as the result of other members
of the 354th becoming scattered while chasing multiple
targets after the bombers had come under attack. At that
point in the air war the Luftwaffe was still using twin-
engine Messerschmitt Bf 110 heavy fighters against
the American heavy bombers, a tactic that increasingly
came under pressure as the lumbering Bf 11 Os proved to
be no match for the new American fighters. The bombers
that Howard single-handedly defended were B-17 Flying
Fortresses from the 401 st BG, and his deeds were
FAR EAST BATTLEGROU, D
witnessed by many crew members aboard the B-17s as
the action developed and Howard successfully drove off
repeated attacks by adiversity of German fighters.
It is interesting to speculate how many victories
Howard actually scored during this mission. The issue
has become clouded by many published accounts, some
of which have claimed that he brought down up to eight
German fighters! Several crew members aboard the
B-17s of the 401 st BG appeared to believe that he had
achieved six victories, while Howard himself modestly
later claimed two, plus two probables and two damaged.
Official re-evaluation in the USA after the event credited
him with three confirmed victories ltwo Bf 11 Os and an
Fw 190), plus a damaged and a probable. This issue is
important because, as stated elsewhere, it makes a
considerable difference as to when Howard achieved
ace status, and therefore when the Mustang really
earned its spurs in aerial combat by being flown by ace
pilots who had achieved that status on the type. If one
believes that Howard achieved six victories during the
mission of 11 January, that would obviously make him
an ace in one trip. If the official tally is correct. then
Howard's three official victories that day, added to his
Bf 109 victory on 20 December 1943, brought his score
in Mustangs at that point to four. His next victory came
some days later, on 30 January, over a Bf 110 during a
mission to protect the heavy bombers attacking targets
in the Brunswick area, thus bringing his official score to
five in the Mustang, although he had already achieved
2.333 victories with the American Volunteer Group.
Whatever the final outcome of Howard's single-
handed fight. news of his exploits on 11 January soon
began to spread after the 401 st BG expressed its
considerable appreciation for his actions in successfully
defending the unit's B-lls. In a letter to Howard, Col
Harold W. Bowman, the then commanding officer of the
Deenethorpe-based 401 st BG, pointed out that Howard's
'unprecedented action in flying your P-51 alone and
unaided into a swarm of German fighter planes, esti-
mated to be between 30 or 40, in an effort to protect our
Fortresses in the target area is a feat deserving of the
highest commendation and praise.' Anumber of recom-
mendations were made for Howard to be awarded the
Medal of Honor, and the award was made to him in April
1944. By then he had been promoted Lieutenant Colonel
and had assumed command of the 354th FG, due to the
loss of the Group's commanding officer, Col Kenneth
Martin, on 11 February 1944. Martin had become aPoW,
and Howard was elevated to the status of Group CO the
next day. He did not remain in that position for long,
however. The considerable fame and press attention
that he had received as a result of his Medal of Honor
mission made him too valuable to risk in combat. and
during April 1944 he was assigned to Ninth Army Air
Force Headquarters at Sunninghill Park in Berkshire,
where he was to work in IX FC affairs.
The considerable press attention that surrounded
the modest Howard following the news of his exploits
served at the time and subsequently to blur the identity
of the P-51 Bhe was flying on the 11 January mission.
Although many USAAF pilots had a specific aircraft
assigned to them that they would normally expect to
fly, in practice most pilots would fly whatever aircraft
happened to be serviceable and available. In Howard's
144
case he had two P-51 Bs assigned during his flying
career with the 354th. Most historians now agree that
these were P-51 B-5-NA 43-6315/AJ-A and P-51 B-5-NA
43-6375, also coded AJ-A. Both were named Ding Hao!,
athrowback to Howard's Chinese connections. Mustang
43-6315 had aMalcolm hood, and was much featured in
publicity photographs when the press bandwagon caught
up with Howard. Indeed, a rather extensive 'scoreboard'
of kills was painted on this aircraft for the press photog-
raphers, which did not reflect Howard's actual victories.
Ironically, Howard was not flying Ding Hao! during the
11 January mission. It appears that he had to fly another
P-51 Bthat day owing to a problem with his usual AJ-A.
Unfortunately, the identity of the Mustang he was pilot-
ing during his heroic defence of the 401 st BG remains a
mystery apart from its code letters, AJ-X.
Howard scored one more confirmed air-to-air victory
before going 'upstairs' to Ninth Army Air Force head-
quarters. This was an Fw 190 on 8April 1944, bringing
his official score in Mustangs to six and his overall total
(including his American Volunteer Group victories) to
8.333. After the war he remained in the USAAF and
joined the independent USAF on its creation in 1947,
eventually rising to the rank of Brigadier General. He
passed away peacefully in March 1995.
On the other side of the world, and exactly one year
to the day after Jim Howard's Medal of Honor exploits
in the cold thin air over Germany, a very different pilot
in a totally different theatre of war also brought fame
and much publicity to the Mustang. He was a tactical
reconnaissance pilot. based in the heat and humidity of
the Philippines and flying a camera-equipped Mustang
against the Japanese. William Arthur Shomo was born
in May 1918 at Jeannette, Pennsylvania. His route into
the USAAF was somewhat unusual. as he studied for a
career in undertaking before the war. He attended the
Cincinnati College of Mortuary Research, and then the
Pittsburgh School of Embalming. Interrupting this prom-
ising but somewhat macabre career owing to the widen-
ing war in Europe, Shomo joined the USAAF and was
eventually commissioned as a second lieutenant. He
was officially rated as apilot in March 1942, later being
assigned to the 82nd TRS of the Fifth Army Air Force's
71st TRG in November 1943. At that time the 82nd was
flying camera-equipped P-39 s on armed tactical recon-
naissance work in the Far East, having arrived in New
Guinea a short time before. The less-than-universally-
loved Airacobras, together with various P-40s, were
gradually replaced when the much more capable F-6 PR
examples of the Mustang started to become available
in 1944. These were among the first Mustangs to reach
the Fifth Army Air Force, the 82nd actually receiving the
Mustang before the Fifth's fighter units. Eventually the
82nd TRS was able to re-equip almost completely with
teardrop-canopy F-6Ds, and anumber of the unit's pilots
achieved several air-to-air victories, although aerial
combat was most definitely not the role of these TacR
aircraft, and Japanese aerial opposition was becoming
relatively scarce by that stage of the war.
In December 1944 Shomo became the CO of the 82nd
TRS, having been promoted Captain that September. By
then the 82nd had moved to Leyte following the difficult
reconquest of part of the Philippines. On 10 January
1945 Shomo scored his first air-to-air victory. This was
achieved during a reconnaissance mission that included
the Japanese-held Tuguegarao airfield on Luzon in the
Philippines. The following day, 11 January 1945, Shomo
led a two-aircraft armed reconnaissance mission to the
area of the Japanese-held Laoag and Atarri airfields.
The 82nd's aircraft would often fly in pairs, two aircraft
offering mutual protection and allowing two rather than
one pair of eyes. Shomo was accompanied by Lt Paul
Lipscomb, and the unusual and one-sided combat that
followed led to one of the highest scores by an individual
pilot in any action during World War Two. Exactly why
a lone Mitsubishi 'Betty' bomber was flying along with
a substantial escort of twelve fighters is not clear,
but Shomo's subsequent shooting down of the 'Betty'
and six of its covering fighters was a remarkable feat.
especially as Shomo was not even a true fighter pilot.
In addition, Lipscomb shot down a further three of the
Japanese fighters, his only aerial combat victories of the
war. After the surviving Japanese fighters had made a
wise retreat. the two reconnaissance pilots were able to
photograph the burning wrecks of their victims.
decoration, He wa promoted to Major
several days after the famous combat, and
received a shiny new P-51 0-20- A (44-
72505) to replace the rather more humble
F-6D (44-14841 Snooks - 5th) that he was
flying when he scored his seven victories.
The new aircraft was adorned with full
unit markings and the name The Flying
Undertaker, which was not carried by the
F-6D that he had flown during his award-
winning combat.
This well-known mission, however,
was not typical of aerial a tivity in the
WPA in 1945, Japanese air assets had
been considerably depleted in the pre-
ceding year, there was less opportunity
for reinforcements to arrive from japan,
and the chances for air-to-air combat were
increasingly few and far between. Shomo
did not sub equently add to his total of
eight aerial victories, but his unit contin-
ued in combat virtually to the war' end.
A second r connaissance quadron within
the 71st TRG also flew the Mustang in
this latter srage of the war. This was the
110th TRS, an G unit that had been
federalized in December 1940, having
previously been a part of the Missouri
NG, Eventually assigned to the 71st, th
110th TRS received F-6D and P-51D
Mustangs in 1945, having previously
operated the P-39 and P-40. It was later
srationed at Lingayen in the Philippines
from 20 january 1945, like the 2nd TR ,
and both units eventually moved north to
the island of Ie hima in july 1945. This
was in line with the movement of many
of the air assets of the Fifth Air Force to
FAR EAST BATTLEGROU D
Not surprisingly, word of Shomo's exploits spread
very quickly, and it must have been music to the ears of
the Fifth Air Force's fighter units, which were intended
to trade in their PA7s in favour of Mustangs as 1945
passed. The incident must also have been a major
blow to Japanese morale in that part of the Philippines.
Shomo was recommended for the Medal of Honor, and
this he received from Maj Gen Ennis Whitehead in April
1945. By that point he had been promoted Major, but the
opportunity for successful aerial combat did not arise
again, his final score for the war remaining eight.
As with Jim Howard in England, Shomo's exploits
were quickly seized upon by the press. This again
has led to confusion as to which Mustang he was
flying during the Medal of Honor mission. On 11
January 1945 Shomo was flying his normally-assigned
camera-equipped F-6D-NA (actually a converted P-51 D-
10-NA) numbered 66, serial number 44-14841. This
aircraft was named Snooks 5th. However, after the
Medal of Honor mission Shomo was allocated gleam-
ing P-51 D-20-NA 44-72505, rather appropriately named
the central Pacific at that time, to as i t
directly in the war again t Japane e forces
nearer to the japanese home islands after
the air war in the Philippines had been
all but completed. By that period the 71st
TRG, to which the 82nd and 11 Oth still
belonged, had been redesignated the 71st
RG in May 1945.
Alongside the reconnaissance squad-
rons of the 71st TRG, one further unit
took the Merlin Mustang into combat
in the Philippines in late 1944 and early
1945. This wa the 3rd ACG, which
included in its list of assigned squad-
rons the 3rd and 4th F s (Commando)
(FS(C)). Equipped with PAOs when first
activated in May 1944 under a different
title, both squadrons later transitioned
to the P-51D, and moved with the 3rd
ACG to the Philippines in late 1944/early
1945. Initially stationed at Leyte (from
December 1944 for the 3rd F (C), and
at the same location from january 1945
for the 4th F (C)), the two squadrons
played very much the same role as the
two ACGs in the CBI, providing support
for ground force, fighter missions against
enemy aircraft bing only one of the tasks
performed by the units' Mustangs. In any
case, japanese aerial opposition proved to
be as scarce for the ACG pilots as it was
by that time for the other U pilots in the
Philippines, and the two squadrons of the
3rd ACG a a whole only achieved eight
aerial victorie up to the war's end. This
compares, for example, with the 39th FS's
haul of 1 6, this squadron being a part of
the 35th FG, which saw combat through-
145
The Flying Undertaker. The Mustang was also adorned
with various striking markings, including Japanese
'rising suns' ahead of the cockpit to represent Shomo's
eight kills. This aircraft subsequently found its way
into most of the press photographs taken of Shomo
when the press bandwagon finally arrived to celebrate
his achievements, giving the false impression that he
was flying a Mustang fighter rather than a rather less-
glamorous reconnaissance Mustang on his Medal of
Honor mission.
Shomo left the 82nd TRS in May 1945, but continued
acareer in the post-war USAF. He passed away peace-
fully in June 1990.
As afootnote to this aspect of the Mustang's combat
career, it is worth remembering that only four other
USAAF fighter or fighter-bomber pilots were awarded
the Medal of Honor during World War Two. Of these,
two were P-47 pilots (Neel Kearby in the Pacific and
Raymond Knight in the Mediterranean) and two were
P-38 pilots (the top-scoring Richard Bong, and Thomas
McGuire, Jr, both in the Pacificj.
out the ew Guinea campaigns earlier in
the Pacific war with other fighter types
before the reconquest of the Philippines.
The Mu tangs of the 3rd ACG eventu-
ally ranged over long distances in search
of the japanese, and even flew some long-
range missions to the island of Formosa
(now Taiwan), entailing flights of some
seven hours.
Among the per onalities of this unit was
Maj Walker Mahurin, who was CO of the
3rd FS(C) in the early months of 1945,
having taken over the quadron earlier in
1944. Mahurin was a high- coring fighter
pilot who had achieved 19.75 victories
while flying P-47s from England with the
56th FG of the Eighth Army Air Force.
hot down over France in March 1944,
he had successfully avoided capture with
the aid of French civilians and had even-
tually returned to the U A. ubsequently
posted to the Far Ea t, he became squad-
ron commander of the 3rd FS(C) in july
1944, and shot down a Mitsubishi Ki-46
'Dinah' twin-engine reconnaissance air-
craft over northern Luzon on 14 january
1945. This was his only aerial victory in
the SWPA, although several years later
he shot down 3.5 MiG-iS jet fighters over
Korea during the Korean War while flying
F-86 Sabres.
Another pilot who had scored aerial
victorie over Europe but later flew
with the 3rd ACG was Lt Louis Curdes.
Having achieved eight aerial victories in
the Mediterranean with the 82nd FG,
flying P-38 , urdes similarly found his
way to the 3rd ACG after being shot
down, in his case over Italy, and escaping
after being taken prisoner. Curdes scored
his only aerial victory over the Japanese,
a Mitsubishi KiA6 'Dinah', on 7 February
1945 off Formosa while with the 4th
FS(C). He did, however, also gain con-
siderable fame by bringing down, on 10
February 1945, a US-operated C-47 trans-
port that was trying by mistake to land on
a Japanese-held airstrip on Batan Island in
the Philippines. The C-47 ditched in the
sea following some accurate gunfire from
Curdes, and its crew and passengers were
rescued.
After several changes of location in the
Philippines, the 3rd ACG, like a numberof
the other aerial assetsof the Fifth Army Air
Force, eventually moved to the island of Ie
Shima to be nearer to the Japanese home
islands. This took place in August 1945,
very near the end of the war. By that time
the Mustang had become much more wide-
spread as a fighter in the Fifth Air Force
owi ng to the conversion of two of the crack
fighter units of the Fifth on to the type as
many more new P-51 D/Ks at last started
to become available to fighter units in the
Pacific in the early months of 1945. The
two Groups concerned were the 35th and
the 348th FGs. Both were seasoned veter-
ans of the fighting in the SWPA, and had
fought through all the large air battles of
1943 and 1944 that had brought about the
growing demise of Japanese aerial opposi-
tion in the New Guinea and Philippines
areas. Both wereequipped with the massive
P-47, but as the P-51 D/Kstarted to become
available the transition to the smaller and
potentially more potent North American
fighter began. The 35th FG had originally
flown P-39s, but by the start of 1944 the
P-47 had become the Group's standard
equipment. [n the spring of 1945 the Group
began to transition to the Mustang while
newly-based on Luzon in the Philippines.
The 348th FG was a veteran of PA 7 opera-
tions, having flown the type throughout its
combat period in ew Guinea, operating
therefrom mid-1943 onwards. By the spring
of 1945 the Group was, like the 35th FG,
based on Luzon in the Philippines (which
had only recently been recaptured) when
it transitioned to the Mustang. The lack of
Japanese aerial opposition in any numbers
by that time deprived both Groups of the
chance to exploit the P-51's capabilities to
the full, but like other Fifth Air Force units
the 348th eventually moved north, where
the action was mainly taking place as 1945
wore on.
FAR EAST BATTLEGROUND
evertheless, fighting continued in
parts of the Philippines right up to the
end of the war, although Japanese oppo-
sition consisted mainly of fanatical but
increasingly isolated ground forces. The
35th FG (comprising the 39th, 40th and
41st FSs) moved from its final base in the
Philippines at Clark Field in late June
1945 and took up residence on the island
of Okinawa, which had only recently
fallen to US forces. (Final Japanese
resistance on the island only ended on
22 June.) The 348th FG (unusually com-
prising four squadrons, the 340th, 341 st,
342nd and 460th FSs) left its final head-
quarters in the Philippines, Floridablanca
on Luzon, in early July 1945, and made
the equally long move to [e Shima island,
which had been taken by US forces at
the start of the Okinawa campaign in
April 1945
From their new bases, which were
well within range of the Japanese home
islands for the long-legged Mustangs, the
35th and 348th returned to the fighting.
In addition to missions over Japan proper,
both Groups also ranged over Formosa
and French Indochina to the west, and
considerably added to the growing US air
superiority over all these areas. Several of
the successful pilots of these two Groups
who had come to prominence while flying
PA7s had the chance to add to their
score of aerial victories while flying the
Mustang, although, for some, giving up
the beloved Thunderbolt was a regrettable
turn of events. One of the characters of the
348th FG was Lt Col William Dunham,
who had risen to being the Group's deputy
commander towards the end of the war,
having been one of its highest-scoring
PA7 pilots with fifteen confirmed victo-
ries. After briefly returning to the USA
he went back to the Pacific in May 1945
to fly the Mustang, and added to his score
on 1 August 1945 by shooting down a
akajima Ki-84 Hayate 'Frank' of the
lJ AAF over Take Island off the coast of
Kyushu. One of the best Japanese fighters
of the late war period, the Ki-84, which
had first entered service in the summer
of 1944, combined excellent climb rate
with manoeuvrability. [t was a match for
a Mustang in a close dogfight, but the
tried and tested means of fighting the
Japanese, of engaging and disengaging at
will without getting involved in a climb-
ing turn or close manoeuvring, suited the
Mustang even in its encounters with this
fine Japanese fighter.
146
Seventh Air Force Mustangs
In their operations over the Japanese
home islands with the P-51, the 35th and
348th FGs were by no means the first
to fly the Mustang over Japan proper.
For several months before their arrival,
the Seventh Army Air Force's 15th and
21st FGs had been in action with the
Mustang. Beginning life in the central
Pacific in Hawaii, the Seventh Air Force
had eventually moved north to take the
fight to the Japanese. The 15th can lay
claim to being the one FG in the USAAF
that was in action from the start of the
American involvement in World War
Two right to the end of the war in
the Pacific. When the Japanese struck
at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 the
then 15th Pursuit Group was equipped
with early-model PAOs, and many of its
aircraft were destroyed on the ground
during the Japanese attack. Several of its
pilots did, however, manage to take off
and fight the attacking Japanese aircraft.
One of the successful pilots that fateful
day was Lt George S. Welch of the 15th's
47th Pursuit Squadron. Welch achieved
four confirmed victories in a PAO on 7
December, and eventually scored sixteen
aerial victories in a combat career that
continued into September 1943, though
none of these were achieved in Mustangs.
The following year he joined NAA as a
test pilot, and was at the controls of the
first XP-86 Sabre when it made its maiden
flight in October 1947. Subsequent to
the Pearl Harbor attack the 15th Pursuit
Group provided the air defence for the
Hawaiian islands and was eventually re-
equipped and later flew P-39s and later
marks of PAOs. Although elements of
the Group saw some action in the central
Pacific, it was not until the unit started
to receive P-51s in late 1944 that it was
able to foresee a considerable amount of
combat. Becoming a part of the Seventh
Army Air Force in 1942, the Group was
redesignated the 15th FG in May 1942,
and consisted of the 45th, 47th and 78th
FSs during its time with the P-51. The
21st FG, on the other hand, was activated
in Hawaii quite late in the war, on 21
April 1944, and after initially provid-
ing air defence for the Hawaiian islands
started to receive P-51s in numbers early
in 1945, in preparation for a move north.
Its assigned squadrons during its Mustang
period were the 46th, nnd and 531 st
FSs.
On 19 February 1945 the US invasion
of the island of two Jima in the Bonin
Islands group began. Although only a
small island, approximately 5 miles (8km)
long, two Jima was a strategically vital
point of land in the vast Pacific Ocean.
It was the site of Japanese airfields and
the horne of Japanese fighters that could
disrupt US B-29 bombers on their way to
bomb Japan at extreme range from their
bases further away in the Pacific, but in
US hands it could become a major air
base for bombers, and also for escort fight-
ers. (The B-29 force eventually used the
islands of Saipan, Guam and Tinian as
their principal bases.)
The fighting to take the island was
fierce, but as soon as it was possible,
USAAF air assets started to move in;
even before the remaining Japanese on
the island had surrendered. Among the
first arrivals were elements ofthe 15th and
21 st FGs, wh ich started to fl y in to Iwo
Jima with their new P-51D/Ks at the first
opportunity. The 15th was officially head-
quartered at South Field, Iwo Jima, from 6
March, while the 21st was initially based
at Central Field, [wo Jima, before moving
to South Field inJuly 1945. Unfortunately
the Group's arrival was a little premature.
During the night of 26/27 March, just after
the headquarters had been established,
some 300 Japanese soldiers broke into the
area of the central airfield on the island,
where the 21st FG had been settling in.
[n the ensuing fighting eleven of the
Group's pilots were killed, together with
several of its ground personnel and other
US servicemen. Fortunately the attack
was repulsed, and during that period the
Mustangs of the two Groups successfully
joined in the final fighting on the island
and over other nearby targets (including
Japanese positions on the neighbouring
island of Chichi Jima), mounting ground-
attack sorties in support of the US ground
forces.
The main task of the Mustangs on
Iwo Jima was to provide very-long-range
escort to the B-29 Superfortresses of the
Twentieth Army Air Force's XXI Bomber
Command that were mounting long-range
raids on the Japanese home islands from
Saipan, Tinian and Guam in the Mariana
Islands to the south of Iwo Jima. These
raids were meeting increasing opposition
from defending Japanese fighters, and a
number of changes of tactics had been
forced upon the B-29 force to increase
the accuracy and effectiveness of these
FAR EAST BATTLEGROUND
raids and keep losses to a minimum. As
far as meeting the defending Japanese
fighters was concerned, the Mustang with
its excellent long-range capabilities was
the ideal fighter to escort the B-29s. Also
coming into prominence as 1945 pro-
gressed was the very-long-range version of
the PA7, the P-47N. Able to stay aloft for
some eight hours, the PA7N was a formi-
dable weapon, the culmination of all the
combat experience and development work
on the type up to that time. Although the
Mustang had truly proved its worth as a
bomber escort in Europe by this time, the
escort missions that were being contem-
plated for the Iwo Jima-based Mustangs
were nothing like those seen in Europe.
These were to be approximately eight-
hour-long missions, the best part of each
one being flown over water. In effect it was
the pinnacle of bomber escort. Nothing
like it had been tried before, and has cer-
tainly never been tried since.
Logistically there were many problems
to overcome. One was navigation. Flying
and navigating a single-seat, single-engine
fighter over the distances involved, par-
ticularly over featureless ocean, was a
new challenge, and in the event naviga-
tion was undertaken on some of the forth-
coming missions by the B-29 bombers
themselves, one or more of which would
specifically 'escort' the fighters. The
USN also supported the very long raids
of the B-29 force when possible, by sta-
tioning submarines or surface ships along
the planned flight paths of the raids to
pick up aircrews unlucky enough to corne
down in the sea. Even so, the distances
involved were huge, and the navy could
not be everywhere.
The big day came on 7 April 1945. On
that date the first true very-long-range
bomber escort was flown by the Iwo Jima
Mustang units. The 15th and 21st FGs
escorted the B-29 SuperfoJ'tresses of the
XXI Bomber Command's 73rd Bomb
Wing (BW) (comprising the497th, 498th,
499th and SOOth BGs, based at Isley Field,
Saipan). The 7 April raid was important
not only because it had fighter escort. It
was flown to the two most important indus-
trial targets in XXI Bomber Command's
catalogue of targets. While B-29s of
the 313th and 314th BWs went after the
Mitsubishi engine factory at Nagoya, the
73rd BW headed for the massive Musashi
factory complex in a suburb of northwest-
ern Tokyo. A major engine plant of the
akajima company, rroducing more than
147
a quarter of all engines for Japanese war-
planes, it was a target of almost legendary
status in XXI Bomber Command, where
it was known as Target o. 357. It was
certainly on a par with locations such as
Marienburg, Rostock, Ploesti, Dessau and
the scores of other industrial and aviation-
related targets that the heavy bombers of
the Eighth and Fifteenth Army Air Forces
had been pounding away at in Europe for
well over a year.
The mission was a success. The round
trip was some 1,500 miles (2,400km), and
108 Mustangs were involved, of which
ninety-seven were effective. Bombing
from some 18,000ft (5,500m), the 73rd
BW's B-29s inflicted considerable damage
on the akajima plant, especially the
machine shops, which seriously slowed
assembly. The escorts were kept busy too.
In the comparatively clear conditions
over Japan the Mustangs were able to
spot Japanese fighters as they massed to
attack the lumbering Superfortresses, and
a number of significant air battles ensued.
It was the first time that US escort fighters
had flown over the Japanese horne islands
in this fashion, and, like the Eighth Air
Force fighters on their first major forays
above Berlin over a year earlier, and the
significance that had on Germany's war
effort, it was truly the beginning of the end
for the Japanese now that the Americans
could provide effective fighter cover for
the B-29s over Japan. In the dogfights
both the 15th and 21st scored victories.
Maj James Tapp of the 15th FG's 78th
FS achieved four victories, while Capt
Robert W. Moore of the same unit shot
down two Mitsubishi A6M3 'Hamps' in
the Choisi area during some furious aerial
fighting in the vicinity of Tokyo. The 21st
FG claimed five Japanese fighters. Two
Mustangs were lost, but one of the pilots
was picked up safely when he was forced
to ditch on the way home. It had been a
major effort to put up this type of fighter
cover, but the success of the two FGs was
rewarded when they were each awarded a
Distinguished Unit Citation for their par-
ticipation in the raid.
This successful attack was followed up
five days later by a second B-29 strike on
the same location, which created even
more damage, and effectively ended pro-
duction at the akajima plant. The 12
April mission was also a success for Maj
James Tapp, who shot down a Kawasaki
Ki-6I Hien 'Tony' in the Tokyo area to
become an ace. He was the first ace of
FAR EAST BATTLEGROUND
CHAPTER 7
Several California ANG F-51s run their engines at Van Nuys Airport, California, in or around 1950. The P-51 (F-51 from 19481 was a stalwart of the early postwar NG
lANG after 19471. These aircraft belong to the 195th FS, the nearest, with incomplete ANG markings, being Dallas-built F-51D-30-NT 45-11631. USAF
Post-War Service and Lightweights
back to the USA, where many were dis-
banded or retitled. This happened firstly
with the heavy-bomber units, and many
of the FGs followed later in 1945. The
US Vlli Fighter Command continued to
exist until deactivated in England on 20
March 1946. By that time many of the
famous fighter units of the Eighth and
Ninth Air Forces were either deactivated
or were in the process of moving back
to the USA. Some of the FGs had con-
tinued to fly in the immediate post- VE-
Day period, or had opened the doors of
their airfields to allow the local public to
take a look at their war-winning aircraft;
there had often been a good relationship
between the American Gis and the local
population.
However, this was by no means the end
of the story for the Mustang in Europe. As
a part of the Allied military administra-
tion put in place at the end of the war
to govern Germany, until such time as
the Germans were adjudged capable and
responsible enough to administer them-
selves, a substantial Allied occupation
force was deemed necessary. To that end a
considerable military presence was needed
in that country, including aviation ele-
ments in addition to ground forces. In the
west, Germany was split into three zones:
British, French and US administered.
Occupation Forces
inventory of front-line fighters, although
some F-5 reconnaissance versions soldi-
ered on for a time. The P-47 also started
to disappear quite rapidly, although it
found a new career wi th the G (later Air
National Guard; A G) and many were
supplied to friendly countries under the
various mutual defence aid schemes that
the USA pursued after the war. For the
Mustang there were Similarly many cut-
backs, but at the same time a whole new
career beckoned with the NG, and, for a
time, the type successfully continued in
front-line service.
In the immediate post-war period there
was a very considerable run-down of
active units. In the ETO the triumphant
Eighth Army Air Force was earmarked
for operations against Japan following the
defeat of Germany. On 16 July 1945
this air force was transferred, on paper
and without its former active units, to
Okinawa to become a new combat force
against the Japanese, operating B-29s. In
the event this deployment never mate-
rialized owing to the surrender of japan,
but in Europe the units that had been part
of the Eighth Air Force were transferred
The Allied victory in Word War Two was
achieved at great cost, but the transition
into the postwar world was no less difficult
and demanding. In the euphoria of victory
the primary aim of many servicemen was
to return home and resume the civil-
ian lives and careers that they had been
leading before they volunteered or were
drafted for military service. evertheless,
some career-minded personnel deter-
mined to stay on in the military, but most
of the victorious countries began to pare
down their military organization; some
sooner then others. Many of the famous
units that had been so successful during
the war were disbanded or amalgamated
with others, and their equipment was
withdrawn from service.
In the case of the American fighters that
had contributed in nosmall part to the final
victory, the coming of peace brought sig-
nificant changes almost as soon as the war
ended. Production of the piston-engined
fighters ceased quite rapidly. In the case of
the P-51 D, manufacture at Dallas ended
almost as soon as the war against Japan
ended. At Inglewood production finished
a little more slowly, but the last Mustangs
were completed within weeks of the con-
flict ending. As far as front-line service
was concerned, the P-38, for example, very
rapidly disappeared from the USAAF's
7-10 june 1945, when targets for the
Superfortresses, including Groups of the
58th BW, included the army arsenal and
other industrial areas at Osaka. The 506th
could also boast the final P-51 Mustang
ace of World War Two. He was Capt
Abner Maurice Aust, Jr of the 457th FS.
Aust achieved his first victories on 16 july,
when he shot down three Nakajima Ki-84
Hayate 'Franks' between Akenogahara
and the city port ofTsu, south of agoya.
He followed this up on 10 August during
a fighter sweep over the home islands (a
planned B-29 raid that day had been put
on hold due to the japanese apparently
showing signs of making peace), when he
shot down two Mitsubishi A6M 'Zekes' in
the Tokyo area.
The dropping of the atomic bombs on
Hiroshima (6 August) and Nagasaki (9
August) by specially modified B-29s of the
509th Composite Group at last brought
some of those commanding Japan's mili-
tary to their senses, and the possibility of
an end to the war at last grew more likely.
On 14 August 1945, while Japanese offi-
cials examined the American surrender
terms communicated several days before,
aerial activity was still taking place over
areas controlled by the japanese, and
over the japanese home islands them-
selves. In one of the last actions to
take place involving Mustangs, a flight
from the I10th TRS, including the
unit's CO, Maj George oland, became
embroiled in an air battle with several
Japanese fighters over Japan. oland,
flying Dallas-built F-6K 44-12833, shot
down two of the japanese aircraft, and
six were claimed by the reconnaissance
pilots. These were quite probably the last
enemy aircraft credited to Mustang pilots
in the Second World War. It was almost
three years to the day since Fg Off Hollis
Hills in his 414 Sqn Mustang Mk I had
shot down the first enemy aircraft to fall
to a Mustang's guns. It had been a long
war for the Mustang, but the final victory
that it had so helped to win was not far
away. On 15 August 1945 Mustangs were
again in action over the Japanese home
islands, the 15th FG making a fighter
sweep in the Nagoya area. During that
day the japanese finally accepted the
Allied surrender terms, and the econd
World War came to an end with the
signing of the formal Japanese surrender
aboard the US Missouri in Tokyo Bay
on 2 September 1945.
the Japanese cities in area bombing with
incendiary bombs. As escort was impos-
sible when the raids were carried out at
night, the two jima fighter force to be
freed for fighter sweeps across the japanese
home islands and other areas, without
the need on every mission to protect the
bombers.
In addition to the obvious dangers and
hardships of the long-range missions from
Iwo Jima, other factors made the Mustang
operations difficult. One was the inter-
minable volcanic dust that blew around
the island or was whipped up by propel-
lers, which could fill air intakes and made
maintenance difficult. Another potential
hazard was the weather. Violent storms
were sometimes encountered, and on 1
June a Superfortress escort mission turned
into a disaster when the Mustang escort
flew into a huge mass of cloud. A numberof
elements attempted to abort the mission,
and in the ensuing series of collisions in
the clouds no fewer than twenty-seven
Mustangs were lost, only five of their
pilots surviving. It was the largest single
loss of Mustangs in the theatre.
The 15th and 21st FGs were joined by a
further Mustang-equipped Group in April
1945, the 506th FG. This was the high-
est-numbered Group to fly the Mustang,
and the last to be formed on the P-51
specifically for combat. The 506th was
acti vated on 21 October 1944, and after
training in Florida it moved to the Pacific
during February to April 1945. Based ini-
tially on Tinian, the Group was officially
headquartered at the recently completed
North Field, Iwo Jima, from 24 April,
and comprised the 457th, 458th and
462nd FSs. During that time there were
several administrative alterations to the
command structure within the Seventh
Air Force, and on paper at least the 506th
carne under the administration of the
Twentieth Air Force, although, like the
15th and 21 st FGs, it was controlled by
Vll Fighter Command. The Group flew
its first mission on 18 May, this being a
fighter sweep against Japanese targets in
the Bonin Islands. However, despite the
B-29 bomber force being concentrated for
the most part on incendiary raids during
mid-1945, there were also a number ofspe-
cific missions flown to high-value targets
when weather conditions allowed and
where pin-point bombing was required.
The 506th gained a Distinguished Unit
Citation for its escort cover ofB-29s during
the 15th FG, and the first in the Seventh
Air Force. Tapp eventually ended the war
with eight aerial victories, all scored while
flying Mustangs with the 15th FG.
On 25 May the 15th FG became
embroiled in some major dogfighting
over and around Kashiwa airfield. Two
Mitsubishi A6M 'Zekes' were shot down
over the airfield itself by Capt Robert
Moore of the 78th FS, which brought his
overall score to six and made him an ace.
He finished the war with a total of twelve
aerial victories, eleven of which were
achieved in Mustangs. This also made him
the top-scoring ace in the Seventh Army
Air Force. Although these tallies appear
small compared with those achieved in
Europe by Eighth Air Force pilots, they
were no less significant. In similar fashion
to those amassed over Europe they added to
the growing demise of enemy aerial oppo-
sition, which was a Vitally important part
of the eventual AIlied victory. Indeed, the
very-long-range escort missions flown by
Mustangs in the central Pacific in support
of the B-29 Superfortresses were some of
the most epic fighter operations of the
whole war, and were certainly not for the
faint-hearted. Even flying in an undam-
aged aircraft over the vast expanses of the
Pacific was a taxing occupation, but in
aircraft that had received battle damage
or had developed a technical fault the
experience was highly demanding.
Once two Jima was finally secured,
late in March, it became a haven for the
fighter pi lots based there. Many took the
opportunity to use the island's under-
ground sulphur springs for hot mineral
baths, and other medical facilities were
availab[e, including massages for the
weary after the long missions. Sometimes
known as Empire Missions, the very-
long-range B-29 strikes hit at the heart
of the Japanese Empire and inflicted con-
siderable damage on the infrastructure
of the Japanese industry on the home
islands that was supplying japan's mili-
tary. evertheless, a further change of
tactics resulted in the B-29s concentrat-
ing largely on incendiary attacks against
major Japanese cities, rather than solely
on pinpoint strikes against factories or
similar targets. Although these incendiary
attacks were not new (the first had been
flown, against Tokyo, on 9 March 1945),
following the destruction of significant
point targets like the Nakaj ima plant at
Musashi the bombers were unleashed on
148 149
POST-WAR SERVICE AI D LIGHTWEIGHTS
POST-WAR SERVICE A 'D LIGHTWEIGHTS
Delegated as a part of the occupation
Forces, three Mustang-operating Former
Eighth Air Force FGs were earmarked
to serve in Germany, the 55th, 355th
and 357th FGs. In the event all three
erved in Germany For some time aFter
the war's end, although all were consider-
ably undermanned compared with their
personnel strengths at the height of their
wartime operations. The 55th moved
From its wartime base at WormingFord
in Essex to R-70 KauFbeuren in Germany
in July 1945, then relocated to Y-90
Giebel tadt in April 1946 beFore being
inactivated there in August 1946. The
355th had been based at teeple Morden,
Cambridgeshire, From July 1943, but
moved to R-n Gabling n near Augsburg
in southern Germany during July 1945
(although some element of the Group
apparently moved over to the Continent
just beFore thi ), beFore relocating to
SchweinFurt in April 1946. The Group
was eventually transFerred to the USA in
August 1946 without its equipment, and
was being deactivated in ovember 1946.
The 357th FG, another of th Famous
Mustang-equipped Groups of the Eighth
Army Air Force, Flew From Leiston,
SuFfolk, From February 1943, Following its
assignment to the Eighth Air Force aFter
being traded For the P-47-equipped 358th
FG. Elements of the Group moved to
R- 5 eubiberg in Germany during July
1945, and the unit remained there until
deactivated on 20 August 1946. All three
FG came under the AAF' occupa-
tion Forces, which Formally grew, in the
summer of 1947 aFter these Mustang units
had leFt, into the United States Air Forces
in Europe ( AFE).
In addition to the three Former Eighth
Air Force FGs, several Mu tang-equipped
inth Air Force Groups Formed part of
the lIied occupation Forces in Germany
(the Ninth Air Force itselF was deacti-
vated in Germany on 2 December 1945).
These included the lath PG, which had a
number of reconnaissance Mustang squad-
rons as igned and had Fought a long war
across Europe aFter D-Day. Redesignated
the lath RG in June 1945, it was head-
quartered at R-28 Hirth in the postwar
period, beFore spending several weeks at
FurstenFeidbruck (later to become a major
ATO air ba e) between April and June
1947. The Group was then transFerred
to the A, minu its aircraFt and man-
power, but was remanned and equipped
with F-6 reconnaissance Mustangs. It
subsequently became the 10th Tactical
Reconnaissance Wing in the summer of
194 , and was stationed at a number of
A beautiful in-flight study of F-51 D-30-NA 44-74825
over Verba Buena Island and Treasure Island, in
the vicinity of the city of San Francisco, on 24 June
1951. On this occasion the aircraft was being flown
by Brig Gen John Felton Turner, then commanding
officer of the 144th FW, ANG. The tail tip and
wingtips were red. William T. Larkins
Two Michigan NGtANG fighter squadrons flew the
PtF-51 after the war, the 171st and 172nd FSs, each
squadron tracing its lineage to squadrons assigned
to the wartime Eighth Army Air Force's 361st FG.
This Mustang began life as Inglewood-built P-51D-
25-NA 44-73227. Paul Bridford via Srecko Bradic
air bases in the continental SA, includ-
ing Pope Air Force Ba e (AFB), North
Carolina, where it was deactivated in
April 1949. Other Former inth Air
Force Mustang units that Formed a part of
the postwar Allied pre ence in Germany
included the 363rd TRG, which ended the
war at Brunswick in Germany. The Group
became the 363rd RG inJune 1945, beFore
returning to the USA in December 1945
and being deactivated. It was stationed
at several locations in Germany, includ-
ing Eschwege and Darmstadt. The same
IVa true For the 370th FG, which ended
the war at Y-99 Gliter loh in Germany.
The Group remained in Germany until it
redeployed to the USA during eptember
to ovember 1945, being deactivated on
7 November 1945. While in Germany it
was successively stationed at SandhoFen
and Fritzlar. In addition to these unit,
a FiFteenth Air Force FG that had Flown
Mustangs in the MTO, the 31st G, also
operated Mustangs in the postwar period
as a part of the Allied Forces in Germany.
The 31st had ended the war at MondolFo in
Italy, and had then moved to Triolo, From
where it returned to the A in August
1945, being deactivated in ovember of
that year. However, it wa reactivated in
August 1946 at Giebelstadt in Germany,
and spent a brieF period there beFore being
based at Kitzingen From eptember 1946
to June 1947, when it was transFerred back
to the U A. Even then, the unit's asso-
ciation with the Mustang did not end, For
it was assigned at that time to another of
the new U AAF commands, T AC, and
initially Flew P-51 Os at Turner Field (later
Turner A B), Georgia, until they were
replaced by Republic F- 4 Thunderj t
during 1948, by which time the independ-
ent USAF had been born.
Elsewhere in the world, the Mustang
imilarly FulFilled the important role of
occupier and peacekeeper. In the Far East,
Following the deFeat of Japan, a ubstantial
Allied occupying Force wa establi hed
in that country, again with a military
administration to try to put the deFeated
country on to a peaceFul and proper peace-
time Footing. Many USAAF Mustang
unit that had Fought the Japanese during
the latter stages of the war subsequently
joined the Allied occupying Forces. They
included the FiFth Air Force units that had
Flown the Mustang toward the end of the
war, in luding the 71st RG, the 35th and
348th FGs and the 3rd G. The 71st
RG had ended the war on Ie Shima, and
had latterly Flown reconnaissance sortie
over the Japanese home i land to locate
prisoner-oF-war camps, in addition to
Flying combat reconnaissance and straFing
150
Displaying a variety of marking styles, four NG
Mustangs hold formation in the era just before,
or during, the period when the ANG was formed
in 1947, and therefore carry the 'NG' abbreviation
before 'ANG' became the recognized fuselage
marking. At least two of the P-51s belong to the
Michigan NG. USAF
Far too many P-51s ended up like this one at the end of the war, discarded and looking for a new home. Sadly many were simply scrapped. This is Dallas-built
P-51 C-l0-NT 44-10911, one of the high-numbered Fiscal Vear 1944 P-51C batches. The camera window in the lower rear fuselage shows that it had undergone
conversion into a reconnaissance Mustang, making it an F-6C-l0-NT. R.L. Ward collection
151
missions. The Group joined rhe Allied
occuparion forces by moving to Japan
in Occober 1945, raking up residence ar
Chofu and soon afrer ar Tachikawa. Three
of irs squadrons, rhe 8th, 25rh and 82nd,
flew Musrangs in rhe posrwar period. The
Group was rhen deacrivared in February
1946, bur was reacrivated in Japan ar
Itami on 2 February 1947, when rhe need
for reconnaissance assers, borh for rhe
occuparion forces and co carry our wider
surveillance missions, became grearer. In
Japan rhe Group was successively based at
Johnson Army Air Base and Yokora, and
became rhe 71sr TRW in August 194 .
In irs new life it was equipped with a
variety of reconnaissance types from late
1947 onward, including reconnai sance
Mustang, its 25th TR in particular
operating Mustangs at Itami. The Wing
was later deactivated after being non-
operational from later in 1948.
Of the other ex-Fifth Air Force assets
that also provided occupation-force
POST-WAR SERVICE AND LIGHTWEIGHTS
support after the war, the 3rd ACG
moved from Ie hima to Chitose, Japan,
in October 1945, and remained there
until March 1946, when ir was deacri-
vared. Irs Musrang-operating 3rd and 4rh
FSCs acrually flew from Arsugi, Japan,
for a hort rime in lare September 1945.
The 35rh FG moved from Okinawa co
Irumagawa in Ocrober 1945, and srayed
rhere until moving to Yokora in March
1950. By rhen ir had been redesignared
rhe 35rh FW in Augusr 194 ,and larer rhe
35rh Fighrer-Inrercepror Wing (FIW) in
January 1950, and had been in rhe proce
for some rime of converring on ro rhe
USAF's first real front-line jer fighrer, rhe
Lockheed F- 0 Shooring rar. However,
event subsequenrly overcook rhe AF
unirs rarioned in rhar parr of rhe Far East,
and wirh rhe srarr of rhe Korean War in
June 1950 rhe 35rh duly converred back
co rhe Musrang for combar operarions
over Korea, as described in Chaprer 9.
The Group returned ro Johnson Air Base
152
Post-war P-51s sometimes acquired colourful
markings, as evidenced by this example, which
has so far defied positive identification, although
a number of theories have been advanced. The
'Buzz Number' prefix 'FF on its fuselage side was
adopted for the P-51 following the creation of the
USAF in 1947, and it also has 'USAF prominently
displayed beneath its port wing. It has uncuffed
Hamilton Standard propeller blades.
R.L. Ward collection
in Japan in May 1951, and subsequendy
flew Musrangs alongside F-80s as a parr
of rhe air defence of Japan until moving
ro Yokora in August 1954.lr rran irioned
ro rhe F- 6 abre rhe following year. The
34 rh FG, on the other hand, had only a
compararively short rour of duty in japan.
Ir moved ro Irami in japan from Ie Shima
during Ocrober 1945 and rayed rhere
until deacrivared in May 1946, bur con-
rinued to fly Musrangs during rhar period.
Thus all of rhe former Fifrh Air Force
Musrang units thar formed a part of the
Allied occupation forces in japan came
under the administrative control of the
FEAF.
In Korea, formerly under japanese over-
lordsh ip, there was alsoa major Allied pres-
ence. Here, a unit that had nor flown rhe
Mu tang during rhe war operated rhe rype
posrwar. This was rhe 475rh FG, which
had been well known during rhe hosrili-
ries as a P-38 unir, indeed, one of rhe mosr
famous of rhe Fifrh Air Force's FGs. One
of its pilors, Maj Thomas McGuire, jr, had
become the second-highest- coring ace in
the U AAF, wirh thirty-eighr aerial vic-
rories, as well as being a recipient of rhe
Medal of Honor. However, posrwar rhe
P-3 was soon wirhdrawn from USAAF
front-line service, and even rhe 475rh
FG eventually relinquished ir beloved
Lighrnings for rhe Musrang. The Group
moved ro Kimro, Kor a, in eprember
1945 from irs base ar Ie Shima. (Ir had
previously operared in rhe Philippines,
but, like other Fifth Air Force assets, had
moved further north towards the end of
the war.) Afrer converting co the Mustang
This post-war P51 0-30-NT, 45-11664, has been
converted into a reconnaissance-configured F-60,
as evidenced by the camera window fittings in the
rear fuselage. On paper at least this aircraft would
have been redesignated an RF-510 as a result of the
shake-up in designations that followed creation of
the USAF as an independent organization in 1947.
On its rear fuselage it carries the slogan: 'Enlist in
the AAF Guard the Victory'. R.L. Ward collection
in 1946 ir stayed in Korea on peacekeep-
ing duty with rhe FEAF unril Augusr
194 ,when irdeployed to Irazuke,Japan,
and was finally deacrivared ar Ashiya in
Japan ar rhe srarr of Arril 1949.
Ar rhe end of World War Two rhere
were some 5,500 Musrangs on rhe
U AF's inventory. The e mosdy (bur
cerrainly nor only) comprised Merlin
Musrangs, parricularly but not exclu-
sively P-51 D and P-51 K teardrop-canory
models. Abour a fifrh of these were new
aircraft complered towards rhe war's end,
and which had only flown a few hours ar
mosr. A major deposirory for the e wa ar
ewark, ew Jersey, where subsranrial
numbers of new or almosr-new Musrangs
were kepr, apparenrly redundant due ro
rhe end of rhe war and rhe advent of rhe
firsr-generation jet fighters. ewark had
been the main raging roint for Musrangs
inrended for shipment by sea ro Britain
during the war, and was rhe airfield ro
which rhe aircrafr were flown before being
rrepared for shipmenr. However, there
was ro be a major new career for rhese air-
crafr. Wirh rhe coming of peace, rhe G
srarted ro regain rhe unirs rhar had been
called ro acrive dury during rhe conflicr,
and a major re-equipmenr and upgrad-
ing programme was instigated as the G
was effectively reborn in the following
months.
In Ocrober 1945 a major plan was put in
place for rhe reorganizarion of rhe air unirs
of rhe to give a proper narional cover-
age. This plan wa ubsequendyamended
several rimes, bur ir formed rhe basi for
rhe way rhe G's air assers grew over rhe
coming years. Those years were ro fearure
rhe Musrang and Thunderbolr in large
numbers, and rhe first G unir to fly rhe
P-51 D was rhe 120rh F of rhe Colorado
G. This squadron was granred federal
recognirion on 30 June 1946, and was
based at Buckley Field, Aurora, Colorado.
Irwascorrecdynamedrhel2 rhF (E),
rhe' E' sranding for' ingle-Engine', and
was followed by rhe 109rh F ( E) of rhe
Minnesora NG ar Holman Field, r Paul,
and rhe 110rh FS{SE) of rhe Missouri G
ar Lamberr Field, t Louis, in eptember
1946. Observant readers will have noriced
rhar rhe lasr squadron already had a dis-
ringuished associarion wirh rhe Musrang.
s rhe llOrh TRS ir had flown F-6Ds as
a part of rhe 71sr TRG in the Philippines
in 1945, as described earlier. Eventually
a significant number of NG squadron
re-equipped wirh rhe Musrang, some 700
POST-WAR SER ICE AND LIGHTWEIGHTS
Musrangs being made available from rhe
srockpiles ar rhe end of rhe war ro equip
G unir , including some of rhe Musrang
held ar ewark, ew jersey.
Birth of the USAF
While all rhis was raking place, rhe
AAF irself underwent some signifi-
cant changes. For many serving officers,
and poliricians, rhe creation of an inde-
pendent air force had seemed a desirable
end for many yeClrs, Clnd rhe experience
of rhe econd World War heighrened
rhis apparenr need. Throughour rhe war
rhe USAAF remained a part of rhe US
Army, ro which ir was subordinare and,
rheorericCllly, was supposed firsr and fore-
mosr ro support. The winds of change
were blowing following rhe end of rhe
WClr, however, and in 1947 rhe legisla-
rion was pur in place ro shake up rhe US
armed ervice radically and creare an
independent air force. This rook place
in rhe summer of 1947, rhe arional
ecuriry Acr rhClr esrablished rhe new
USAF as an inderendenr enriry, equal ro
rhe US Army and rhe USN, being signed
inro law by Pre ident Harry . Truman
on 26 July 1947. everal weeks later, on
26 September 1947, Gen Carl paarz
became rhe firsr Chief of raff of rhe
USAF. Spaarz had previously been one of
rhe advocares of rhe 'bomber will always
ger rhrough' rheory rhar wartime experi-
ence had rhoroughly di credired, bur by
1947 he hCld luckily realized rhar fighters
could playa parr in warfare roo.
The establishmenr of rhe independent
AF broughr many changes ro rhe force
and ir procurement goals and expecra-
tions. One ignificant change occurred
the following year, when in June 1948 the
whole designation system for rhe U A F's
aircrafr changed. The old, ourdClred ride
of'Pursuir' for fighrer aircraft was dropped
once and for all, and all existing aircraft
with the 'P' prefix were redesignated 'F'
for 'Fighter'. For the Mustang this meant
a change from P-51 to F-51. The use of
'F' for 'Photographic' was dropped ar the
same time, reconnais ance Mustang
henceforth being designated RF-51 s
rather than F-6s. In practice the old tides
still continued to be used by some for a
time, and many aircraft did not have the
painted data information on their porr
fu elage sides changed at all. On the other
hand, the 'Buzz umber' prefix 'PF' worn
153
on rhe fuselage sides and underwing loca-
rions of Musrangs posrwar, rogerher wirh
rhe 'lasr rhree' number of rhe individual
aircrafr serial number, Wcl chClnged ro
rhe new prefix 'FF'. There was also a sig-
nificant reorganizarion of USAF combar
organizarions during 1947/1948, rhe old
Group srrucrures henceforward being
called Wings. Thus FGs were increasingly
renamed Fighrer Wings. The change
of name did not alrer rhe acrual flying
make-up of each organizarion, however, as
rhe new FW continued to have (usually)
rhree squadrons arrached ro them, ju t
like the rre\'ious FGs. In line with these
various name and institutional changes,
the G was officially renamed the Air
National Guard in 1947, but this tide was
already being used unofficially before thar
rime.
In rotal, sevenry-five NG/ANG quad-
rons eventually flew rhe Musrangs of
various marks, forry-four srarring wirh rhe
P/F-51 D as rheir inirial or early equip-
ment, and rhe ryre lasred for over ren
years in G/A G service. In addirion,
six of rhe e squadrons flew rhe RF-51 D.
This meant rhar rhe Musrang was a signed
as rhe main mission aircrafr ro more G/
A G quadrons rhan any other aircrafr
type. It i ourside the remit and rhe size
of rhis book to describe every deployment
and alteration ro rhe A G Musrang units
in rhis period, and a brief listing of rhe
seventy-five squadrons is included in rhe
Arrendice. The Musrang remained in
A G service well inro the 1950s, alrhough
rhe whole rrocedure was very consider-
ably shaken-up for many squadrons with
the onset of the Korean War in June 1950.
uffice it ro say thar, during and after rhe
Korean War reriod, a major proce of re-
equipment rook place in which the exist-
ing Mustangs were eventually replaced by
jer fighrers in cases where rhe squadron
remained a fighter unir. ome of rhis re-
equipmenr was quire exoric. The [76th
F of rhe Wisconsin A G, for example,
flew P-51 Ds in the posrwar period. This
unir already had a onnecrion wirh the
Musrang, having been acrivared as rhe
306th F in July 1942 as a part of the
33 rh FG, a replacemenr rraining Group
rhat flew Mustangs (among orher types)
ar Dale Mabry Field, Florida, on rraining
duties, unril it was deacrivated in 1944.
The squadron became rhe 176rh FS and
was allocared to the Wisconsin G in May
1946. During February 1951 it was called
ro active duty as a parr of rhe Korean War
mobilization of A G units, but retained
it F-51Ds. However, in 1952 th unit
partly re-equipped with the big twin-jet
orthrop F- 9A corpion all-weather
fighter as the 176th Fighter-Interceptor
quadron (Fl ). It returned to tate
control in October 1952 and re-equipped
with the lightweight F-51 H Mustang (of
which more later in this chapter) at Truax
Field, Madison, Wisconsin, but finally
b ame an all-jet quadron when it con-
verted on to the F- 6A abre in ctober
1954. A year later the 176th finally
reverted to the Scorpion again.
The final A G unit to fly the Mustang
was the 167th FI of the West Virginia
A G. This was highly appropriate. This
squadron could trace its ancestry back to
the 369th FS of the 359th FG, which had
flown Mustangs with the Eighth Army
ir Force in England during the latter
stages of World War Two. The 167th had
flown Mustangs on two separate occa-
ion postwar, and on finally relinquish-
ing the Mustang in 1957 it flew the orth
American T-2 A Trojan for a hort time
before becoming an F- 6H unit. The
final airworthy Mustang on its inven-
tory, F-51 D-25-NA 44-7294 , was flown
into museum retirement in January 1957.
ome ofthe unit's other remaining F-51 Os
were donated to the American Legion in
harle ton, West Virginia, several weeks
later in March 1957.
Strategic Air Command
However, the ANG service of the
Mustang was not the type's only po twar
use in the USA before the start of hos-
tilities in Korea. As part of the ig-
nifi ant reorganization and re tructuring
of the USAAF after the war's end, a
new command was created to en ompass
the long-range, heavy-bomber assets of
the AAF. These basically included the
long-range B-29 Superfortress, because,
even though the B-17 and B-24 had
formed the core of the AAF' trategic
bomber arm during World War Two in
the ETO, and for much of the time in the
Pacific (particularly the B-24, before the
arrival of the B-29), in the postwar period
the B-29 completely supplanted these
types as the SAAF' n w primary heavy
bomber until the advent of the jet age.
In it early days, Strategic Air ommand
( A ) initially had fighter units spe-
cifically assigned to protect its heavy
POST-WAR SERVICE AND LIGHTWEIGHTS
bombers, and initially thi included the
Mustang. reated in March 1946, AC
eventually had two unit as igned that
operated the Mustang, the 27th and 33rd
FGs. The 27th FG (5nnd, 523rd and
524th F s) already had a sub tantial con-
nection with the Mustang. As the 27th
FBG it had operated the Douglas A-36A
Invader in the MTO during World War
Two, long before it became a fighter unit
with AC. Becoming operational within
SAC in July/August 1947 as the 27th
FW, the unit was based at Kearney Army
Air Field, ebraska, but converted on to
the F- 2 T wi n Mustang (descri bed in the
following chapter) during 1948, although
it continued to have some Mustangs on
strength in the later 1940s. The 33rd
FG (comprising the 58th, 59th and 60th
FSs) had operated in the MTO and
then the CBI during World War Two,
but not with Mustangs. However, it was
activated in Germany with P-51Ds in
August 1946 at R- 5 eubiberg (and
from July 1947atBadKis ingen)asapart
of the newly-formed AFE, and flew
with the Allied occupation forces there
until transferr d to the U A in 1947,
where it joined A . Initially equipped
with Mustangs, the Group became the
33rd FW in October ovember 1947 and
was stationed at the infamous Roswell
Army Air Field (later known as Walker
AFB) in New Mexico from eptember
1947, during the period imn,ediately
after the reputed UFO activity there in
July 1947. During 1948 it converted on
to the Republic F-84 Thunderjet. The
82nd FW (95th, 96th and 97th FSs) also
flew P-5lDs for a time during its SAC
assignment in 1948/1949, having previ-
ously operated P-51Hs (as explained later
in this chapter). It was inactivated in
October 1949
A very wide variety of other SAAF/
SAFunits flew Mu tangsaftertheSecond
World War, although many only had the
Mustang a th ir main mi sion equipment
for a short time, or flew the Mustang while
principally equipped with other types.
The 1 th FG (later 1 th FW/Fighter-
Bomber Wing (FBW)), for example, flew
Mustangs during 1947/194 , having had
no previou association with the type. It
had operated P- during the war, and
had then been a part of the Allied libera-
tion forces in the postwar Philippines. This
Group, however, was later to have a very
profound association with the Mustang,
as described in Chapter 9. Also illustra-
154
tive of postwar Mustang operators was th
21st FBW. As the 2lst FG this unit had
successfully operated the Mustang in the
Pacific during the closing stages of the war
as a part of the Seventh Army AiI' Force.
Following the war' end the Group had
undergone a number of changes, although
it did not erve as a part of the Allied occu-
pation forces in Japan. Instead it moved
from Iwo Jima to Isley Field, aipan, in
December 1945, and then to Guam in
pril 1946. It was finally deactivated on
Guam in October 1946, having briefly
re-equipped with P-47s in the summer of
1946. The Group had thus provided part
of the aerial defence of the strategically
important islands of Iwo J ima, aipan and
Guam in the postwar period. On 1January
1953 the Group was reactivated, thi time
a the 21st FBW, initially based at George
AFB in alifornia. Before fully equipping
with F- 6s the Wing wa issued with
F-5Is, being one of the last regular USAF
unit to equip with the by then somewhat
venerable Mustang. Having re-equipped
with abre the 21st was later a signed to
U AFE, and was stationed at Chambley
ir Base in France from late 1954.
Postwar British Mustangs
In Briti h colours the Mustang r mained in
ervice for a comparatively short time fol-
lowing the end of World War Two. With
the advent of the jet-powered Gloster
Meteor and de Havilland Vampire, and
later still the superb Hawker Hunter,
the RAF increasingly converted its front-
line squadrons to jet power, particularly
it home-based units. evertheless, the
Mustang still had a part to play, and
everal quadrons continued to use th
type in 1946, especially overseas. Allied
forces remained on Italian soil for some
time after the war's end, though this was
not the same type of occupation-force
scenario as existed in Germany and Japan.
Although the Italian state under Benito
Mu olini had been a full member of the
Axis powers, the Italian had capitulated
in 194 , and some Italian had ub e-
quently fought on the Alii d id during
the continued fighting in Italy up to
VE-Day in May 1945. In pra tice, British
forces stayed on ju t as long as necessary,
and in the immediate postwar p riod the
Italian reconstruction proceeded rapidly.
A n w Italian air force was set up com-
paratively soon after hostilities ceased,
and Italy later became an export u er of
the Mustang, as described in Chapter I I.
everal RAF squadrons continued to
fly the Mu tang from Italian soil in the
months following the end of the war in
Europe. They included the veteran 112
and 260 qns, which had operated Merlin
Mustangs in combat up to the end of the
war. In August 1945 26 qn disbanded,
its final equipment being Mustang; 112
Sqn lasted a little longer, di banding in
January 1947. An RAF squadron that had
not flown the Mustang in combat, 250
qn, temporarily operated the Mu tang
in Italy postwar. This squadron had flown
the Curtiss Kittyhawk in combat right up
to the end of the war, and converted to
Merlin Mustangs only in ugust 1945.
It flew these until it was disbanded at
its final base, Treviso, in January 1947.
Another veteran of the fighting in Italy
and the Balkans, 249 qn, had converted
to pitfire from Mustangs just before
VE-Day, but reverted to Mustangs for a
short time in the summer of 1945 before
being disbanded in mid-Augu t 1945.
A further squadron that flew Merlin
Mustangs with the RAF in Italy was 93
qn. Formed at Lavariano in January 1946
by the renumbering of 23 7 qn, a former
pitfire unit, it flew Mustangs until it was
disbanded in December 1946.
El ewhere, two squadrons finished the
war with Allison-engined Mu tangs. As
noted in hapter 2, these were 26 and 26
qns. The latter gave up its final Mustangs
in August 1945 in Germany, while the
former, having spotted for naval guns in
action against German enclav in the
Bordeaux area near the war's end, finally
started re-equipping with a dedicated
reconnais ance version of the pitfire Mk
XIV in June 1945. A third squadron, 285
Sqn, also had a number of Mustangs on
strength at the end of the war, including
ome Allison-engined example. This was
The first P-51 D-5-NA. 44-13253, was used by
NAA for various trials into vertical tail shapes,
connected with the ongoing work by NAA to try to
improve the Merlin Mustang's directional stability.
These studies also contributed to the development
of the tail for the lightweight P-51 H series. Here
44-13253 sits on the ramp at Mines Field with a tall
tail (similar to, but not quite the type eventually
adopted for the P-51 H) and metal-covered rudder,
in addition to a dorsal fin shape. Beside it sits
lightweight P-51H-l-NA 44-64162, the third
production P-51 H, with an early short tail shape
fitted to some initial production P-51 Hs. NAA
POST-WAR SERVI E AND LIGHTWEIGHTS
a training unit that provided target-towing
aircraft for gunnery practice, and aircraft
for imulated attacks for training purposes.
It was based at orth Weald, Essex, in the
final months of the war, although it had
detachments at several other bases, and
di bnded in June 1945.
everal front-line squadron based in
Britain continued to fly Merlin Mustang
after the end of the war in Europe. They
included 19,64,65, 1I , In, ] 26, 165,
234 and 611 Sqns, and the Polish-manned
3 3, 306, 309, 315 and 316 Sqns. The
Polish units continued to fly Mustangs
until they were disbanded in late 1946
or the first days of 1947, their personnel
either returning to their homeland or
remaining in Britain.
However, the longest-lived of all the
post-war RA F Mustang squadrons was 213
Sqn in the Middle East, which actually
fired it guns in anger in troubles totally
divorced from the war. Like many of the
other po twar RA F Mustang squadrons,
213 qn had a distinguished war record,
having operated Merlin Mustang from
May 1944 onwards. It flew in Italy and
the Balkan under the Balkan Air Force,
includingaspell at Prkos in Yugoslavia itself
near the end of the war, before returning
to Italy in the immediate postwar period,
being stationed at Biferno. However, from
September 1945 it was based in Palestine,
where a completely new and ultimately
deadly conflict was going through its
initial phases. The unit' Mustangs were
involved in peacekeeping operations of a
sort, including occasionally shooting-up
dissident locals, and were based at RAF
Ramat David, southeast of Haifa (now a
major Israeli Air Force (IAF) base). By that
point much of the squadron's equipment
comprised Mustang Mk IVs, including a
155
number of P-51 K equivalents. Eventually
213 qn was earmarked for re-equipment
with the Hawker Tempest, and ultimately
moved to icosia on the island of Cypru
in eptember 1946. It finally ceased
Mu tang flying in February 1947, the last
RAF quadron to operate the fighter that
Britain had played uch a role in creat-
ing. ome Mustang remained in RAF
service on paper until later in ] 947, but
the Mu tang era in the RAF was finally at
an end. Operationally, the Mustang had
therefore lasted in RAF front-line opera-
tions from May 1942 until late 1946/early
1947, a momen tous period in the history
of the RAF and a proud one for all the
RAF units that had flown the Mustang in
anger.
The Lightest of the Breed
British influence in the whole Mu tang
programme was instrumental right
from the start. Indeed, Britain's need
for in reased Curtiss P-4 production,
and AA's unwillingness to produce the
urtiss fighter, had led to the Mustang'
creation, and in everal significant
in tances British thinking or technol-
ogy helped shape development of the
Mustang programme. This was certainly
true in the creation of a completely new
Mustang model that eventually reached
production status as the P-51 H. The new
production layout, and the prototypes
that preceded it, took the Mustang design
down a completely new path; that of a
lightweight fighter.
One criti ism levelled at the Mustang
almost from the outset was that it was a
comparatively heavy aircraft. Certainly
ome of the type's detractors at Wright
POST-WAR SERVICE AND LIGHTWEIGHTS POST-WAR SERVICE AND LIGHTWEIGHTS
ABOVE: The five-bladed British Rotol propeller gave
the first XP-51 G. 43-43335. a unique appearance
among Mustangs. Remarkably. some components
of this particular Mustang survive today. The
second XP-51 Gwas intended for supply to Britain.
albeit with a four-bladed propeller. and received
British serial number FR410. NAA
LEFT: This NAA company graphic shows the
significant improvements in weight saving of the
lightweight P-51H compared with the P-51D. The
aircraft used for the illustration itself was the
much-photographed fifth production P-51 H-1-NA.
44-64164. NAA
RIGHT: Allowing a direct comparison to be
made between the two related types, an F-51H
lightweight Mustang (in the foreground) flies in
company with a standard F-51 D. The different
fuselage and tail contours are readily apparent.
The lightweight Mustang is an F-51H-5-NA. while
the standard Mustang is a very-late-production
F-51D-30-NA. USAF
ABOVE: Two XP-51G experimental lightweight
Mustangs were built at Inglewood. They were
powered by Rolls-Royce-manufactured 1.675hp
Merlin RM.14.SM engines specially supplied to the
USA. Illustrated is 43-43335. which was temporarily
fitted with a Rotol five-bladed wooden propeller.
According to NAA test pilot Bob Chilton. who flew
the aircraft in this configuration. the propeller
caused directional instability. Author's collection
Fus. srA.I]9V4
WIN5
LEFT: The outline of the lightweight Mustangs went through a number of
changes while NAA's designers worked with the concept of developing the
basic Mustang layout into a truly lightweight design. lower maximum take-off
weight and increased manoeuvrability being two of the aims. This drawing
shows one of the many stages through which the concept went as it evolved.
with a different cockpit canopy layout and what appears to be a slightly
redesigned air intake beneath the fuselage. Drawing: NAA
WING REF. LINE --_/
f--------- 37' 0-311."---------1
THRUST
t-----------",'----------"'1
'"

RIGHT: The P/F-51H is shown in this general-arrangement drawing from
an NAA P/F-51H manual. Note the dimensions. which are sometimes
incorrectly quoted in some published sources. Also noticeable are the
small main undercarriage wheels. the revised wing leading edge shape.
the tall tail and the revised lower fuselage air intake.
Drawing: NAA
"
156 157
POST-WAR SERVICE AND LIGHTWEIGHTS POST-WAR SERVICE AND LIGHTWEIGHTS
this engine were specially supplied to
th USA for the XP-SIG programme, it
being the highest-specification engine yet
fitted to a Mustang. A four-blade Aero-
products Unimatic A-S42-Bl propeller
was fitted. Also ordered under Contract
o. AC-378S7, the two XP-SIGs were
serialled 43-43335 and 43-43336. The
former first flew on 9 August 1944 in the
hands of NAA test pilot Ed Virgin. Early
in its test programme it was fitted with a
five-blade Rotol laminated wooden pro-
peller. On 12 August Bob Chilton took
the aircraft aloft with this propeller, and
discovered that a very wild beast had
been created. At cruising speed the air-
craft was completely directionally unsta-
ble. Fortunately he was able to get it back
on the ground without mishap, and the
initial Aeroproducts propeller was rein-
stalled. The second XP-SIG was initially
flown by AA test pilot joe Barton on
14 November 1944. It has often been said
that this aircraft was shipped to Britain in
November 1944 for testing at Boscombe
The well-known fifth production P-51 H, 44-64164,
was delivered to the USAF at Moffet Field,
California, in June 1945. It later spent a short period
of time with NACA. NAA
The cockpit interior of an early P-51 H, actually
P-51 H-l-NA 44-64170. The interior of the
lightweight P-51 H was somewhat different to
the wartime combat versions of the P-51 up to
and including the P-51 D. It appears less well
thought out, although it apparently reflected the
latest thinking on instrumentation and control
layout based on combat experience. When the
third XP-51F prototype, 43-43334. was evaluated
at Boscombe Down as FR409 from August 1944
following shipment to Britain, one criticism was of
the cockpit layout. NAA
received the NAAcharge number A-lOS
(NAA charge numbers and designations
became somewhat more standardized as
the war progressed, although the sequen-
tial numbering system continued to be
spread across several production types).
The first XP-S1F, 43-43332, first flew on
14 February 1944. Company test pi lot
Robert C. Chi lton was at the controls, and
all went well to begin with. The aircraft
attained a maximum speed of 493mph
(793km/h), making the XP-Sl F by far the
fastest of the various Mustang versions to
date. Perhaps more importantly, 20,000ft
(6,000m) was reached in just over two
minutes, faster than the latest production
Mustang, the P-SID. The weight-saving
programme had certainly been success-
ful, for the XP-SIF's maximum take-off
weight was 7,610lb (J,4S0kg), compared
with 9,1901b (4,170kg) for the Mustang
Mk III (P-SIB/C). The third XP-SIF
was the next to fly, on 20 May 1944,
the second machine following two days
later. The first prototype was transferred
to NACA at the end of April 1945, after
extensive company testing (it appears to
have made 147 flights with NAA during
tha t period). The second was transferred
to Wright Field in july 1944, while the
third was shipped to Britain, where it
became FR409.
The XP-SIF was just the start of the
lightweight Mustang programme. It was
followed by the XP-SIG, which was
similar to the XP-SIF in many respects
(although it included a small extension
to the fin, which the XP-S1F lacked),
but had a Rolls-Royce-manufacwred
Merlin RM.14.SM (Merlin 100) engine
giving 1,690hp at 18,000ft (S,SOOm)
and using ISO-octane fuel. Examples of
of that year. The company's designers
looked for weight-saving in all areas of
the Mustang's airframe, and substantially
changed the wings, fuselage, tail, undercar-
riage and cockpit. Even the famous lower-
fuselage air intake for the engine's cooling
radiator was redesigned. The existing
structure was simplified where possible and
smaller or lighter components introduced
in some areas. The wing's famous laminar-
flow section was made proportionately
thinner, and with smaller main wheels
and new brake assemblies for the main
undercarriage, plus altered main under-
carriage legs, it was possible to do away
with the prominent leading-edge kink so
characteristic of the inboard plan view of
the standard Mustang wing. The four-gun
wing armament of the P-Sl B/C series was
retained, but the XP-SIF pioneered the
teardrop canopy configuration that was
also introduced on standard production
P-SID/Ks. Power for the XP-SIF was pro-
vided by the Packard V-1650-3, as used in
the P-SIB/P-SIC production series, The
engine turned a three-blade Aeroproducts
Unimatic propeller of 11 ft (J.3Sm) diam-
eter with large hollow blades, which saved
a little weight and marked a return to the
three-blade units of the early production
Mustangs. The troublesome fuselage fuel
tank of the Merlin Mustang was deleted,
and the radiator configuration was remod-
elled, the oil cooler being removed from
the lower-fuselage location altogether
and replaced by a heat-exchanger system.
A simplified hydraulic system compared
with that of the P-SIB/C series and its
predecessors was also introduced.
Under Contract o. AC-378S7, three
XP-SIFs were ordered in july 1943, serial
numbers 43-43332 to 43-43334. These
ing more power to give a better climb rate
coupled with enhanced manoeuvrability,
effectively gave birth to the subsequent
series of lightweight Mustangs. Early
Mustangs with the Allison V-1710 engine
had a comparatively poor climb rate, espe-
cially as height increased, and the Fw 190's
rate of aileron roll was twice that of the
early Mustangs. Both factors needed to be
addressed in any further Mustang devel-
opment work, although the climb rate
improved somewhat with the installation
of the Packard V-16S0 from the P-SIB
onwards, particularly at higher altitudes.
Schmued and his design team duly worked
hard on the light fighter concept, and in
effect created one of the few lightweight
piston-engined fighter designs ever to
achieve production status.
The lightweight Mustang family began
with the XP-S1F. This and all the subse-
quent lightweight versions were basically
a new design, even though they bore the
name Mustang and generally resembled
the established production P-S L. In reality
their major components had no commo-
nality with any of the existing Mustang
production versions. Work progressed
rapidly on the lightweight fighter project
at Inglewood during [943, the programme
having started in earnest during january
In full regalia, a California ANG F-51H formates on
the camera ship with a part of the San Francisco
Bay area in the background. The Mustang, F-51 H-
5-NA 44-64255, wears the insignia of the 194th FIS/
FBS. The 194th flew F-51H from the summer of 1952
to supplement its existing F-51Ds.
William T. Larkins
that appeared desirable into a lightweight
family of fighters based on the established
Mustang production models. In reality,
however, they were considerably differ-
ent.
The excellent design work of Edgar
Schmued and his colleagues during the
hectic days of 1940 had gi ven bi rth to an
exemplary fighter. But any good designer
knows that even the best designs can be
improved upon, or can take advantage of
developing technology to evolve better
derivatives. Schmued had some ideas
about lightweight fighter design even
as the Mustang was taking shape on the
AA drawing boards in the spring and
summer of 1940, and his visit to Britain
in the spring of 1943 included impor-
tant discussions about the intended
lightweight fighter development of the
Mustang. He also used his trip to Britain
to visit various British factories, including
those of Spitfire producer Supermarine,
and to discuss performance and opera-
tional reportS regarding the latest Allied
and enemy fighters. The RAF wanted a
maximum stress loading of 6g for a new
fighter (this was lower than the 7.3g
required by the USAAF), but the idea
of lightening the Mustang's structure to
meet the reduced load limits, and provid-
Photographed not long after the end of World War
Two, and presumably before the creation of the
independent USAF, P-51 H44-64180, the first P-51 H-
5-NA, was being used as a recruiting poster by
proclaiming 'Enlist in the AAF now, be a guardian
of victory'. It belonged to a base unit at Bolling
Field, Maryland, and carried the 'Buzz Number'
PF-180 and wartime and immediate post-war US
national insignia without the later red horizontal
bars. R.L. Ward collection
Field in its early days cited the com-
paratively heavy production versions of
the Mustang as a reason for the USAAF
to avoid operating the type. In reality,
however, the Mustang turned out to have
more than enough power to allow it to fly
and fight on a par with any piston-engined
fighters it met. Many things are relative,
of course, and in comparative terms the
Mustang was smaller and considerably
lighter than both of its contemporaries in
the USAAF fighter inventory, the P-47
and twin-engine P-38.
Nevertheless, NAA was equal to the
challenge of developing the Mustang
further, and in response to British inter-
est in a remodelled layout specifically to
give a lower maximum take-off weight
and increased manoeuvrability, the line
of lightweight Mustangs was born. In
any case, NAA was a good manufacturer
in that it was not afraid to explore new
avenues, and the concept of a lightweight
fighter development of the Mustang
appeared to offer new potential for the
series. Certainly, combat experience
in the early years of the Second World
War pointed to several specific criteria,
including increased rate of aileron roll
and fast climb rate, and NAA's design-
ers duly incorporated the various factors
158 159
POSTWAR SERVICE AND LIGHTWEIGHTS POST-WAR SERVICE AND LIGHTWEIGHTS
Two-seat Mustangs were made in comparatively small numbers, a batch being converted from NAA Dallas production, but other conversions were undertaken,
some at unit level. This included work by the Temco Aircraft Corporation following World War Two. This two-seat Mustang with its tailwheellocked down,
TF-51D 44-84662, is widely believed to be one of the Temco conversions. At the time the photograph was taken it was assigned to the North Dakota ANG, based
at Fargo, North Dakota. It was sometimes flown by D.J. Hegland, and this picture is one of a sequence depicting the aircraft in flight, believed to have been taken
just before the Korean War, although the original print of this image is dated August 1953 on the back. Collection of D.J. Hegland III Col USAF, Ret.l.
via Scott Hegland
There is no doubt that the P-51 Hwas a very elegant
aircraft in flight. This view shows the well-known
and much-photographed fifth production P-51 H-
lNA, 44-64164. NAA
April 1941. However, it must be remem-
bered that the total of 555 P-51 Hs denotes
only the number actually completed. The
company had many more aircraft in prep-
aration, and the necessary components
were being prepared for the manufacture
of a proportion of the remaining P-51Hs
in the contract total. As with other air-
craft manufacturers the world over on the
Allied side, the successful conclusion of
the war brought a significant headache for
AA, as the massive wartime orders sud-
denly started to come to an end. Many,
like NAA with the P-5IH, were in the
midst of production, and it was not easy
simply to finish halfway through a job,
particularly when it resulted in many lay-
offs of dedicated workers who had toiled
so magnificently during the war. In many
instances it also meant paying component
manufacturers for parts that were suddenly
no longer needed, as production ground
to a halt on many major aircraft pro-
grammes. In NAA's case it was fortunate
that the company had the beautiful and
ultimately highly-successful P-86 (later
F-86) Sabre jet fighter project in hand,
which was in its early stages when World
War Two suddenly ended. evertheless,
a significant proportion of NAA's work-
force faced redundancy with the ending
of the war. The company had grown into
one of the US aviation industry's giants
during the war, employing some 91,000
workers at its end, and many of t ~ s now
faced an uncertain future in the first weeks
of peace.
The P-5] H was powered by a Packard
V-1650-9 (equivalent to the Rolls-Royce
Merlin 100-series) with a two-speed, two-
stage supercharger. 1ts normal rating was
up to 1,830hp at sea level, but it could
achieve 2,270hp for short periods with
water injection 'war emergency' boost.
It had a Bendix PD.18.C3A automatic
updraft fuel-injection carburettor, but also
featured a piece of equipment that caused
no end of problems. This was a Simmonds
engine pressure regulator/boost control,
which normally maintained engine mani-
fold pressure, and would work fine if shut
down before the engine was stopped after
flight. However, if it was not shut down
before the engine was stopped, next time
the engine was started the regulator would
Consequently some of the first series air-
craft had an interim form offin and rudder.
Eventually a design was settled on that
included a 'tall tail' that appeared to solve
some of the directional stability prob-
lems that had beset all Merlin-engined
Mustangs. Some of the developmcnt work
on the tail configuration was carried out
using converted P-51D-5- A 44-13253,
and it was not until early in the P-5IH-
5- A block that the final tail shape was
standardized. Some of the earlier P-51 H
aircraft were latcr retrofitted with the
production-style design.
All production P-5IHs were built
by AA at Inglewood. However, the
planned 2,400 production run was never
reached. The end of the war effectively
curtailed production, and although the
final examples were built up to ovember
1945, this was mainly to use up existing
major components and to wind down the
whole Mustang production programme.
Manufacture of the P-51 H continued until
9 November 1945, when the final Mustang
was completed ready for fl ight-testing and
handover to the USAAF. In total, 555
P-51 Hs were completed, the highest num-
bered P-51 H tobefinished being44-64714,
a P-51 H-I O-NA. All other intended pro-
duction aircraft were cancelled.
At that point, manufacture of Mustangs
by AAended. Production of the Mustang
had therefore lasted a little less than five
years, the first series production Mustang
from Inglewood having initially flown in
The Viable Lightweight
Mustang
machine guns could be installed in each
wing. The old problems of directional sta-
bility were also still present. one of the
three lightweight versions appeared to be
the basis for a viable production model,
but AA learned valuable lessons about
what could be done with the Mustang
structure to Iighten it, and the result was
the only lightweight Mustang derivative
to enter production, the P-51 H.
The lightweight P-51H retained some of
the weight-saving features of the experi-
mental lightweight models, but included
major compromises to make it into a
viable combat aircraft. Contract No.
AC-1752 of 26 April 1944 covered the
manufacture of 2,400 P-51Hs (NA-126s).
There was no prototype for the P-5 IH,
as the development work carried out on
the other lightweight Mustangs prepared
the way for P-5IH production to begin
without the necessity for further proto-
types. The initial aircraft of the contract,
P-51H-1- A 44-64]60, first flew, with
Robert Chilton at the controls, on 3
February 1945. The initial P-51 H pro-
duction aircraft were somewhat austere
examples of the type, and an ongoing
engineering dilemma that had not been
resolved by the time production started
was the size and shape of the vertical tai l.
intake. A four-bladed Aeroproducts pro-
peller was fitted, as used on the XP-5IG.
Two XP-51Js were built, 44-76027 and
44-76028. The first was flown by NAA
test pilot George Welch on 23 April 1945,
while the latter first flew, with NAA
test pi lot George Krebs in charge, on 29
January 1946. By that time, with the war
over and Mustang production at an end,
there was little purpose to the XP-51J pro-
gramme, and both aircraft were transferred
to Allison for development work. The first
was delivered to Indianapolis in January
1946 (although there is conflicting infor-
mation that both aircraft were delivered
to the USAAF in February 1946, before
being turned over to Allison).
The XP-51 F,XP-51G and XP-51J exper-
imental lightweight Mustangs were not
terribly successful, although the XP-51G
was the fastest of all Mustangs, on one
occasion attaining 498mph (801km/h)
at approximately 20,000ft (6,000m). Bob
Chilton later said that the XP-51F was
the version of Mustang that he enjoyed
flying the most, with a performance quite
different to that of the previous Mustang
models. Nevertheless, the endurance of
the three different experimental types was
restricted by deletion of the fuselage fuel
tank, they could only be fitted with rather
flimsy underwing pylons, and only two
Mustang version was the XP-5]J. Procured
under the same contract as the XP-5IF
and XP-51G, the 'J' model was unusual in
reverting to the AII ison V-I 710 as used on
the early production Mustangs. However,
the V-1710 installed in XP-5lj was a
very different animal to that in the early
Mustangs, being the V-1710-119. This
highly developed version of the V-17l0
marked the introduction of a two-stage,
two-speed supercharger to the V-I 7 10
line. Allison had been well behind Rolls-
Royce in the development of a two-stage
supercharger fonhe V-1710, and it was not
until very late in the war that the V-] 710-
119 appeared. However, this installation
was nowhere near as successful as that in
the Merlin and Packard V-1650, being a
hydraul ically-activated supercharger that
appeared to suffer from variable speeds.
The 'dash 119' also had water injection
to increase boost. In theory it was rated at
1,nOhp war emergency power with water
injection at 20,000ft (6,000m), but the
engine proved troublesome and the trials
of the XP-51J were not terribly thorough
as a result. None the less, the engine instal-
lation was very neat, the chin-mounted
carburettor air intake so characteristic
of Merlin-engined Mustangs being done
away with by repositioning of the relevant
ducting to the lower fuselage radiator air
Down, with the British serial number
FR410 and known as a Mustang Mk IV.
However, no A&AEE test reports for this
aircraft have ever surfaced, and it appears
that it was flown by NAA test pilots in
the USA, including Bob Chilton, as late
as April ]945.
The final experimental lightweight
A number of NAA test pilots were involved in the
flight-testing of the lightweight Mustangs. They
included Joe Barton, seen here looking somewhat
cheerful about taking up one of the lightweight
prototypes. NAA
160 161
engage at the ening at which it had been
scopped. A a re ult a number of P-51 Hs
scood on their noses when the engine
suddenly and unexpectedly reached high
rpm immediately after being started. It
became normal, and safe, practice, for
ground crews co stand to the right of the
aircraft on start-up, for if it suddenly stood
on its nose the fragment of the shatter-
ing propeller blade would fly off to the
left. The propeller fi tted to the P-51 H was
the four-blade Aeroproducts nimatic
A-542-BI of 11 ft I in (3.3 m) diameter,
as installed on the XP-5IG and XP-5IJ.
With this powerplant the P-51 H could
anain 4 7mph (784km/h) at 25,000ft
(7,600m), making it the fastest of aII the
series production Mustangs.
Unlike the experimental lightweight
Mustangs, the P-51 H had a 50 US gal fuse-
lage fuel tank. This wa of a completely dif-
ferentdesign co that in the P-5IB, P-5IC
and P-51 0, and did not cause the e.g. and
manoeuvrability problem encountered
with those versions. It was additional to
the P-5IH' wing fuel tanks, of 104 S
gal in the tarboard wing and 102 gal
in the port wing. With these installed the
P-51 H had a range of850 miles (1,3 70km),
but thi could be extended using external
fuel tanks. The poor underwing pylons of
the exp rimental lightweight Mu tangs
were replaced on the P-51 H by more ub-
stantial units that enabled the aircraft
co carry a drop tank of up to 110 gal
capacity, or a 1, OOlb bomb, under each
wing. The P-51H wa armed with three
0.5in M2 Browning machine guns in each
wing, mounted in similar upright fashion
co those of the P-51D. Again reflecting
combat exp rience with other Mu tang
versions, these were set to converge at 800
yards ( OOm). A K-14A or K-!4B gun-
sight was installed for sighting the guns.
Three 'zero-length' fitting each for an
unguided RP for air-co-ground work could
be installed beneath each wing (or up co
five if the pylon was not fined). Some (but
certainly not all) P-51H were fitted with
cameras. The installation and location in
the rear fuselage was imilar co that of the
vertical and oblique cameras as carried
in the F-6D/K reconnaissance Mustangs.
The P-51 H had a teardrop cockpit canopy
resembling that of the P-51 0 but slightly
different co that of the XP-51F, while the
cockpit interior was omewhat modified
from that of the P-51 0 co try to make it
more comfortable and pilot-friendly for
long-range bomber escort missions.
POST-WAR SERVICE AND LIGHTIYEIGHTS
In term of construction, the P-5IH was
a totally all-metal aircraft (except for some
small parts made from plastics), with no
fabric-covered control surface. (I ndeed,
many existing P-5ID-series Mustangs
had their fabric-covered tail control sur-
faces replaced by all-metal units after the
war.) In effect, the P-51 H was based on
the XP-5IF but had a slightly longer fuse-
lage of 33ft 3.25in (10.14m). Its wingspan
remained exactly the same as that of the
foregoing production Mustangs. In terms
of weight the P-5IH was certainly lighter
than the standard production Mustangs,
at only just over 7,0001b (3, 175kg) empty
and 9,2501b (4,196kg) maximum with full
internal fuel tanks. This was 7321b (332kg)
lighter than the Mustang Mk IV.
It has sometimes been claimed that
the P-5! H entered front-line SAAF
service in 1945, and that some saw action
towards the war's end. This is completely
untrue. 0 P-51 H ever flew in combat,
even though 370 had been delivered to
the USAAF by the end of the war against
Japan. In truth the type was only just
entering service with second-line units
when the war ended, and USAAF testing
of the P-51 H was still taking place at that
time. nfortunately, that Service testing
showed up several significant problems
that resulted in the type never fulfilling a
major role in the U AAF or its succe'sor,
the AF.
The fir t ervice test examples of the
P-51 H reached Wright Field in the spring
of 1945, and the proving grounds at Eglin
in Florida during June 1945. At Eglin one
of the intended evaluation programmes
was to fly the P-51 H against examples of
the P-5ID, P-47N and P-38J/L, to gain
comparative data that would reveal the
merits of the new lightweight Mustang.
The end of the waragainstJapan, however,
led to the e trials being uncompleted, and
comparative tests were flown only again t
the P-51 D. evertheless, they yielded
much intere ting data. The P-51 H scored
well in terms of it bener stability with its
internal fuel tanks full, mainly because of
the better layout of the fuselage fuel tank.
For bomber escort missions the P-51 H
was found to have the excellent range
of 1,890 miles (3,040km) with two 110
S gal underwing fuel tanks, although it
was never, of course, put to the test under
actual combat conditions.
When each type was flown straight and
level the P-5 I H was able to outdistance
the P-51 0 at all heights, its more powerful
162
engine, improved supercharger perform-
ance and lighter weight giving it a distinct
edge. Four P-5 I Hs were used for the e
trials, three H-I s and one H-5, at least one
of them apparently being assigned to the
611th Base Unit at Eglin. The P-51H-5
proved to be the most satisfactory of
these four lightweights, but problems
were encountered with the P-51 H as a
type that rendered it rather unsuitable for
combat. One of the difficulties was buck-
ling of the wings. Pulling 9g was found
to crease the wing skin considerably and
overstre s the wing structure. Admittedly
this wa a problem with all production
Mustang models, but the lightened wing
of the P-51 H appeared to be more prone
than most to wing damage under stress. At
least two P-5 I Hs were employed for stress
testing, one of them (44-64162, the third
production P-51 H-I- A) specifically for
wing stress testing, but the problem was
never sati 'factorily resolved. In addition,
the rear fuselage assembly of the P-5! H
wa also found to buckle slightly when
high-g manoeuvres were attempted. This
was addressed by some local strengthen-
ing on aircraft to which it had not already
happened, but again it was a potentially
serious problem.
There were also difficulties with both
the main and tailwheel undercarriage.
The tailwheel down-lock was a constant
source of trouble, a it often failed on the
ground, e pecially during taxying, col-
lap ed and caused heavy damage to the rear
fuselage. No attempt seems to have been
made to remedy this. The main undercar-
riage suffered from a retraction peculiar-
ity. If the action of raising or lowering the
main undercarriage was interrupted for
any reason, the retraction system failed at
once, resulting in one leg going up while
the other went down. Nothing could be
done to remedy the situation in flight, and
as a re ult several aircraft landed on one
main leg only.
Even more seriously, the cockpit
canopy had a tendency to detach in flight,
and because of this potentially very haz-
ardous problem P-5IH pilots were the
first Mustang flyers to wear 'bone-dome'
helmets as a matter of routine. The P-51 H
also introduced some rather advanced
wheel brakes. These were Goodyear
'Three- pot' brake that were "ery dif-
ferent to the multiple disc brakes of the
P-51 D. They worked quite well, but were
more easily burned out by extensive use
compared with those on the P-51 D. Other
difficulties included the locking latche on
various panels, and a problem with engine
surge near full thronle in the low-cruising-
power range. Modifications also had to
be made to the horizontal tail, especially
the elevator trim tabs, which appeared
inadequate. Although the P-5IH-5 serie
introduced a number of improvement
that rectified some of these shortcoming,
the P-51 H in general seems to have been a
rather problematiC aircraft. evertheless,
the final report on the P-51 H, issued by the
Air Proving Ground ommand at Eglin
Field in October 1946, was comparatively
praiseworthy of the P-51H's anributes,
especially its speed and range, and its
comparative stability as a gun platform.
Nevertheless, it was considered to have
insufficient advantage over the existing
P-51 D to warrant standardization.
The P-51H in Service
The first AAF unit to receive exam-
ples of the P-51 H was the 412th FG. This
unit became famous as the first to intro-
duce jet fighters to the USAAF when it
took on charge a small number of very
early P-80 Shooting Stars near the war's
end, and prepared co fly in combat with
this type in Italy. Activated in November
1943, the Group was based at a number
of airfields in California during its com-
paratively hort life (it was deactivated in
July 1946), and was originally intended
to be the first jet unit to fly the Bell P-59
Airacomet. However, this very early jet
fighter proved something of a disappoint-
ment and was long in gestation. At the
end of the Second World War a squad-
ron that had flown reconnaissance F-5
Lightnings in Europe as a part of the I th
PG and then the 363rd TRG deployed
back to the SA. This wa the 39th PR ,
and from ovember 1945 until July 1946
it was anached to the 412th FG. During
that time it took on charge a number
of P-5IH as well as F-6Ds, and appears
to have had some P-80s on strength or
temporarily assigned as well. It was sta-
tioned at Santa Maria Army Air Field
from October 1945, and at March Field,
California, from December 1945 to July
1946. During that time it put the P-51H
through an operational work-up, checking
tactics for escorting U AAF long-range
bombers, and used P- s for simulated
attacks to develop tactic for escort fight-
ers such as the P-51 H to combat jet
POSTWAR SERVICE AND LIGHTWEIGHTS
fighter anacks on heavy bomber. A can
be seen, the e trials preceding front-line
operational service came after the war'
end, again underlining the fact that no
P-51Hs saw combat in the war. Just why
a PR squadron was tasked with this work
has never been satisfactorily explained,
as the P-51H never played a significant
role a a PR aircraft during its operational
service. The squadron was redesignated
the 39th TRS in December 1945.
The P-51 H never played a particularly
ignificant part in the po t-war AAF,
although it did serve with a number of
front-line units. The first of these was the
57th FG. This unit was activated on 15
August 1946 at Shemya in the Aleutian
Islands by renumbering the 43rd FG. It
comprised the 64th, 65th and 66th FSs.
The 57th FG had existed before that as
a P-40- and later P-47-equipped fighter-
bomber Group in orth Africa and later
in Italy during World War Two. Almost
at once the 'new' 57th FG began receiv-
ing P-51 Hs, these having been adapted at
pokane, Wash ington, for cold-weather
operations in Alaska. Four were recei ved
in the initial days of the 57th FG's exist-
ence, but it was not until October that
year that the Group began building up any
great number of these aircraft. One of the
initial four Mustangs was lost within day
of its arrival in an accident due to engine
problem, and the lightweight Mustang in
general did not have a very happy time in
the bleak coldne s of Alaska, and particu-
larly the Aleutians. The Group was tasked
with the air defence of the leutian chain
of islands, and support of ground units in
the area, which appeared to be something
of a backwater to which the lightweight
Mustangs had been quietly consigned.
Indeed, hemya proved to be an impossi-
ble base for Mustang operations, with dif-
ficult weather conditions at best, and the
57th FG deployed to mainland Alaska in
March/April 1947, remaining headquar-
tered at Elmendorf AFB until it was deac-
tivated there in April 1953, by which time
the Mustangs had long since been replaced
by jets. The squadrons ofthe 57th deployed
where neces ary wi th the ir Mustangs. At
one stage in 1947 the 64th F found itself
based at Nome, which wa the closest the
P-5IH ever got to the mainland Soviet
Union, only some 150 miles (240km)
away. The 57th FG sometime put upsome
impressive formations of Mustangs. On
August 1947 it made a mass interception
of B-29s of the 7th BG that were making
163
their way to Fairbanks, Alaska, from their
home in Texas. A period of alert followed
during 194 due to the start of the block-
ade of Berlin by the oviet Union, but
the Group started to convert to the F-80
during that year, having been redesignated
the 57th FW in March 1948. By that time
the P-51H had been renamed the F-51H,
in line with the changes that took place
followi ng the creation of the independ-
ent AF in 1947. The Group's remain-
ing F-51 Hs (twenty-eight had been lost
in accidents or Ie ser mishaps) were later
pas ed to A G squadrons.
As described earlier in this chapter,
the organization created after the Second
World War to manage and operate the
USAAF's long-range bomber assets,
C, had early in its existence assigned
several FGs specifically to escort its
bombers. Thr e of these Groups operated
the P-51 0, but two were also equipped for
a time with the P-5IH. The first of the e
was a very famous Second World War
unit, the 56th FG. Thi unit had flown
the P-47 throughout its time in Europe
with the Eighth Air Force from 1943
to 1945, and had been one of the most
successful FGs of the Eighth during that
time. However, postwar reality resulted
in the Group transitioning to the P-51H
in September 1946, having been reacti-
vated on I May 1946 after returning home
from England in October 1945 and being
deactivated that month. Many of the first
P-5IHs for the Group were assigned from
storage at Kelly Field in Texa , the well-
known postwar holding area for redun-
dant Mustangs. The 56th FG comprised
the 61st, 62nd and 63rd F s, and these
were fully equipped with the P-51 H by the
end of October 1946. The 62nd FS duly
deployed to Alaska in December 1946,
and ran into the same problems of appall-
ing weather and marginal operating capa-
bility that the 57th FG encountered in
the same area. In fact the 56th FG did not
operate the P-51 H for long, a it started
re-equipping with the P- 0 in the spring
of 1947. However, the 62nd F deployed
to Grenier Field, ew Hampshire, where
it aided in the transition of the newly reac-
tivated 82nd FG to the P-51 H. The 2nd
FG (95th, 96th and 97th F s) had flown
P-3 s in the MTO during the war, but was
reactivated in April 1947 with P-5IHs as
a part of AC, and based at Grenier Field.
It became the 2nd FW in July 1947, and
deployed ome of its lightweight Mu tangs
to Alaska in March/April 194 as a result
of the tension in Germany over Berlin,
amid fears that the Soviet Union might
try to provoke trouble in Alaska too. This
did not materialize, and the 82nd even-
tually deployed back to New Hampshire
in the summer of 1948. However, the
Group began to re-equip with the P-51 0
as its lightweight Mustangs were gradu-
ally taken away to equip A G squadrons.
The 82nd FW was finally deactivated in
October 1949.
Air National Guard
Lightweights
By that time the P-51 H had been redesig-
nated F-51 H and had gained a new lease
of life, within the ANG. As previously
related, the P-51 0 had served in the NG
and then the A G from 1946 onwards,
but in 1948 the lightweight F-51H also
started to equip Guard squadrons. The
fi rst of these was the 166th FS of the
Ohio ANG at Lockbourne AFB, which
transitioned to the F-51 H in October
1948, having previously flown the F-51 D.
This was one of the many A G squad-
rons later called to active duty during
the Korean War, and transitioned to jets
although remaining in the continental
USA. It was returned to State control
in November 1952 and reverted to the
F-51H at Youngstown in Ohio, although
redesignated the 166th FBS. The squad-
ron reverted to the Lockheed F-80C in
March 1954.
The Korean War had a profound effect
on the opera tions of the F- 51 H inA G
service. Although initially some of the
early ANG squadrons that transitioned
to the type in the later 1940s did so with
aircraft taken out of storage, or assigned to
the ANG when F-51H-equipped regular
USAF fighter units like the 57th and
82nd FWs relinquished their lightweight
Mustangs for other types, there was a sepa-
rate and major allocation of the F-51 H to
A G squadrons as a result of the start of
the Korean War in mid-1950. From the
fi rst the F- 5 I H was not seen by the USAF
as combatworthy for the Korean conflict,
but the F-5ID certainly was. At that time
a considerable number of ANG squadrons
had F-51Ds or early jets, and these were
suddenly required for combat service in
Korea. The solution was to remove the
F-51Ds and jets from ANG squadrons,
send them to Korea, and replace them
in the ANG with F-51H lightweight
POST-WAR SERVICE AND LIGHTWEIGHTS
Mustangs. This resulted in a second influx
of P-51Hs into ANG service. Many of
the aircraft that subsequently served
with the ANG came from storage, mostly
from the large depository at Kelly AFB in
Texas. All of th se lightweight Mustangs
needed to be refurbished and brought up
to the latest equipment levels, or at least
to be checked over, and to this end each
aircraft was given a permit after inspec-
tion for the long move by air to California
to be worked on. There they went through
the workshops of Grand Central Aircraft
at Glendale or the Pacific Aeromotive
Corporation at Burbank, before being
released for duty in the A G.
In total, seventy-five ANG squadrons
eventually flew the Mustang, both origi-
nal (F-5lD/RF-51 D) and lightweight
(F-51 H). Included among those were sixty-
one that operated at least one example of
the F-51 H, either as the main part of their
equipment or, in some cases, in very small
numbers or just a single example. Some of
these F-51 H squadrons also flew the F-51 D.
Indeed, several squadrons flew F-51 Os and
F-51 Hs at the same time, which must have
posed interesting logistical and servicing
problems, there being little commonal-
ity between the two. A brief listing of
the seventy-five squadrons that flew the
Mustang in its F-5ID, RF-51Dand F-5IH
forms is included in the Appendices. At
least one of these squadrons, the 131st FIS
of the Massachusetts G, had an aero-
batic team, named the 'Rainbows', com-
prising F-5 J Hs. Some of the squadrons did
not receive F-5IHs until quite late in the
type's Service career, with several transi-
tioning to them in 1952. Some used their
F-51 Hs as target-tugs, sometimes with
improvised target-towing equipment.
Another unit that flew the F-51 H was
the 85th FIS. This USAF unit was a part
of the Air Defense Command (ADC), the
major organization tasked from 1946 with
air defence of the continental USA. The
85th FS was a seasoned combat veteran
from World War Two, having flown
P-40s and then P-47s in orth Africa and
southern Europe as a part of the 79th FG.
[t had been deactivated in july [947, but
was reactivated on 1 ovember 1952 and
came directly under the control of the
33rd Air Division. Equipped with F-5JH
Mustangs at that time, it was stationed at
Scott AFB, Illinois. Some of its Mustangs
came frolll the ANG's 113th FIS of the
Indiana A G, which had previously
been based at Scott AFB and had been
164
called to active duty due to the Korean
War in February 1951. The 5th FIS
flew the P-5IH for a comparatively short
time, moving on to the F-86 Sabre during
1953.
Among the final units to operate the
F- 5H-I was the [12th FBS of the Oh io
A G, which ceased F-51H operations in
April 1956. In even this matter, however,
the lightweight F-51H was eclipsed by the
earlier F-51 0, which continued in ANG
service until 1957.
Several H-model Mustangs were used
for trials and development work, includ-
ing one bailed to famous US naval fighter
manufacturer Grumman, for develop-
ment work associated with the Grumman
XFlOF jaguar variable-geometry naval
jet fighter project. Five P-5IHs flew
with ACA at various times for assorted
trials work, although one of these sadly
crashed fatally in May 1948. Two of the
five received NACA numbers, NAC
110 and NACA 130. The latter, F-5IH-
5-NA 44-64415, was flown at Moffett
Field, California, with a Grumman F8F
Bearcat naval fighter in a comparative
research programme with examples of the
Sabre jet fighter.
One point that needs clearing up in
relation to manufacture of the lightweight
Mustangs concerns the planned produc-
tion model deSignated P-5IM. Countless
published sources have claimed that this
version of the Mustang was goi ng to be
a Dallas-built P-51H, and that only one
was completed before production con-
tracts were curtailed by the ending of
World War Two. Although it is true that
only one P-5J M was finished and found
its way on to the books of the USAAF,
it is not true that this mark had any close
connection with the lightweight P-51H.
The P-5 JM was to be a re-engined
version of the P-51 0, built at Dallas with
the Packard V-1650-9A engine. This
engine was similar to the V-J650-9 of
the P-51 H/F-51H series, but did not have
water injection. The P-5 J M was therefore
a P-51 D/K in all but the choice of engine,
and was not a lightweight version. It is
true that only one, 45-11743, was com-
pleted and accepted by the USAAF, as a
P-51M-I-NT. However, at least another
sixty-three appear to have been com-
pleted right at the end of the war, but
were not accepted by the USAAF because
they were no longer required, and were
presumably scrapped following comple-
tion. These were the last Mustangs built
at AA's Dallas factory, most being com-
pleted in September 1945. On the other
hand, the Dallas-built P-51H look-alike
that was genuinely envisaged was the
P-5JL, powered by a Packard V-1650-11,
but, although production of 1,700 appears
to have been planned, this version was
never built. Neither was the P-5[E,
because that designation was never gi ven
to a production version of the Mustang.
There has been speculation that the
P-51 E was to have been the Dallas-built
equivalent of the P-51 0, but in the event
that version was simply manufactured as
the P-51D-NT series.
Although British interest in the crea-
tion of a lightweight Mustang had been
one of the important factors that moti-
vated NAA into developing the light-
weight Mustang series, only a very small
numberof them were ever allocated British
serial numbers or were given British mark-
ings, and none saw active service with the
RAF. Only the third XP-51F prototype,
43-43334, appears to have been shipped to
Britain, although some mystery surrounds
the XP-51G 43-43336. Some sources
claim that the latter was actually supplied
to Britain. It was allocated British serial
number FR410 and appears to have been
called a Mustang Mk IV, but records show
that it was flying in the USA as late as April
1945 and was apparently never delivered.
However, XP-51 F 43-43334 definitely did
reach Britain, where it was allocated serial
number FR409. Some sources claim it was
designated Mustang Mk V by the British,
but this term does not appear to have been
Widely used. fter arriving in Britain in
the summer of 1944, FR409 served briefly
POST-WAR SERVICE AND LIGHTWEIGHTS
at the A&AEE Boscombe Down for a
short ti me from 2J August 1944. There
it was found to have a loaded weight with
150gal (682 litt-es) offuel of only 7,6691b
(3,479kg), making it the lightest Mustang
in Britain. In comparison the Mustang Mk
IV (P-51D/K) weighed 9,9821b (4,528kg)
loaded. Boscombe Down's test pilots were
suitably impressed by the aircraft, which
they found was easy to fly and had good
handling characteristics. The excellent
all-round view was also noteworthy.
However, one cri ticism concerned the
layout of cockpit controls. The cockpit
interior of the lightweight Mustangs had
been revised by NAA, giving a somewhat
different layout to controls and instru-
mentation in the lightweight models com-
pared with previous production Mustangs.
This was don mainly to make the cockpit
a better working environment for long-
range missions, and was to an extent
based on combat experience with the
P-5ID and earlier models. Nevertheless,
the cockpit layout of the P-51 B/C series,
and of the P-51D/K, was excellent, and
the lightweight Mustangs generated criti-
cism from some pilots. There has also been
some mystery surrounding a P-51 H that
was allocated the British serial KN987. [t
is believed that this aircraft was for evalu-
ation purposes, but, like XP-51G FR410,
there is no evidence that it ever spent any
time in Britain.
Final Service
During the latter stages of their USAF
service some Mustangs were becoming
165
somewhat weary_ On 19 january 1953
the USAF ordered that all existing
Mustangs in service should have their
tailwheel retraction mechanism disen-
gaged and the tail wheel locked down.
In the period after the Second World
War many Mustangs had exchanged their
fabric-covered tai I control surfaces for
metal-covered units, and some had been
converted as fast target-towing aircraft
for use at gunnery meets. As more and
more were retired, a considerable number
of airworthy airframes were stored in the
open at Kelly AFB, Texas, from where
a gradual process of selling off at least
some of the lower-time airframes began
in the later [950s. Officially, the end for
the Mustang in USAF service came on
27 january J957. On that day F-51D-
25-NA 44-72948, a veteran of the West
Virginia ANG, was flown to the premises
of the USAF Museum by Maj james L.
Miller. Somewhat ironically, the museum
is located at Wright-Patterson AFB, the
old Wright Field where there had once
been so much apparent opposition to
the Mustang ever entering US service.
In fact the flying career of '948 was not
quite over, because it flew again the fol-
lowing month to mark the debut of the
film Battle H)'mn, featuring the experi-
ences of an American aviator who had
much influence on the Republic of Korea
Air Force (RoKAF), Dean Hess. For the
Mustang there had therefore been just
over thirteen years and nine months of
service with the USAAF and then the
SAF, following the combat debut of
the first Mustangs in S service from
9 April 1943 onwards. However, this
was not quite the end of the story of the
U AF's involvement with the Mustang.
As described in the next hapter, further
developments took place during the
[960s.
A significant moment occurred on 27 January 1957,
when F-51 D-25-NA 44-72948. a veteran of the West
Virginia ANG, was flown to the premises of the Air
Force Museum by Maj James l. Miller. officially
marking the end of active Mustang service in the
USAF. The museum is located at Wright-Patterson
AFB, the old Wright Field where the original testing
and evaluation of the Mustang for the US Services
was carried out. The following month '948' flew
again. to mark the debut of the film Battle Hymn,
which recounted the experiences of an American
aviator who had much influence on the RoKAF,
Dean Hess. USAF
TIVI S. CAVALIERS AND ENFORCERS
CHAPTER 8
Twins, Cavaliers and Enforcers
The second prototype for the P-82, XP-82 44-83887. during an early test flight. Both
XP-82 prototypes were powered by V-1650-23/25 engines. Following development
work with the manufacturer, this aircraft later served on NACA research
programmes. NAA
The Twin Mustang was hardly an elegant aircraft,
and had something of the Heath Robinson about
it. The overall black colour scheme worn by
many of the production aircraft and some of the
development aircraft did, however, give more of
a purposeful air to the type. This is the P-82C-NA
development aircraft, 44-65169. which was
equipped with SCR-720 airborne radar as one of the
development aircraft for the planned nightfighter
versions of the P-82. NAA
range capability could fly those distances,
there needed to be fighter with similar
range that could tay with the bomber.
American bomber assets gradually came
within range for attack on japan itself
due to the 'i land hopping' ampaign that
the US und rtook across the Pacific. This
entailed gradually wresting control from
the japanese of islands ever closer to the
japane e home islands that could then be
used as air bases. Even so, the distance
involved were still large, and the need
gradually developed for a fighter able to
cover them. In 1943 these long-range
Pacific operation were till ome time
in the future, but AA began looking
at ways to extend the Mustang's already
excellent range. At that time the Mustang
had yet to prove itself a a pre-eminent
long-range escort, but NAA always had
the capacity of forward thinking, and
began to formulate the idea of creat-
ing a very-long-range fighter, drawing on
aspects of the Mustang de ign.
Early in 1944 the company put forward
a number of long-range fighter propos-
als to the USAAF. Thes aroused suf-
ficient interest to get the go-ahead of
Twin Mustang was the ri e to great sig-
nificance of the escort fighter. Although
AA had successfully given the P-Sl
an excellent endurance from the outset,
even with the addition of external fuel
tanks the Mustangs operating in Europe
were likely to be flying at the extremes
of their range and endurance if bombers
attacking very distant targets were to be
escorted all the way. In 1943 any propos-
als for further extending the Mustang's
range must have seemed good to NAA'
engineers. Preliminary thought was given
to the creation of a eparate but related
escort fighter derivative, in addition to
the lightweight Mustang development
process described in the previous chapter.
The creation of a very-long-range escort
fighter eventually became an even better
idea when the likelihood of extreme long-
range missions across the vast emptiness
of the Pacific became more of a possibi lity.
On of the main problem in the Pacific
war was the question of distance. The
huge mileage between -held bases and
the japanese homeland was a major con-
sideration for the U AAF, and although
from 1944 the B-29 bomber with its long-
Birth of the Twin Mustang
A primary motivation behind the devel-
opment of the design that became the
That the F- 2 Twin Mu tang was ever
built and put into ervice was a measure
of how far AA, and the concept of the
escort fighter, had come by the latter
stage of the econd World War. In the
pre-war era the SAAC did not even
consider AA worthy ofb ing regarded a
a fighter producer. But with the out tand-
ing and continuing success of the P-S1
Mustang, and the reforms that had been
put in place to change the procurement
strategy and procedure of the AAF,
by early 1944 that air arm was willing
to listen to virtually any proposals that
I AA came up with. These include I some
rather unu ual plans, and what developed
into the Twin Mustang was a curious,
if ultimately very capable, answer to a
developing problem. Indeed, the Twin
Mustang went on to fulfil two specific
needs that the USAAF and it successor,
the USAF, eventually had to addre s.
Much of the development and engineering work on the planned Twin Mustang took place in the first half of 1944, so that by the time this picture was taken, on 19
June 1944, a full-scale mock-up was ready for USAAF inspection. Noteworthy are the ports in the centre-section wing leading edge for six O.5in machine guns,
and a pod shape beneath the centre section. NAA
The Twin Mustang assembly line at NAA's
Inglewood plant. All Twin Mustangs were
produced at Inglewood. and compared with
the standard P-51 the P-82 was a much more
complicated aircraft to build. Nevertheless.
manufacture was only cut back due to the
cancellation of orders at the end of the Second
World War. causing production to proceed at a
comparatively leisurely pace. NAA
166 167
TWINS. CAVALIERS AND ENFORCERS
The instrument panel of the P-82B, in the pilot's
(port) fuselage. The cockpit layout for the co-pilot!
navigator in the starboard fuselage was similar,
if a little more basic, in this model. Noteworthy
is the small panel to the left just below the main
instrument panel, with switches for the bombs,
rockets and guns, and warning lights for the
undercarriage. NAA
the construction of a numher of proto-
types, under Contract o. AC-2029 of
7 January 1944. Under AA designa-
tion A-120 two prototypes were em'is-
aged of a long-range fighter of very no"e!
layout. Someone at NAA (exactly who
it was has never become obvious) had
reasoned that the P-51's excellent long-
range capabilities could be considerably
enhanced by mating two Mustang fuse-
lages to a common centre section and
horizontal tail, with a new undercar-
riage arrangement. Although the result-
ing twin-engine, twin-fuselage layout ha
been much praised by many writers, one
cannot e-cape the impression that the
airframe had more than just a little of the
Heath Robinson about it. It definitely
looked like two aircraft bolted together,
rather than a hrand new design starting
from a blank sheet of paper. Certainly the
aircraft's two crew members had a lot of
daylight between them, with the pilot sit-
uated in the port fuselage, and the cockpit
in the tarboard fu e1age inhabited by a
copilot with a basic et of control and
gauge. The latter crew member would
be able to assist in navigation and act a
a second pilot, which would consider-
ably ease the strain and fatigue of single-
pilot operations over the long stretches
of Pacific Ocean, although he was very
much only along for the ride during any
aerial combat. The twin-engine layout
also offered a potentially large margin of
TWI S. CA VAllERS A D E FORCERS
An NAA cutaway drawing of the Twin Mustang,
specifically showing the P-82B. Envisaged as a
long-range day fighter, but with ground-attack
capabilities, the P-82B was well armed, and
is shown in this drawing with one possible
envisaged external armament layout, with clusters
of unguided air-to-ground RPs. The P-82B was
intended to be powered by Packard V-1650-23/25s,
although 'handed' -19 or -9/-21 engines appear
to have been specified, and it seems likely that
some, if not all, of the production P-82Bs used this
combination. Drawing: NAA
168
The characteristic air intake beneath the P-51's
fuselage was retained on the Twin Mustang
fuselages because the basic cooling package
was the same, but the intake shape was revised.
NAA tried a number of alternatives before settling
on a definitive shape. This view shows one of the
development phases. NAA
Glamour and the gun pod. A large amount of
experimentation was carried out by NAA to
determine possible weapons configurations for
the Twin Mustang. This was especially important
due to the evolving roles of the aircraft as time
passed, from the originally-envisaged long-range
fighter to ground-attack and nightfighter. One
of the possibilities was this heavily-armed pod,
which appears to have featured an impressive
array of machine guns, although it did not go into
front-line service. At the time of this experiment
the iconic Norma Jeane Baker, later universally
known as Marilyn Monroe, was on a modelling
assignment with several California-based aircraft
manufacturers, and the young lady in this picture
bears a striking resemblance to her. NAA
safety, parti ularly for over-water opera-
tions.
t some stage early in the design of
the type, the name Twin Mu tang was
coined and quickly became established.
The two initial prototypes were desig-
nated XP- 2 and allocated the serials
44- 3 6 and 44- 3 7. They were
intended to be powered by two V-1650-
23/2S-series Packard-built Merlins. These
were 'handed', having opposite rotation,
a -23 being fitted in one fuselage and a
-25 in the other, virtually eliminating
any problems of engine torque on take-off
and in other flight regimes. The V-16S0-
23/25 was similar to the V-l6S0-11, had
the same sea-level power rating of the
V-16S0-9 as fitted to the P-SlH light-
weight Mustang, l, 30hp, and also had
the PD.l .C3A injection carburettor of
the V-16S0-9. The two fuselages resem-
bled those of the lightweight experimen-
tal Mustang prototypes, but in reality the
fuselage design was virtually new and
169
An NAA parts breakdown drawing, showing the
main basic components of the Twin Mustang,
specifically illustrating features of the P-82B but
generally applicable to other marks as well. Of
note are the six O.5in machine guns in the wing
centre section, firing between the propeller
discs, in a staggered installation that allowed
the ammunition feeds to reach each gun without
interruption, and the two cockpits with different
instrument panels in each. Drawing: NAA
had little connection with the previous
aircraft. Countless writers have laimed
that the Twin Mustang was simply two
P-S lH fuselages joined together, but this
is completely wrong. If anything, the
fuselage of the experimental XP-S I F was
the closest relative of the Twin Mustang
fuselage, which anyway was longer. The
undercarriage arrangement for the new
fighter was also new. Each fuselage had
its own tailwheel, and the main under-
carriage legs were attached at the root of
each outer wing panel, retracting inwards
into the lower fuselage and wing centre
s ction. The Twin Mustang thus had a
four-point undercarriage, which made for
ome interesting taxying experience for
those unaccu tomed to such an arrange-
ment. The outer wing ection retained
the laminar-flow de ign of th in Ie-seat
Mustangs, but the wing a a whoI was
stronger and could carry greater loads.
Internal armament for the Twin Mustang
wa to be carried in the new wing centre
section that joined the two fuselages,
doing away with guns mounted in the
outer wing panels as in the conventional
single-engined P-51 fighters. nderwing
pylons were provided beneath th outer
wing sections for the carriage of fuel tank,
bombs and/or RPs. Bearing in mind the
con iderable use of Mustangs, particularly
the earlier models, as light ground-attack
air raft, NAA ensured that the new twin
would be suitably armed for any role it
might be called upon to perform.
Initial Production Go-Ahead
While detail de ign of the new twin-
engine fighter went ahead, AA received
an initial contract on March 1944 from
the U AAF for 500 Twin Mustangs that
would be designated P-82B (NA-I23).
These would be powered by V-1650-
23/25 engines as in the two XP- 2 pro-
totypes (although 'handed' -19 or -9/-21
engine appear to hav b en specified,
and it eems likely that ome, if not all, of
the production P-82Bs used thi combina-
tion), and incorporate a number of detail
differences from the initial prototypes. As
a s parate issue, two further prototypes,
de ignated XP-82A (similarly designated
A-l20), were additionally envisaged,
powered by Allison engines. As with
the XP-5IJ experimental lightweight
Mustangs, AA returned to the Alii on
power plant in the Twin Mustang a well.
A number of writers have aid thi was
due to fears that Britain might r voke the
manufacturing licence for the Merlin if
and when the econd World War ended,
and the Allison would be the obvious
replacement. Th engine hosen was the
AlIi on V-171 -119, the two-stage, two-
speed supercharged version of the Alii on
V-I7l0 that was also tried out in the
XP-5l] lightweight Mustang. This was a
troublesome engine, but fortunately many
of its problems were ironed out before
the Twin Mustang reached widespread
service. In the XP- 2A two V-171O-119
were installed without being 'handed',
which must have led to some intere ting
take-offs and landings, with the torque
from both engines pulling the Twin
Mustang off in the ame direction. ome
official U AF documents of the time
refer to at lea t one production ver ion
of the P- 2 a the P- 2Z, although this
de ignation doe not appear to have been
used beyond official pap rwork.
The fir t XP- 2,44-83 6, flew for the
firsttimeon IS April 1945. It was followed
by the second XP- 2 on 30 August 1945,
and by XP-82A 44- 3888 later in the year.
Only one of the two Allison-powered
XP-82As was finished, but the end of the
war did indeed bring problems over the
continuedlic nc -manufactureofMeriins
in the U A, so thi aircraft in effect proved
to be the prototyp for most of the produc-
tion Twin Mu tangs that followed.
In fact the ending of the econd World
War led to a number of problems for the
Twin Mustang programme. Significantly,
the orderfor 50 V-1650-powered P- 2B
was cut, ju t twenty being completed and
readied for handing over the AAF.
These were from the initial P- 2B-l- A
( A-l23) block, tarting with serial
number44-65160. ev raloftheseaircraft
subsequently served in test and develop-
ment capacitie and a train I' , but they
were most definitely not called upon to
fire their guns in anger. The P-82B was to
have four underwing pylons, each able to
carry up to a 1,0001b bomb or fuel tanks,
and unguided RPs could be mounted
on 'zero-length' underwing rails. Trials
were also carried out to clear clusters
of unguided RPs on special mountings.
In addition to the ix 0.5-in Browning
machine guns in th wing centre section,
firing between the propeller discs, a
large pod wa envisaged, attached to the
under ide of th entre section, that could
carry eight 0.5in machine guns and their
ammunition, giving a very heavy forward-
firing armament of fourteen large-calibre
machine guns. In the event, however, the
gun pod was not adopted for use (although
it may have been cleared for operational
employment), but major trials contin-
ued with this and other pod designs as
the Twin Mu tang's armament-carrying
potentialwa explored. A reconnaissance
pod wa al 0 envisaged, and one P- 2B
wa intend d to be involved in work to
develop the typ for long-range recon-
170
naissance, although again this idea did
not gain operational status.
One specially prepared P- 2B made
a name for itself by performing a much-
publicized long-distance flight. Thi wa
44-6516 , which wa fitted with extra
fuel tanks in the fuselage spaces b hind
the pilots' eats. ome of it military
quipment was removed, and four over-
size 310 gal drop tank were uspended
from the outer wing pylons (two of these
pylons were installed beneath each wing).
On 27/28 February 1947 the aircraft flew
non-stop from Hawaii to ew York in
ju t over 14hr 30min, after a flight of at
lea t 4,968 miles (7,995km) at an av rag
spe d of some 42mph (550km/h). Thi
was a hieved even though thr of th
giant external fuel tanks would not j t-
tison and had to be carried the entire
distance, increasing drag and making the
aircraft unstable. The Twin Mustang was
flown by Lt Col Robert E. Thacker, with
Lt John Ard as copilot, and was named
Betty Jo after Thacker' wife. The flight
et a n w record between the two point,
and was arguably the longe t flight at that
time by a piston-engined fighter, although
it wa nowhere near the longe t flight
by a piston-engined combat air raft. In
ovember 1938 two Vickers Wellesley
bombers of the RAF flew non-stop from
I mailia, Egypt, to Darwin, Australia, a
distance of 7,157.7 miles (l1,519km).
Indeed, in military terms Betty Jo's flight-
was of little value, as the Twin Mu tang
in ervice would not have been abl to fly
combat with the four massive fuel tanks.
Even though the order for 500 P- 2B
had been drastica lly cut, a version of the
Twin Mustang for purely long-range escort
work was manufactured. This was the
Allison V-1710-143/145-powered P-82E
( A-144), of which 100 were built, start-
ing with 46-255. The P- 2E was in effect
an Allison-engined P- 2B, and the order
for 100 aircraft was placed in November
1945 (the contract appear to have been
effective from 12 December 1945). It can
be argued that this order wa part of a plan
by th AAF to help keep air raft man-
ufa turers alive in the immediate po twar
period, as the massive cancellation and
utbacks occasioned by the end of the war
had caused real problems for ome com-
panies. The Allison engine in the P-82E
were 'handed' to reduce torque, and drove
the now well-established Aeroproducts
propellers, which of course were also
handed and were also fully feathering. The
P-82E (F-82E after mid-1948) was built
from early 1946 and eventually erv d
with success with one long-range bomber
escort wing of AC. It was not alone,
however, in being considered for the long-
range e cort fighter role. One of AA'
rivals, Northrop, had also recognized the
need for a very-long-range bomber escort,
and had set about developing its big,
twin-engine Northrop P-61 Bla k Widow
nightfighter into a long-range day fighter.
The resulting XP-61E was a very leaned-
up version of the Black Widow, but in the
event it was not preferred over th Twin
Mustang and only two were converted
a prototypes from existing P-61 B Black
Widows.
Nightfighter Development
In addition to the long-range bomber
escort role, the Twin Mu tang was given a
totally new role when the U AAF tarted
to develop a completely different require-
ment. This was for a nightfighter to
replace the econd World War orthrop
P-61 Black Widow, which had contin-
ued in service po twar. America's only
purpos -built production nightfighter of
the war, the large, twin-engine Black
Widow had been successful in combat
in both Europe and the Pacific. The
first operational Black Widows had flown
from the south of England in the ummer
of 1944, and the type had und rI ined
the growing need for efficient nightfight-
ers. The role of nightfighting had com
of age during the war, and becom an
integral part of aerial warfare. At the
war's nd there were two distin t types of
fight r. One was the day fighter, such as
the Mustang and pitfire, and the other
was the radar- quipped nightfighter, such
as the purpose-built Black Widow and
successfully adapted aircraft uch a the
de Havilland Mo quito. In the po twar
years the concept of nightfighting was
much further developed, so that th e
di tinct role eventually came together.
lncrea ingly, fighter needed to be able to
fight by night and in bad weather as well
as by day. Modern combat aircraft have
all the qualities rolled into one, but in
the later 1940 there wa the need for a
fighter that could fly and fight at night,
in the best tradition of the Black Widow.
This role became known to the U AAF
and its successor USAF as the 'all-weather
fighter', and the Twin Mustang appeared
TWIN. CAVALIERS AND ENFORCERS
to be a possible, if interim, olution to
the eventual need to replace the Black
Widow.
To that end two of the twenty P- 2Bs
were used for a development programme
entailing the installation of airborne inter-
ception (AI) radar. The two aircraft con-
cerned, the tenth and eleventh P- 2Bs,
were converted by AA to P- 2C and
P- 20 standard with t chnical a sistance
from the U AF. Although their airframe
and engines were id nti ai, they had dif-
ferent radar system installed. The P- 2C,
44-65169, was fitted with CR-nO radar
(dating back to usage in World War Two)
in a large central pod, while the P-82D,
44-65170, was equipped with the more
modern APS-4. The CR-nO was similar
to the equipment carried in the P-61
Black Widow. The pod on the P-82D was
a very elongated unit that extended out
in front of the propeller arcs, to reduce
interference. Both aircraft were painted
glossy black overall to uit their new role.
The radar screen, plu the control for
the radar equipment, were installed in
the starboard fu elage cockpit of each air-
craft, the crew member on that side now
being the radar operator rather than ju t a
copilot or navigator.
The resulting nightfighter layout drew
considerable intere t from the U AAF,
again showing how far AA had come
as a creator and manufacturer of fight-
ers. Two specifi marks of Twin Mustang
nightfighter were ordered under the FY
1946 procurement. These were the P- 2F
( A-149), which equated to the P-82D
with a straightforward APG-28 track-
ing radar installation, 100 being ord red;
and the P-82G ( -150) equipped with
CR-nOC radar, of which fifty were built.
These might eem ridiculously small totals
compared with the thousands of Mustang
ordered during the econd World War,
and indeed they were, the AAF having
to cope with critically r duced budgets fol-
lowing the war' end. The fir t P- 2F wa
46-4 5, and the initial P- 2G was 46-355.
Production progre ed omparatively
slowly, engine deliveries from Alii on
being 0 delayed that some completed
airframe awaited their engines for a good
time, and production actually crept into
the spring of 1949. All Twin Mustangs
were built by NAA at Inglewood.
Although th Twin Mustang was
decidedly odd in appearance, especially
the P-82G with it huge radar pod pro-
jecting beyond the engine nacelle, it was
171
a very capable performer. Like th P- 2E
and P- 2F, the P- 2G was pow red by
th Alli on V-1710-143/145 'handed'
engine, developing 1,600hp each at take-
off but giving I,930hp each at sea level for
short periods with water/alcohol injec-
tion. Maximum speed was in the region of
459mph (739km/h) at 21,00 ft (6,400m).
The e engines, like the V-I7l0-119, had
an updraught carburettor that required
th a sociated air intake to be located
below the engine. This intake wa smaller
and further back than on M rI in- ngin d
Mustang, but it represent d an important
redesign for th V-1710 engine layout.
\-I itherto V-I 710 variants used in the early
production Mu tangs had a simple down-
draught carbur tion system that called for
the intake to be on the top of the cowling
- one of the distinguishing features of all
of the llison-engined Mu tangs. The
propeller was an Aeroproduct unit of 11ft
(3.35m) diameter. The maximum take-
off weight of the P- 2G wa a taggering
25, 9l\b (l1,744kg).
Although built in comparatively small
number, th nightfighter Twin Mu tang
were useful, if rare, bea ts in the U AF
inventory. In addition to air-to-air mi -
sion with the six 0.5in machine guns
in the wing centre section, the Twin
Mu tangs were fully equipped for air-to-
ground work, and a variety of weapons
could be carried beneath the outer wing
sections, including unguid d air-to-
ground RPs, bombs of up to I ,0001b each
on four underwing pylons, or, of course
fuel tanks, normally of up to 165 U gal.
The total internal fuel, in four self-sealing
wing fuel tanks, was 576 US gal (although
one reputable published sourc claim
574 U gal, but in any case not all of thi
potential load would have been u abl ).
This gave the Twin Mustangs a rang
of som 2,240 miles (3,600km). In line
with other AF aircraft types, the Twin
Mu tang was rede ignated in mid-194 ,
all versions henceforth being called F- 2
instead of P- 2. The initial 'Buzz umber'
prefix for the Twin Mustang of 'PQ' was
accordingly changed to 'FQ'. Production
wa int nded to end at Inglewood with the
final F- 2Fsand F- 2Gs in 194 (a previ-
ou Iy related, some of thes aircraft were
not I' ady to fly until 1949), but there wa
one further Twin Mustang variant. Thi
was the F- 2\-1, a conver ion of sev ral
existing F-82F and F- 2G nightfighter
Twin Mustang specifically for opera-
tions in Ala ka. The modification pro e
TWINS. CAVALIERS AND ENFORCERS TWINS. CAVALI ERS AND ENFORCERS
A study of P-82E 46-256 in flight, with a data
measuring boom on its port wing. Although
representative of the P/F-82E series, this particular
aircraft served with NACA's lewis Research
Center between January 1950 and March 1954
on icing research, becoming NliCA 133 and
being redesignated an EF-82E. It fs seen here
comparatively early in its life, still bearing the
early 'Buzz number' prefix 'PO' that was used
before the change in designations following the
creation of the USAF. NAA
included 'winrerisation', which although
rarely detailed, included improved heating
in the two cockpits, improved sealing of
the cockpits and several other measures,
such as the use of higher-strength oil. In
total, five F-82G and nine F-82F Twin
Mustangs were modified to this standard.
Twin Mustangs in Service
This nice factory ramp view of PQ-255, the first P-82E long-range day fighter, displays all the relevant features of the P/F-82E Twin Mustang. Particularly
noteworthy are the gun ports in the centre wing section for the six 0.5in machine guns, the neat installation of the handed Allison V-1710-143/145s, which rotated
in opposite directions, the handed Aeroproducts propellers and the characteristic undercarriage. NAA
The day fighter, bomber escort version of
the Twin Mustang, the P/F-82E, served
principally with one USAF unit. This
was the 27th FW, which already had a
long association with the Mustang. As
the 27th FBG it had flown the A-36A
Invader dive-bomber in combat in the
MTO during World War Two from 1943
to 1944. In the post-Second World War
era it had renewed its association with the
Mustang, becoming operational within
SAC in July/August 1947 as the 27th
FW. The unit had been based at Kearney
Army Air Field, ebraska, but converted
on to the F-82E Twin Mustang during
1948, although it continued to have
some Mustangs on strength as well in
the late 1940s. The 27th was still based
at Kearney (later renamed as an AFB)
during March 1948, when it started to
receive initial deliveries of F-82E Twin
Mustangs. Comprising the 522nd, 523rd
and 524th FSs, the 27th FW fully con-
verted on to the type during that year,
and did a great deal to prove the Twin
Mustang in service. The Wing was com-
bat-ready on the type by the end of 1948.
In effect the 27th flew the Twin Mustang
in the role for which it had originally
been intended, the long-range escort of
US strategic bombers. The Wing was
assigned to the Eighth Air Force of SAC,
and became well-known for long-distance
proving flights, which explored the Twin
Mustang's range and operational flex-
ibility. In February 1949 fifty-four of the
27th's Twin Mustangs set off on a long-
range flight that took them south in
stages from Kearney AFB to Panama and
back, the whole exercise taking some ten
days. A number of the stages were flown
at night, and the whole exercise was flown
without a bomber to escort the fighters
and provide navigation. Such long-range
flights were aided by the Twin Mustang
having two crew members, for the copilot
in the starboard fuselage was able to take
over and fly the aircraft from time to time
to allow the pilot to rest. Indeed, the crew
member in the right-hand fuselage had to
fly the aircraft for the sake of safety during
formation flying if his aircraft was the one
Possibly the most famous Twin Mustang was
P-82B 44-65168, Betty Jo, which was specially
prepared for a very-long-distance publicity flight.
It was fitted with extra fuel tanks in the fuselage
space behind the pilots' seats, some of its military
equipment was removed, and four oversize 310 US
gal drop tanks were suspended from the outer wing
pylons (two of these pylons were installed beneath
each wing). On 27/28 February 1947 the aircraft flew
non-stop from Hawaii to La Guardia Airport, New
York, in just over 14hr 30min, after a flight of at least
4,968 miles (7,995kml at an average speed of some
342mph (550km/hl. The aircraft was flown by lt Col
Robert E. Thacker, with It John Ard as copilot, and
was named after Thacker's wife, although, as seen
here, originally the name was incorrectly painted
as Betty Joe. Militarily, the flight was of little value,
as it did not represent a combat configuration for
the Twin Mustang, but it won loads of column
space in the popular press. USAF
A front view of PO-295, which began life as P-82E 46-295 but. as seen here, was used on company development work, with a large pod attached to the underside
of its centre section. All of its propeller blades prominently bear the Aeroproducts logo. This photograph also gives a good idea of the unusual appearance of the
Twin Mustang when viewed from the front. NAA
The Twin Mustang's distinctive planform is well
illustrated in this view of the one and only P-82D
development aircraft, with APS-4 radar housed
in the long pod between the fuselages. With its
shiny all-black paint scheme, 44-65170 is seen
over the Pacific coastline of the USA on what was
apparently a publicity flight, this being one of a
large number of photographs taken of this aircraft
at the time. NAA
172 173
TWINS. CAVALIERS A D ENFORCERS
looking very black and purposeful, the one and only P-82C, one of the development aircraft for the planned nightfighter developments of the Twin Mustang, shows
off its distinctive side profile with the pod attached to the underside of its centre wing section for the SCR-720 airborne radar. Before conversion 44-65169 was
originally a P-82B, and its central pod containing the SCR-720 was smaller than the much longer pod of the P-82D, which housed APS-4 radar. NAA
In contrast to the photographs of the P-82C and
P-82D nightfighter development aircraft elsewhere
in this chapter, which were both converted P-82B
Twin Mustangs, the standard P-82B was a 'clean'
aircraft without a large radar pod between its
fuselages, and was intended as a long-range day
fighter primarily for operations in the Pacific. It is
exemplified here by 44-65168, with the early 'Buzz
Number' PO-168. Most of the P-82Bs built were
used for development work or training, and did not
enter front-line service. R.l. Ward collection
of the all-weather-capable Lockheed F-94
tarfire. The first widely op rated U AF
all-weather jet fighter, the tarfire was a
two-seat, single-engine fighter developed
from the P-80 hooting tar, the first jet
fighter to operate in the U AAF. ome
writers have therefore een the Twin
Mustang a an interim type until jets took
over the nightfighter role for ever, but in
ervice the Twin Mustang n vertheless
r presented an improvement in capabil-
ity from the earlier Black Widow. The
advent of the o-called all-weather fighter
I' ulted i"n a major change of designation
in 194 as the nightfighter Twin Mu tang
started to nter service. The units de tin d
to operate the type were redesignated F s
(All Weather). One of the first to take on
this title was the 5th F (AW), officially
designated as such on 10 May 1948. On
the ame day the 2nd F (AW) was also
born. A further change took place in
January 1950, when the name changed to
Fighter-All Weather quadran (F-AW ).
Thus the 5th F (AW) became the 5th
F-AW on 20 January 1950. In April/May
1951 the title changed once more, tho e
quadrons still flying the Twin Mustang
becoming FI s. In keeping with this,
the Wings to which the quadran w re
assigned al changed their title, the
52nd, for xample, becoming the 52nd
FW(AW) on 10 May 194 , and chang-
ing it name to the 52nd Fighter-All
Weather Wing (F-AWW) on 20 January
195 . In May 1951 it became th 52nd
FIW, and was deactivated in February
1952 at the end of it association with the
Twin Mustang. or the record, the 52nd
and its two Twin Mustang quadrons wa
u cessively ba ed at Mitchel Field (later,
AFB), New York, from June 1948, and at
M Guire AFB, New Jer ey, from October
1949 until it wa deactivated.
A for the theI' Twin Mu tang night-
fighter/all-weather unit, the quadrons
of the 325th FW(AW) (later 325th
F-AWW) mad a number of base chang
during their time with the Twin Mustang.
with the Mustang, the former two Wing
having flown the type, a the 52nd and
325th FG , in the MTO during World
War Two.
The de ignations of the quadron that
flew the Twin Mu tang as a nightfighter
need a little explaining. AII of the above
squadrons operated the P-61 Black Widow
before transitioning to the Twin Mustang,
and in effect the Twin Mustang bridged the
gap between the Black Widow, which was
a Second World War type, and the advent
The instrument panel in the radar operator's
(starboard) fuselage of the P/F-82G. This was very
different to the pilot's cockpit, its instrumentation
(including the two screens in the centre right of the
instrument panel) relating to the radar equipment
installed in the aircraft, for which the crew member
in the starboard fuselage was responsible. NAA
Twin Mustang, in the continental U A
and in the Pacific and Korea. None served
in Europe. The squadron were the 2nd
and 5th of the 52nd FW (All Weather)
covering the eastern A; the 317th,
318th and 319th qn of the 325th FW
(AW) in the we tern A; the 4th, 6 th
and 339th qns of the 347th FW(AW)
in the Pacific; and the 449th Sqn of the
5001st Compo ite Wing in Alaska. It
will be noted that several of these units
had already had a significant connection
The instrument panel in the pilot's (port) fuselage
of the P/F-82G. A small note below the lower line
of instrument faces says 'radio call 63-55', which
presumably identifies this aircraft as the first
P-82G, 46-355. Particularly noteworthy is the shape
of the lower part of the pilot's seat and the control
column. The pilot's cockpit of the P/F-82F was
similar but not quite identical to this. NAA
Although it was never intended as a primary
mission requirement of the Twin Mustang, the type
excelled at ground-attack, and was much used in
this demanding role during the early phases of the
Korean War. Here, an anonymous Twin Mustang
wheels away after a firing pass at a practice target
in the USA. USAF
Twin Mu tang a an escort fighter, a jet
increasingly had the range and superior
performance to provide cover for AC's
bombers, which in any case were to go
through their own jet revolution. By the
end of 1950 the 27th had fully transi-
tioned to the R public F- 4E Thunderjet,
its Twin Mu tangs being stood down
on paper in August 1950. The Wing at
one showeel its enhanced capability by
deploying its Thunderjets from Bergstrom
AFB to Europe in September 1950 in a
mass flight that won the unit the Mackay
Trophy.
Although built in comparatively small
number, the Twin lustang nightfighter
erved in a wiele variety of squadrons from
194 onwards. It wa the middle of that
year before nightfighter Twin Mustangs
started to become available in numbers,
allowing everal of the night FSs to begin
to transition to the type and start to gi ve
up the Northrop F-61 Black Widow. Th
F-61 had given sterling service in the
immediate po twaI' era and was still in
fairly widespread use in 194 ,there being
no single type that could replace it until
the F- 2 began to become available. In
the event nine nightfighter/all-weather
squadrons subsequently operated the
the pilot had no particular problems, but
the manoeuvre could be very uncomfort-
able for the occupant in the right-hand
cockpit. In March 1949 the 27th FW
moved from Kearney AFB to Bergstrom
AFB in Texas and, in keeping with
it mission, on 1 February 1950 it \Va
renamed the 27th Fighter-Escort Wing,
its quadrons becoming Fighter-Escort
Squadrons on the same date. By then,
however, the time was virtually up for the
on th extreme left of the formation. The
F-82E could certainly be flown from the
starboard seat because all the relevant
controls and instruments were provided
(although ome of the e could be towed
away when not needed). The copilot \Va
also able to lower the undercarriage in
an emergency and perform other tasks as
necessary. However, he had a rough time
if the aircraft was rolled. Twin Mustangs
tended to roll around the port fuselage, so
174 175
TWINS. CAVALIERS AND E FORCERS
This interesting view of a fully-operational P/F-82E shows a number of transitional markings resulting from the creation of the independent USAF and the
transition from Group to Wing reorganization within the new Service. This aircraft, 46-268, has pre-USAF 'Buzz number' PO-268 beneath its port wing and the
new USAF 'Buzz number' prefix Fa-268 on its lower fin, in addition to the title 'U.S. Air Force' painted above this on the fin. The aircraft is from the 27th FG/W, and
wears the unit's 'Intelligent Strength' emblem on the fuselage side beneath the cockpit. It also has the red bar across the otherwise dark blue and white national
insignia, again signifying the period when the USAF had come into being. USAF
The nightfighter Twin Mustangs served with a variety of units during their time as front-line equipment. One of the lesser-known operators was the 319th FS (AW),
which spent some time in the Panama Canal Zone from early 1948 until April/May 1949. It was then stationed at McChord AFB in the USA from May to September
1949, and subsequently at Moses lake AFB, where it eventually relinquished its Twin Mustangs. This is all-black F-82F 46-453, with a slight variation of the
squadron's emblem on its vertical tail. depicting a machine-gun-toting cat riding an eagle clutching a bomb. R.L. Ward collection
A P/F-82E, 46-275, of the 27th FG/W following the creation of the independent USAF. The 'Intelligent Strength' emblem of the 27th is proudly painted below the
cockpit. This unit, the only major front-line operator of the P/F-82E, already had a proud tradition, having taken the A-36A Invader into combat for the USAAF in
1943 in North Africa while designated the 27th BG (light) and later the 27th FBG. R.l. Ward collection
176
The 31 7th qn principally served at Moses
Lake AFB, Wash ington, from late 194
until April 1950, sub equently moving to
McChord AFB, Washington. The 31 th
qn was at Mc hard AFB from late 194 ,
and remained there while transitioning to
the F-94 in the early 1950s. The 319th,
however, was much travelled, starting at
France Field in the Panama Canal Zone
from early 1948 until April/May 1949. It
was then stationed at Mc hord AFB in
the U A from May to eptember 1949,
and subsequently at Mos Lake AFB,
where it eventually relinquished it Twin
Mustang. The 449th qn, on the other
hand, was based in Alaska throughout
its time with the Twin Mustang. One of
the first all-weather F to receive the
Twin Mustang, the squadron was aided in
its transition to the type by members of
the 27th FW, who had by then success-
fully taken on th day-fighter F-82E Twin
Mustang. Ind ed, most of the all-weather/
night F were as i ted by members of the
27th as they converted on to the type
from the F-61. During eptember 194
three crews of the 27th FW flew in their
F- 2Es from their base at Karney AFB
in ebraska to Adak, wh r the 449th
FS(AW) was based. An intensive period
of operation en ued in which each new
crew d stined for F-82 operations was put
through its paces. Fortunately the Twin
Mustang operated without erious prob-
lems, and some forty-nine Jays later the
three crew of the 27th FW returned home.
The 449th ubsequently proved to be
the longest-surviving Twin Mustang unit,
continuing ro fly the type until well into
1953. The F-82 was officially retired in
October of that year. By then the squad-
ron had transitioned to the F-94. Based
at Adak until March 1949, the quadron
ubsequently operated from Ladd AFB
in Ala ka throughout all it remaining
time on the Twin Mustang. The quad-
ran was as igned directly to Ala kan
Air Command in September 1947, but
joined the 5001st Composite Wing on I
July 1949, with which it stayed into 1953
until joining the 11 th Air Division that
April. Latterly the squadron was assigned
examples of the rare 'winterised' F-82H,
although the sp cific Twin Mustang that
appeared to be it last example on charge,
46-377, was an F- 2G without it promi-
nent radar pod, and may have been used
a a 'hack'.
During their operational time on the
F- 2 the nightfighter/all-weather squad-
177
ron were involved with developing
tactics not on Iy to get the be tout 0
their Twin Mustangs, but also to depl
effectively with ground-ba ed radar and
other air-defence y tem . Although thi
co-operation was not new, having tart d
ro evolve during World War Two, mu h
of the technology was advancing, and th
Twin Mustangs showed their potential
effectivene in a number of specific exer-
cises. These included Operation Swarmer
in April 1949, which involved many
AF asset, including Twin Mustangs
from the 2nd and 5th F (AW). This
exerci e tested the effecti veness of th
air-defence network for the eastern U A,
and entailed the Twin Mustang forward-
operating from Shaw AFB in outh
arolina.
In addition to the front-line units,
four Twin Mu tangs served at differ-
ent time with the ACA. The first to
do so wa XF- 2 44- 3886, which oper-
ated at A A' Langley site from June
194 until October 1955 on a variety of
project. It became A 114 during
that time. The second XF- 2,44- 3 7,
erved at A A's Lewis Research Centre
from Ocrober 1947 until July 195 ,prin-
cipally on ramjet powerplant research.
The famous F-82B 44-6516 Bett)1 Jo,
which had made the non-stop flight
from Hawaii to ew York in February
1947, served at the same NACA site
from September 1950 until June 1957. It
replaced XP-82 44-83887 on ramjet trials
and research when the latter was damaged
during testing. Betty Jo eventually became
ACA 132. Finally, F-82E 46-256 also
served at the Lewis Research Center
between January 1950 and March 1954,
on icing research, becoming NACA 133
and being redesignated an EF-82E.
Although the Twin Mustangs that were
based in the U A never had to fire their
guns in anger, the F-82s that operated in
the Pacific took the Twin Mustang into
combat. The three Pacific-based Twin
Mustang units, the 4th, 68th and 339th
Sqns, were assigned at least on paper to
the 347th FW(AW). The 4th was based
at Naha, Okinawa, throughout its time
with the Twin Mustang, but a detach-
ment was made to ltazuke in Japan in
the initial stages of the Korean War. In
practice this squadron came under the
umbrella of the 51st FlW, which was
responsible for the air defence of the
Okinawa area. The 68th was stationed
at Ashiya, Japan, from May 1949 after a
stay at Bofu, Japan, but moved to Itazuke
in April 1950, and had close associations
with the 8th FBW. The 339th, which in
practice was attached to the 35th FlW,
was at Johnson AB, Japan, until Marchi
April 1950, when the squadron moved to
Yokota inJapan. It remained there briefly
until August 1950, when a return was
made to Johnson AB. This meant that
the three squadrons were on hand when
the Korean War began in June 1950, and
all three played a part in the early stages of
the conflicr. Ind ed, the Twin Mustang hit
the headlines when the first air-to-air kills
of the war were achieved by F-82s operat-
ing over Korea, as described in the next
chapter. The onset of the war resulted in
The Mustang gained a completely new lease of
life with the activities during the 1960s of Trans-
Florida Aviation and later the Cavalier Aircraft
Corporation. This included the full reconditioning
of some existing Mustangs into effectively new,
upgraded aircraft that received new US military
serial numbers, although they were not intended
for US military service. One of them. 67-14863. is
seen outside the Cavalier Aircraft Corporation's
Sarasota, Florida plant. By the time this picture
was taken the company had almost certainly
changed its name from Trans-Florida Aviation.
Via Chris Ellis
TWINS. CAVALIERS AND ENFORCERS
the 347th Wing, which had become an
F-AWW in January 1950, being deacti-
vated on 24 June 1950 (according to the
official records, at least). The three Twin
Mustang squadrons were duly assigned
directly to the local Air Forces within the
umbrella of the FEAF. The 68th and 339th
were assigned to the Fifth Air Force, and
the 4th was assigned to the Twentieth Air
Force. The Twin Mustangs subsequently
distinguished themselves in combat, but
a shortage of spares eventually compro-
mised their use.
Cavaliers and
Trans-Florida Aviation
Although the F-82 Twin Mustang left the
SAF's inventory in 1953, and the final
active Mustang was retired in 1957, this
was by no means the end of the story for
the Mustang line. Even its connections
with the US military continued several
years after these retirements. In the late
1950s many surplus Mustangs became
available for sale to private individuals.
In the USA the available aircraft were
from former USAF stocks, but another
excellent source of surplus Mustangs was
Canada, where former RCAF Mustangs
started to becom available in increas-
ing numbers in the late 1950s. At this
stage in the Mustang's story a private
individual became involved who had no
connections with AA, but who was to
have a profound influence on prolonging
the fighter's life. This was David Breed
Lindsay, Jr, and his companies, including
Trans-Florida Aviation and the Cavalier
178
Aircraft Corporation, became household
names to many in the aviation business
in the 1960s. Through the activities of
these companies a number of Mustang
airframes were 'reprocessed' to 'new' con-
dition, mainly for civil use, but a signifi-
cant number were subsequently operated
by military air arms.
This completely new branch of the
Mustang story started in the late 1950s,
when USAF storage depots contained
an increasing number of obsolete fight-
ers. Sadly, many of these were eventually
scrapped, but a significant number sur-
vived and were sold on to private indi-
viduals. lndeed, low-time Mustangs could
be bought for as little as $800, although
many sold for upwards of double that
figure. Florida-based newspaper business-
man David B. Lindsay, Jr, saw the market
potential of some of the surplus aircraft,
and quickly developed ambitious plans
for ex-military Mustangs. His initial idea
was to convert the Mustang into a high-
performance 'civilianised' xecutive air-
craft, fitted out with the latest avionics
and other relevant equipment. Lindsay
shrewdly realized that the Mustang
could be a useful business asset, and the
'Cavalier' concept was born. In the years
ahead his programme would significantly
prolong the Mustang's life, both in civil
and, later, in military use.
Lindsay began by forming a company
to undertake the task, Trans-Florida
Aviation, lnc, based at Sarasota-
Bradenton Airport, Sarasota, Florida,
which acquired eight ex-RCAF P-5IDs to
begin the programme. These were all ex-
443 Sqn aircraft with low airframe hours.
In the late 1960s Trans-Florida Aviation was always
seeking ways to update the basic Mustang layout
and make it saleable, particularly with interest
in affordable COIN aircraft having grown during
that period. In 1967 the company came up with the
Cavalier Mustang II, the prototype/development
aircraft for which was N4ZZZA. Among many
changes. the most obvious was the provision of
wingtip fuel tanks. external fuselage stiffeners
(just visible beneath the civil registrationl and the
tall tail modification. Via Chris Ellis
TWINS. CA VALIERS AND ENFORCERS
Two Cavalier Mustangs in formation. Nearest the
camera is single-seat Cavalier F-51D 67-ZZ580.
while in the background is two-seat Cavalier
TF-51D 67-14866. Note the long cockpit canopy
of the latter, and the very prominent tall tails of
both aircraft, which considerably relieved the
Mustang's problems with directional stability.
Neither of these two served with the USAF. but
67-14866 was later delivered to Bolivia.
Via Chris Ellis
With a full demonstration weapons load beneath
the wings. Cavalier Mustang II prototype N4ZZZA
shows off its impressive capabilities for light
ground-attack duties. Although this vastly uprated
Mustang configuration gained no direct sales,
some of the improvements were incorporated in
work that Cavalier Aircraft Corporation carried out
for military clients with existing Mustang fleets.
Via Chris Ellis
179
On arrival at Sarasota the first of these,
erial number 44-73411, was completely
tripped down. By that time Lindsay had
formulated his own plans and concepts for
the new executive Mustang conversion.
After dismantling, 44- 73411 was stri pped
of all military equipment, including the
military radio and weapons-related fit-
ment and in tallations. omewhat ambi-
tiously, Lindsay envisaged the aircraft as a
two- eater, so the large fuselage fuel tank
behind the pilot's seat was removed. This
tank, as related earlier, had been ome-
what notorious during the ervi e life of
the Merlin-engined P-51, its installation
in the fuselage having caused e.g. prob-
lems and complicated the type's opera-
tional use. The floor within the fu elage
where the fuel tank had been installed was
reinforced and a second, custom-built seat
was fitted in its place. A w II-appointed
TWI S. CAVALIERS AND ENFORCERS
interior was installed, with upholstery and
carpeting. As the noise level in the normal
P-51D was too high to be acceptable for
civilian operation, the entire cockpit was
soundproofed with polyurethane foam
and a lot of sound-reducing tape. Lind ay
himself d signed th new instrument
panel and ide console. With a light grey
basic colour the main instrument panel
was de igned to include both engine and
flight instrumentation. The principal
flight instruments were mounted verti-
cally at the top and centre of the panel,
osten ibly to avoid potential vertigo prob-
lems, with the engine instrument at the
left and the radio controls to the right.
The left-hand ide can ole contained the
throttle, undercarriage and flap control,
three trim wheels and the carburettor heat
control.
Lindsay' design wa basically user-
780
Cavalier Mustang II prototype N4222A formates for
the camera. David Lindsay and the Cavalier Aircraft
Corporation had high hopes for this and other
Mustang enhancements, but in the end very little
came of all the development work that went into
the various improved Mustang models that Cavalier
produced. Via Chris Ellis
The single-seat Cavalier Enforcer prototype,
N201PE, survived long enough for it to wear
'Piper Enforcer' titles when the Cavalier Aircraft
Corporation finally gave up Mustang development
work in 1971 and sold the whole existing
programme to the Piper Aircraft Corporation. By
this time the type's Mustang ancestry was only
superficially evident, and no orders for the Cavalier
or Piper Enforcer materialized.
Piper Aircraft Corporation
friendly and well thought-out, so that ven
inexperienced pilots were abl to become
safely conversant with the ockpit layout
after a short period of familiarization A
variety of avionics options was available
to potential customers. These includ d
Collins Flight Directors, an autopilot, an
instrument landing system (lL ) and an
electric compass. Radio control could be
fitted in the front or rear crew tations,
according to customer requirements.
Individual 'demand'-type oxygen regu-
lator were a standard fit, supplied from
oxygen bottles installed in the rear fuse-
lag, or a more complicated high-pressure
oxygen sy tem could be incorporated a
required. Heat for cabin heating could be
drawn from the radiator (as oppo ed to the
manifold on the military P-51 models),
and a new cabin ventilation system pro-
vided cool airflow when required.
Two-Seat Concept
In effect, Lindsay was creating in civil form
what had already been made in military
guise, because the concept of a two-seat
Mu tang was not new. As related earlier,
NAA had manufactured a small batch of
ten two- eat dual-control Mustangs under
the de ignation TP-51D while tand-
ard P-51D production was underway. In
addition, a number of 'field'-modified
Mustangs had flown as two- eaters during
the latter stages of the war, mainly with
Eighth Air Force FGs. The e were not
alone. After the war, the Temco Aircraft
Corporation also produced a batch of
two-s at Mustangs, primarily for military
use, by remanufacturing and converting
a number of existing Mustang airframes.
These were mainly for ANG u , and
approximately fifteen were converted
from F- 51 0 airframes and given dual con-
trols. They were a full two- eat conver-
sion, with comparatively comprehen ive
instrumentation for the rear crew member
and a revised cockpit canopy.
Each Mustang airframe in Lindsay's
programme received a total overhaul, with
considerable work carried out on each air-
frame and even reskinning where neces-
sary. The wing gun ports were faired over,
and the gun bay were lined and modified
to take up to 400lb (I Okg) of stowed
luggage. The powerplant for th 'new' air-
craft was based on the Packard V-1650- 7
with the characteristic two-speed, two-
stag supercharger, but with some equip-
ment from the Merlin 620 series engine.
This produced a powerplant with a sea-
level take-off power rating of 1,595hp. It
allowed a power loading of only 7lb (3kg)
per hp at the 'new' Mustang's 10,5001b
(4,760kg) maximum take-off weight.
A four-blade constant-speed Hamilton
tandard 2050-65 propeller unit was the
stan lard fit.
The prototype airframe, 44-73411, was
given the civil registration 55 D.
nfortunately, in July 196 , apparently
re-registered as 5510, it was destroyed
in a crash at Sarasota. everthele s,
Tran -Florida duly modified and sold
the other seven ex-RCAF airframe from
Lindsay's initial purchase. With the sale
of these aircraft Lindsay began to recog-
nize the potential for a production-line
style 'processing' of further ex-military
Mustangs. As a result, an additional
Mustang was rapidly modified to act as an
additional prototype and company dem-
TWINS. CA VALIERS AND ENFORCERS
onstrator. This was ex-Minnesota A G
F-5lD 45-114 9, which wa also regis-
tered 551 D. During its modification
process it was fitted with a further inno-
vation - wingtip fuel tank. Trans-Florida
duly expanded it bu iness by buying up
substantial uppl ie of Mustang spare parts
and acquiring furth r Mustang ailframe ,
this time from x- AF stocks, and some
already partly civilianized airframes from
private civil owners. Indeed, the company
was somehow able to obtain the owner-
ship of the F-51 Mustang Type Certificate,
and the name 'Mustang' was its registered
trade mark.
During 1961, with five variants of the
Cavalier design, Lindsay began to market
the Cavalier brand in earnest. The five
Cavalier Mustang versions differed
mainly in fuel capacity, and their desig-
nations reflected the Mustang's maximum
range in mile according to the fuel capac-
ity of that particular version. The basic
model was the 75 , which had two fuel
cells totalling 1 4 gal, while the 1200
version had two additional L-shaped 4
U gal tanks in the former wing gun bays,
at the expense of luggage space. imilar
to the 750 model, the Cavalier 1500 was
fitted with two additional 63 gal tanks,
bringing its total capacity to 31 gal.
The tandard model was the 2000, which
had a 92 gal wingtip tank on each
wing, each with an electric dump valve
allowing the pilot to dump all fuel in the
tank in just three minutes' flying time if
required. Additional further tankage gave
the Caval ier 2000 a no-reserve range
of some 2,000 miles (3,220km). The
Cavalier 2500, looked upon as the classic
and most up-market model in the range,
had a grand capacity of 484 US gal. It was
Similarly equipped to the 2000, with the
addition of two further internal 60 US gal
fuel cells.
In eptember 1967 David Lindsay
changed the name of his company to
the Cavalier Aircraft orporation. The
Cavalier Mustang, of whichever version,
wa sold as a package that included a full
'after sales' service. The Trans-Florida
factory and warehouse at arasota even-
tually contained thousands of spare parts
for the aircraft, some still in their original
AA packaging and with the relevant
supporting docum ntation. It became
the company's proud boast that it could
airfreight any P-51 pare to anywhere in
the world within one day of receiving
the order. A new 490-page maintenance
187
manual and a pilot's handbook, plus
special covers for the main air intake and
the cockpit canopy, all accompanied the
machine on purchase from Cavali r. For
potential operators, ground school and
categorization flights were included in the
price of 4 ,000, with full navigation and
full radio fit (or 32, 00 without radios).
In addition, a 'new' fully overhauled
Packard V-1650-7 could also be purchased
for ,00. At first the Cavalier concept
included the vertical tail of the P-5ID,
but by 1967 Trans-Florida was fitting the
taller vertical tail, similar to that of the
lightweight P-51 H series, as standard,
though customers could request the stand-
ard tail instead if required. Eventually the
tall tail came to be a major distinguishing
feature of the Cavalier Mustangs, and the
increa ed vertical tail area certainly aided
the directional stability of the avalier
Mustang mod Is.
Around the time of the creation of the
Cavalier Aircraft Corporation, Lindsay
began to market a new idea, which would
allow a private owner to modify his exist-
ing standard Mu tang into a avalier
conversion without the need for hi air-
craft to pass through Cavalier' Florida
factory. The idea was straightforward.
The owner would purcha e a kit of parts
and in truction , which enabled him to
install wingtip fuel tank, a high-pressure
oxygen system, the necessary items to
make the aircraft into a two- eater with
a custom-designed and -built rear folding
seat, the new Aeroquip fuel system, and
the 14in (35.6 em) taller vertical tail that
had become such a charact ri tic feature
of th Cavalier series Mustangs.
In the period up to 1968 Cavalier
su ce fully old several versions of its
high-powered executive Mustang to civil
owners in a number of the versions out-
lined above. In addition to buyers in the
USA, at least two Cavalier aircraft were
sold to foreign customers. The first was
44-73206, a former P-51D-25-NA that
was eventually purchased by the Director
of Air Tahiti, Jean-Francois Lejeune, and
regi tered F-AZAG. Painted in a distinc-
tive canary yellow colour scheme, this
avalier Mustang 2 00 cost 57,000
'new'. It operated for many years from
Faaa, the location of Tahiti's interna-
tional airport. At the time of writing the
air raft had returned to the A, where
it ha been converted back into it origi-
nal P-5ID configuration and painted in
authentic 357th FG colours.
During December 1968 the vice-
president and general manager of
Cavalier, Lt Col Gerald Tyler, ferried
Cavalier 2000 44-74694 (US civil regis-
tration 16S) across the orth Atlantic
from Newfoundland to Shannon, Ireland,
directly en route to an Italian customer.
Destined for a Florence-based ice-cream
manufacturer, it was registered I-BILL on
arrival. Tragically, the renowned 'warbird'
collector Ormond Haydon-Baillie was
killed in this aircraft in West Germany in
July 1977, shortly after he had purchased
it.
US Government Interest
in Cavaliers
ot surprisingly, Trans-Florida's suc-
cessful conversion of standard Mustangs
into comparati vel y high-performance
civil aircraft soon started to attract mil-
itary interest. The US Department of
o fense (000), which had been created
in the years following the end of World
War Two, turned its attention to the
Cavalier Mustang in a practical way in
1966. Following a feasibility study, it was
decided that the Cavalier Mustang with
suitable modifications was ideally suited
to the then-developing counter-insur-
gency (COIN) role. At this time Trans-
Florida was producing about four civil
conversions a year, and had a workforce
of some seventy employees. In the early
weeks of 1967 the 000 contracted Trans-
Florida, under a programme called Project
Peace Condor, to remanufacture, militarize
and modernize an undisclosed number of
Mustangs for military use. By that time
the cost of a civilian conversion had
risen to between $60,000 and $100,000,
depending on the buyer's requirements.
Costs were not publ ished for the military
variant, but it was estimated that the
price would be $180,000 per airframe.
Although potential recipient nations at
that time were only identified as 'South
American', the bulk of the subsequently-
created military Cavalier Mustangs went
to Bolivia and El Salvador. Later some
appeared in other locations, including
Indonesia. The first 000 contract was for
twelve airframes. These Mustangs were
actually allocated new US military FY
serial numbers, in the 1967 and 1968
fiscal year procurements, reflecting the
fact that they were, in effect, 'new' air-
craft.
TWINS. CAVALIERS AND ENFORCERS
The remanufacturing process for these
Project Peace Condor airframes included
complete dismantling of the airframe,
strengthening of the fuselage structure,
plus the modification of wing spars, string-
ers and webs to strengthen the whole
wing structure and allow the installation
of additional underwing weapons pylons.
The standard Cavalier tall tail was also
added to give greater directional stabil-
ity and thus enhance the 'gun platform'
performance of the aircraft. Merlin 620
series engines were installed in the Peace
Condor aircraft, several of these coming
from ex-RCAF Douglas C-54GM trans-
port aircraft. The armament for the Peace
Condor aircraft comprised six Browning
0.50in machine guns in the existing gun
bays, but each had 2,000 rounds. The
inboard underwing pylons were stressed to
carry a 1,000lb bomb or a 110 US gal fuel
tank. Up to six further weapons stations
could carry either LAU rocket pods, each
with nineteen 70mm folding-fin unguided
RPs, or individual 12.7cm high-velocity
aerial (or aircraft) rockets (HVARs).
The gunsights fitted to these aircraft are
reputed to have been the same as those
installed in British Hawker Hunter jet
fighters. Jane's All the World's Aircraft of
1969-1970 described the gunsight as a
British Mk !lIN type. An N-4 or -6 gun
camera was located in the port wing. A
comprehensive avionics package, includ-
ing Bendix equipment, was also included.
With 110 US gal drop tanks on the two
inboard underwing pylons, the loiter
time over a potential target area was an
exceptional five hours. The Peace Condor
Mustangs were two-seaters, with the pilot
in the front and an observer/forward air
controller in the rear. One, however, was
completed with full dual controls and
complete instrumentation in the rear
crew position, and is sometimes referred
to as a 'Cavalier TF-51'. Initially the air-
craft were finished in a colour scheme that
included the wording 'US Air Force' on
the fuselage sides, although they were not
destined for US military usage at all.
While the Peace Condor work was going
ahead, Lindsay pursued a private-venture
single-seat COl aircraft programme.
The Mustang used as the prototype was
an early P/F-5ID, 44-13257. It was civil
registered as N4222A, and among other
modifications it was fitted with wingtip
fuel tanks, each carrying 110 US gal. The
lower fuselage longerons were reworked
and strengthened to a higher specifica-
182
tion than the Peace Condor aircraft by
installing external aluminium 'doublers'
along each side. The aircraft was fitted
with six underwing hardpoints (three
beneath each wing) for a maximum load
of some 5,OOOIb (2,270kg). It could carry
a 1,0001b bomb on the inner pylon under
each wing, and the other two pylons
beneath each wing could carry up to
750lb (340kg), including rocket pods
or bombs. Similar avionics to the Peace
Condor Mustangs, and a Stanley extrac-
tion seat, were also planned. During the
latter part of 1967 Trans-Florida set about
marketing the type, which went under the
name Mustang II (although this term is
also sometimes used for the Peace Condor-
standard Mustangs as well). At that time
the company still owned more than 100
Packard V-1650 and Merlin engines and
an enormous stock of Mustang spares and
ancillaries, and had the ability, if required,
to modify a large number of Mustangs to
its planned new specifications. The proto-
type Cavalier Mustang !l flew for the first
time in December 1967, and some later
military Cavalier Mustangs were fitted
out to roughly that standard, but the type
itself did not enter production as a sepa-
rate Mustang mark.
Although the Peace Condor contract
was fairly well publicized at the time, other
sales of reworked Mustangs (presumably
in the later years to Cavalier !l standard)
to undisclosed customers received rather
less publicity, and have been the source of
considerable speculation and confusion in
subsequent years. It is possible that Trans-
Florida's first military customer was the
Fuerza Aerea Dominicana (FAD). The
Dominican RepubliC wasan operatorofex-
Swedish Air Force Mustangs (as explained
in Chapter 11), and apparently began to
have its Mustangs reworked by Trans-
Florida in 1964. The FAD aircraft were
remodelled to a standard possibly unique
to that operator, and did not have the
wingtip fuel tank fittings. These Cavalier
Mustangs were intended as additional air-
craft to reinforce the existing fleet in the
Dominican Republic, or to act as attri-
tion replacements. There is also evidence
to suggest that Cavalier personnel might
have done work on the FAD machines in
the field in the Dominican Republic, and,
during the later stages of the company's
operation, spares were suppl ied for FAD
personnel to do their own maintenance
work. Cavalier-modified Mustangs were
also operated by Guatemala, although this
appears to have entailed a reworking of
existing in-service airframes, rather than
'new' production. At least seven reworked
Mustangs, including one TF-51D and a
TP-51D incorporating the fuselage long-
eron doubler modification, were delivered
to the TNI/AU (Indonesian Air Force) as
late as 1971.
As stated earlier, the retirement in
1957 of the last of the SAF's Mustangs
was not quite the end of the story of US
military use of the Mustang. The Cavalier
Mustang also served in small numbers in
US service, albeit not in any front-line
role. During 1967 the US Army ordered
two unique Cavalier Mustangs for use
as high-speed chase aircraft in support
of the Lockheed YAH-56A Cheyenne
fire-support/gunship helicopter trials. The
two Mustangs were completed by Trans-
Florida/Cavalier roughly to Cavalier
Mustang II standard, but without arma-
ment. They were two-seaters, but had
single-pilot operation, the rear seat being
used by an observer/photographer to
record events during the YAH-56A heli-
copter evaluation and trials programme.
In fact the Cavalier Mustang triumphed
in the US Army's requirements for this
role after the orth American T-28
Trojan and Beech U-21 King Air had
been ruled out as potential chase aircraft.
Used primarily for air-to-air photography
in company with a YAH-56A, and con-
taining additional flight-test equipment,
the two Cavalier Mustangs were ideal
for this role, as their flight parameters
were similar to those of the Cheyenne.
The two aircraft, which appear simply to
have been referred to as F-51 0 Mustangs
in service, were allocated the 'new' serial
numbers 68-15795 and 68-15796. They
had reinforced main wing spars and were
fitted with 120 US gal wingtip fuel tanks.
Interestingly, these two aircraft work d
alongside another Mustang, which carried
the 'obsolete' number 0-72990. In the
event th Cheyenne helicopter never
entered production, and following the
termination of the AH-56A programme
the two Cavalier Mustangs were used for
a variety of communications duties and
other tasks. These included trials with
a 106mm 'recoilless rifle' at the China
Lake weapons proving grounds. These
trials were conducted to determine the
accuracy of a flat-trajectory, large-calibre
recoilless airborne weapon, and one was
fitted to 68-15795. Although the trials
proved that the weapon was accurate and
TWI S. CAVALIERS AND ENFORCERS
could be fired while airborne, the project
was eventually terminated.
Turboprop Cavalier
The Cavalier Mustang programme was
still very much in existence, however,
and the next stage in Lindsay's Mustang
conversion work was the most radical
yet. Concurrent with the piston-engined
Mustang II programme, Cavalier began to
experiment with the complete re-engining
of the Mustang. One of the problems that
the company was experiencing with its
overall Mustang conversion programme
was the difficulty of pushing the Merlin
engine beyond its Second World War per-
formance levels. Another consideration
was the time between overhauls (TBO)
of the engine and airframe. A logical but
radical step appeared to be the fitting of
a completely new engine. At that time,
in the later 1960s, the propeller turbine,
or turboprop, was well established, and
offered power output levels and reliability
in excess of Second World War piston
engines. Lindsay therefore examined the
feasibility of installing a turboprop in
the Mustang airframe, and the Cavalier
Mustang 1lI concept was born.
After studying various potential
engines, the Rolls-Royce Dart R.Da.6 Mk
510 turboprop was selected for installa-
tion. A development aircraft, eventually
registered N6167U, was earmarked for the
considerable conversion work involved in
this very radical plan. The new Cavalier
variant thus created was call d the Turbo
Mustang Ill. The particular Dart turbo-
prop installed in the development air-
frame came from a Vickers Viscount 745
four-engine airliner of United Air Lines,
Inc. The Dart's safety and reliability
records particularly impressed Lindsay,
as the engine had by then achieved over
45 million hours of running time and
an in-flight shutdown record of only
1 per 300,000hr. While the Merlin or
Packard V-1650 in the Caval ier series
would operate for a maximum of l,OOOhr
between overhauls, the Dart had a TBO
of 6,OOOhr. This could be achieved with
minimal maintenance, which was a good
factor in itself, but was an important con-
sideration for forward-area military opera-
tions, where maintenance equipment and
backup would be minimal. In addition,
the mating of the turboprop with the
Mustang meant that the radiator in its
183
vulnerable position in the lower fuselage
behind the cockpit, and its associated and
infamous belly air intake, could be done
away with.
The Mustang III was certainly a very
different beast to the Mustangs that had
gone before it. A constant-thickness,
tube-like Viscount airliner cowling
housed the Dart in the demonstrator,
6167U. The installation required much
redesign and beefing-up of the forward
fuselage, although maintenance for the
engine was enhanced by the way the
cowling opened out like flower petals in
four main sections. It was intended that
the production Turbo Mustang III would
have a more pow rful R.Da.7 Mk 529 tur-
boprop, with a maximum crusing power
of2,185shp (shaft horsepower), compared
with the the 1,550shp take-off rating of
the Mk 510.
A British company, the Bristol
Aeroplane Plastics Co., was lined up to
supply plastic armour for the fuselage
undersides, cowling and cockpit areas of
the planned production aircraft. An lIft
6in (3.501) diameter, four-blade Dowty
Rotol propeller with an advanced auto-
matic synchronized power/pitch facility
was fitted. This could be set in flat pitch/
maximum drag to aid deceleration and
reduce ground roll on landing. Production
aircraft were intended to be fitted with the
orth American Rockwell LW-3B ejec-
tion seat. Other features of the Turbo
Mustang III included self-sealing full cells
in the wing roots, two 120 US gal wingtip
fuel tanks, and provision for two 110 US
gal fuel tanks on the inboard underwing
pylons. All the internal fuel tanks were
lined with reticulated foam for fire suppre -
sion. A with the piston-engined Mustang
11, the fuselage longerons were reinforced,
extra spars were installed in the wing to
allow for the six weapons pylons, and a
taller vertical tail was fitted. The avionics
were similar to thos in the Peace Condor
aircraft. A number of roles were envisaged
for the Turbo Mustang, including short-
range reconnaissance and Forward Air
Control (FAC). Intended to b versatile,
the aircraft could be configured in many
different ways depending on its intended
mission. As usual, six 0.5in machine guns
formed the main armament, while various
types of bombs could be carried under the
wings, including the ubiquitous Mk 81 or
Mk 82 low-drag 250lb bombs. A variety
of other ordnance was pOSSible, includ-
ing seven-tube LAU-59 or AERO-6A
TWINS. CA VALl ERS AI D E 'FORCERS
CHAPTER 9
Among the most colourful and certainly the most striking of the USAF P-51 units that fought in the Korean War was the 12th FBS. This unit applied distinctive
'shark mouth' markings to the lower noses of its Mustangs (except for those newly received!. and was one of the first regular USAF squadrons committed to
action in Korea following the North Korean invasion of June 1950. USAF
Return to the Front Line
ro begin training outh Korean pilot.
everal of the Americans were from the
th FBW, which helped to organize the
programme, and a number of them would
end up flying the Mustangs in combat
in a short while. The whole endeavour
came under the quaint Americanism of
'Bout One', and was the start of a long
association with the Mustang for the
outh Koreans. ome of the training
for the South Korean pilots rook place
at Chinhae. Most of the Korean airmen
were inexperienced, although a number
had done some flying under the japanese.
Principal among the Am rican involved
in this project was Maj Dean Hess, who
was in effect to become the father of the
RoKAF.
On a mi erable, rainy 25 june 1950 a
massive invasion of outh Korea was
launched by the orth Koreans. The
The Korean War Begins
intentions to re-unify the Korean lands
under their own political umbrella.
Attempts were made by the A ro
create a military organization in outh
Korea, and some training overseen by U
personnel was undertaken. As for the new
country's air force, this was established by
the donation of several former US aircraft,
mainly trainers and light liaison types.
However, during the summer of 1950 a
consignment of ten Mustangs wa given
to the outh Koreans. ometimes called
the 'Truman Gift', these ten Mustangs
at once equipped the only real combat
element of the RoKAF. The aircraft
were hardly in pristine condition, most,
if not all, having come out of storage
in japan, where some arc believed ro
have been used for target-rowing. They
were hastily prepared for transfer to the
South Koreans. There were, however,
few outh Korean pilot who could fly
the type successfully. A number of U AF
volunteers therefore aided the South
Koreans ro get the aircraft airworthy and
From August 191 onwa rds, including
the World War Two period, the Korean
penin ula was under increa ingly repres-
sive japane e overlordship. When the
japanese surrendered in 1945 the newly-
formed United Nations (U ) developed
plans for a trusteeship administration for
the Korean peninsula, with the Soviet
Union administering the area north of the
3 th Parallel and the SA the Korean
territory south of that line. In 194 two
separate governments were establi hed,
creating two di parate Korean territorie
known generally as outh Korea (offi-
cially the Republic of Korea, created in
Augu t 194 ) and orth Korea (offi-
cially the People's Democratic RepubliC
of Korea, created in eptember 194 ).
The northern part came under the lead-
ership of previously anti-japanese com-
munist elements, and the south under
pro-American anti-communi t Koreans.
It was an uneasy settlement that did not
appear to have much chance of success,
especially as both sides proclaimed their
the e part eventually found their way
into the two new Enforcer prototypes con-
tructed at that time. Around 20 per cent
of the PA-48 component are believed
to have been compatible with those of
the Mustang, but Piper wa subsequently
quick to point out that the Enforcer was
a new design. There was, of course, some
truth in this, but the Enforcer's Mustang
origins were very obvious, even as regard
general appearance.
The twO new Enforcers were powered
by the 2,445ehp Avco LycomingT55-L-9
serie turboprop with armour protection,
which drove a four-bladed Aeroproducts
propell r. The overall length of the new
Enforcer was 34ft 2in (l 0.4 Jm), maki ng
it almost 2 feet longer than the standard
P-5l D. The wingspanoverrhe two wingtip
fuel tanks was 41ft 4in (l2.6m). Both of
the new Enforcers were single-seaters, and
were fitted with completely revised avion-
ics, a new cockpit canopy, new wing spar
upposed to be good for some 14,000hr, a
larger fin and rudder, a new aileron sy tem
and hydraulically boosted control. The
maximum take-off weight was 14,0001b
(6,350kg), with a maximum of 5,6801b
(2,580kg) of ordnance on six underwing
pylons (three to each wing). Gun pods,
cluster-bomb units, standard unguided
bombs and pods for unguided rocket pod
of variou types could be carried. The
inner pylon under each wing could carry
a bomb of up to 2,000Ib. Wing guns were
not fitted.
The prototype new Enforcer, c/n E 1,
registered 481 PE, flew for the first time
on 9 Apri I 1983. The second prototype,
E 2, registered N482PE, followed suit
on 8 july 1983. After company trials that
were satisfactory and appeared to point to
a potentially very suc essful design, both
aircraft were evaluated by the U 000,
undergoing trials at Eglin AFB, Florida,
during May 19 4. This evaluation was
claimed at the time to have been thorough,
but it is under tood that the USAF did
not apparently bother to fly the portion of
sorties allocated to them at Edwards AFB
in California. Perhaps not surprisingly,
the design was rejected. The two new
PAA8s were placed in storage at Davis-
Monthan AFB in Arizona during August
19 4,oneofthemsub equently passing to
the SAF Museum at Wright-Patterson
AFB, ironically the location of the early
te ting of the XP-5l and the place where
official opposition to the Mustang had
seemingly existed in the early 1940s.
2,535shp, and was a step up again in
the development of the Mustang into
something that it was never envisaged to
be in the first place. The name Enforcer
appears to have been given to this project
(although that is in som dispute among
historians; this name is usually associated
with what came after). Two prototypes
were built by Cavalier, a single-seat air-
craft registered 201 PE and a two-seater
registered 2 2PE. The type's armament,
fuel provision, wingtip fuel tanks and
tall tail were all similar to those of the
Turbo Mustang Ill. The econd aircraft,
two-seater 202PE, wa evaluated by the
USAF in 1971 as a potential off-the-
shelf tactical aircraft for FAC and light
strike missions, but wa not ordered. This,
in effect, was virtually the end of the
Cavalier Mustang story, but there was a
final twi t to the tale.
Unfortunately one of the prototypes
was 10 t in an accident on 12 july 1971.
Tailplane flutter caused an elevator to
detach, and the pilot safely ejected. By
that time avalier had realized that it
had insufficient capital to pursue the
Mustang III programme, and the Piper
Aircraft Corporation took over develop-
ment of the Lycoming-powered Mustang
later in 1971, after the project was sold by
Cavalier. Piper subsequently designated
the aircraft the Piper PAA Enforcer, and
David Lindsay is believed to have acted
as an unpaid consultant on the project.
Even so, development was apparently sus-
pended for a time, but the Enforcer was by
no means dead.
Work on the Enforcer programme
resumed in the early 1980s, with the con-
struction of two further, second-generation
Enforcers. Although Piper duly marketed
these as 'new' aircraft, they still had con-
siderable Mu tang ancestry. The Enforcer
programme was resurrected owing to an
11. million contract, Piper announc-
ing the receipt of the U AF contract on
4 eptember 19 1. The go-ahead for the
resurrection of the programme seemingly
arose due to pressure from some members
of the US Congress for it to be continued.
It appears that during ept mber 1981 a
variety of P-51 components, including
fuselage and wing parts, undercarriag
and other piece, were delivered to the
Piper Aircraft Corporation's Lakeland
plant in Florida. This miscellany of parts
came from Gordon Pia kett of King ity,
California, who owned a cache of Mustang
components. It seems likely that some of
Piper Enforcer
Despite its failure to impress the USAF
with the Turbo Mustang, Cavali r
remain d undaunted. Indeed, the
company subsequently even projected
and built a new COl aircraft based on
the Mu tang layout. Again drawing as
closely a po sible on the Mustang air-
frame, the new aircraft was powered by a
different turboprop, the AVCO Lycoming
T55-L-9. This powerful engine developed
unguided-rocket pods or nineteen-tube
folding-fin LAU-3A rocket launchers,
XM-75 grenade launchers, or U -IJA
7.62mm minigun pods, each with 1,500
rounds. The maximum ordnance load
was 4,5001b (2,040kg), but this limited
the aircraft's range to some 200 mile
(320km), with a loiter time over the target
of 90min. When the aircraft was config-
ured for a maximum 50-mile (80 km)
range mission the ordnance was limited
to 1,0001b (450kg) of low-drag bombs
and six 0.5in. guns with J,200 rounds of
ammunition. In its clean condition the
Turbo Mustang wa the fastest of all the
production Mustangs, with a maximum
speed of 540mph ( 70km/h) at sea level.
The empty weight was 6,8001b (3,085kg),
while the maximum take-off weight was
14,0001b (6,350kg).
A production run of 2,000 Turbo
Mustang III over a four-and-a-half-year
period wa ambitiou Iy envisaged by
Cavalier, with major production ba kup
Similarly ambitiously foreca t from orth
American Rockwell. These would have
been e sentially brand new aircraft, but
using some Mustang components, and
would therefore have been different to th
Cavalier Mustangs so far produced, whi h
were all reconditioned former Mu tangs.
In the event, however, the plan never got
off the ground. At Cavalier's request the
'prototype' Turbo Mustang III conver-
sion was demonstrated to T AC officials
at Langley AFB, Virginia, in September
196 . At that time the U AF was looking
for a potential interim AX tactical fighter
for th USAF, able to perform the th n
increasingly in vogue COl mission.
Although, unofficially, ome interest was
expressed, the headquarters of TAC offi-
cially howed no intere t, and production
orders were never placed. This wa prob-
ably the end of the line for potential large-
scale n w Mustang production.
184 185
RETURN TO TilE FRONT LINE
RETURN TO THE FRONT L11 E
It is often forgotten that the RoKAF operated the Mustang virtually throughout the Korean War. The South Koreans employed it from the early days of the conflict,
in the initial US-supported 'Bout One' operations, right to the end, and then on into the years of fragile peace. This RoKAF Mustang shows its South Korean
national insignia, which was similar in design to the US markings, and the large 'K' normally painted on the tail of the South Korean Mustangs. The location is
K-10 Chinhae, previously a major Japanese base in World War Two. USAF
A considerable contribution to the United Nations
forces that fought in the Korean War was made
by Britain and other Commonwealth countries,
including South Africa, which had a close
association with the Mustang during the conflict.
2 Sqn SAAF operated Mustangs principally from
K-10 Chinhae from late 1950 until December 1952.
This South African Mustang is fully armed with
underwing unguided rockets and a fuel tank
probably filled with napalm. Via Chris Ellis
Sqn Twin Mustang flown by Lt William
Hudson, with Lt Carl Fraser as radio/
radar operator, manoeuvred on to the
tail of one of the orth Korean aircraft,
and Hudson's a curate shooting brought
it down. Somewhat bizarrely, Fraser later
stated that he saw the North Korean rilot
calking to his observer as the aircraft went
down. That would mean the fighter was
a tually a two-seat Yak- 11 trainer, or
(perhaps more likely) an Ilyushin 11-10
that was misidentified by the Americans.
During the same engagement the 6 th
qn' Lt harles Moran, whos F- 2 had
been damaged at the tart of the kirmish,
also shot down a orth Korean aircraft
that was thought to be a Lavochkin La-7.
The 0 of the 339th qn, Maj Jam
Little, was also credited with an La-7. In
subsequent years it was widely believed
that Hudson' victory was the first of what
became the Korean War, and that he
was flying F- 2G Twin Mustang 46- 3,
subsequently named Bucket of Boles.
However, it now seems more likely that
Hudson and Fraser were in F- 2G 46-401
during the shoot-down. It is also po-
sible that Little's kill was made moments
earlier than ludson's, Little wa already
a seasoned fighter pilot, having achieved
seven aerial victories against the Japanese
while flying P-40s with the 75th F of the
23rd FG in 1943.
Whatever that actual course of events,
the a tions of the F-82s, pi us the four victo-
rie achieved that day by F- OCs, were the
start of the significant U AF aerial activ-
ity over Korea. Despite the effort of the
U fighters, however, major damage was
caused at Kimpo by orth Korean aircraft
during the evacuation period, The 27th
additionally marked the tart, and the end,
of the Twin Mustang's achievements as a
fighter in the conflict, a no further aerial
victorie were subsequently achieved by
the F-82 contingent. evertheless, the
F- 2 went on to make an important con-
tribution to the overall effort against the
orth Koreans in the following months,
albeit mainly as a ground-attack aircraft,
to have been a recognition problem
among the American flyers, as the Yaks
were inline-engined, while Lavochkin
had radials. On the 26th the first orth
Korean aircraft were een by the Twin
Mustang crews. The orth Korean had
evidently received information ~ u t the
evacuation, as a number of orth
Korean fighter attempted to interfere
with the ground operations. everal
began to tangle with the Twin Mustangs,
but fired inconclusively from long range.
The Americans were under orders only to
fire if fired upon.
Twin Mustangs in Combat
On 27 Jun , however, things were very
different. Again the North Koreans
attempted to interfer with the US evac-
uation, but this time they made con-
certed attacks on Kimpo airfield. The
U AF's covering aircraft intervened,
and a number of air combats ensued,
the Twin Mu tangs and hooting tar
emerging with a tally of seven orth
Korean aircraft shot down without loss
to themselve . Although there has been
ome confusion in subsequent years as to
who shot down what, and in which par-
ticular aircraft, it now appears that three
of the kills were achieved by the F- 2 ,
Airborne over outh Korea that day were
Twin Mustangs of the 6 th and 339th
Sqns. Just befor midday everal orth
Korean aircraft attempted to raid Kimpo
airfield. Waiting for them was a mixed
force of F- 2Gs from the 68th and 339th,
and a number of combat ensued. A 6 th
early hours of 25 June, to ch ck on initial
reports that the orth Koreans had moved
south into the Republic of Kqrea. From
the 26th several Twin Mustangs began
operating armed protection flights over
outh Korea (by day as well a by night),
principally to cover the evacuation of
citizens. This evacuation took the form
of seaborne assets using Inchon Harbour,
and aerial evacuation from eoul, the
capital of outh Korea. eoul lies in
the west of outh Korea, comparatively
close to the 3 th Parallel, and following
the invasion it oon appeared likely that
it would fall to the communist invaders
within a short time, A principal airport
in the Seoul area, Kimpo, wa rapidly
handling a number of transport aircraft
as the evacuation quickly gatbered pa e.
The orth Koreans at once attempted to
interfere with the US evacuation, causing
the USAF to begin overflying the area
as oon as possible. The Twin Mustangs
were able to loiter over the evacuation
area using their long endurance, with top
cover flown by Japan-ba ed Lockheed
F- 0 hooting tar jet fighter, though
the endurance of the latter was everely
limited.
Although the orth Koreans lacked
any kind of ubstantial air power, they did
have a number of oviet-made combat air-
craft on hand at the time of the invasion
of outh Korea. Yakovlev fighter uch as
th Yak-9, and Ilyushin II-I c1ose- upport
aircraft, were among the orth Korean
air a ets. ome Lavochkin La-7 fighters
might also have been included, and were
widely reported by US pilots, although
this eems rather unlikely. Th re aprems
therefore closest to the Korean penin-
sula. These units were equipped with the
F- 2G, which had scarted to equip the
Pacific F-AW, s during 1949. In February
1950 the 339th qn finally retired its
last orthrop F-61 Black Widow night-
fighter, and all three of the F-AW s were
officially equipped with the F-82G from
March 1950 onwards, though crew train-
ing was still in progress when the Korean
War broke out. At the end of May 1950
there were thirty-two F-82Gs assigned
to the three operational Twin Mustang
squadrons within the FEAF. On 25 June,
the day that the orth Korean invasion
began, the bases where these three Twin
Mustang squadrons were located were
placed on a high state of alert.
At that time the 68th Sqn wasstill not up
to full operational strength, necessitating
the deployment of eight Twin Mustangs
and crews from Okinawa to Itazuke. On
26 June the 339th also deployed eight
aircraft and crews to Itazuke, but retained
some of its aircraft for the air defence
of Tokyo in case the orth Koreans
attempted an attack against a high-value
target on the Japane e mainland. The first
fighter mission of the conflict was flown
by a 68th qn Twin Mustang piloted by
Lt George Deans, with Lt Marv Olsen a
radio/radar operator. They flew an armed
reconnai sance to the 3 th Parallel in the
:ens needed to be covered effectively by air
and ground forces. For the outh Koreans
there wa no choice but to commit any
and all availahle forces. This included the
combat initiation of any aerial asset, and
to that end the small group of RoKAF
Mustangs with their American helpers
went into action almost at once, mainly
in the ground-attack role. For ome of the
outh Korean pilots thi gave a whole new
meaning to the concept of learning on the
job.
The only fighter aircraft the USAF pos-
sessed in the theatre that could operate
from Japan and had the range and loiter
capability to do any meaningful work
over Korea was the F-82 Twin Mustang.
The accolade of being the first US air-
craft in action in the skies over South
Korea therefore fell to the black-painted
Twin Mustang nightfighters of the FEAF,
which were abruptly called upon to enter
combat in a completely unfamiliar opera-
tional scenario. The three squadrons of the
FEAF that were operational on the type at
the start of the Korean War were the 4th
F-AW at Naha, on Okinawa i land; the
6 th F-AW at ltazuke in Japan; and the
339th F-AW at Yokota, Japan. The la t-
named squadron was generally responsi-
ble for the air defence of the Tokyo area,
while the 6 th includ d we tern Japan
as a part of its responsibilities, and wa
scale and initial success of this operation
caught everyone unawares, particularly
the Americans, and in a short time the
outh Korean forces were in full retreat.
Allied units in the region were at once put
on the highe t state of alert. Thi mainly
included S, British and Commonwealth
o cupation forces in Japan, which wa the
closest area where the ,had a major
military presence stationed in the region.
( omewhat unwisely, the majority of U
forces had been withdrawn from South
Korea in 1949.) An immediate consid-
eration that grew in importance hourly
as the North Korean invasion gained
momentum was the evacuation of US
civilians from South Korea to the relative
safety of Japan.
The S response to the orth Korean
invasion was immediate, but was compli-
cated by reality. Most of the U AF units
stationed in Japan were equipped with
jets, which did not have the range to fly
effective combat missions over to Korea
and back. In outh Korea itself there was
a variety of airfields, many of whi h were
generally in a poor state of repair, and
certainly could not sustain jet operation
until major work had been carried out on
them. It was not at all clear just what the
AF's response to the invasion could be,
but something needed to be done quickly.
In particular, the evacuation of citi-
186
187
With the distinctive scenery of K-l0 Chinhae's water and hills as a backdrop, a South African-operated Mustang prepares for a dawn take-off at the start of
another hard day of ground-attack work against North Korean tactical targets. The SAAF's 2 Sqn was attached to the USAF's 18th FBW during its operational
period in Korea, principally based at Chinhae in South Korea, and equipped with Mustangs supplied from US stocks. Via Chris Ellis
With the FEAF suffering a major short-
age of suitable combat aircraft at the start
of the conflict, the Twin Mustangs were
pressed into service as impromptu ground-
attack aircraft, which became a role in
which they excelled. They were able to
employ their formidable forward-firing
battery of six O.Sin machine guns to good
effect, and their ability to carry a substan-
tial load under their wings allowed them
to usc a variety of air-to-ground ordnance.
This included unguided RPs and bombs,
but also entailed the use of napalm.
Indeed, the Twin Mustang became the
first aircraft to use napalm widely during
the Korean conflict, starting in late June.
apalm proved to be of great effect against
orth Korean ground units, who feared it.
The napalm mixture was usually carried
in converted long-range fuel tanks that
would simply be dropped from compara-
tively low level over the battlefield.
The F-82 force was the forerunner of
what became a massive air effort, which
grew rapidly as the conflict developed.
A specially-convened meeting of the
UN Security Council, at which the
Soviet Union was not present, supported
US efforts on behalf of the Republic
of Korea, and asked for support for the
South Koreans from member nations.
Eventually a major effort was staged by a
disparate selection of countries to provide
mil itary aid to South Korea (sixteen coun-
tries eventually contributed), the USA
and British Commonwealth contribu-
tions being the largest. In the initial days
RETURN TO THE FRONT LINE
after the North Korean invasion, feverish
activity occurred to put an air contingent
in place that could help the increasingly
beleaguered ground forces of the Republic
of Korea and the comparatively small US
ground contingent that was soon in place
to help the South Koreans. In its initial
stages the war went from bad to worse for
the South Koreans. The capital, Seoul,
was taken (its location comparatively
close to the 38th Parallel, on the western
side of the Korean peninsula, remains to
this day a vulnerable position), and the
increasingly successful orth Korean
forces pushed south, with seemingly little
to stop them from capturing the whole of
the Korean peninsula.
The Mustang's Second
Major War
Help was eventually at hand, however,
and the Mustang was to playa pivotal
role in the UN operations in aid of the
South Koreans. Indeed, what became
known as the Korean War was to be the
Mustang's second major conflict, follow-
ing its great success in the Second World
War. In Korea, however, the Mustang's
story was to be very different. Whereas
the P-SI had been one of the superlative
fighters of the world war, in Korea the
F-51 D version became a workhorse in
low-level ground-attack missions. This
was because there was no other aircraft in
the USAF inventory that was numerous
enough or suitable to fulfil this demand-
ing role. Unfortunately, as Second World
War experience had shown, although the
Mustang had excellent all-round perform-
ance and firepower, it was vulnerable to
ground fire owing to all the pipework for
the Merlin's liquid-cooling system. The
radiator installation in the lower fuselage
below and behind the cockpit was also
vulnerable on ground-attack missions,
where fire from the ground was likely to
be accurate and intense. A hit in any of
the coolant pipes or the radiator would
usually result in a loss of enough coolant
to cause the engine to seize, resulting in
the often rapid demise of the aircraft.
Thus the Mustang was not the ideal
choice for ground-attack and close-sup-
port missions over Korea. The aircraft that
would have been more suitable was the
P-47 (after 1948, F-47), with its rugged
construction and its big air-cooled radial
engine that was less susceptible to ground
fire. Unfortunately the F-47 was not avail-
able in particularly large numbers by mid-
1950, having been in dwindling service
in the ANG after the end of World War
Two. Furthermore, some Thunderbolts
had been supplied to friendly nations else-
where in the world, resulting in the type
being unavailable to US forces for wide-
spread action over Korea.
Of other fighters and fighter-bombers
in existence at the time, the F-80C jet
fighter was unsuitable for widespread use
as a fighter-bomber because of its compara-
tively short endurance and relatively light
weapons load, although it did put in some
service over Korea in that role. The F-51 H
lightweight version of the Mustang was
still in service at that time, however, and
it has often been asked why that version
of the Mustang was not used in Korea,
instead of the F-51D. There were several
reasons for this. To begin with, the F-51 H
was only made in comparatively small
numbers, and spares were not available in
sufficient quantities to allow the relatively
small force of F-51Hs to operate effec-
tively in a major combat environment.
In addition, the F-51H was far too flimsy
for the harsh operating environment of
Preparing for a dawn take-off in Korea, a 2 Sqn
SAAF Mustang is run-up with its upper cowling
panel temporarily removed. The underwing load
of unguided RPs and external fuel tanks probably
filled with napalm is fairly typical for the close-
support work for which Mustangs were principally
used in Korea. Via Chris Ellis
Korea, where operations were often flown
from austere air bases at which mainte-
nance facilities were at a premium. (The
problems with the collapsing tailwheel on
these aircraft, for example, is referred to
elsewhere in this book.) The F-51 H was
simply not intended for the type of rough
operations the Korean War demanded.
In comparison, even though the F-51 D
was far from ideal itself, it was available
in sufficient quantities to allow effective
numbers to operate in Korea. Moreover,
there was no particular shortage of spares
for the F-51D, and it could certainly cope
with the austere conditions far better than
the Iightweight F- 51 H. For these reasons it
therefore made sense to standardize on the
F-51D as the one main ground-attack and
close-support aircraft for the U AF and
Allied countries in the Korean theatre.
Soon after the orth Korean inva-
sion, Lt Gen Earle Partridge, who headed
the Fi fth AiI' Force (wh ich was pri maril y
concerned with operations in the theatre
during the war), requested the immediate
transfer of as many Mustangs as pOSSible
from the continental USA to Japan, for
urgent deployment to Korea. According
to USAF figures, in mid-1950, at the time
of the start of hosti Iities in Korea, there
were 764 Mustangs with Air National
Guard squadrons in the USA, plus some
RETURN TO THE FRONT LINE
794 more in storage at various locations in
the USA. This meant that a useful force
of Mustangs could be made available
for service in Korea, but a considerable
amount of redeployment would be neces-
sary to make these aircraft accessible for
combat service. As noted in Chapter 7,
a great many changes were duly made to
the inventories of A G squadrons. At
that time a significant number of them
were equipped with F-51 Ds or early jets,
and these aircraft were now unexpectedly
and abruptly required for combat service
in Korea. The obvious solution was to
remove the F-51Ds and jets from ANG
squadrons and send them to Korea, replac-
ing them in the ANG with F-51 Hs. This
resulted in the second influx of F-51Hs
into ANG service.
Mustangs Enter Combat
Although the Mustang was not intended
for air-to-air combat over Korea, during
the early days of the US involvement
the type did achieve a notable success.
This was on 29 June, when Gen Douglas
MacArthur was arriving at Suwon on a
fact-finding mission, having taken over as
the supreme commander of allied forces in
Korea. A variety of fighters were detailed
to cover MacArthur's trip. Once more the
North Koreans tried to interfere with pro-
ceedings, and several air battles ensued.
Again, as with the combats involving the
Twin Mustangs on 27 June, there remains
to this day much confusion as to who was
involved and in what, and who and what
was shot down. What does appear to be
agreed is that four orth Korean air-
craft were destroyed by several Mustangs.
These F-51 Ds were presumably 'Bout
One'/South Korean Mustangs, because
most US historians claim that the USAF
did not have any operational Mustangs in
Korea at that time.
Aerial victories were subsequently
credited to three USAF pilots, Lts Harry
Sandlin and Orrin Fox of the 80th FBS,
and Lt Richard Burns of the 35th FBS.
These pi lots were apparently seconded to
the RoKAF as a part of the 'Bout One'
programme. Burns was credited with an
11-10, while Fox shot down two Yak-9s, or
possibly II-lOs; again, aircraft recognition
appears to have been a challenge for the
American pilots. andlin received credit
for another member of the mysterious and
probably misidentified 'Lavochkin La-?'
community. Other combats also took
place during that day, and it is possible
that two further North Korean aircraft
were shot down by Mustangs. However,
188 189
Australian-built Mustangs were used operationally in Korea by 77 Sqn RAAF, which flew the P-51 in combat from July 1950 until March/April 1951. Heading this
line-up of Australian Mustangs being prepared for another mission is A68-765, a US-built F-51D that was one of 299 Mustangs supplied to Australia from the USA,
although some Australian manufactured Mustangs are also believed to have found their way to Korea. R.L. Ward collection
ol.ving to the conFused nature of the whole
aFFair and the apparent lack of records to
veriFy much of the action, some histo-
rians now doubt altogether the role of
the Mustang in the combats of 29 june,
Further clouding the issue of what actually
took place that day. On 30 june the South
Korean Mustangs were moved to Taegu,
an air base that was to become well known
in the Following years. From there, combat
operations were duly flown by the 'Bout
One' aircraFt in support of South Korean
and US ground operations, especially ele-
ments of the US 24th InFantry Division
(particularly the 21st InFantry Regiment),
which were among the First US ground
troops under Task Force Smith actually
involved in the Fighting on Korean soil in
the early days of the war.
In addition to the initial combat opera-
tions of the RoKAF/'Bout One' Mustangs,
a Commonwealth country was also
joining in the eFFort during the early days
to try to stop the North Korean advance.
This was Australia, which had a signiFi-
cant presence in japan at the time as a
part of the AlIied occupation Forces under
the British Commonwealth Occupation
Force (B OF). Among the Australian air
elements of this organization was 77 Sqn
RAAF, equipped with Mustangs. Based at
Iwakuni in japan, the squadron had been
a part of the BCOF's air occupation con-
tingent (sometimes reFerred to as BCAIR)
For some time, and ironically actually flew
what was supposed to be its last occupa-
tion Force sorties From Iwakun i on 23 june,
just two days beFore the orth Koreans
attacked. Instead of returning home, the
Australians suddenly Found themselves
RETURN TO THE FRONT LINE
in a real shooting war. With the squad-
ron committed by the Australian govern-
ment in late june to the eFforts to help
South Korea, the unit's Mustangs were
readied For action. Initially operating From
Iwakuni and using the Mustang's legen-
dary long-range capabilities to good eFfect,
the Australian Mustangs were committed
From 30 june. They flew their First real
sorties on 2 july, providing Fighter cover
to U -committed aircraFt. The initial
combat mission For the RAAF Mustangs
was flown the next day, but although at
First successFul, the Mustangs soon proved
vulnerable to North Korean anti-aircraFt
Fire. Their First combat loss was on 7 july.
During its service in Korea 77 Sqn was
later attached to the USAF's 8th FBW,
and then to the 35th FIW.
In late june and early july 1950 Feverish
activity ensued at bases and depots all over
the USA to start the process of moving a
substantial number of Mustangs to japan,
For operation by the USAF over Korea. A
procession of Mustangs was moved to the
west coast of the USA, where they were
eventually collected together at the naval
air base atAlameda, CaliFornia. AFterprep-
aration work, 145 Mustangs were craned
aboard the aircraFt carrier USS Boxer
(CVA-2U. Some were housed in the car-
rier's hangars below the flight deck, while
others, suitably wrapped with a protective
coating to prevent the worst excesses of
saltwater corrosion, were parked on the
ship's flight deck. Also aboard the carrier
were seventy pilots regarded as being
Familiar with the F-51. The ship sailed
from Alameda on 15 july, and made the
PaciFic crossing to Tokyo in japan in just
The South Korean armed forces received
considerable assistance from the USA throughout
the Korean War, including the supply of Mustangs,
some of which were flown on behalf of the South
Koreans by USAF personnel. Here several South
Korean-marked Mustangs taxi out for yet another
ground-attack mission, along a taxiway made
from steel matting in typically primitive operating
conditions. R.L. Ward collection
eight days and sixteen hours, arriving on
23 july. At First many of the pilots aboard
the ship assumed they would Form the
nucleus of a new, Mustang-equipped FG,
but in the event most were dispersed on
arrival to a number of existing squadrons,
which rapidly began to convert on to the
Mustang From their jet fighters. In addi-
tion to the Mustangs transported to the
theatre by USS Boxer, a contingent of
retired Mustangs was rounded up From
various locations in the PaciFic. These
aircraFt were additional to the 'Bout One'
F-51 Os already reFerred to, and some were
in rather poor condition. Nevertheless,
the situation on the ground in South
Korea was rapidly worsening, and the
USAF needed anything and everything
that it could operate to put up some kind
of aerial cover For the increasingly hard-
pressed UN ground Forces.
USAF Mustangs in Korea
In july and August 1950, as a result of the
activities across the PaciFic and in the USA
to amass a viable strike Force of Mustangs,
the first USAF units began to transition
to the F-51D. Initially, on 3 july the 18th
FBW gathered together a number of its
experienced Former Mustang pilots, prin-
cipally From the 12th FBS, and deployed
them From Clark AB in the Philippines,
where the Wing was based, to johnson
AB in japan. There they Formed the
'Dallas' Provisional Squadron. This unit
flew its First Mustang sorties over Korea
on 15 july. On 10 july a Further provi-
sional unit, the 51st FS(P) was Formed
under FiFth Air Force command, and this
squadron located itselF at Taegu in South
Korea to start operations. SuFficient
Mustangs were by then starting to be put
back into the air to allow the First regular
USAF squadron to begin to convert on
to the type. This was the 40th FIS of the
35th FlW, based at Ashiya AB in Japan
with F-80C Shooting Stars. Conversion
From the F-80 to the F-5 I took place as
rapidly as possible, allowing the squadron
to move to Pohang, South Korea, on and
around 16 july. Operations against North
Korean ground Forces began as rapidly as
was Feasible. Pohang was an austere air
base in the extreme southern end of South
Korea, and it took much work by US
engineers to get it into shape For Mustang
operations. It later received the airField
coding K-3, in line with the assignment
of identiFication code numbers to Korean
air bases used by the USAF.
The early provisional units that flew
initial combat operations in the Mustang
did not last long. Indeed, the 'Bout One'
and 'Dallas' units merged and were even-
tually combined with the 51st FS(P) until
the arrival From the Philippines of sub-
stantial elements of the 18th FBW, which
moved north to join in the Fighting over
Korea. These included the 18th Wing's
12th and 67th FBSs, which were able to
take on charge some of the Mustangs trans-
ported From the USA by Boxer. Eventually
the 51 st FS(P) was absorbed into the 18th
RETURN TO THE FRONT LINE
Wing's establishment. Unlike the origi-
nal 'Bout One' Mustangs, the USS Boxer
Mustangs were generally in good shape,
and a Few of them had logged only a small
number of flying hours. It is thereFore
something of a myth, perpetrated by some
writers, that the Mustangs that served in
Korea were all barely-flyable relics that
had seen better days. Without doubt some
were in the twilight of their careers, but
others were in good shape to take on the
North Korean invaders. This was just as
well, For the North Korean advance was
virtually unstoppable in the early weeks
of the war, and the intervention of a great
deal of air power went a long way towards
preventing the orth Koreans From being
entirely successFul in their drive through
South Korea.
The 12th and 67th Sqns entered
combat as soon as possible aFter transi-
tioning to the Mustang (the 18th Wing's
other squadron, the 44th FBS, stayed
in the Philippines For local air deFence
there and retained its Shooting Stars).
Based initially at Johnson AB in japan
aFter deploying From Clark AB in the
Philippines, the 67th moved in early
August 1950 to Taegu (which received
the air base code K-2). The 12th Sqn in
eFfect absorbed the provisional 51st Sqn at
Taegu on 4 August. With both squadrons
thus located at Taegu, much work was
needed to extend and improve the inFra-
structure at that base (as had been the
case at Pohang), particularly to house the
two squadrons with their Full complement
of Mustangs. Together with the 40th Sqn
these two units joined the battle as soon
as possible. The 40th ended up having to
deFend the area of its own base From a major
North Korean advance along the eastern
coast of South Korea. The enemy's push
was met with intense activity From the
Mustangs, which succeeded in breaking
the North Korean advance while flying
around thirty-Five sorties a day in appall-
ing weather, with the cloudbase oFten at
around 200Ft (60m) or less.
The 12th and 67th Sqns also flew a
190 191
Official photographers have a tendency to produce somewhat contrived images, but in this case the result is an interesting view of US-operated F-510s and their
weaponry. These Mustangs are from the 39th FIS, based at Chinhae in the summer of 1951, and the underwing external fuel tanks in the foreground were probably
being stacked up ready to be made into napalm bombs. The nearest aircraft is F-510-25-NT 44-84910/FF-910. USAF
large number of missions as soon as it
entered the fray. The dangers of operat-
ing the Mustang as a fighter-bomber in
the face of extensive and often accurate
anti-aircraft fire were illustrated very soon
after the 67th began it combat deploy-
ment. On 5 August, while attacking a
orth Korean position near Hamchang,
outh Korea, the squadron suffered a sig-
nificant loss. Major Lou is J. ebi lie, the
unit's CO, was shot down while making a
repeat pa s against the enemy forces that
elements of his squadron were attacking
in an attempt to blunt a North Korean
advance towards Taegu. ome writers
have claimed that he was trying to deliver
one of his two 5001b bombs, which had
failed to detach on his first run. However,
the Time magazine report on the incident,
published on 4 September 1950, quoted
his wingman as saying that Maj ebille
radioed after his first pass that he had been
hit, and was going round again to attack
the enemy that had infl icted damage on
his aircraft. Sebille" Mustang crashed
directly into the North Korean position.
For his actions Maj ebille was posthu-
mously awarded the Medal of Honor.
He thus became the third and final U
Mustang pilot to receive thi, highet of
all U military gallantry medals, after the
awards to Maj James H. Howard and Capt
WilliamA. homooftheU AAFduring
World War Two. He was al 0 the first
U AF airman to be awarded the Medal of
RETUR TO THE FRONT LINE
Honor following the creation of the inde-
pendent U AF in 1947. The citation for
the award of the Medal of Honor to Maj
ebille read as follows:
Maj Sebille. distlnglilshed hll1helfby compicu-
ml> gallantry and intrepidity at the rIsk of his
life ab""e and beyond the call of duty. During
an attack on a can10uflagcd arca containing a
concentration of enemy artillery, and
armoured ,ehlcle,. Maj Sebille's F-5\ aircraft
was severely damaged by antiaircraft fire.
Although fully cogni:ant of the ,hmt period he
could remain airborne. he deliberately ignored
the possibility of survival by abandoning the
aircraft or by crash landing. and continued his
attack against the enemy forces threatening the
security of friendly ground troops. In his deter-
mination to inflict maximulll damage upon
the enemy. Maj. Sebille again exposed him,e1f
tll the inteme fire of enemy gun batteries and
dived on the target tll his death. The superior
leade"hip. daring. and selfless devotion tll
duty which he displayed rn the execution of an
extremely Jangcrou:-o were an
rinn to hoth hl:-. "lubnrdinatc:, and and
reflect the highest credit upon himself, the S
Air Force. and the armed forces of the United
arion..,.
In the day that followed, several further
quadrons converted on to the Mustang
and joined the action over South Korea.
These were the 39th Fl of the 35th
F1W (as previously related, that Wing's
40th FI had already entered combat
over Korea with the F-51 D; the Wing'
other squadron, the 41 t FI , retained
its F- OCs); and the 35th and 36th FB
of the th FBW. The 39th Fl was also
an F- 0 unit that made the rapid transi-
tion rapidly to the F-51. The squadron
received its 'new' Mu tangs during the
first day of August 195 and moved
into the increasingly busy Pohang air-
field. The 35th and 36th FB were simi-
larly F- O-equipped before moving on to
the Mustang. Based at Itazuke, the two
squadrons received their Mustangs on
and around Ii August; the Wing's other
squadron, the 80th FBS, retained its F-80
and did not transition to the Mustang.
The 35th and 36th Sqns initially oper-
ated from Tsuiki in Japan owing to the
congestion at the South Korean air bases,
again exploiting the Mustang's excellent
range to fly over to Korea from Japan
and loiter in target area for considerably
longer than the F-80s could have done.
Eventually the 35th qn moved to uwon
in early October 1950, while the 36th
moved later in October to Kimpo.
By that time in the war a considerable
amount of action had taken place. Th
initial orth Korean advance had pu hed
a sub tantial way into outh Korea, but a
combination of air power and last-ditch
defence by and outh Korean force
just succeeded in stopping the orth
Koreans. In July the U forces were able
to establish a bridgehead at Pusan, which
considerably aided this defence. On 15
eptember 1950 a major allied force wa
landed at Inchon in Operation Chromite.
This invasion force, principally mad
up of US Army and US Marine orps
(USM ) troops, aided by forces at Pusan,
was able to push back the North Koreans.
Air power wa a vital ingredient in the
success of the subsequent drive forward by
combined U force, which succe sfully
retook the outh Korean capital eoul,
and then drove north. The th Parallel
was crossed, and the forces routed the
North Koreans, successfully apturing th
In addition to South Africa, Australia also flew
Mustangs in the Korean War as a part of the British
Commonwealth's contribution to the United Nations
effort to help South Korea. In this picture an RAAF
Mustang receives attention from Australian ground
crew 'in the field'. The Australians brought in their
own specialists to service the Mustangs of 77 Sqn
RAAF, even though they operated alongside US
units in the theatre. R.L. Ward collection
orth Korean capital, Pyongyang. For
a time Mustang were actually based at
Pyongyang while the advance continued.
nfortunately the war then increa-
ingly took on a much more inister
form. In early October, with the orth
Korean falling back in increasing disar-
ray, the Chinese warned the U force
of Chine e intervention if the advance
continued towards the North Korean
horder with communist China. In early
ovember Chinese forces began to enter
orth Korea, and on 26 November the
first major clashes between Chinese and
US troops began. By that tage the U
forces had total air superiority, the orth
Korean ir Force having been destroyed
largely on the ground by UN air attacks.
With Mustangs and other allied aircraft
operating near the famed Yalu River
border area with China, encounters with
hinese aircraft begn to occur. Worse,
the hinese aircraft were mainly oviet
air force MiG-IS jet fighters, flown by
experienced oviet pi lots seconded to
the Chinese. This changed the whole
nature of the air war. During the first
day of ovember 1950 Mu tangs of the
th and 1 th Wings tarted to encounter
MiG-15 that were ba ed across the Yalu
River in Manchuria, and although at first
the appearance of the MiGs were only
periodic, the MiG-IS soon became a key
RETURN TO THE FRO IT LINE
adversary for the U aerial forces. During
late ovember the Chinese launched
a major offensive into North Korea
from Manchuria and immediately drove
south, retaking eoul in January 1951.
Fortunately the communist advance was
eventually halted and the Chine e forces
were pushed back to a line roughly equat-
ing to the 3 th Parallcl. Allied airpower,
including the Mustang force, was a key
to aiding the N ground operations that
eventually held the hinese inva ion.
From the pring of 195 J the war con-
tinued as a partial stalemate, but there
was no let-up for the Mustangs, some of
which had been relocated several times to
a number of air bases as the ground war
moved forwards and then backwards.
Inaction, each Mustang typicallycan'ied
a 500lb or J,0001b bomb beneath each
wing on it main underwing pylon beside
the undercarriage, plus three unguided
RPs outboard of this on 'zero-length'
launchers. (The cumber ome rocket rails
tried out during World War Two, and the
equally drag-producing and ill-favoured
three-tube bazooka-type mountings of
econd World War vintage were not used
in Korea.) Often just two rockets were
carried beneath each wing in addition
to the bomb. Probably the most effective
weapon used in Korea by the Mustangs,
however, was napalm. This highly flam-
mabie mixture was extremely effective
against troops, burning everything where
it landed and being almost impossible to
extingui h until it had burned it elf out. It
was typically carried in converted under-
wing fuel tank, and simply dropped on
to the target from low level. The pr ci e
mixing of chemicals that constItuted the
mixture wa made before the mis ion,
and captured North Korean troop often
talked of the fear and disarray that napalm
created in their ranks.
Typical fighter-bomber missions for
the Mustangs saw two or four aircraft
working together (lone sorties were rarely
flown by the fighter-bombers), and targets
were often identified for the Mustangs by
specially-configured North American
T-6 Texans. The latter, referred to as
'Mosquitoes', were an invaluabl addi-
tion to the U AF's operation, although
ground spotters were often also u ed.
Sometimes the Mustangs flew a e cort
for AF B-29s, but this wa not by
any mean their main task. An inter-
esting role in which some Mustangs
were involved was the developing art of
combat earch and rescue ( AR), which
fir t came into it own in the Korean
War. sing early operational helicopter,
sometime covered by Mustang, which
could shoot up any enemy troops in the
vicinity, a number of armed re cues of
192 193
RET RN TO THE FRO T LINE
Illustrating the sometimes awful conditions in which Mustangs operated during the Korean War, even at reasonably well-appointed air bases, a 2 Sqn SAAF
Mustang bearing the South African number '330' wades through the water at K-10 Chinhae. Adding to the spartan atmosphere of the picture, a pile of bombs
scattered somewhat haphazardly in the mud is seen in the foreground. USAF
downed aircrew were attempted behind
the orth Korean and hinese line.
Air bases on the Korean peninsula that
were used by the USAF Mustang force
included Taegu (K-2), Pohang (K-3),
Pusan (K-9), Chinhae (K-l0), uwon
(K-13), Kimpo (K-14), Seoul (K-16),
Hoengsong (K-46) and 0 an (K-55), in
addition to the major orth Korean loca-
tion at Pyongyang (K-24) and the air base
at Yonpo (K-27). The Mustang was not
alone as a propeller-driven aircraft in the
overall U tactical fighter-bomber effort
against the orth Koreans and Chine e
over the battlefields. nited tates avy
and USMC F4U Corsairs and Douglas AD
Skyraiders, plu British Royal avy Fairey
Fireflies, also contributed massively to the
aerial offensive against the enemy.
Twin Mustang Finale
The F- 2 Twin Mustang similarly con-
tinued operations in Korea, following the
initial operations in june 1950. It proved
to be a very valuable a set for ground-
attack work, but the F- 2 force was never
very large, and ventually a developing
carcity of spares and a growing shortage
of Twin Mustangs them elve reduced
their effectiveness and helped to put an
end to their operations. everal F-82s
were 10 t during the conflict, some disap-
pearing without trace. On the night of 7
August 1950 a Twin Mustang piloted by
Lt Charles Moran went mi sing during a
night ground-atta k mission. The F-82s
sometimes flew alone on this type of work,
and Moran's aircraft simply disappeared.
Its wreckage wa found som eighteen
months later. Moran was a seriou loss to
the 68th qn, not only being an accom-
plished and exp rienced pilot, but also
having scored on of the three aerial
victories credited to Twin Mustangs on
27 june, ju t after the start of the conflict.
Another sad loss during thi period was a
renowned former Mustang pilot from the
days of the Eighth Air Force in World
War Two. One of the colourful characters
of the 20th FG at King's Cliffe in England
had been Lt Ernest Fiebelkorn. The 20th
FG's top-scoring ace, with nine aerial
victorie, Fiebelkorn remained in the
U AAF and then the USAF after World
War Two, and eventually became a Twin
Mustang pilot with the 4th F-AWS at
aha AB on Okinawa island. On the
afternoon of 6 july four F- 2s from the
4th qn left ltazuke in japan to try to
locate a major column of orth Korean
tanks that was heading south, and which
Fifth Air Force intelligenc had failed to
locate. The Twin Mustangs searched in
vain for the tanks in poor weather condi-
tions. Fiebelkorn volunteered to let down
into the low cloud to try to find th m,
and he and his radio/radar operator were
never heard from again. The wreckage
of th ir F-82G was not found until some
time later, when the U force eventu-
ally ecured the area. Evidently the Twin
Mustang had flown into a high peak in
the poor visibility.
The 339th qn was the first of the three
F-82 units in the Korean theatre to give up
its aircraft, in the spring of 1951. The 68th
successfully retained its Twin Mustangs
until the first half of 1952, and the 4th
qn also kept ome of them on trength
during that period. All three of the Twin
Mustang squadrons eventually transi-
tioned completely to the F-94 tarfire
nightfighter. ne other F-82 squadron
can lay claim to having been active during
the Korean War. This was the 449th qn
at Ladd AFB near Anchorage in Alaska.
The tart of the Korean War saw the unit's
Twi n Mustang pol ici ng the airspace
along the border with the Soviet nion
in that oft-forgotten outpost of the U A.
To accomplish this task better, four of the
squadron's F- 2 were deployed forward
to ome, from where patrols and visual
reconnaissance flight were made over
the Bering Straits area. ome Soviet air
activity was witnessed, but no trouble
was encountered and the unit eventually
began to transition to the F-94.
South African Mustangs
in Combat
In November 1950 the USAF and
Australian Mu tang contingents in Korea
were joined bY'a further Commonwealth
country. This was outh Africa, which
a igned a fighter quadron to the conflict
in Korea as a part of its commitment to
the cause. The unit concerned was 2
'Cheetah' Sqn, AAF, which was made
up of volunte rs from the outh African
armed forces and equipped with Mustangs.
The F- 51 Ds were suppl i d from US stocks,
there being sufficient Mu tangs avail-
able to do this by that time. The outh
African contingent ailed to japan from
Durban, outh Africa, on 27 September
194
1950. Once in japan the squadron moved
to johnson AB to receive its Mustang
and undergo training on the type, th
Mustang not being a part of the AAF's
inventory at that time and therefore unfa-
miliar to many of the outh African
pilots. Initially twenty-five F-51 Ds weI'
made available to the outh African,
and after a period of training and work-
ing-up the squadron moved to Korea.
The first base for the Cheetah was Pusan
(K-9), which wa occupied at that time
by the 12th FB of the 1 th FBW. The
outh Africans ubsequently operated
under the umbrella of the 1 th Wing,
and started operations on 19 ovember.
A move was made soon after into North
Korea as the UN forces advanced forward,
the squadron moving in to Pyongyang
(K-24). However, with the Chine e inva-
sion and the subsequent pushing back of
the U forces, the outh Africans pulled
out of orth Korea and returned south,
taking part in the major aerial effort to try
to halt the Chinese advance.
Reconnaissance Mustangs
In addition to th fighter-bomber role
that the F-51D fulfilled in Korea with
capability, the Mustang also flew for the
Americans a one of the principal recon-
naissance aircraft in the conflict. Several
aircraft type operated in Korea in the
reconnaissance role, but the Mustang
became the principal land-ba ed tacti-
cal reconnaissance aircraft, and as such
added to the laurels of the F-51 during the
Korean War. For daytime visual recon-
naissance and photography of a tactical
nature the AF principally came to
employ the Mustang, while for night-time
reconnai sance a version of the Dougla
B/A-26 Invader was used. In fact the
two type aided the whole I' connais-
sance effort by working hand-in-hand,
the Mustangs by day and the Invaders by
night.
When the Korean War began, however,
the USAF only had one daylight tacti-
cal reconnaissance quadron available in
japan. This was the th TRS (later rede-
signated the 15th TR ), which operated
the Lockheed RF-80A, a camera-equipped
version of the F-80 Shooting Star jet
fighter. lt was clear as soon as the conflict
started that a considerable amount of tac-
tical reconnaissance coverage was going
to be needed, and one result of this was
the e tablishment of the 45th TR on 3
eptember 195 at Itazuke. Thi unit was
intended to be equipped with Mustangs,
for tactical coverage of the battlefield
and front line plus supply lines running
north from the battlefield, while the
RF- OA-equipped 15th TRS was tasked
with coverage of potential targets deeper
within orth Korea itself, uch as airfields
and communication, for which the jet's
uperior speed would be of most value.
However, there was a complete shortage
of RF-51D camera-equipped Mustangs
in the FEAF, and the 45th TRS did not
start to receive suitable Mustangs until
ovember 195 . The squadron subse-
quently flew a mixed bag of camera-
equipped RF-51D and traight F-5ID,
the latter usually being the most preva-
lent. Some, if not all, of the RF-51 Ds were
actually Mustangs that were converted for
the reconnaissance role in Japan, which
therefore theoretically added to the total
of actual reconnaissance Mustangs con-
verted by AA in World War Two from
straight fighters. everthele, contrary
to st<ltements in some published sources,
the camera-equipped Mustangs in Korea
were usually and probably always armed,
as were their econd World War coun-
terparts.
Initial operations for the reconnais-
sance Mustangs of the 45th TRS were
often flown from Taegu (K-2), and at
first involved singlc- or two-plane flights.
ometimes specific areas where enemy
activity was suspected would be overflown
in a search pattern that took in a to-mile
(16km) radiu around the suspected site
of the enemy to catch up with any local
movements by North Korean or Chinese
forces that had taken place under the
cover of darkne s. The communist would
often only move any distance at night,
and take cover during the day to avoid
being spotted, but the reconnais ance
Mu tangs became very efficient at seeking
out concealed enemy forces, and their
pilots came to know their areas of opera-
tion very well. However, the vulnerabil-
ity of the Mustang to ground fire resulted
in several modifications in their tactic.
From the spring of 1951, for example, mis-
sions would usually be flown with two air-
195
craft, one going down low while the other
stayed at a higher altitude to look out for
sign of ground fire. ometimes missions
involved four aircraft for additional afety
and enhanced capability to sight on-
cealed targets on the ground. On occasion
the Mustangs would act as target potters
(this was the 'Mosquito' mission other-
wise usually flown by sp cially-configured
T-6 Texans) for U AF fighter-bombers
(which were often Mustang of the fighter-
bomber squadrons), or for naval gunfire.
ometimes the reconnaissance Mustangs
were able to shoot-up targets of opportu-
nity, but this was not their primary objec-
tive.
The unit to which the 45th and 15th
TR s were eventually assigned, along
with the 12th TR with its night-recon-
naissance Invaders, was the 67th TRW.
This Wing wa formally activated on
25 February 1951 at Komaki AB, Japan,
specifically for operations over Korea.
It took over the activitie of the 543rd
Tacti al upport Group, with headquar-
ters at Itazuke, that had overseen some
of the reconnaissance effort up to that
RETURN TO THE FRONT LINE
RETURN TO THE FRONT LINE
Reconnaissance Mustangs fought a long, lonely but none the less successful war in Korea, and were among the unsung heroes of the conflict. This RF-51 D,
44-14547, was built as a P-51 D-10-NA and converted to reconnaissance configuration. Bearing the name Symons Lemon, it was operated by the 45th TRS and
carries the RF-51 D's 'Buzz Number' prefix RF'. The 45th TRS had been established in September 1950 specifically for operations in Korea, and was the final
US-operated Mustang squadron active in the Korean War. USAF
time. Operations by the new 67th Wing
began at once in support of U forces in
Korea. The Wing's headquarters moved
to Taegu (K-2) in South Korea during
March 1951, before moving on to Kimpo
in August 1951, where it saw out the
war. The squadrons assigned to th is wing
flew from a variety of air bases in South
Korea during that time, with detach-
ments moving around as necessary. The
67th already had a considerable historical
attachment to the Mustang. As recounted
earlier, as the 67th TRG it had included
reconnaissance Mustangs in its inventory
during the war in Europe, right up to the
end of the Second World War. The CO
of the 67th TRW from the time of its
activation in February 1951 was Col Karl
L. Polifka, a celebrated Second World
War reconnaissance pilot, who sowed
the seeds for the 67th to become a highly
efficient organization. Underlining how
dangerous the reconnaissance task was in
Korea, Polifka was killed on 1 july 1951
in a Mustang during a dangerous recon-
naissance mission to the Kaesong area.
Reconnaissance pilots flew a tour of 100
sorties in Korea, a high number to fly in
the increasingly vulnerable Mustang.
Aerial Combat
Although the Mustang's main task in
Korea was of a tactical nature, and did not
primarily include air-to-air combat, it was
inevitable that aerial combats would take
place from time to time, and the USAF's
Mustangs scored a number of aerial victo-
ries over orth Korean propeller-driven
aircraft during the conflict. There were
also less-conclusive encounters with MiG-
ISs, which the Mustang could certainly
not out-run, but if necessary could engage
in a turning fight that would considerably
favour the propeller-driven aircraft. There
are no definite records of Mustangs shoot-
ing down MiG-ISs, but on at least two
occasions USAF Mustang pilots managed
to get a good burst of fire at a MiG-IS that
was subsequently assessed as a 'probable'
victory. One of these was on 7 November
1950, when several pilots of the 12th
FBS scored numerous hits on a MiG-IS
that had intercepted them from its base
at Antung in Manchuria, just over the
Yalu River border area. (The MiG base at
Antung was clearly visible to USAF pilots
when they were flying over northwestern
North Korea, close to the Ch inese border.)
An explosion was seen on the ground fol-
lowing this encounter, but, as the MiG was
not definitely seen to crash, the 'victory'
was not allowed by the US F.
Mustangs had some successes aga inst
propeller-driven North Korean aircraft,
even after the confused a rial dogfight-
ing of the initial few days of the con-
flict over Kor a. A successful day was I
ovember 1950, when elements of the
67th FBS were attacking ground targets in
the Yalu River area. The Mustangs were
armed with two napalm tanks and six Sin
unguided RPs each, in addition to their
six 0.5in machine guns. The American
fighter-bombers were attacked by orth
Korean fighters, described by one of the
merican pilots, Capt Ross Flake, rather
more accurately than on previous occa-
sions, as 'Yak-type North Korean fighters'.
In the ensuing dogfight the Mustang pilots
proved far superior to their North Korean
adversaries in terms of flying skills, and
two of the Yaks (probably Yak-9s) were
shot down, Capt Flake and Capt Robert
Thresher being credited with the victo-
ries. The Mustang could certainly hold its
own against this type of aerial opposition,
even though the nimble Yak fighters were
able to turn with the F-51Ds and had a
creditable all-round performance. In total,
nineteen North Korean aircraft were cred-
ited to SAF Mustang pilots during the
Korean War, although subsequent revi-
sions have eliminated some of these vic-
tories. Much of the fighter activity over
Korea for the USAF in the early days of the
war was performed by the F-80C, but the
intervention of the Chinese and Russians
during ovember 1950 with the excellent
MiG-IS necessi tated the deployment of a
more advanced fighter by the Americans.
This took the form of the superlative F-86
Sabre, and for the rest of the confl ict it
was the Sabre that equipped an increas-
ing number of USAF fighter units in the
Korean theatre. The Sabre was a match
for the MiG-IS, and at the end of the war
the Americans claimed a 10: I kill ratio
against the MiG-IS by the various marks
of F-86 deployed in Korea. ubsequent
revisions, and access to Soviet records
following the end of the Cold War, have
led to this figure being revised to more like
5:1, still a very creditable ratio and one
of the major explanation of the eventual
failure of the communists to win the war
in Korea. For the Mustang, there followed
the somewhat unfortunate role of being
used as bait while on their fighter-bomber
196
missions over North Korea, particularly in
what came to be known as 'MiG Alley',
in the Yalu River area, in the hope that
MiG-ISs would be lured into intercept-
ing the F-51 Os while Sabres waited in the
wings, ready to pounce on the communist
fighters.
Mustang Operations
Wind Down
The number of Mustangs actually used
on operations over Korea started to
diminish during 1951. The high point
of the Mustang's deployment in the
Korean War was probably reached in
early December 1950, with six USAF
fighter-bomber squadrons operating the
type, plus one from Australia and one
from South Africa, as well as the newly
arrived reconnaissance Mustangs of the
45th TRS. The first unit to transition
from the Mustang to other types was
the 8th FBW, which began to withdraw
back to Itazuke in japan on or around
December 1950 (the official records say
10 December 1950), to return to flying
the F-80. The Mustangs that its 35th and
36th TRSs had been flying were mainly
retained in Korea and distributed to other
Mustang squadrons, including those of
the 18th FBW. In May 1951 the 40th F1S
of the 35th FIW was also withdrawn, and
rotated to japan to begin conversion to
jets. The 35th Wing's 39th FIS was then
attached to the 18th Wing, joining that
Wing's 12th and 67th FBSs on operations
from a series of bases including Chinhae
and loengsong (K-46), the latter often
acting as a forward staging base for the
Wing's Mustangs. During April 1951 77
Sqn RAAF also ceased combat activities
with the Mustang, and stood down to
transition to the Gloster Meteor F.Mk
8 jet fighter. The squadron had been
based for a short time on orth' Korean
territory at Yonpo during the UN push
into North Korea in the early winter
of 1950, but had latterly used Pusan as
one of its chief bases, while also using
lwakuni in japan as its principalmainte-
nance centre. The squadron flew its last
Mustang mission on 6 April, attacking
a convoy of Chinesc transport vehicles.
Overall, the Australians had flown some
3,800 Mustang sorties, and used fifty-six
Mustangs in Korea, of which eighteen
were lost to all causes, with eight pilots
killed and at least one taken prisoner.
During 1951 the need for Mustangs in
Korea increased, but the number avail-
able bcgan to dwindle seriously. Many of
these Mustangs were becoming very war
weary, although they were making a very
worthwhile contribution to the overall
U war effort. The Mustang fighter-
bombers flew some of the missions in
two major aerial campaigns, Operations
Strangle and Saturate, which aimed to
bri ng pressure on the North Koreans to
negotiate by interdicting supply lines and
preventing supplies reaching the commu-
nist front lines in the increasingly static
ground war. Eventually, in june 1952,
the Mustang force began to wind down.
The 39th FIS ceased Mustang opera-
tions during that month, and was reas-
signed to the 51st FIW at Suwon (K-13)
to re-equip with F- 6s. Increasingly the
fighter-bomber role over Korea for the
USAF was taken over by the Republic
F-84E Thunderjet, particularly longer-
range penetrations over orth Korea,
allowing the remaining Mustang units
gradually to run down their operations.
The 12th FBS ceased its Mustang opera-
tions in December 1952 and duly con-
verted to Sabres. It later flew from a
new air base, with better facilities com-
pared with many of the existing South
Korean airfields, at Osan (K-55). In the
same month 2 Sqn SAAF also ceased
Mustang operations. The South Africans
had operated with distinction during
their timc on the Mustang, and had con-
tinued to be attached to the 18th FBW
during all their time in Korea, princi-
pally based at Chinhae (K-lO) in South
Korea. During its time with the Mustang
2 Sqn had been allocated further batches
of Mustangs from US stocks, but had lost
seventy-three or seventy-four aircraft to
all causes, some twelve pilots being killed
and others missing or captured, in at least
10,373 sorties flown. The squadron tran-
sitioned to the F-86F after finishing with
the Mustang. A number of the South
African F-51Ds were returned to the
USAF in December 1952 while 2 Sqn
converted on to the jets. At least two
of these, and probably more, were th n
handed over to the RoKAF. The outh
Koreans continued to fly the Mustang up
to the end of the war, principally using
the air base at Kangnung (K-18). By the
end of the conflict they were the only
U force still operating the type.
The final USAF FBS to continue flying
the Mustang in Korea was th 67th FB
of the 18th FBW. This squadron had pre-
viously flown the 10,000th sortie of the
Wing's Korean operations, and then the
45,000th, but eventually ceased Mustang
operations in arly 1953 to convert to
the F-86. The final mission was flown on
197
23 january 1953, ending two-and-a-half
years of Mustang fighter-bomber combat
over Korea. This left the 45th TR a the
only USAF unit still flying the Mustang
over Korea at that time, albeit mainly
on reconnaissance duties, but even that
squadron was in the process of winding-
down its Mustang operations. The unit
had started converting on to the RF-80C,
the most up-to-date PR version of the
F-80, in the late summer and autumn of
1952, and flew its final Mustang opera-
tions in February 1953.
On 27 july 1953 an armistice was at
last signed that ended the Korean War,
although it was a conflict without a reso-
lution, and ever since the Korean penin-
sula has been split between orth and
South Korea, tension at times threaten-
ing to spill over into more conflict. For
the Mustang the Korean War had been
its second and last major war. The F-51 Os
and RF-51 Os that saw action over Korea
had performed a very significant job for
the U forces, although the type had
taken a beating from anti-ai rcraft defences
that underlined the Mustang's vulnerabil-
ity to ground fire. evertheless, the UN
had achieved its immediate goals in Korea
by the armistice of july 1953, and the
Mustang had certainly b en an important
factor in the defeat of the orth Korean
and Chinese ground forces.
CHAPTER 10
Mustang Men
Building the Mustang
North American Aviation was fortunate to have an
outstanding team of company test pilots. After the
disastrous crash of the NA73X prototype in the
hands of Paul Balfour, the far more accomplished
pilot who assumed the responsibility of chief of
the flight testing for the new fighter was Robert
C. Chilton (pictured here in civilian garb), an
exceptional pilot. Eventually NAA employed
a competent team of test pilots, which even
included, from 1944, sixteen-victory World War
Two fighter ace George Welch. NAA
Castle, Delaware. This proved a total dead end for
Schmued, who eventually took up Kindelberger's offer.
Unfortunately the Schmued family chose to drive to
California when they relocated, and on the way they
were involved in a disastrous car accident in which
Schmued's wife, Luisa, was killed and Schmued was
badly injured.
It was not until February 1936 that Schmued took up
full employment with NAA at Inglewood, but from that
time onwards he played an increasingly significant role
in the design team, often working under chief engineer
Raymond Rice. Schmued was instrumental in the design
and development of the Mustang, a fact now generally
accepted by many historians (although admittedly not
all). He also later played a part in the development of
the equally iconic F86 Sabre, and in the early develop-
ment of the F-100 Super Sabre supersonic jet fighter.
Unfortunately the ill feeling and politics within NAA
increasingly took its toll on Schmued, and he left the
company in 1952. He later joined the large Northrop
organization, and was involved in the development of
the T-38 Talon supersonic jet trainer. He died in June
1985 in California.
'Dutch' Kindelberger effectively put Schmued in charge
of the detail design of the new fighter, and later credited
him with having had a central role in its design. Sadly,
Schmued's part in the Mustang's creation was played
down by several of NAA's big names in the period after
World War Two, especially by Lee Atwood. who actu-
ally suggested the revolutionary radiator location in the
Mustang was his idea.
Similarly, aerodynamicist E.R. Horkey appears to have
been largely forgotten by history, despite his important
contributions to the design that became the P-51. Horkey
went to NAA in 1938 from the California Institute of
Technology (Cal tech), where he had studied aerodynam-
ics and had shown afresh way of looking at aerodynamic
efficiency. In fact. Caltech played an important overall
role in the Mustang story, carrying out much wind-tunnel
testing at Pasadena, California, in support of the devel-
opment programme.
The reports by NACA aerodynamicist Russell Robinson
into new aerofoil designs were also important, and were
typical of the hard work of many individuals that led to
the successful application of laminar-flow theories in
the Mustang's unique wing section. A great deal of
work went into the overall streamlining of the Mustang
by designer Carter Hartley, employing mathematics
to determine optimum curves between given points.
Another personality who is all too easily forgotten is
Art Chester, who was among the clan of celebrated
racing pilots in the pre-war USA. Chester was largely
the man to thank for the excellent integration of the
Allison engine into the Mustang's layout. giving the
new type such awell-thought-out and streamlined 'front
end'. Nor must it be forgotten that members of the BPC
also made important inputs of advice and experience
regarding the the British requirements. The role of
'Dutch' Kindelberger himself cannot be overestimated.
His overall guiding hand, and considerable business
sense, were important factors in the path taken by NAA
in becoming a major combat aircraft producer in the
early 1940s.
Ed Schmued's own story is one of tragedy and
sadness. Born in Germany in December 1B99, and of
Austrian descent, Schmued trained as a mechanical
engineer but left Europe for employment in South
America in 1925. He worked in Brazil for an offshoot
of General Motors before being hired by the original
NAA organization and taking up employment in the
USA in 1930. For a time Schmued worked for the US
derivative of the Dutch company Fokker, the Fokker
Aircraft Corporation of America, although he had no
direct association with the European manifestation of
Fokker. He certainly had no connection whatsoever with
Messerschmitt, as was often claimed during and after
World War Two.
Having been aware of Schmued's talents and forvvard
thinking for some time, 'Dutch' Kindelberger invited him
to move to California, where the newly created NAA
organization had been set up to become an aircraft
design and manufacturing company in its own right.
This would have meant moving across the USA to the
west coast, but Schmued's wife refused, so he went
to work for the Bellanca Aircraft Corporation at New
Although many aircraft types have the name of one
designer closely associated with them, almost all major
aircraft, with rare notable exceptions, are usually the
product of considerable collaborative work between
teams of designers, draughtsmen, aerodynamicists,
engineers and many other specialists who are so impor-
tant in aircraft design. The P-51 was no exception,
and many talented specialists were involved in its
creation. There was considerable and noteworthy co-
operation between departments within NAA that helped
the whole process along, and important inputs were
similarly contributed by outside organizations such as
the NACA. However, several personalities in particular
can lay claim to have been 'at the sharp end' during the
creation and subsequent development of the Mustang.
Unfortunately a considerable amount of controversy
developed after World War Two as to who provided
the main influences. In particular, Lee Atwood of NAA
appears to have received rather more praise for the
Mustang's design (and in particular the positioning of
the radiator) than his presence seems to have war-
ranted, and some of the other big names in NAA, such
as chief engineer Raymond Rice, have also received
perhaps a little too much credit. In reality, the hands
of Edgar Schmued were definitely on the P-51 from the
start, his influence and considerable inputs being vital
to the Mustang's design. Company president James H.
The Mustang was not the creation of one man,
but a product of the input of many competent
designers, engineers and mathematicians. In this
famous picture, with a photo of an early Mustang
hanging askew in the background, larry Waite
(left), chief of engineering Raymond H. Rice, and
Edgar Schmued (right) pose with a set of Mustang
drawings. Schmued was the aircraft's chief
designer, and as such holds most claim to be the
father of the Mustang, although others at NAA
later laid claim to the title. NAA
structure. evertheless, a number of
generalizations can be made about the
Mustang in it ba ic forms.
All Mustangs had an all-metal tru-
ture. The fuselage wa constructed in
three main sections; the forward section
comprising thc engine bay; the central
fuselage structure, comprising the cockpit
and the radiator housing area; and the rear
fuselage/tail section. The engine bearers,
one on each side, were of a strong, m tal
cantilever box-section con truction and
were affixed by two sturdy attachment
each to the firewall at the front of the
main fuselage section. A special addi-
tional structurc was used for the attach-
ment of thc engine cowl ing panels. Access
to the Mustang's engine, whcther Allison
or Merlin, was generally good, although
some equipmcnt was incvitably somcwhat
difficult to reach.
Except for engine changes, much of the
work on Mustang engine in operational
theatres was carried out in the open, often
in poor weather. The forward structure for
the engine and the cowling panels were
of an altered design for Mcrlin-engined
P-51s compared with the original,
All ison-engined versions. This was due to
the diffcrent location of equipment and
pipework around each engine type, and
to experience with the Alii on-engined
Mustangs, AA drawing on operational
experience with these when altering the
mounting area for their Merlin-engined
suces ors. This improved engine access
for ground crews, but there was an impor-
tant quirk that most Mustang ground
The Mustang airframe was all metal, although
some of its control surfaces, such as the rudder
shown here, were of metal (Alclad/aluminium)
framework with fabric covering. Although many
people find it difficult to believe that a modern,
high-performance aircraft such as the Mustang
had some fabric covering, it was often easier to
balance fabric-covered control surfaces than those
that were metal-covered. Nevertheless, after World
War Two this feature was done away with in
favour of metal-skinned control surfaces on many
of the examples remaining in military service. NAA
Basic Structure and Fittings
In its basic construction the Mustang was
generally conventional, but it broke new
ground in its use of the specially created
laminar-flow aerofoil. There were impor-
tant differences betwcen the different
mark of Mu tang, as outlined elsewhere
in this book. The early Allison-engined
Mustangs diffcrcd particularly in their
fu elage structure and wing armament
to the later, Merlin-engincd Mustangs,
and the P-SI D was different to the earlicr
Merlin-engined examples particularly in
its cut-down rear fuselagc and wing gun
armament, plus other less obvious changes
such a the load-carryi ng capabi Iity of its
wing pylons. The lightweight Mustangs
were again different, in their complete
in the production of war material on a
scale that had never been seen before,
and is unlikely ever to be een again.
At the time of it ma s production, thc
P-S1 was only ever built in three dif-
ferent locations: the AA factorie at
Inglewood (Mine Field), California,
and Dallas (Grand Prairie), Texas, and
at Fi hermans Bend in Australia by the
A . orch American built its Mustangs
in the most modern purpose-built fac-
tories available. These had a new, clean
environmcnt, moving assembly line and
a skilled, motivated and well-looked-after
workforce. The aircraft that was produced
in the e factorie was far supcrior to many
of it contemporaries in terms of build
quality and ea e of manufacture. It was
far ahead of the archaic Curtiss-Wright
PAO Warhawk series, thc aircraft that the
Briti h had initially approachcd AA to
build, and whose rejection by NAA lcd to
the creation of the Mustang as a private
venturc. In the A during the Second
World War there was no hortage of raw
materials or manpower with which to
mas -produce warplane, and this resulted
198 199
BUILDING THE MUSTANG BUILDING THE MUSTANG
A basically finished P-51D fuselage assembly,
complete with tailplane, is hoisted over the wing
structure on to which it will be lowered and
attached. The Mustang's wing was a strong, one-
piece all-metal construction, its design being
based on the special laminar-flow aerofoil section
developed by NAA and NACA engineers. The wing
was manufactured in two sections, the port and
starboard mainplanes, which were then bolted
together at the centreline to create the one-piece
structure to which the main undercarriage, self-
sealing fuel tanks, flaps and ailerons, and other
major fittings were added. The fuselage-to-wing
connection was made at four principal attachment
points. NAA
By the time Mustang production had speeded
up, much larger assembly lines with rather more
professional equipment and moving trestles
had been developed. In this picture the engine
installation (sometimes called a 'power egg') is
being moved into place for installation on the
firewall of a P-51D or P-51K fuselage. The heavy
engine installation is held by a moving frame-type
crane suspended above the fuselage for ease of
movement and installation. NAA
The scene at NAA's Inglewood factory early in
Mustang production. Mustang fuselages are
being worked on at left, while a selection of
fuselages of Harvard trainers destined for Britain
or British Commonwealth service are on the right.
At this time a comparatively small and cramped
production line was sufficient to meet initial
orders, but as Mustang production requirements
grew the production lines became larger, longer
and of necessity more spacious, as Inglewood's
facilities evolved and were extended. NAA
This photograph and the following pictures give
an idea of the sequence of Mustang manufacture,
though they show construction in both of NAA's
main production centres and depict a variety
of Mustang marks. In this view, early Mustang
fuselages are set on wooden trestles to be
worked on, small wheels on the trestles allowing
the fuselages to be manually moved along the
production line. The large metal tank held to the
firewall by two straps is an oil tank, the design
of which remained similar for later Mustang
production, in this case holding approximately 10
US gal. NAA
The Mustang's engine was finished as a complete
unit for attaching to the fuselage firewall, with
all the necessary bearers, attachment points,
pipework and plumbing in place. This speeded
up and simplified manufacture, and made engine
changing easy when it became necessary. The
transformation from Allison to Merlin power,
however, caused various changes to be made to
the attachment, pipework and thrust line of the
engine installation, as well as to the position of
the carburettor air intake, which was above the
engine for the Allison V-1710 and below for the
Packard V-1650. Here, a V-1650-7 is shown in its
complete state, having just been attached to the
fuselage firewall. The engine bearers and cowling
attachment structure were all part of the overall
engine package. NAA
A conference or demonstration appears to be
taking place (note the crowd of people in the
centre of the picturel in the part of the Inglewood
production line where the fuselage structures were
mated to the wing assemblies. This view clearly
shows a completed wing assembly, with its gun
bay particularly noteworthy. The guns themselves
have yet to be instalied. NAA
200 201
BUILDING THE M STAI G BUILDI G THE MUSTANG
This P-51K-5-NT, 44-11554, has just been completed
at NAA's Dallas (Grand Prairie) plant, and is
undergoing some final checking. This completion
work is doubly important because the aircraft has
been converted during production into an F-6K
reconnaissance Mustang. This is shown by the
camera windows in the rear fuselage on the port
side, one of which is bisected by the rear bar of
the dark blue and white national insignia, and the
d/f loop on the fuselage spine. Reconnaissance
aircraft required very precise navigation
and pinpointing of their targets for accurate
photography. The employee standing beside the
wing leading edge is aiding his colleague sitting
in the cockpit by pointing out the black painted
lines on the wing uppersurface, which represent
the extremities of the sighting area for the oblique
camera in the fuselage. Also prominently visible
are the Aeroproducts propeller blades fitted to
this aircraft at Dallas, which were of a markedly
different shape and size to the Hamilton Standard
propeller blades fitted to Inglewood-produced
Merlin-powered Mustangs, and bore a triangular
makers' logo on each blade, as opposed to the oval
logo on Hamilton Standard blades. NAA
A P-51 B undergoes final work in the open air
beneath camouflage netting at NAA's Inglewood
factory. During Mustang production it became quite
normal for this final work to be performed in the
open air at Inglewood. Initially this was done out of
necessity, due to work being carried out to extend
the original factory, but eventually Mustangs
were often worked on outside by choice owing
to the good California weather, although even in
California there were times when this was not
possible. NAA
was directional tability, and thi wa
addre sed parricularly on the P-51 D and
P-5IK by the addition of a dor al exten-
ion (sometimes referred to as a 'dorsal
fin') extending forwards from the fin
leading edge. This was added on the
P-51D production line from the P-5l D-
10- A onwards (44-14254 appears to
have been the first P-5lD so fined in
the factory), but some earlier P-51Ds
were retrofined in the field. A imilar
but not identical fining wa al 0 applied
to some P-51 Bs. The problem was more
neatly addressed on most of the produc-
tion lightweight P-51Hs by the in talla-
tion of a taller vertical tail of increased
surface area, a feature also incorporated by
Trans-Florida viation on some po twar
civil Merlin Mustangs and on updated
Cavalier Mu tang military conversions.
The P-51 D had a 24-volt electrical
y tem. For thi ver ion, with its rede-
igned cockpit cover and windscreen, the
windscreen it elf was made from five-ply
laminated 'bullet-proof' gla , with side
rowards the rear. A large fuel tank could
be installed behind the pilot, but, as noted
previously, thi caused a good deal of
trouble for many P-51 D pilots. The rear
section of the fuselage was al 0 a emi-
monocoque structure, and it contained
attachments for the all-metal tailplane,
wh ich carried fabric-covered elevators
for most of the Mustang's production
run, though metal-covered elevators were
introduced in the early months of 1945.
The rudder was fabric-covered, but many
(cerrainly nor all) Mustangs that remained
in S ervi e after World War Two were
fined with metal-skinned rudders.
A problem with Merlin-powered
Mustangs, a recounted elsewhere,
crew members encountered. Although all
Mustangs were made ro be the same, it
was incredible how the removable engine
cowling panels would rarely fit snugly
on any Musrang orher than the one ro
which they were initially anached. This
necessirated the stencilling of parr of the
aircraft's serial number on each cowling
panel ro ensure that it went back on ro the
correct aircrafr.
The main fuselage sccLion was of a
box section around the co kpit area, and
comprised armour for the pilor (including
the fireproof forward bulkhead, armour
plates behind the pilot, plu the armoured
glass windscreen), the structure rounding
out ro an oval-section semi-monocoque
With final assembly complete, Mustangs required
much completion work to ensure that all items of
equipment, including all government furnished
items such as guns, were installed and working
properly. At Inglewood some of this final work
was carried out in the open air. In this picture
Allison-engined P-51As are undergoing final work.
Compared to the previous photographs in this
chapter, which show the Merlin engine installation
on later-mark Mustangs, the very different front
end of the Allison-Mustangs can be seen here. The
P-51A was significant in being the first Mustang to
introduce an internal armament consisting solely
of wing-mounted O.5in machine guns; it also had a
small additional 'window' on the left-hand side of
the windscreen. NAA
Final assembly at Inglewood, with the fuselage
and wing assemblies successfully mated, and
the many subsequent tasks under way to connect
everything up, both hydraulic and electrical, and
to install additional equipment and fittings. In
this instance the aircraft nearing completion are
A-36A Invaders, and this view clearly shows the
retractable lattice-style airbrake installed on each
wing's upper surface of this dive-bomber derivative
of the Mustang. There was also a dive brake under
each wing. These aircraft were Allison-powered,
as illustrated by the carburettor air intake above
the nose. NAA
An excellent view of NAA's Dallas (Grand Prairie)
factory, with P-51D or P-51K production well under
way (Dallas made both variants). The Mustangs
are essentially complete but minus their propeller
units, and have a protective coating over their
cockpit transparencies. Particularly noteworthy is
the primed wing upper surface of each Mustang,
probably using yellow-tinted zinc chromate primer,
in preparation for aluminium (silver) paint to be
sprayed on. The forward panel lines have already
been filled with putty. In the background are
AT-6F-NTs for the Soviet Union, 'AT' (for 'Advanced
Trainer') being the designation under which these
Texans were being built at the time. NAA
202 203
BUILDING THE MUSTANG BUILDING THE MUSTANG
The end result of all the hard work; a beautiful shining new Mustang, parked out in the sun awaiting its test flights before being passed for delivery. In this case it
is Inglewood-built reconnaissance-configured F-6D 44-15453, formerly a P-51D-15-NA that would have been converted on the production line into reconnaissance
layout. The two camera windows can be seen in the rear fuselage, on and below the rear of the national insignia. The company's standard of workmanship was
generally excellent, and the Mustang was certainly one of the best-made combat aircrah of World War Two. NAA
difficult to achieve under operational
conditions. During the research for this
book the author had the opportunity to
examine the starboard wing of a late-war
USAAF 'natural metal' P-51 D recovered
from a crash site near Schwerin, which
was on display at the Militarhistorisches
Museum der Bundeswehr in Dresden,
Germany. In addition to having the three
coloured identification lights on its lower
surface near the tip, as fitted to Mustang
wi ngs, th is wi ng showed very clearly the
filler putty in the panel lines on the wing's
upper surface. The putty was of a reddish-
brown colour, and was visible where the
aluminium paint that had originally been
sprayed over it had been rubbed away
during the aircraft's crash and later recov-
ery.
Structural strength was an important
consideration in the Mustang airframe,
as it is in all aircraft, and a number of
problems were encountered during oper-
ational flying that caused concern at
hinge bearing attachments were also fitted,
instead of the two previously used. These
slight but important alterations reduced
the stick force required to manoeuvre the
aircraft, improving the Mustang's already
impressive combat effectiveness, espe-
cially in dogfighting.
An important point regarding the
Mustang's wing was the attention to detai I
that went into its surface finish once
manufacture was complete. To extract as
much advantage as possible from the lam-
inar-flow wing section, all upper-surface
panel lines (except those around remova-
ble panels such as the gun bay doors) were
filled with a special filler paste. This was
then smoothed and the whole structure
polished. The wings were then painted
on their uppersurfaces, even if the fin-
ished scheme was to be 'natural metal', in
which case an aluminium paint was used.
It was intended that the wing uppersurface
should then be kept as clean and free from
blemishes as possible, something clearly
It was the job of NAA's test pilots, sometimes
bolstered by seconded military pilots, to test-fly
all new Mustangs at the factory where they were
built. The aircrah needed to be passed ready for
issue and delivery to the customer, which was
nominally the US or British military, Here, famous
NAA test pilot Robert C, Chilton is ready to climb
into Inglewood-built P-51 B-10-NA 42-106435,
Noteworthy are Bob Chilton's civilian pilot's flying
apparel, the aircrah's data block with stencilled
details of the aircrah and its basic servicing, and
the fact that it is in 'natural metal' finish. NAA
The Mustang's wing was a strong, one-
piece all-metal structure, its design being
centred on the special laminar-flow aero-
fOilsectiondevelopedby AAandNACA
engineers. The wing was manufactured
in two sections, the port and starboard
panels, which were then bolted together
on the centrel ine to create the one-piece
structure. When the wing structure was
mated with the fuselage during manu-
facture, the central upper surface of the
wing formed the cockpit floor. The wing
was a two-spar all-metal assembly, with
stressed Alclad skinning. Bag-type self-
sealing fuel cells were installed between
the wing spars, the wing undersurface
at those points acting as a large door for
access to the fuel cell in each wing, or for
its installation or removal. Metal-covered
ailerons, with hydraulically-operated
flaps, were fitted.
The inwards-retracting main under-
carriage was of very wide track, a feature
much appreciated by virtually all Mustang
pilots, particularly those who had experi-
enced the far narrower-track undercar-
riage of the Spitfire. The undercarriage
was hydraulically operated. When the air-
craft was parked on the ground after flight,
the large inner main undercarriage door
on each side would gradually creep down-
wards as hydraulic pressure slowly drained
from the system. The same would also
happen with the flaps. Navigation lights
on the wings were located on the upper
surface of the outer wing sections near to,
but not at, the wingtip of all Mustangs up
to and including the P-51B/C. However,
on the P-51 D the location was changed
to a light fitment on the extreme wingtip
itself.
A further important change incorpo-
rated during P-51D production was an
alteration to the ailerons, Aileron effec-
tiveness was somewhat poor in some flight
regimes on earlier Mustangs. In the P-51D
better seals were attached to the leading
edge of each aileron's balance strip. Three
US fighters, including the Mustang, it was
a VHF set based on the British TR.1l43,
and was interchangeable with the Briti h
un it. It is bel ieved that some of the latter
were fitted in some British-operated
Mustangs, The SCR-522 was eventually
also fitted in US bombers to permit com-
munication between the heavies and their
'Little Friends', The SCR-522 had an
effecti ve range of some 120 to 150 miles
(l90km to 240km) at 20,000ft (6,000m).
Obviously, U escort fighters flew much
further than that on their operational
missions, so radio-relay aircraft, often but
not always converted bombers, were used
during missions to allow communication
with home airfields or fighter control
centres. Sometimes Mustangs were used
for the radio-relay task.
Merlin-powered Mustang propellers derived from
two distinct sources, Most came from Hamilton
Standard, these being fitted at NAA's Inglewood
plant, but some of the Dallas production used
Aeroproducts propellers. The Hamilton Standard
propellers came in more than one type and there
were cuffed and uncuffed arrangements, the latter
being rarer but much used particularly on post-
World War Two foreign-operated Mustangs. This
view illustrates the uncuffed later style of squarer,
almost paddle-type blades supplied by Hamilton
Standard, on which the famous Hamilton Standard
oval logo can be seen. The Mustang is P-51 D-
30-NA 44-74944. Hamilton Standard
Among the operational equipment
fitted to Mustangs, the ubiquitous SCR-
522-A command radio was the chief
means of communication for all US
fighter pilots in the latter part of World
War Two. Fitted to all principal later-war
panels of safety glass. There was a half-
inch (l.25cm) thick steel plate behind
the pilot for protection, and the firewall,
which was of similar thickness, afforded
protection from enemy fire as well as from
engine fire or disintegration.
204 205
dift: rent periods. As recounted earlier, a
difficulty was encountered with wing gun
bay panels. Another problem with early
Merlin-engined Mustangs was that some
aircraft suffered structural failure of the
engine mountings. In March 1944 P-51Bs
were temporarily ground d after several
were lost, apparently due to their Merlins
breaking from the airframe during tight
manoeuvres. Regular inspections were
subsequently made of the mountings
and their fittings for the engine, but the
problem appears to have resurfaced on
several more occasions. Difficulties were
also encountered with the main undercar-
riage locking system on the P-510, which
was of a differ nt design compared with
previous model and sometimes suffered
from premature opening of the under-
carriage doors in flight. In certain flight
regimes this could lead to serious struc-
tural failure of the wing.
Performance Qualities
While the Mustang III had less firepower
than the P-51D, its all-round performance
was superior, partly due to lighter load-
ings and a slight difference in configura-
tion of its engine. Its Packard V -1650-3
was configured for better high-altitud
performance compared with the P-51 0'
V -1650-7, and som pilots who flew both
types at different times preferred the
P-51B to the P-51D. The V-1650-7 was
configured to give full power (l,590hp)
at some 8,500ft (J,OOOm), a change in
this engine's supercharger impell r gear
ratios also increasing take-off power to
1,490hp but giving a slight reduction
in high-altitude performance compared
with the V-1650-3. However, the V-1650
A number of myths and half-truths have grown up
around the Mustang over the years, especially relating
to the creation of this famous aircraft. Unfortunately
several published sources have perpetuated these tales,
resulting in some myths becoming established 'facts'.
Perhaps the most serious of these is the quite widely
accepted assumption that the Mustang was derived
directly from the Curtiss P-40 series, and specifically the
Curtiss XP-46.
When Britain's purchasing representatives first
approached NAA in 1939 with the proposal that NAA
become a production source for the Curtiss P-40, even
Curtiss had realized that the basic P-40 design was
not particularly aerodynamically clean or accomplished
BUILDING THE MUSTANG
in everyone of its versions was an excel-
lent all-round engine that gave the marks
of Mustang it powered a fine perform-
ance envelope. Cooling was by means
of the system already described, with its
unusually-mounted radiator below and
behind the pilot. The coolant liquid was a
30/70 ethylene-glycol/water mixture. The
fuel consumption for the Merlin-engined
Mustangs was roughly 60-64 US gal/hr
cruising at altitude, increasing to 120 US
gal/hr during combat, when full power
would be required.
Royal Air Force pilots, and indeed
many in the U AAF, considered th
Bf 109 their most difficult adversary
in close combat, particularly as the
Messerschmitt could out-accelerate
and out-climb the Merlin Mustang at
low altitudes. Nevertheless, overall the
Mustang had a much superior perform-
ance to the Bf 109G, and potentially far
greater hitting power with its 0.5in anna-
ment. In the AFDU report dated 8 March
1944, referred to in Chapter 5, in which a
Mu tang Mk III was flown in comparative
trials against a pitfire Mk IX, Spitfire
Mk XIV and Hawker Tempest Mk V, as
well as against a captured Bf 109G and
Fw 190A, the Mustang came out very
well. The fuel capacity of the Mustang
used in the trials was 154 gal (700 !itres)
internally, and 279 gal (1,268 litres) with
two 75 US gal external fuel tanks beneath
the wings. However, not necessarily all
of that fuel was available for use, and if
the drop tanks were jettisoned before they
had been emptied, that would obviously
affect range and endurance. Nevertheless,
these were still remarkable figures for a
fighter of that era, and the Mustang's
extraordinary rang capability proved to
be one of its most important assets.
Mustang Myths
from an engineering or performance viewpoint. In par-
ticular, the type's chin radiator arrangement was a poor
design concept that further compromised the aircraft's
performance, bearing in mind its Allison engine and
its inadequate high-altitude capabilities. Curtiss had
made attempts to rectify the situation by examining a
refined P-40 design with aslightly more powerful Allison
that eventually gained the official designation XP-46.
Basically this was was a cleaned-up descendant of
the P-40 that included, among several other significant
changes, the relocation of the intake for cooling air for
the radiator to the lower mid-fuselage position. Curtiss
engineers appear to have grasped the potential impor-
tance of this location, particularly with the help of NACA
206
Much has been written elsewhere in this
book about the engines installed in the
Mustang,originallytheAllison V -171Oand
later the Packard V -1650, but it is worth
remembering that both of these engine
types were very good performers in their
respective spheres, despite the bad press
that the Allison has sometimes suffered.
After a somewhat difficult start, Packard
performed an excellent job of producing
the Merlin in several different versions,
and in addition to the Mustang, Packard-
built Merlins were used in Canadian-
produced lurricanes, Canadian- and
Australian-builtde Havilland Mosquitoes,
the Spitfire Mk XVI, and British- and
Canadian-built Avro Lancasters, as well
as the Curtiss P-40F WarhawkjKittyhawk
Mk II. A number of propeller types were
used during the Mustang production run,
Curtiss Electric units usually being fitted
to Allison-engined P-51s, and a variety
of specific types to the Merlin Mustangs.
The unit of choice was made by well-
known propeller manufacturer Hamilton
Standard, the P-51B, P-5IC and P-51D
mainly being fitted with various marks
of the Hamilton Standard unit. Some
variations in propeller blade were possi-
ble. In the P-51D, for example, the lift
2in (JAm) diameter Hamilton Standard
Hydromatic propeller unit consisted of
hub type 24050-87 or 24050-105 with
blades of type ]-6523A-24, K-6523A-24
or 6547A-6. The former two were of the
distinctive paddle-type with shank cuffs,
the T-model blades having provision
for anti-icing. The 6547A-6 blades were
square-tipped and did not have cuffs or
provision for anti-icing. The blades, in
sets of similar type numbers, were inter-
changeable. There was no provision
for propeller feathering, and a governor
specialists. and the XP-46 could have become a signifi-
cant new design in its own right. The company received
acontract for two prototypes in September 1939, but the
first to fly did not do so until February 1941. It was soon
found to have engine cooling problems and to be apoor
performer, with a top speed potentially lower than that
of the increasingly outclassed P-40 series. In the event,
Service tests were never concluded on the XP-46, as it
was eventually abandoned.
However, the XP-46 crept into the Mustang story
because of wind-tunnel data that Curtiss had managed
to amass during its development. In contrast to Curtiss,
NAA had relatively limited experience in the creation of
fighter aircraft when design work had started in 1940 on
what would become the Mustang. Indeed, as recounted
elsewhere in this book, up to that point NAA had devel-
oped only two single-seat fighter types, both derivatives
of the NA-16 two-seat trainer, and those were produced
in only very small numbers. As a result, pressure was
exerted on NAA to collaborate with Curtiss during the
initial design phase of its new fighter, it being assumed
that NAA needed some help. Just who put pressure on
NAA to do this has remained a subject of debate, but
both the USAAC and the British purchasing representa-
tives appear to have suggested that NAA should pay
attention to the work that Curtiss had been putting into
the XP-46, even to the extent of acquiring Curtiss wind-
tunnel data on the aircraft. The relevant statistics and
information were duly purchased from Curtiss by NAA
in April 1940 for $56,000. Many years later, during the
1970s, 'Lee' Atwood of NAA referred to this acquisition
while writing apersonal testimony in the book Mustang
at War by Roger Freeman. Atwood pointed out that it
was Sir Henry Self of the BPC who had suggested the
purchase of Curtiss data, although Atwood also argued
that it was information on the P-40, not the XP-46, that
NAA actually bought from Curtiss. Unfortunately he did
not make it clear whether this data was of any use to
NAA's engineers.
In any case, whatever the actual tie-up was between
NAA and Curtiss, this connection has unfortunately led
many writers to believe adamantly that the Mustang
at best originated along Curtiss lines, and at worse
was nothing more than a redesigned XP-46. The Curtiss
company appears to have enthusiastically promoted
this line of thought. Writing in his book Mustang: A
Documentary History, the late Jeffrey Ethell recounts
that one of the Curtiss engineers claimed, in an in-house
communication during October 1943, that its employ-
ees had contributed substantially to the creation of the
Mustang. He also asserted that the performance of the
XP-46 and the original Mustang were strikingly similar; a
claim that was unproved. Indeed, the whole notion of the
Mustang having Curtiss ancestry is extremely dubious.
The XP-46 was in essence and appearance completely
unlike the Mustang, being based on the 1930s design of
the P-36/P-40 series from which it was most definitely
derived. The Mustang, on the other hand, had little to
do with the aspects of 1930s design philosophy that the
P-40 represented, and it also appears that NAA's own
designers were unaware of or sceptical of the Curtiss
wind-tunnel data. In his Production Line to Frontline
volume on the P-51, Michael O'Leary pointed out several
years ago that Edgar Schmued might not even have
looked at the Curtiss information, and that NAA aerody-
namicist Ed Horkey had examined the data but had found
it virtually useless. Writing on the origins of the Mustang
in his book P-51 Mustang: Development of the Long-
Range Escort Fighter, Paul Ludwig argues that the wind-
tunnel facts and figures on the XP-46 could well have
been useless to NAA, but that the related NACA data
on the air intake beneath the mid-fuselage could have
been useful. We may never know for certain whether
the Mustang's distinctive radiator position owes any-
thing substantial to Curtiss designers. It does, however,
appear highly unlikely that the Mustang, in its overall
design, had any Curtiss blood whatsoever in its veins; but
the debate will probably continue for many years yet.
BUILDI 'G THE MUSTANG
Another myth or half-truth regarding the Mustang's
origins that has appeared in a number of published
sources is the claim that It was developed from, or
was based upon, the Messerschmitt Bf 109. Unlike the
XP-46 claims, these ideas are definitely and completely
false. The proposition that there was aclose connection
between the Bf 109's design and that of the Mustang
centres on NAA's Edgar Schmued, who played such
a significant role in the P-51's design and develop-
ment. Schmued was a German-born Austrian, and the
impression took root during World War Two that he had
worked at one stage as a designer for Messerschmitt.
The idea appears to have originated with none other
than Ronald Harker, the Rolls-Royce service-liaison test
pilot. As recounted elsewhere in this book, Harker was
instrumental in the Mustang story, being the first to
suggest formally, on paper, the idea of installing the
Rolls-Royce Merlin in the Mustang, having flown an
Allison-engined Mustang at Duxford on 30 April 1942.
Harker's report, communicated to Rolls-Royce the day
following that historic flight, was the catalyst that led to
the creation of the Merlin-engined Mustang, but it also
contained the unfortunate lines: 'It closely resembles
an ME.l09F, probably due to its being designed by
one of the Messerschmitt designers, who is now with
the North American Aeroplane Co.' It is not clear from
where Harker derived this information (or the incorrect
name for NAAI. but it was not correct. (Although, in
contrast, Harker's separate and very positive impres-
sions of the Mustang that important day, and his rec-
ommendation that it be fitted with a Merlin 60-series
engine, were absolutely correct and very far-reaching.1
Unfortunately Harker's idea that Schmued had worked
for Messerschmitt was subsequently seized upon by
some historians after the war, thus creating the myth of
the Mustang having Messerschmitt origins. Ironically,
however, there were certainly cases, particularly after
the USAAF started flying Merlin Mustangs over northern
Europe in late 1943, of misidentification by pilots in
combat between the Bf 109 and the Mustang. The two
certainly bore a very general resemblance, a similarity
that could have been heightened on the spur of the
moment in the maelstrom of aerial combat. Like the
P-47, US-operated Mustangs in northern Europe were
duly painted with white recognition bands around their
tailplanes, over their Olive Drab uppersurface paint and
Neutral Grey undersides, in an attempt to enable quick
recognition in combat.
A further Mustang myth has subsequently arisen
around test pilot Harker himself. In atransatlantic divide,
many American historians have claimed that the idea
of installing the Merlin in the basic Mustang airframe
was undoubtedly an American concept. On the other
hand, many British historians cite Ronnie Harker's first
flight in the Allison-engined Mustang at the end of April
1942 as the start of Britain's interest in the creation
of a Merlin-engined Mustang, thus predating interest
and conversion work on the other side of the Atlantic.
In truth, it appears that the concept of re-engining
the Mustang with the Merlin occurred to a number of
people associated with the Mustang at roughly the
same time. Certainly it became recognized on both sides
of the Atlantic that the Allison-engined Mustang had
considerable limitations at high altitude. A number of
207
farsighted individuals foresaw the considerable benefits
that could result from the installation in the Mustang of
ahigher-performance engine such as the Merlin. On the
American side, one of these was Maj Thomas Hitchcock,
Jr, the Assistant Military Air Attache at the US Embassy
in London in 1942. His observations on the early RAF
operations with the Mustang in 1942, and his almost
constant badgering of USAAF officers on the importance
of improving the Mustang's basic performance, was
of great significance in getting events moving towards
that end in the USA. However, Harker was undoubtedly
the first to air his views to good effect in this respect,
and the speed of Rolls-Royce's favourable response to
his initial observations meant that the Merlin Mustang
was born as areal concept in Britain much earlier than in
the USA. The first Merlin-powered Mustang conversion
flew in Britain on 13 October 1942, whereas the first
such conversion in the USA made its initial flight several
weeks later, on 30 November 1942.
The timescale of the Mustang's creation in the first
place has also led to at least two further Mustang myths
being created and very widely accepted as the truth. The
first of these relates to the period in which the Mustang
was born. Unfortunately some writers have pointed out
that Britain needed all the fighters it could get due to
attrition during the Battle of Britain, and that this led
to the creation of the Mustang. Such a statement is
completely untrue, and shows a lack of understanding
of the relative time periods involved. The Mustang was
first discussed in detail by British purchasing representa-
tives and NAA in the spring of 1940, and the first actual
contract that led to the creation and construction of
Mustangs for Britain was signed in May 1940. These
actions, therefore, were not linked in any way to the
Battle of Britain, which had not even started at that time.
Indeed, to put such events into their correct order, at the
time the initial Mustang contract was formulated, on 23
May 1940, the Battle of France was taking place and
the RAF was involved in action over France alongside
Britain's French allies. The Mustang's creation was thus
not caused at all by the Battle of Britain.
The length of time allegedly stipulated for the
Mustang's creation has similarly resulted in another
widely-held 'fact' that is not in accord with actual events.
It has been widely claimed in many published sources
that Britain insisted on the Mustang being designed
and a prototype readied for flight-testing in 120 days
from the formal contract go-ahead. It is not clear where
this oft-quoted timescale originated. Without doubt.
time was short, as Britain needed useful quantities of
good-quality fighters as soon as possible, but the 120
days as a specified requirement appears to be a myth
rather than a hard fact. The actual contracted require-
ment was for the first aircraft to be delivered in January
1941, which gave NAA approximately seven months, or
some 210 days. Could it be that someone in the past
mistyped 210 as 120, thus accidentally creating the 'fact'
of a 120-day deadline? As recounted elsewhere, the
NA-73X was actually rolled out at Mines Field just over
ahundred days after the contract go-ahead, aconsider-
able achievement given NAA's inexperience in fighter
design and manufacture, although the aircraft could
not make its first flight immediately because a suitable
Allison engine was not available at that time.
within the hub unit regulated the angle of
the propeller blades to maintain constant
engine speed. The propeller blade angle
variations required during these constant-
speed operation were controlled by three
forces: centrifugal twi ting moment,
which was u ed to move the blade angle
The Mustang was every inch a land-based combat
aircraft, and no Mustangs ever served in a combat
capacity at sea. on board aircraft carriers. However.
this did not prevent a number of Mustangs having naval
connections. Most significantly, at least two were evalu-
ated by the USN, and for this reason a small number of
Mustangs developed naval associations during and just
after the Second World War. The connection began
in earnest during lit is believed) May 1943, when the
USN tested an Allison-engined Mustang to assess the
type's suitability for naval operations, possibly even
aboard aircraft carriers. The identity of the Mustang
concerned is still something of a mystery, but it appears
to have been taken from the batch of Mustang Mk lAs
intended for Britain, fifty-five of which were eventu-
ally retained for US service. It was therefore from the
first Lend-Lease batch, and so had a US serial number,
41-37426, in addition to its British identity, FD524. It was
apparently assigned the naval Bureau number IBuNo)
57987. Just how extensively it was evaluated or used
in other capacities while with the USN is unclear. In a
further twist to the tale, historian M.J. Hardy suggested
some years ago that the USN subsequently fully evalu-
ated a Merlin-engined P-51 Bagainst a dedicated naval
fighter, the Vought F4U Corsair. The trials are claimed
to have taken place in early 1944 against an F4U-1 and
an F4U-1 A, the Mustang proving slightly superior to the
naval types at higher altitudes in terms of speed and
climb, but the Corsairs proving better in most respects
at lower altitudes, and also having better control at slow
speeds and on landing. The original report on these trials
is now elusive.
B ILDING THE MUSTANG
towards low speed pitch; engine oil under
pressure, circulated into the pitch mecha-
nisms in the propeller hub to supplement
the centrifugal twisting moment; and
engine oil under boosted pressure from
the governor within the hub, which bal-
anced the centrifugal twisting moment
Naval Mustangs
What is certain is that the USN definitely evaluated a
P-51D-5-NA. 44-14017, in November 1944. The Service
had been very reluctant to take its F4U Corsairs to war
on board aircraft carriers, but Britain's Royal Navy had by
then successfully been operating Corsairs from aircraft
carriers for several months. For the USN there seems
to have been little harm in evaluating the capabilities
of the Mustang in a practical sense, so a series of deck
landings and take-offs was planned. Just how far this
was linked to the USN's reluctance to use the Corsair
as a carrier-borne fighter is uncertain, and eventually
Corsairs did operate very successfully from US carri-
ers, but the Mustang trials were the only time the P-51
went to sea. Aseries of land-based trials preceded
evaluations aboard ship, and 44-14017 was modified,
apparently by NAA, being fitted with an arrester hook
in the lower rear fuselage, behind the tailwheel bay. In
mid-November 1944 the Mustang, flown by USN pilot
Robert M. Elder. made a series of landings on and take-
offs from the new USN aircraft carrier USS Shangr; La.
The ship was sailing in Chesapeake Bay off the Atlantic
coast of the USA, and the trials were successful. The
Mustang landed normally, and with a good headwind it
could take off from the deck after a run of less than 600ft
(183m) without the aid of a catapult. Nevertheless, a
serious shortcoming was its poor lateral control at slow
speeds, especially at the high angles of attack needed
for a successful landing aboard a carrier, the Mustang's
tail, and particularly its rudder, being considered too
small to give adequate control. In the event the Mustang
was not ordered by the USN, which in any case had the
excellent Grumman F6F Hellcat in carrier operation.
208
of each blade and the oil under pressure.
A slightly complicated system, this nev-
ertheless worked well, although it took a
little getting used to for some pilots who
were accustomed to simpler propeller
control. The P-51 K, on the other hand,
had the alternative Aeroproducts propel-
This was not the end of the saga, however. At the
end of August 1945 Lt Cdr Elder again became involved
with the Mustang. This time, a lightweight P-51 Hwas
temporarily used by the USN for some purely land-based
trials, which sought to discover if this variant's Increased
tail area would give the Mustang the necessary lateral
control the P-51D lacked. Elder made two flights in
P-51 H-5-NA 44-64420. This aircraft received no special
modifications for the brief trials, which were carried out
at the USN airfield at Mustin Field, Pennsylvania. The
flights were made on 31 August 1945, and Elder found
that the P-51 H's larger vertical tail surface did indeed
give much better lateral control than that of the P-51 D.
No further action was taken, however.
Nevertheless, one further Mustang was associated
with the USN. This was also a lightweight P-51 H, P-51 H-
5-NA 44-64192, and in this instance the aircraft received
a naval serial. BuNo 09064. Transferred to the USN in
the summer of 1948, the aircraft was then bailed to
famous US naval fighter manufacturer Grumman for use
in a series of test programmes Wind-tunnel test data
on a variety of aerofoil sections associated with tran-
sonic airflow had proved unsatisfactory, and Grumman
believed they could be tested in actual flight. attached
to the Mustang's wing. The P-51 Hwas deemed suitable
because the Mustang's critical Mach number, 0.83, was
somewhat higher than that of contemporary piston-
engined fighters, allowing the tests to be conducted
safely while also pemitting the aerofoils' character-
istics to be tested at between Mach 0.9 and 1.4 li.e.,
transonic speeds). These speeds were generated over
the Mustang's wings by the special aerofoils while the
aircraft itself remained safely subsonic. Moreover, data
recording equipment could easily be installed in the
gun bays in the Mustang's wings, without the need for
any external modifications. The trials were completed
without any problems, much useful data being gathered.
One of the pilots who flew this special aircraft was
legendary Grumman test pilot Corvvin 'Corky' Meyer.
Much of the test work was carried out in support of the
effort to design the Grumman XF10F Jaguar variable-
geometry naval jet fighter, but although the data from
the Mustang flights were useful. the F10F itself was
not a success.
Asmall number of Mustangs flew with the USN
at different periods, but did not fly operationally
in navy colours. Something of an enigma, this
Allison-engined Mustang is believed to be
ex-Mustang Mk.IA FD524. which spent some time
with the USN for evaluation or related purposes.
R.L. Ward collection
ler unit, but this proved to be omewhat
troublesome compared with the increas-
ingly tried and trusted Hamilton Standard
Hydromatic unit.
British spark plugs were found to be
better for the Packard Merlin than those
manufactured in the U A, and the
AAF ordered 100,000 British RC5/Z
plugs duri ng the period of the fl ight testi ng
of the XP-51 Bs in the U A. Thes were
standard until better quality or more suit-
able American example could be mad .
In fact Briti h plugs were sub equently
u ed exten ively on the Merlin-engined
Mustangs, even those in service.
Ex essive spark-plug oiling was a rela-
tively common occurrence on the early
Merlin-engined Mustangs, particularly in
the front cylinder of the left-hand row.
This plug in particular was often changed
much more frequently than those of the
other cylinders. Long periods of cruising,
nece ary in particular on the outward leg
of bomber escort missions, would often
compl icate this. Pilots were advised to run
the engine at high revs for short periods
during long spell of cruising to clear
any po sible excess build-up of oil in the
cylinders.
The problem of plug fouling was also
exacerbated by choice of fuel. The quality
of aviation fuel available to the Allies
during World War Two was superior to
that used by the Germans, particularly
later in the war when the lIied bombing
campaign against Germany' oil indus-
try was increa ingly successful. German
aircraft g nerally ran on B4 (roughly
87-octane) or C3 (roughly 100-octane)
fuel, and later in the war contaminated
fuel became a problem for front-line unit.
By choice the Merlin Mustang was fuelled
with 130-octane when available. Thi wa
generally the best rating available for the
long-distance flight demanded of U
escort fighters, mixing periods of cruise to
and from the target with relatively short
periods of excessive engine performance
demanded during combat. Certainly the
Eighth Air Force preferred this rating of
fuel, but by mid-1944 an even higher-
rated, 15 -octane fuel was becoming
increa ingly available. This was subse-
quently widely adopted by the Eighth Air
Force's FG ,but it wa - soon found that this
high-rated fuel readily fouled the spark
plugs with lead, resulting in a number of
accidents. An additive wa sub equently
applied to the fuel, resulting in a 15 -
octane mixture known as PEP, and thi
was tentatively tried out by the 355th F .
Although more suc essful, it was found to
harm the valve seats, resulting in damage
that would often require a complete
engine change. \Vith no obvious solution,
mo t FGs opted to return to the tried and
tested 13 -octane fuel, although this wa
in short supply in early 1945. rom March
1945 it started to become more widely-
available again, but some FG were able
to obtain stocks more readily than others.
A a result ome aircraft were fuelled up
with the fuselage tank only containing the
treasured 130-octane, the other fuel tanks
209
being filled with the much less trusted
PEP solution.
Guns
In the P-51B/ series and the equiva-
lent Mu tang III of the RAF, only four
wing guns were fitted (two in each
wing). These were the ubiquitous 0.5in
Browning MZ machine guns, as used in
many warplanes of the Second World
War, but in tho e marks of Mu tang the
guns were sometime prone to jamming.
This was very unfortunate during ombar.
It was not caused by icing up, as claimed
by some writers, but was the result of two
separate problems. ne was the effect of
lubricating oil congealing with the cold
at high altitudes if the Mustangs' electric
gun heaters were not witched on in time
before the aircraft gained height, or before
the guns were fired at altitude. The other
problem was the jamming of the gun due
to their awkward canted-over seating,
and the equally awkward curved ammu-
nition feed chutes. Much of the jamming
occurred when the guns were fired while
the aircraft was manoeuvring and pulling
g. This caused the moving ammunition
belt to be held back by centrifugal forc ,
which in turn caused the gun's bre ch
mechanism to jam. A number of fixes
were tried to cure the problem. ome
were very much 'home-made', but the
most succes ful entailed the use of an
ammunition belt booster motor, as used
in gun turrets or on belt feeds in awkward
positions in heavy bombers. The problem
was solved altogether with the altered
gun in tallation in the P-51D/K for the
AAF and the equivalent Mustang Mk
lV of the RAF. In these aircraft th re
were three .5in machine-guns in each
wing, in a mu h altered and r fined
weapons bay, and they were mounted
vertically, with less-curved ammunition
As far as weaponry was concerned. the wartime
Merlin-powered Mustangs were fitted with the
ubiquitous 0.5in M2 machine gun; two in each
wing in the P-51 Band P-51 C, and three in each
wing in the P-51 Dand P-51 K. The guns were
mounted upright in the P-51 Dand P-51 K, thus doing
away with one of the causes of gun jamming in
the earlier Mustangs. In each wing there was a
main bay in which the guns were installed, plus
a long spanwise bay adjacent to this where the
ammunition was housed, as shown in the port wing
of this P-51 Dof the 20th FG in England.
Arthur E. Sevigny, 20th FW Association
B ILDI G THE MUSTANG
BUILDING THE MUSTANG
The excellent K-14/K-14A computing 'gyroscopic'
gunsight installed in the later production P-51Ds
was one of the most advanced gunsights to be
fitted in World War Two fighters. This extract
from an official P-51D manual/parts list shows the
comparatively bulky K-14A and its installation,
including the heavy bracket (numbered 4 on the
lower drawing) needed to hold it in place. The
K-14A was introduced into P-51D manufacture
at the factory during the D-25-NA and D-20-NT
production blocks, although it is possible that some
D-20-NAs were factory-fitted with this gunsight as
well. Drawing: NAA
AN OI-6OJE.-4
ARMAMENT GROUP
Figur. 94-Win, Gun, 'nJlollollon "(u1 1 of 2/
Section II
Oroup A...mbly Port. list
Figure 98-K-14A Gun Sighl Installalion
14 \1
s.ction II
Group Assembly Parts list
,...
A diagram from an official P-51 Dmanual/parts list, showing
the armament arrangement for this variant (port wing shownl.
The guns were O.5in M2 machine guns. the inner gun on each
side being slightly set back to allow the ammunition belts for
the three guns to have an uninterrupted feed. thus avoiding the
problems encountered on the P-51B and P-51C, in which the
two guns in each wing were set at an angle and their awkward
curved ammunition feed chutes often jammed, particularly during
combat manoeuvring. Drawing: NAA
were still operational, as well a in th
P-51K. Modification was required to the
cockpit coaming to allow the bulky K-14
to fit. Before that, the -9 had been used
in earlier P-51D block, and the -3B
was tandard for the P-51B and P-5IC,
although, as with many a pects in opera-
tional conditions, ther was some inter-
changeability between all the marks, and
some pilots preferred the more 'hands-on'
approach to shooting needed with th
earlier sights. The British Mk VIII gun-
ight was also used in some Mustangs, and
in very early Mustangs a variety of gun-
sights could be found, including the T IA.
A ring-and-bead ight was al 0 fitted on
some initial production Mustang. In con-
trast, by the time of the later vel' ion of
the P/F- 2 Twin Mustang an advanced
K-l gunsight was installed. Whichever
sighting method was used, the Mustang as
a type ran up an impressive tally of air-to-
air claims during the econd World War.
It is impossible to say exactly how many
aircraft were hot down by Mustangs, par-
ticularly as some claims were far in excess
of verified enemy losses, while ome defi-
nite shoot-downs were never credited.
ome theatre of war during World War
Two also had their own unique scoring
and counting methods. However, an
oft-quoted figure for Mustang air-to-air
kills is at least 4,950, plus at least 4, I I
ground victories, and some 230 VI 'flying
bomb' shot down. Whatever the exact
figure might have been, the Mustang's
contribution to aerial upremacy for the
Allies in World War Two was hugely ig-
nificant, and wa definitely a significant
aspect, among many others, of the final
Allied victory.
tion. It is feasible that some P-51 B-series
aircraft had the wings of P-51D-serie
Mustangs installed in the field, perhap a
the re ult of rebuild, or to repair major
battle damage. There would have been
possible interchangeability of such major
airframe components, but all the wiring
and electric relating to the guns would
have had to be changed to make the wing
compatible with the fuselage of a differ-
ent mark.
AII Mustangs had attachment for
underwing tores, eventually includ-
ing underwing jettisonable fuel tanks,
showing the con iderable fore ight of
AA's designers. The large t load regu-
larly carried by later marks of Mu tang on
the single underwing pylon beneath each
wing wa a 1,0001b bomb. The P-5ID-
25 blocks and later were fitted and wired
with attachment point for various types
of unguided RPs and rocket launchers.
The e were most used during operations
in the Korean War, although omespecific
use was made of these hardpoints late in
World War Two for ground-attack sortie,
particularly in the Pacific and CBI.
Gun aiming in the Mustang was by
means of a Ivanced gunsight (for their
time), the excellent K- 14 computing
'gyroscopic' gunsight becoming estab-
lished during P-51D production. This
was ba ed on the British Mk lID, and
was trialled in July and August 1944 for
Mustang op rations. It became standard
on the production lines in the P-51D-
series, in its K-14A form, from around
October ovember 1944 in the P-51D-
20- T/P-5ID-25- A and later block,
although some were retrofitted, includ-
ing the basic K-14, in earlier models that
late in P-51 Dproduction, provision was made for
the carriage of up to five unguided air-to-ground
RPs beneath each wing. This entailed the factory
installation of 'zero-length' attachments, which
were far better than the jury-rigged three-round
long bazooka-type fittings carried by some
early Mustangs in combat, which were mainly
ineffective and caused aerodynamic problems.
The zero-length attachments worked very well and
were used to considerable effect, particularly in
the Korean War. This photograph shows the full
complement of five sets of attachments and rockets
beneath a Mustang's starboard wing. If the normal
Mustang pylon was fitted, however, only three of
the rocket attachments would be carried under
each wing outboard of the pylon, and if a bomb was
carried on the normal pylon sometimes only two
rockets would be fitted beneath each wing. NAA
belt feeds, which appeared to eliminate
much of the jamming. I i10t were al 0
advised to turn their gun heaters on when
the gun were charged during flight, to
avoid any risk of oil congealing due to
extreme cold at high altitudes before
combat took place.
In the P-51 B, with its two machine
guns in each wing, the maximum number
of rounds was 1,260, the inboard guns
having 350 rounds each, and the outer
280. In the P-5ID there was a minimum
of I, 4 rounds, the inboard guns having
400 rounds each and the two outer guns
260 rounds apiece. A number of writers
have noted that the outboard guns had
270 rounds each, making a total of 1,88
rounds. Certainly some armourers appear
to have managed to load up to 270 rounds
in the outer ammunition bay. Th M2
Browning had a muzzle velocity of up
to 800 rounds per minute, although thi
depended upon a number of factors,
including the temperature and altitude
at which the gun was fired, what type
of rounds were fired (armour-piercing,
tracer, et .), and the po ition of the gun in
the wing. The effective range of the 0_5in
machin gun was some 2,400ft (nOm),
although many pilots had the guns on their
Mustangs adjusted to converge at shorter
range for maximum ~ ct in air combat.
A number of writers have claimed that
some of the later P-51 B- eries Mu tangs
had the ix-gun wing of the P-5ID series
installed. Despite extensive research this
author has been unable to find any defi-
nite record of this being instituted on the
AA production lines, and it remains at
best an unverified but possible, if unlikely,
happening very late in P-51 B produ -
210
211
BUILDI G THE MUSTANG BUILDING THE MUSTANG
f L
_-.-:
__.-_.',.
'0'
An exploded diagram and major parts listing for the TF-51 D, dated 15
June 1952. During World War Two there were ten TP-51D conversions
from standard P-51 Dproduction at Dallas, and further two-seat
conversions were made by the Temco Aircraft Corporation after the war.
The TP-51 Dhad full dual controls fitted, the rear occupant being seated
in the space where the 85 US gal fuselage fuel tank and radio equipment
would normally been. The cockpit canopy was also considerably altered
in shape, being less curved and with a revised frame. Drawing: NAA
AN Ol-60JE-4
Figure 'A-General Airplane A,uembly
TI'.JJD
A general-arrangement drawing from an NAA manual for the Allison-engined
Mustang. specifically showing the general layout for the A-36A Invader (but
excluding that version's lattice-style airbrake on each wing). This drawing
confirms the dimensions for the Allison-engined Mustangs, particularly for
the fuselage length, which differed slightly from that of the Merlin-powered
Mustangs. Drawing: NAA
s.ction II
Assembly Parts list
Sedion
Group A..embly Ports Li
An illustration from an official P-51 Dmanual/
parts list shows the P-51D cockpit canopy and
windscreen assembly. The whole arrangement
was of great simplicity and effectiveness. although
it must be remembered that the Mustang was not
pressurized for high-altitude flight. Mustang pilots
having to fly on oxygen in combat. Some versions
of the luftwaffe's Bf 109G did have a nominal form
of pressurization. but even that was a world away
from what we know of today as pressurization in
combat aircraft and civil airliners. Drawing: NAA
AN 01-60JE-4
ARMAMENT GROUP
'" v:::
Figure 93-lero Rail Launcner Installation
Group A..embly Ports list
An extract from an official P-51 Dmanual/parts
list showing the 'zero-length' unguided RP
attachments introduced in late P-51 Dproduction.
These were a great improvement on previous
rocket attachments, including the unwieldy
bazooka-style rocket launchers used earlier
in the war. Sometimes also called 'zero-zero'
attachments, these little stub mountings allowed
the rocket to become free almost the instant it
was fired, and usually carried a 5in unguided RP.
They were much used, particularly in the Korean
War. The full complement was five attachments
and rockets beneath each wing, but if the normal
Mustang pylon was fitted only three of the rocket
attachments would be carried under each wing,
outboard of the pylon. On this drawing the forward
part of the mounting is numbered 11, and the rear
mounting is numbered 26. Drawing: NAA
Figure r2-Cockpit Enclosure Canopy and Windsnie/cJ Assemblies
AN 01-60JE-4
FUSELAGE GROUP
212 213
BUILDING THE MUSTANG
30' 30'
AN 01-60JE-2
(MAP) schemes. There were also related
initiatives such as the Reimbursable Aid
Program (RAP) and the Foreign Military
Sales (FMS) plan. Unrangling which
Mustang deliveries were covered by which
programme is complicated and beyond the
scope of this book, but it is worth noting
that the USA preferred to supply only
Thunderbolts and not other types to the
Central American and Caribbean states; a
plan that was not achieved, as this chapter
wi II demonstrate.
What follows is a very brief summary
of the main operators of the P-51 in an
'export' or 'overseas' context. book
could be devoted solely to the activities of
Mustangs in many of these countries, and
the overseas employment of the Muscang
after World WarTwo was a very colourful
episode in the life of this famous aircraft. It
wi II be noted that most 'export' Mustangs
were of P-5ID-lineage, because no light-
weight Mustangs ever operated in a front-
line context outside the S military, and
it is believed that the same is true of the
F-82 Twin Mustang. However, a number
of Cavalier Mustangs certainly did see
'overseas' employment. Only one other
country, Australia, actually built Mustangs
in addition to production in the USA by
NAA, and, apart from this Australian pro-
duction for the Austral ian armed ervices,
no Mustangs were built as such for export,
except of course for the original country
of delivery, Britain. Therefore all of the
countries that flew Mustangs after the
econd World War, except for Australia,
used 'secondhand' Mustangs originally
built for US or British service. Because
some of the overseas Mustang operators
were somewhat secretive about their mili-
tary activities (some still are; none more
so than Israel, a major Mustang operator
from the late 1940s), the full story of some
of these overseas employers of the P-51
has yet to emerge, but the following repre-
senrs much of what is currently known of
Mustang operators world-wide.
215
the type well into the 1970s, and one, the
Dominican Republic, using it as its main
fronr-line combat aircraft until 1984.
The Mustang was not alone in finding
employment in some far-flung corners of
the Earth after World War Two. The PA7
(and to a much lesser extent the P-38) was
also flown by a number of smaller armed
forces after the war's end. The supply of
some of these aircraft was undertaken by
the USA under the auspices of a number
of mutual aid defence arrangemenrs, some
of the aircraft changing hands for little or
no money. Following the Second World
War several defence and mutual aid pacts
were brought into existence by the USA
from which a number of countries ben-
efited from the supply of US equipment.
In the case of the Mustang this was most
notably in Cenrral and South America.
The supply of military hardware under
these agreemenrs was carried out by the
USA essenrially in its own interest, the
US governmenr seeking to influence
these counrries into aligning themselves
with the USA. This, it was expected,
would prevent them from succumbing to
the new menace that was the source of S
paranoia in the postwar world, namely the
fear of Communism spreading to countries
on the USA's doorstep, In this context the
USA bolstered and in some cases helped
to establish diccatorships that received
considerable US help if they called them-
selves anti-communist, and several ofthese
nations were rewarded with Mustangs and
other US military hardware. Often cited
as the reason for the supply of Mustangs
to a number of Cenrral American states
is the so-called Rio Pact of 1947, but in
reality there were several agreemenrs
under which Mustangs were supplied that
were not necessari ly related to the 1947
agreement. These included the umbrella
American Republics Project, which even-
tually grew into and was in part replaced
by the Mutual Defense Assistance Program
(MDAP) and Military Assistance Program
CHAPTER 11
Export and Foreign-Operated Mustangs
Of the total Mustang production run of
over fifteen thousand, the vast majority
were operated by the USAAF or RAF, or
found their way on to the inventories of
those Services, However, in addition to
these two principal air arms, a number of
other air forces flew Mustangs in smaller
but no less significant numbers during
World War Two or in Korea, British
Commonwealth countries including
Canada, South Africa and Australia used
Mustangs that were in effect 'borrowed'
from the RAF (the latter two also used
Mustangs in Korea underdifferent arrange-
menrs), On the other hand, Sweden and
France flew Mustangs during the later
scages of World War Two, together with
the Chinese, using Mustangs delivered by
the USA and wearing the national insig-
nia of those counrries, Some pilots whose
countries had been occupied but who
flew with the Allies also had time on the
Mustang, nocably the Poles, The wartime
use of Mustangs by these countries or
individuals has been touched on else-
where in this narrative, but is elaborated
upon in several cases, where applicable,
in this chapter.
In addition, the Mustang evenrually
ended up being flown by a considerable
number of countries around the world,
Th is employment started after the Second
World War, when surplus Mustangs were
available for 'export' use, and a number
of countries were in need of an aircraft
of its calibre, Although in the early post-
Second World War years Bricain and the
USA were busily starting the virtually
complete transition to jet-powered front-
line warplanes, many counrries were in
need of any available aircraft that were
within their capabilities to operate, The
Mustang turned out to be suitable, being a
high-performance aircraft that was not as
taxing or expensive to operate as the new-
generation jet combat aircraft. Indeed, it
was in this context that the P-51 's longev-
ity was truly shown, several countries flying
The P-51D is shown in this general-arrangement
drawing from NAA P-51 0 Manual AN 01-60JE-
2, Note the dimensions, which are sometimes
incorrectly quoted in some published sources, The
fuselage length was slightly greater for the Merlin"
engined Mustangs compared with the Allison-
powered examples, Drawing: NAA
initiatives or by generous individuals or organizations,
but the overwhelming majority were paid for by the
US government. except of course the initial 620 Mk Is,
which were directly purchased by Britain,
By way of comparison, during the writing of this book
an airworthy P-51 came up for sale in the spring of 2007,
While many Mustangs were simply scrapped just after
the Second World War, they are now very valuable. The
particular Mustang for sale in 2007 was P-51 D-25-NA
44-72826, a 479th FG veteran. After World War Two it
flew with the RCAF as 9563, and subsequently wore the
civil registration N51 YS. It was being sold by Courtesy
Aircraft, Inc., of Rockford, Illinois, and the asking price
was $1,400,000. Mustangs are worth as much now, if
not much more, than they ever were.
214
The Price of the Mustang
some changes, though the type still remained remark-
able value for money. In 1942, when mass production
was still comparatively new to the project. a Mustang
cost $58,698, but by 1945 this had fallen, for a new
P-51 Dincluding some government-furnished equipment.
to $50,985. This compares with $97,147 for a P-38,
$83,001 for a P-47 (1945 production) and $44,892 for a
late-model P-40 Warhawk (1944 figure, before produc-
tion end). Although the Warhawk was cheaper it was
never the overwhelmingly successful aircraft that the
Mustang was. In the light of those comparable figures,
and bearing in mind the Mustang's combat effective-
ness, the P-51 was certainly a bargain. At the end of the
war a new lightweight P-51 Hcost $54,476.
Anumber of Mustangs were paid for by war bonds
_J
---,-------32' 3-5/16"
"
7 - 25/ 32
M
CLEARANCE
The Mustang was one of the most cost-effective war-
planes of the Second World War. Because of the unique
way in which the Mustang was born, neither the British
nor, later, the Americans needed to put the Mustang
through an extensive tendering, evaluation, fly-off
against competing designs, or major service testing
before it was accepted into service, making it one of the
few modern military aircraft to be so procured. In its pro-
duction forms the Mustang was similarly cost-effective.
During the initial contract negotiations between British
purchasing representatives and NAA in 1940, the
intended unit price for the initial production Mustangs
(Mk Is for the RAF) was $40,000 (equipped and armed).
However, when mass production against US contracts
eventually took place, the price of a new Mustang saw
Australia
Australia was the only country outside
the USA where [ustangs were built in
series production, making this country
highly ignificant in the P-5L's history.
usn'alia already had important links
with AA owing to its connection during
the late 1930s with the A-L6 trainer.
The developed A-3 ( AA designa-
tion JA-16-2K) derivative of the NA-16
wa built in Australia as the Wirraway
light combat and training aircraft.
Constructed by CA in Australia from
L939 onwards, the Win-away gave impor-
tant service during the Second World
War in the Pacific area, and established a
significant link between the Australians
and NAA. Australian pilots first became
acquainted with the Mustang in combat
in Europe, where some Australian pilots
flew with RAF quadrons. An Au tralian-
manned Curtiss Kittyhawk squadron,
450 Sqn, received a number of Mustangs
in May 1945 but did not become fully
operational on the type before disband-
ing in August 1945. In contrast, 3 qn
RAAF flew Mustangs in combat in the
Mediterranean Theatre from late L944
onwards. By then the Australian military
was already well aware of the capabilities
of the Merlin-engined Mustang, and the
decision to build the type in Australia
was made in April L944, provided the
relevant production Iicences could be
obtained from AA and the U gov-
ernment. The type's considerable range,
which would be very u eful in the Pacific
Theatre, was a major consideration in
the Australian prefer nce for the P-51.
It was initially intended to produce 690
in Australia, initially using components
provided by I AA, but later switching
to full manufacture in Au tralia. CAC at
Fishermans Bend, Melbourne, was lined
up to make the Australian Mustangs, and
a pattern aircraft was upplied from NA
production during 1944 to help produc-
tion start-up. This initial aircraft was
allocated the Australian military serial
Australia was not only an operator of Mustangs;
uniquely for an overseas country it was a Mustang
manufacturer as well. In total 299 Mustangs were
received by the Australians from US production, but
an additional 200 were manufactured in Australia
by the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation.
Illustrated is A68-565, a former P-51 Kfrom US
production, wearing the 'LB' codes of 84 Sqn RAAF.
RAAF
EXPORT AND FOREIGN-OPERATED ~ I U S T GS
A6 -1001, 'A68' having been selected as
the Mustang serial number prefix within
the Australian numbering system for mili-
tary aircraft. It did not fly until April
L945, first being used for much ground-
work as production wa set up. However,
delay in the whole programme meant
that the first locally built Mustang did not
fly until late that same month.
As an interim measure, while pro-
duction was being set up in Australia,
Mustangs were ordered directly from
the . Eventually 29 P-51 Ds and
P-5IKs were delivered to Au tralia from
standard production, starting in April
L945. They comprised eighty-four P-5L Ks
(Australian serials A68-500 to A68-5 3),
and 214 P-51Ds (A68-600 to A68-813)
Although these were intended for the
war against the japanese, the British and
Commonwealth air force did not use
Mustang in the CB[ or Pacific during
World War Two. evertheless, some
of the -built Mustangs supplied to
Australia were nearing their combat debut
with the R AF as the war in the Pacific
drew to a close in August and September
[945. Two RAAF unit, 4 Sqn (code
LB) and 6 qn, briefly flew ome of the
-supplied Mustangs during that period,
but did not play any part with the P-51 in
the conflict. The end of the war signifi-
cantly reduced the need for Australia to
operate a large number of fighters, and the
intended local production of Mustang
was cut accordingly. Ln the event only
200 were completed in Au tralia, and
eighty of those were built from [00 sets
of component supplied by NAA to
start ustralian production. Therefore
499 Mustangs (299 from US produc-
tion, including the pattern aircraft, and
200 of Au tralian manufacture) received
Australian military serial numbers_
The first Mustang to be completed in
Australia was A6 -I, which first flew
216
in late April [945. According to the
log book of pilot Fit Lt 'jim' Schofield,
the flight was made on 29 April 1945.
Australian manufacture was broken down
as follows. [nitially, eighty Mustang Mk
2 s were built, with the local de ignation
CA-17 (A6 -I to A6 -80). The e were
made from 10 set of components pro-
duced by AA and shipped to Australia.
ext came twenty-eight A-18 Mustang
Mk 22s (A68-8L to A6 -94, and A6 -187
to A6 -200). Then there were twenty- ix
CA-I Mustang Mk 21 s (A6 -95 to A6 -
L2 ), followed finally by sixty- ix CA-I
MustangMk23s(A6 -12l toA6 -L 6).
A II of the ewer Packard Merlin-powered
except for the Mk 23, which had Rolls-
Royce Merlin. [n fact all of the 200 were
generally similar to the P-51 D, apart from
comparatively minor detail and equip-
ment changes. The most radically differ-
ent was the Mustang Mk 22, a PR version
with mountings and wiring for a variety of
cameras including the ubiquitous F.24 in
the fuselage aft ofthe rad iatm installation.
Normally two cameras were carried, one
vertical and one oblique, the latter point-
ing through a port side fuselage window
unique to this version (which was there-
fore different to the installations found on
U -operated PR F-6s). Due to the ending
of the war, manufacture of the Austra[ian
Mustangs proceeded at a comparatively
leisurely pa e; it is often said that this was
partly to keep the CA factory open for
a long as pos ible_
The Au tralian-built Mustangs were
dimensionally identical to their -built
equivalents, and had similar performance
capabilities. The Mks 20, 2L and 22 were
powered by the 1,720hp Packard Merlin
V-1650-7 in similar fashion to the U -built
P-51 D (although there ar repeated claim
that ome Mk 2 s had the V-1650-3), but
the Mk 23 had the 1,655hp Rolls-Royce
Merlin 70. Armament was identical to the
P-5L D. There was provision for underwing
stores on the usual single underwing pylon
beneath each wing, including the ubiqui-
tous 75 or LLO U gal external fuel tanks
or a 500lb bomb. ome aircraft were also
fitted with undenving zero-length rocket
rails outboard of the underwing pylon for
up to six Sin RPs (three beneath each
wing).
The first Australian-manufactured
Mustangs were accepted for RAAF
service in june L945, but, as stated earlier,
no Mustang aw combat with Australian
force in the Pacific. The final deliver-
ies from the first batch of Australian-
manufactured Mustangs, Mk 20s, were
made in the summer of 1946, but the very
last Mustang manufactured in usn-alia
was not handed over until August 1951.
This was Mustang Mk 22 A68-2 , and it
was the last Mustang to be built anywhere
(until limited production began again in
the early 2000s).
In Australian servi e the initial deploy-
ment in 84 and 86 Sqns RAAF was super-
seded by comparatively long-running
operation with 76, 77 and 2 Sqns ( o.
I Wing). Assigned occupation duties,
these three squadrons were were sent to
japan from 1946 as a part of the Allied
occupation forces under the BCOF. In
1950, at the end of their deployment, 76
and 2 qns leftjapan, but 77 qn was still
in the area, at Iwakuni in japan, at the start
of the Korean War. This squadron flew
what were supposed to be its last occupa-
tion force ortie from Iwakuni on 23 june,
just two days l efore the orth Koreans
attacked. With the squadron committed
by the Australian government in latejune
to the military efforts to help South Korea,
the unit's Mu tangs initially operated from
[wakun i and used the Mustang's legendary
long-rangecapabilitie to good effect. They
flew their first real sorties in early july, and
EXPORT A D FOREIGN-OPERATED MUSTA, GS
the squadron was later attached to the
USAF's 8th FBW, and thence to the 35th
FIW, during its servi e in Korea. During
AprilL95177 qnceasedcombatactivities
with the Mustang, and stood down to tran-
sition to the Meteor F.Mk jet fighter. The
last Mu tang mission was flown on 6 April.
Overall, the Australians flew ome 3, 00
P-5 [ sorties and used fifty-six Mustangs in
Korea, of which eighteen had been lost to
all causes, eight pilots being killed and at
least one taken prisoner. Most of the P-51 s
used came from the 299 suppl ied from the
A, but there i evidence that there were
everal Australian-built examples as well.
Other RAAF units that flew the
Mustang, albeit not in combat, were 75,
76 and 78 Sqns, 3 qn (a reconnaissance
unit originally numbered 4 Sqn, and not
to be confu ed with the wartime 3 Sqn in
the Mediterranean), and several second-
line auxil iary squadron of the Citizen Air
Force manned by part-time territorial per-
sonnel, namely 21 (City of Melbourne)
Sqn, 22 ( ityof ydney) qn, 23 (City
of Brisbane) Sqn, 24 (City of Adelaide)
Sqn and 25 (City of Perth) Sqn. Three
of these (21, 23 and 25 qns) had tran-
itioned to the de Havilland Vampire by
the mid-L950s, but 24 qn did not finally
giv up it much-treasured Mustangs until
mid-1960, when the auxil iary quadrons
of the itizen Air Force lost their statu
as flying units.
A comparatively large number of
ex-RAAF Mustangs survived to become
available on the export market. everal
of the currently airworthy Mustangs exist-
ing in several countries are ex-RAAF air-
raft, although not all have simply been
'warbirds' in private hands. At least one
Mustang, civil registered in Australia as
VH-BOZ, wa used for target towing in
upport of the Royal Australian avy
and Army during the L96 . It was the
217
Australian manufacture of the Mustang amounted
to 200 examples by Commonwealth Aircraft
Corporation. These Australian Mustangs were
basically similar to their US-produced counterparts
except in detail and, in the case of some examples,
engine mark. Illustrated are two Australian
manufactured Mustangs, A68-181 and A68-182.
which were both CA-18 Mustangs Mk.23. This
particular version was powered by the 1.655hp
Rolls-Royce Merlin 70. R.L. Ward collection
econd-to-Iast Mustang manufactured
in Au tralia. A bizarre modification was
made to a CAC-built Mu tang in the
early 1970s, when its Merlin engine was
repla ed by a Rolls-Royce Dart turboprop
taken from a Vickers Viscount airliner,
although the Mustang apparently did not
leave the ground in this configuration.
Retired ex-RAAF ustangs were held
ata toragedepotatTocumwal, ew outh
Wales. everal of the e, A-6 -I, -7, -3 ,
-72 and - 7 (all C manufactured) had
an unu ual post-retirement career. [n the
early 1950s Britain selected several sites
on the Australian mainland to conduct
nuclear bomb tests. One purpose of the e
tests was to determine the effect of a
nuclear bla t on military equipment. To
that end, the aforementioned Mustangs
were selected to be parked near to 'ground
zero' on the test site at Emu in South
Australia and subjected to two nuclear
explosions in October 1953. Only one
Mustang was damaged to any great extent.
By 1967 th site was deemed safe, so that
the ix aircraft were put up for sale by the
Australian Department of upply in May
of that year. They were subsequently sold,
five eventually being used by the Cavalier
Aircraft Corporation in the USA in its
1960s Mustang rebuild programme. The
exception was A6 - [, the fir t Mustang
to be completed in Australia, which was
made airworthy and flown out of the Emu
site. fter several sub equent change of
ownership it was purchased in 1982 by
American industrialist Wil y and rs,
who lat r raced the aircraft (in roughly
normal configuration) at the Reno air
races. This aircraft was still in the ander
collection at Troy, Alabama, at the time
of writing.
Bolivia
The Mustang was an important aircraft
to the Fuerza Aerea Boliviana (FAB) for
well over two d cades. In that time the
Bolivian Air Force operated a mixed bag
of Mustangs from various sources, and
the type saw combat on several occa-
sions during its Bolivian service. This was
parricularly rrue following the e tablish-
menr of military dicrarorship in Bolivia
from 1964 onwards, with a succession of
regimes that were acceptable ro the A
in the following years.
Despite US attempts ro standardize
enrral and South American countries
on the Republic P/F-47 Thunderbolt,
several eventually flew Mustangs instead,
and thi was particularly true of Bolivia.
De pite persistenr reporrs, Bolivia did not
operate P-47s. Although one did arrive
in the country, it was not used opera-
tionally. Instead, the first deliveries of a
small number of P-51s ro Bolivia appar-
ently took place in the late 1940s. These
were followed in the summer of 1954 by
the acqui ition of three more, two single-
aters and a two- eater, but their deliv-
ery was a slow process and two were only
delivered in early 1955 (by which time the
third had crashed, but was later replaced).
It is believed that these were ex-RAAF
aircraft, obtained via a U organization
known as the American Aeronautics
Corporation. Furrher del iveries rook place
in 1960, comprisinga numberofP-51s that
were just being retired by Uruguay and
had reputedly been purchased for a roken
I each. The exact number of Mustangs
involved in this rransaction has been the
subject of considerable debate and confu-
ion among historian, the number stated
being between four and eight. At least
four airworrhy examples were definitively
delivered, plus pos ibly several more for
spares. One of these aircraft was FAB-506,
former P-51 D-20-NA 44-63 7, which
had served in Uruguay as FA -272 until
1960 before going ro Bolivia for a dollar.
Furrher F-5IDs were delivered in the
mid-1960s, these early Bolivian Mustangs
being coded in the 'FAB-500' range.
Exactly how many additional Mustangs
were received in the mid-1960s is a con-
iderable mystery, and at least one hisro-
rian doubts their existence altogether. It
is, however, confirmed that at least one
F-51D was delivered in mid-1966 from
the USA (an ex-A G Mustang), and the
rotal number of this somewhat mysterious
procurement may have been six, includ-
ing at least one two-seater.
Later in the 1960 Bolivia became
one of the major customers for Cavalier
Mustangs. These were upplied, as with
EI Salvador, under the auspices of the
Project Peace ondor programme. Up to
nine avalier Mustang, approximating
to but certainly not identical to avalier
Mk II configuration, were involved. This
definitely included at least one two-seater,
67-14 66 (FAB-521), and possibly a
many as three. Confirmed serial numbers
of the single-seaters include 67-22579
(FAB-519) and 67-22581 (FAB-523).
Bolivian Mustangs were used in anger
to quell inrernal disorder and potenrial
uprisings that rook place in this outh
American counrry, e pecially from 1964
onward, when a right-wing dictator-
ship rook conrrol in Bolivia. Indeed,
Bolivia was the cene of the last stand
of the famous revolutionary Ernesto he
Guevara, who had tried ro creat an
uprising since entering the counrry in
1965. The Bolivian military, including
air and ground assets, were used against
the rebel forces, leading ro the death of
Che Guevara in 1967. Musrangs were
employed for ground attack, there being
no air-ro-air combat over Bolivia, and
this mirrored much of the work ro which
P-5 Is were put in various Lati n American
counrries during the ame period on
behalf of a variety of dictator hips, a
described elsewhere in this chapter. The
Mustangs worked alongside FAB T-6s
during these operations. Indeed, one of
the reasons for the influx of Mustangs and
Cavalier Mustangs into Bolivia from the
USA from 1966 onward wa to shore up
the right-wing dicratorships in existence
during that period. The Mustangs were
also used on other occasions against anti-
'government' factions, notably during an
attempted coup in 1971, when rebels in
the Bolivian capital, La Paz, were attacked
by Mustangs and Cavalier Mustangs.
In the later days of their Bolivian
service the Mustang and Cavaliers were
concenrrated inro an Escadron de Caza
within the FAB's Grupo 2, based prin-
cipally at Colcapirua. They were even-
tually replaced, beginning in 1977, a
number being old to anadian private
buyer. everal of these aircraft (includ-
ing a number of Cavaliers) joined the
Canadian civil register that year; FAB-
519, for example, became C-GXRG.
The story is widely circulated that up
to six were exchanged with a Canadian
company in return for sev ral Lockheed
T-33 jet trainer. Much earlier than
this, a Bolivian Mustang was donated to
Venezuela (which was not a fronr-l ine
218
Mustang operaror) as a parr of a deal in
the late 1960s that saw some F-86s and
B-25s (both of course, like the Musrang,
AA products) passed to Bolivia from
Venezuela.
Canada
The RCAF had a long and very fruitful
a ociation with th Mu tang that lasted
well into the 1950s. A related I ewher
in this book, the RCAF operated sig-
nificanr number of Mu tangs during the
econdWorid War in Europe, five squad-
rons eventually flying the type, including
one that was among the first to operate the
P-51 in front-line service. This wartime
use was alongside the RAF as a part of
the overall British and Commonwealth
war efforr, employing aircraft that were
effectively RAF machines 'loaned' for
anadian operations, but postwar the
R AF flew the Mustang in Canada itself.
The Canadian association with the
Mustang as an operational type began
in 1942, when 400 and 414 qns were
re-equipped with Mu tang Mk Is, having
previous! y flown the urti s Tomahawk.
In August 1942414 qn parricipated in
the Dieppe operation, one of it pilots,
American Fg Off Hollis Hills, scoring the
first-ever Mustang air-to-air kill. Both
squadrons were army co-operation units,
as was 430 qn RCAF, which similarly
operated Mustangs, becoming operational
in 1943. Later in the war in Europe, 441
and 442 Sqn RCAF wer also equipped
for a comparatively shorr tim with
Mustangs, the former not seeing combat
with the type.
Postwar the R AF underwenr a
cerrain amount of reorganization, as the
eventually large warrime complemenr of
Canadian fronr-line squadrons was run
down and priorities changed. Several
Auxiliary fighter squadrons were created
as a second-line active reserve force, some
by the renumbering or reorganization of
previous front-line units. These quadron
became a part of the air defence of orrh
American airspace, and were specifically
tasked with defending anada's major
cities. A number of them were evenrually
equippedwithP-51s.However,th R AF's
postwar Mustangs were not their former
warrime mounts, but were supplied from
surplus U tocks after the war. Eventually
130 were earmarked for Canadian service,
initial deliveries taking place in 1947 and
An indifferent but interesting photograph of a
Canadian Mustang carrying rarely illustrated
underwing pods at Rivers or Shilo. Manitoba.
The pods are believed to be smoke dispensers,
and the aircraft has brightly coloured wing outer
sections. It is not known if this is the Mustang
that was employed at the Winter Experimental
Establishment at Edmonton, Alberta, for cold
weather trials, or if it is simply a normal squadron
aircraft on an exercise. If it is the former, then this
is a particularly rare illustration. William Ewing
All 130 of the Mustangs supplied to Canada
post-war came from US stocks. As can be seen,
some were initially painted with British-style
roundels but retained their former US serial number
and early-style 'Buzz Number'. This aircraft is
44-74389/PF-389, a P-51D-30-NA/Mustang Mk.IV.
R.L. Ward collection
Believed to be an aircraft of 443 Sqn RCAF, this
Mustang Mk.lV was photographed at Edmonton,
Alberta, Canada. With the normal underwing pylon
installed, only three 'zero-length' RP attachments
could be fitted beneath each wing. Ron Dupas
Operating conditions during the long Canadian
winter tax man and machine alike. This was as
true in the day of the Mustangs as it is now. Here, a
Mustang Mk.IV of 402 (City of Winnipeg) Sqn RCAF
has had a mishap on the frozen airfield at Rivers,
Manitoba. The aircraft has 'zero-length' rocket rails
beneath its wings. William Ewing
219
EXPORT AND FOREIGN-OPERATED MUSTANGS EXPORT A 0 FOREIGN-OPERATED STANGS
unified entity that it is today. Effectively
the Chinese who fought the Japane e
were a disparate selection of Chinese
groups, a coalition that did not last long
after the end of the war. Not surpris-
ingly the Americans came to recognize
the -leaning Chiang Kai-shek, who
had been one of the principal leaders of
anti-Japanese forces during the war, as
the legitimate leader of all the Chinese
when the war ended. However, a coali-
tion of Chinese groups that supported the
communist-inspired Mao Tse-tung had
other ideas, and fighting between these
disparate groups led to full civil war from
1946 onwards. The Americans supported
Chiang Kai-shek's 'nationalist' Chinese
with considerable amounts of military
hardware. There were approximately a
thousand U AAF aircraft of various types
in or near Chinese territory at the end of
the war, mainly tho e that had flown
with Fourteenth Army Air Force unit
(they in luded P-51Bs, P-51 s, P-510s,
F-60s and some P-5IKs). It appears that
the Americans turned over most, if not
all, of these to the Chiang Kai-shek air
arm. They included not only Mustangs,
but other combat and transport aircraft as
well. The details of this transaction, and
the precise number of P-51s involved,
have never fully come to light. The
hiang Kai--hek forces subsequently
flew some of these Mustangs again t the
Mao Tse-tung groups, but without mu h
success, and it was not long before the
U -supported forces were in full retreat.
The maintenan e situation for much
of the U -sUPf lied equipment was very
poor, with shortages of spare parts and
untrained personnel trying to cope with
these modern aircraft types. The nation-
alist fall-hack did not cease until Mao
Tse-rung's supporter ha taken control
of all of the mainland Chinese terri-
tory, the victory being completed during
1949, leaving only the island of ormosa
A neat line-up of 402 (City of Winnipeg) Sqn
Mustang Mk.IVs. Apart from the nearest aircraft, all
of them have five 'zero-length' rocket attachments
beneath their wings, necessitating the removal of
the normal Mustang weapons pylon from beneath
each wing. R.L. Ward collection
Chinese pilots flew alongside their U
counterparts with considerahle, if largely
unheralded, uccess in the Chinese part
of the CBl Theatre during the later
tages of World War Two, as referred
to in Chapter 6. It seems likely that a
number of Mustangs (possibly as many
a fifty) were turned over to the hinese
during the latter tages of the war itself,
rather than the Chinese pilot imply
flying 'borrowed' aircraft. t the war'
end the AAF had a large number of
aircraft at various air bases on nominally
Chinese territory. China at that time, it
must be remembered, was not the large,
China
Air Training entre at River, Manitoba,
by o. 1 (F) OTU at Chatham, ew
Brunswick, and by the entral Flying
chool at Trenton. Number 102(CR)
Flight at Trenton employed at least two
Mustangs as target towers.
Like many o\Trseas-operated Mustangs,
some of Canada's aircraft led long and
diverse Ii ves. For example, 926 for-
merly carried serial 44-74 31 and was
an Inglewood-huilt P-51 D-30- A. In
Canadian auxiliary service it flew with 442
qn ar R AF station ea Island, British
Colombia, during the 1950s. It was larer
sold to Guatemala, where it became FAG-
372. On the other hand, 9232 was taken
on charge by the RCAF in late 1950, and
was one of the last Mustangs to be struck
off charge by the RCAF in ovember
1960. Originally built as a P-5lD-30- A,
it was assigned the serial 44-74502. It
was one of everal aircraft clandestinely
intended for 'upply to uba in the early
196 that were impounded hefore arrival,
and it subsequentI y went th rough a variety
of civilian owners in the USA. At one
time it was onverted as an air racer, but
was later rebuilt as a two-seat TF-51.
the balance following in 195 /51. Most,
if not all, were P-510-20s, 0-25s and
D-30s from NAA Inglewood produ -
tion. In Canadian service they received
the designation Mustang TF (Tactical
Fighter) Mk IV (the Roman numerals are
sometimes replaced in Canadian sources
hy an Arahic '4'), and the type was oper-
ated until the mid-195 s, when jets were
gradually phased in and national defence
priorities were reorgani:ed. The Canadian
serial number- allocated for these aircraft
were 9221 to 9300 and 9551 to 96 O.
Most of the survivors were disposed of
later in the 1950s (although several were
not struck off charge until lare in (960),
some being purchased by private buyers.
A number still survive.
The Canadian Auxiliary Fighter
Squadrons that flew the Mustang included
402 (City of Winnipeg), 4 3 (City of
Calgary), 420 (City of London), 424 (City
of Hamilton), 442 (City of Vancouver)
and 443 (City of ew We tminster).
These unit were allocated squadron code
letters in similar fashion to those worn by
wartime units, the identified codes being:
AC (402 qn), AD (403 Sqn), AW (420
Sqn), BA (424 qn), B (442 qn) and
PF (443 qn). The last two squadrons
were both based at ea Island, British
olombia, and frequently exchanged air-
craft. In addition, at least two front-line
regular RC F quadron , 416 'Lynx' qn
(coded AS) and 417 qn (coded AT),
and possibly others, al 0 temporarily
operated some of these po twar Mustangs.
Canadian sources additionally refer to
service by at least two Mustangs (9227 and
9553, at rnprior) for weapons clearance
and experimental work at the Central
Experimental and Proving Establishment,
which also used a Mustang (9555) at the
Winter Experimental E tablishment at
Edmonton, Alberta, for cold weather
trials. Training work was performed by
some Mustangs at the Canadian Joint
A smart line-up of Canadian-operated Mustang
Mk.lVs. like many Canadian post-war Mustangs
they are fitted with the normal single weapons
pylon plus three 'zero-length' rocket attachments
beneath each wing. The second aircraft in the line
was allocated to 424 (City of Hamiltonl Sqn RCAF,
and wears the unit's 'BA' squadron code.
R.L. Ward collection
Seen shortly before or after delivery, a P-51DI
Mustang Mk.IV bearing the Canadian serial number
9578 (believed to be ex 44-74376) and in apparently
pristine condition poses for the camera. The name
Jezebelle, possibly surviving from its previous US
employment, is painted below the exhaust outlets
on the nose. R.L. Ward collection
The Mustangs supplied to Canada by the USA in the
late 1940s and early 1950s were generally in very
good condition, as they came from stocks of low-
time airframes in the USA. This contrasted strongly
with the Mustangs supplied from war-weary
stocks in Europe to countries such as Italy, many
of which were in poor condition. This Canadian
Mustang Mk.lV, 9552 (believed to be ex 44-63872),
shows what happens to a P-51 Dthat has sat on
the ground for some time. Hydraulic pressure has
escaped from its systems, allowing the inner main
undercarriage doors and the flaps to creep down.
R.L. Ward collection
Bearing the legend 'City of Winnipeg Squadron'
on its anti-glare panel ahead of the cockpit,
Mustang Mk.IV 9284 (believed to be ex 44-73691) of
4021City of Winnipeg) Sqn was photographed on
detachment in the Canadian northwest in 1951. It
shows a modified form of squadron coding on the
fuselage, in which the squadron code letters 'AC'
have been joined by the 'last three' numbers of the
aircraft's serial, rather than an individual plane-
in-squadron code letter being presented with the
squadron code letters. R.L. Ward collection
220 221
(modern-day Taiwan) as the solitary
refuge for Chiang Kai-shek.
During the retreat of Chiang Kai-shek's
forces a number of Mustangs fell into com-
munist hands, and it is possible that some
were u ed against their previous owners.
The retreat ofChiang Kai-shek to Formosa
and the establishment of his We tern-
inspired Republic of China resulted in
the creation of an air arm that !cant very
heavily on the P-51 as its principal fighter
in the post 1949-era. This service appears
to have lasted well into the mid-1950s,
when jet fighters from the SA started to
become available. Details are very sparse
of this aspect of the Mustang's service,
and even more shrouded in mystery are
the operations of the Mustangs absorbed
into Mao Tse-tung's armed forces after
1949. The communists organized a new
air force, eventually named the PLA, and
it is po sible that the Mustang might have
formed the initial basi of the figh ter arm of
th i new ai r force, wh iIe later s rvi ng as an
advanced trainer. Certainly the Chine e
service of the Mustang is a ubject that has
yet to reveal its secret.
Costa Rica
One of the lea t-known Mu tang opera-
tors, osta Rica operated four F-51 Ds from
early 1955 onwards. These are sometimes
said to have been upplied under one of
several mutual aid packages that the A
formulated in the postwar era, parti ularly
relating to Central and South American
countries, but the actual picture is rather
more complicated. A civil war had taken
place in Costa Rica in 1948, and fol-
lowing the ending of hostilities much
of the Costa Rican armed forces had
been disbanded. However, Costa Rica ha
had disputes with icaragua, its northern
neighbour, for ome time, and in early
1955 these pi lied over into a icaraguan-
backed invasion by 'rebel' force. osta
Rica was unable to defend itself, and the
A stepped in to help with military aid.
This included the supply of four Mustangs
in January 1955, which were sold to the
Co ta Rican authorities for a nominal 1
each. It appears likely that the four air-
craft were formerly operated by the 1 2nd
F of the Texas A G, and were flown
to osta Rica by AF pilots from Kelly
FB in Texas. All four were F-51 Ds,
and they were numbered I to 4 in Costa
Rican service. Following arrival they were
EXPORT A D FOREIGN-OPERATED MUSTANGS
operated against the icaraguan 'rebel'
force, although it is not clear how often
they fired their gun in anger. It i specu-
lated that they wer flown by mercenary
pilots, as the Costa Ricans did not have
sufficient trained pilots to operate the
Mustangs themselve . It is now believed
that AF pilots actually flew the aircraft
on patrol in Costa Rica. This use must
have been succe ful, as the icaraguans
subsequently withdrew. Nevertheless,
one of the Mustang was shot down.
There are rumours that it might have
been attacked by an FA7 Thunderbolt
that was supporting the rebel invasion,
possibly one of the few occasions (if not
the only one) on which a Mustang and
a Thunderbolt on opposing sides met in
combat. At least two Mustangs that have
survived to the present day are believed
to have been operated by the Fuerza
Aerea Costarricense, these being F-51 D-
25-NA 44-73339 (ex-FAC-2?) and
F-5lD-30- A 44-7497 (ex-FAC-4?).
The former has had a very varied career.
Following its Costa Rican ervice it wa
operated by lndone ia, possibly following
rebuild work by Cavalier. Recovered from
Indonesia in the late 1970s, it eventually
found its way to Britain, and ownership
by David Gilmour of Intrepid Aviation in
4th FG colour as G- IRR, before return-
ing to the U A. On the other hand,
44-7497 is thought to have been deliv-
ered to Costa Rica in January 1955, but
returned to the U A and joined the US
civil register in 1964 as 6169U, possibly
along with another Costa Rican Mustang.
At the time of writing it is appropriately
registered as N74978 with Cal Pacific
Airmotive.
Cuba
One of the Central American countries
whose use of the Mustang has been the
subject of much speculation and rumour,
Cuba wa in a tate of open revolution
when a small number of Mustangs arrived
on this Caribbean i land.lthassometime
been reported that the prevailing pro-U
regime that dominated uba in the 1940
received several Mu tangs under the Rio
Pact of 1947, but this appears to have been
myth rather than fact. In the early 1950
dissatisfaction with the autocratic pro-
regime of Fulgencio Batista led to full-
scale revolt led by Fidel Castro. The rebel
forces were rthle hy vmious c1rtndestine
222
means to acquire a variety of weapon,
and three Mustangs were obtained on the
open market in the late 195 s, probably
from civilian sources. The first is thought
to have arrived in or just after May
195 ,and wa numbered '401' (it might
have been serial 44-74505). The three
Mu tangs erved with the Fuerza Aerea
Rehelde (latterly al 0 called the Fuerza
Aerea Revolucionaria), and it is unclear if
they flew in combat in the latter tage of
Castro's ultimately successful attempt to
overthrow the Batista dictator hip. After
that the Mustangs presumably continued
in ervice until replaced by aircraft sup-
plied from the Soviet Union, with whom
a tro subsequently aligned himself. A
Mustang numbered '401' has been on
di play in l-lavana for many years as a
tribute to the efforts of the Mustangs in
Castro's service.
Dominican Republic
The tory of the Mustang in the service
of the Dominican Republic is worthy
of a large book in its own right. This
Caribbean i land country takes credit for
being the final front-line Mustang opera-
tor, keeping the type in continuous ervice
from the late 194 s until as recently as
19 4. A number of currently airworthy
Mustangs owe their existence to the long
and somewhat treasured Iife that they had
in Dominican service, the Dominicans
operating a truly mixed bag of standard
Mu tangs and Cavalier Mustangs.
In the late 1940s this Latin American
country, like others in the region, began to
benefit from the many surplus US aircraft
that were becoming available after the
econd World War. For the Dominican
uerpo de Aviacion this proces began
in 1947, when the odd assortment of
aircraft that the Dominicans eventually
operated started to grow with the acqui-
sition of P-3 s, making the Dominican
Republic one of the few Central Ameri-
can countries to acquire the type. The
Dominicans also obtained a small number
of de Havilland Mo quito fighter-bombers
from Britain, again unique in that part of
the world. Other equipment included
F-47, ex- wedish de Havilland Vampire
jet fighter-bombers, and another very
rare bird in Central America, the Bri tol
Beaufighter. This build-up of military
hardware was a result of the desire of the
Dominican Republic's dictator, Rafael
EXPORT AND FOREIGN-OPERATED MUSTANGS
A pair of unidentified Dominican Republic
Mustangs, apparently photographed in late 1969.
The Dominican Mustangs sported very distinctive
camouflage schemes, and underwent a number of
upgrades during their long service.
R.L. Ward collection
223
The Dominican Republic became famous for being
the final military operator of the P-51. From the
summer of 1948 onwards Mustangs arrived in
the country in all shapes and sizes from various
sources. The example illustrated, FAD 1914, is
believed by many historians to have been the
famous 44-72123, a P-51D-20-NA flown by Capt Ed
Giller of the Eighth Air Force's 55th FG in England
during World War Two and named The Millie G.
R.L. Ward collection
Underwing stores on a Dominican Republic
Mustang, including what appear to be two
unidentified and rather unusual rockets. The
underwing pylons on the normal Mustangs
operated by the Dominicans remained similar to
those of many other 'overseas' Mustang operators;
namely the standard single underwing pylon plus
three 'zero-Iength' rocket attachments beneath
each wing. R.L. Ward collection
Trujillo, to defend his repre sive regime ar
any cost. The first Mustangs obtained by
the Dominicans, in the summer of 194 ,
comprised a bizarre assortment of Merlin-
and Allison-engine types. Thi was unique
in it elf, as it meant that the Dominicans
became one of the very few operators of
the Allison-engined Mustang out ide of
and Briti h/British ommonwealth
service. It appears that some of these
initial Mustangs were surplus aircraft that
had originally been purchased privately
for air racing. They were allocated the
Dominican military serials 401 to 4 5 (a
sixth Mustang reportedly crashed before it
entered Dominican service).
When Sweden began to run down its
Mustang force in the early 1950s, the
Dominican authorities saw a chance to
add further Mustangs to the inventory of
the Aviacion Militar Dominicana (as it
wa by then called). At that time Trujillo
felt snubbed by the SA, which had
been low in supplying a requested batch
of Thunderbolts, partly clue to fears that
this would upset the relative balance of
military forces in the aribbean at Cuba's
expen e (wh ich was very much in the U
sphere of influence at the time). During
1952 negotiation took ~ lace betw en
the Dominican and wedish authorities,
and were successfully concluded with the
help of wedish export company Henry
Wallenberg & Co. AB. This company
purcha ed the Mu tangs from the wedish
authorities in September 1952 on behalf
of the Dominican Republic. The number
involved was thirty-two (not forty-four, as
sometimes claimed), and they cost $15,500
each. As with other deals involving
Swedish Mustangs, the Swedish company
Svensk Flygtjanst AB was contracted to
deliver the aircraft. They were dismantled
and packed for delivery by sea, th cargo
hip leaving Swedish waters in December
1952. Trujillo was not satisfied, however,
and a further deal was concluded in late
January 1953 for another ten Mustangs,
apparently at the same price each as the
original aircraft. The e were shipped
in May 1953. The Dominican authori-
ties were still not satisfied, however,
and wanted several more P-51. The
Wallenberg company agreed to this new
demand in June 1953, but for some rea on
the deal fell through. The aircraft held
under this final set of negotiations were
instead kept in reserve, and may well have
formed part of the order that was even-
tually sold to Nicaragua. nfortunately
EXPORT AND FOREIGN-OPERATED MUSTANGS
the whole deal later became surrounded
by controversy, with claims that Ramfis
Trujillo, the son of Dominican dictator
Rafael Trujillo, might have I1lade sub-
stantial monetary gain out of the situa-
tion by originally having the forty-two
Mustangs signed to him, and later selling
them to the Dominican military at a much
increa ed price.
There is nodoubt that the Mustangs were
the pride < nd joy of Ramfis T ruj i110, much
to the dismay of the Dominican pilots who
considerably preferr d th F-47D-30-RA
and TF-47D-30-RA Thunderbolts that
had been obtained by somewhat more
legitimate means. Ramfis Trujillo had
successfully made himself the head of the
Aviacion Militar Dominicana, and the
unit to which the Mustangs were attached
towascalled the EscuadrondeCaza Ramfis.
(The Thunderbolts were in the less grandly
named Escuadron de aza- Bombardero.)
Initially, however, the Mustangs were all
but ignored, as no one appeared to know
how to fly or maintain them. The fir t
batch of Mustangs arrived from weden
in January 1953 and they were taken over-
land to the air base at an Isidro, near to
the Dominican capital (named Ciudad
Trujillo at the time but later renamed
anto Domingo d Guzman). Eventually
the situation wa re olved with the hiring
of wedi h technicians, eight of whom
weretakenon lat in 1953 (they worked on
the Mustangs from 1954 to 1960) but were
later joined by several others. They did
an excellent job in getting the Mustangs
airworthy and the pilots of the Aviacion
Militar Dominicana checked out on the
type. Finally the Thunderboltswere retired,
in late 1957, due to the earlier purchase
from Sweden of de Havilland Vampire
jet fighter-bombers, but the Mustangs
persisted in the fighter role as the main
Dominican fighter type.
Rafael Trujillo's assassination in 1961
led to a succession of juntas, coup and
failed leader, but through it all the
Mu tangs remained in the service of
the renamed Fuerza Aerea Dominicana
(FAD) Two major upgrades of the
Dominican P-51s were undertaken by
Trans-Florida Aviation in the U A,
when relations with the A warmed for
a time following T ruj illo' death. The fir t
was in the early 1960 ( everal were being
reworked in 1964), and the second was
several years later. (By that time Trans-
Florida had b ome the Cavalier Aircraft
Corporation, and carried out some of
224
the work in the Dominican Republic as
a part of Project Peace Hawk in 196 .) It
i believed everal of the Mustangs (mo t
report state three) were retained by
Caval ier a part payment for the upgrade
work. It appears that up to eighteen
Dominican Mu tangs were involved in
the latter programme, ostensibly to bring
them to aval ier Mk II standard. However,
the late Paul Coggan, who was an expert
on 'warbird' Mustang, examined some of
these aircraft during the 19 Os and found
that not all of the work was carried out.
The Dominicans had hoped to replace
the ageing Mustangs with F- 6Fs (prob-
ably from Japan), but U oppo ition to
this plan prevented its execution, and
budgetary problems later in the Mustang'
service life meant their service went on
and on. Following the demise of the
Trujillo dynasty the Mustangs were con-
centrated in a unit unglamorously named
the Escuadron de Caza. It is possible that
the Dominicans obtained one or more
of Haiti's Mustangs for pares when they
were r tired in the mid-1970 , but this has
not been verified.
During some of their operational lives
the Dominican Republic Mu tangs were
certainly kept busy, with cOU[1S, attempted
coups and a major U intervention taking
place in the country during their service.
As early as 1949 a number were used as
a 'show of force' by making overflights
above neighbouring Haiti, with the
intention of forcing the Haitian govern-
ment to desist from its support for various
rebel groups who intended to overthrow
the Dominican regime. During pril
1959 anti-government rebels attempted
an invasion by both air and sea. Th
Dominican armed forces remained loyal
and attacked several naval raft being
used by the rebels, Mustang joining
Thunderbolts and Vampires in shooting-
up these vessels. In June of the same year
yet more rebels appeared on the scene, thi
time attempting an invasion via Cuba.
On e more Dominica's Mu tang and
Vampires successfully attacked the rebel
force. In December 1963 an in urrection
took place in the central highlands region
of the country, in defiance of a new right-
wing junta that had recently seized power.
The armed forces remained loyal to the
new regime, and Mustangs were used to
attack the rebel positions with machine-
gun fire and unguided rockets. The new
junta was overthrown by a military faction
in April 1965, however, provoking a con-
siderable amount of fighting throughout
the country, which in effect became a
civil war. The strife caused a ma ive
response, mainly through fear of a com-
munist take-over, that eventually saw
thousands of U troops temporarily sta-
tioned on Dominican oil. Military forces
who remained loyal to the original junta
defied the military rebels and co-ordi-
nated their response from the airfield at
San Isidro, where some of the Dominican
Mustangs (i ncluding som of those
re ently reworked by Trans-Florida) were
based. These Mustangs attacked rebel
positions in the capital, Santo Domingo,
one being brought down by ground fire.
Another Mustang was lost later in the
anti-rebel operations when it attacked
rebel positions near the S Embassy com-
pound in anto Domingo and was shot
down by US ground forc s guarding the
intere ts. In later years th Dominican
Mustangs were used on quick reaction
alert to scramble if nece sary to intercept
su pected drug-smuggling flights, a role
in which the Mustang excelled into the
19 O.
A lack of money and a similar lack
of upport from the U A for aid in the
supply of newer equipment meant that
the Dominican Mustangs had to soldier
on until 19 4, although the Dominican
ground crews' standard of maintenance
was of a very high order. By that time the
Mustangs were coveted by many outside
the country, the 'warbird' community
having grown and become well-organized
and equally well-financed, particularly
in the USA. Although the final upgrade
programme by the Cavalier Aircraft
Corporation in the late 1960s had left at
least fifteen Mustangs in front-line condi-
tion, by 1984 the number had dwindl d
to ten. The end finally came in 19 4.
ine of the Mustangs were sold in May
19 4 to Brian O'Farrell in the A at
approximately 30 ,000 each, and everal
ub equently joined the 'warbird' circuit,
registered to a number of civilian owners.
A very large Dominican stores holding was
also old on at that time. One Mu tang
wa r tained for display purpo es in the
Dominican Republic, and is worthy of
particular mention. As pointed out in the
section on Sweden in this chapter, several
of the wedi h Mustangs were recogniz-
able combat veterans from their service
during World War Two with the U AAF.
The one retained by the Dominicans
is generally accepted to be 44-72123, a
EXPORT AND FOREIGN-OPERATED MUSTA GS
P-51D-20- A that was issued in 1944 to
the 343rd F of the 55th FG in England.
A signed to one of the 55th FG's most
high-profile pilots, apt Ed Giller, it wa
one of several of hi personal Mustangs to
carry the name The Millie G.It urvived the
war and went to weden in 1947 as 26092,
where it served with fighter wing F4. It
was in the batch of thirty-two Mu tangs
sold to the Dominican Republic in late
1952, and eventually wore the Dominican
code FAD 1914 (the Dominicans having
long since adopted four-number codes for
their Mustangs). It erved throughout the
type's Dominican servi e before being
fittingly put on display after 1984 at the
FAD headquarters at San Isidro.
El Salvador
Holding the distinction of being the final
nation to fly the Mustang in combat in an
out-and-out hooting war, EI alvador was
an important Central American Mustang
operator and used the type in a major
conflict with n ighbouring Honduras. EI
alvador was al 0 important in being one
of two Central American recipients of
the Cavalier Mustang 'from the factory'
(the other was Bolivia). Although a com-
paratively small country, EI Salvador was
densely populated, and made variou
attempt in the 1950s and early 1960s
to modernize it outdated armed forces.
A result of thi was the acqui ition from
the late 1950s onwards of Goodyear-built
Vought FG-l D Corsair fighters (plus,
seemingly, som tandard F4U-4 Corsairs),
but rising tension with n ighbouring
Honduras, which was relatively well-
armed, caused the alvadorians to seek
more air power alternative. As explained
in Chapter ,Trans-Florida Aviation in
the A had embarked on a programme
of updating the basic Mustang layout and
turning it into a 1960 - tandard combat
aircraft. A number of countries around
the world became intere ted in obtain-
ing the Caval ier-refurbished and updated
Mustangs, and in 196 EI alvador suc-
ce fully ordered a mall batch. This was
under the auspice of the Project Peace
Condor programme, and among the air-
craft ordered wa on dedicated two- eater
variant. The exact number eventually
delivered to EI alvador i unfortunately
open to debate, but the Salvadorian
serial numbers allocated give a clue, these
being FAS 401 to FA 405 for single-
225
seat avaliers, plus FA 4 ,\ I.
reputedlyatwo-s atTF-51D, n
ard F-51 D numbered FA 4
Fuerza Aerea alvadorena).]n
a further F-51D was donated b
individual named Archi B I I
(sometime called Badocchi in c nt 1111 '
rary account) to replace FA 402, \ hI I
crashed in October 196 . The Mu t ng
and orsairs were concentrated int th
FA Grupo de Combate's Escuadr n
aza. It appears likely that several furth r
Mustangs were also obtained during tha
period (variously described at the tim
and since as numbering eleven, twelv r
fourteen xamples), and erial numb r
up to at least FAS 411 are known, the
latter ma hines being tandard F-51
and not avalier Mustangs. The combat
eff ctiveness of the Salvadorian Mustang
i often cr dited to Archi Baldocchi,
who, in addition to donating his own
Mustang to the FA , also helped the
Salvadorians make some improvement
to their Mu tangs, including the pro-
vision of gunsights (which, surpri ingly,
some lacked).
Ten ions between EI alvador and
Honduras centred on the number of
alvadorians who had gone to live in
Honduras, there being far more land avail-
able in Honduras than in the relatively
overpopulated EI Salvador. Eventually
relations boiled over due to a game of
football, of all things. In the group quali-
fying tages leading up to th 1970 World
up that was due to be stag d in Mexico,
EI al vador and Honduras ~ rtunately
nded up playing each other to d cide who
from the Latin American qualifying com-
petition would occupy a place in the finals
in M xico. The first match took place in
Tegucigalpa, the capital of Honduras, in
early June 1969, and was follow d veral
days later by a second match in an
alvador. rowd trouble and as iated
riot led to increased tension, and n 14
July 1969 the alvadorian army invaded
Honduras, ostensibly to protect it iti-
zen, who were coming under in rea ing
pre ure through anti-foreigner riot in
Hondura . The re ulting conflict has b en
known ever since as the 'Football War' (or
, occer War' to some Americans). Air
action immediately followed. The FA
Cor air and Mustang were ba ed mainly
at 1I0pango in th vicinity of the capital,
San alvador,andat anMiguel,andwere
flown by Salvadorian and some mercenary
pilot. They were straight away in action,
the Mustangs usually flying as top cover For
the Corsairs, wh ich were used For ground
attack. Opposing them were Fuerza Aerea
Hondurena Corsairs of various marks, T -28
Trojans and assorted other Honduran air
assets. The Salvadorian ground Forces ini-
tially made impressive gains, but success-
Ful air attacks by Honduran aircraFt leFt the
alvadorian Fuel stocks very low, resulting
in a general stalemate. The war ended in
early August following intervention by
the Organisation of American States to
find a peaceFul solution, with a subsequent
general withdrawal of Forces to roughly
their pre-conflict positions. The FAS did
not fare too well, and one of its Mustangs
(believed to be FAS 404, although there
are conflicting reports about the dogfight)
was hot down by a Honduran F4U-5
Corsair piloted by Maj Fernando 'Sotillo'
Soto Henriquez. The Mustang pilot, Capt
Humberto Varely (sometimes his name is
spelled Varela in contemporary accounts)
was killed. Soto's Corsair, No.609, is cred-
ited with three air-to-air kills during the
conflict. The Salvadorian lost one or
possibly two more Mustangs during the
short war, although it is believed that
at least one of these was to ground Fire,
wh iIe a two-seater was reported at the
time as being interned in Guatemala, and
there are persistent reports that two more
Sal vadorian Mustangs were damaged or
lost in a mid-air collision.
This is now generally accepted to have
been the last time that Mustangs flew
in combat, and it was not a particularly
auspicious end to the type's illustrious
war record, which reached back in time
to L942. The aerial combats during the
'Football War' are also widely thought
to have been the last time that front-line
piston-engined aircraft met each other in
anger. Mustangs remained in service with
the FAS into the 1970s, finally being
replaced by ex-Israeli Dassault Ouragan
jet fighters in 1974/1975, some of the
Mustangs being sold to finance the new
warplanes.
A significant European operator of the Mustang
was France, which used mainly reconnaissance-
adapted Mustangs in the latter stages of World
War Two and in the post-war period, although
some straight fighter versions were also flown.
The principal operating unit was the Groupe de
Reconnaissance GR 33, one of whose F-6Ds is
seen here, probably in 1945. Coded Y, the Mustang
belongs to ER 2/33 'Savoie', and proudly bears the
coat of arms of the French Savoie Department on its
fin. Jean-Jacques Petit collection
EXPORT AND FOREIGN-OPERATED MUSTA GS
France
French airmen fought in the RAF during
World War Two from the time of the
German occupation of France, and in
units of the Free French forces under
Allied control. Following the D-Day land-
ings and the increasingly successful Allied
liberation of German-occupied France,
attempts were made by the French to
reconstitute the French air Force (Armee
de I' Air) as a single unified entity and bring
together into the new air force the diverse
French aviation units and Free French
elements that had thus far operated in a
disparate fashion on the Allied side. In
late 1944 and early 1945 the new Armee
de l'Air began to receive equipment from
the All ies solely For French usage, and to
operate an increasing number of front-
line units and aircraFt types. One of the
latter was the Mustang, and France thus
be ame one of the Few foreign operator
to fly th P-51 in combat during the
Second World War.
France was virtually unique in operating
its Mustangs primarily as reconnaissance
and target-spotting aircraft, although
many of the Mustangs suppl ied to France
were actually straight fighter models,
some of which were later converted
to reconnaissance configuration. French
reconnaissance assets were collected into
a unit called GR 33 (GR = Groupe de
Reconnaissance), with this organization's
subordinate escadron (squadron) 1/33
'Belfort' operating F-4 and F-5 Lightnings
on long-range strategic reconnaissance.
For TacR and battlefield support the
Groupe's second squadron, 11/33 'Savoie',
flew pitfires of various marks, includ-
ing some Mk IXs. However, in the early
weeks of 1945 the Spitfires started to be
J
226
replaced by Mustangs, The initial batch
of Mustangs was receiv d from USAAF
stocks in England in mid-january 1945,
the fi rst aircraFt being transferred to
Luxeuil Airfield during that month (the
date of arri val appears to have been 14
january, although USAAF records are not
particularly clear on this matter). Most, if
not all, of these Mustangs were straight
fighter versions, although a promise on
th supply of equipment to convert them
into reconnaissance aircraft was also
given by the Americans. The squadron
had twelve aircraFt by 1I February, these
comprising a real mixed bag of Mustang
including P-5 I B/Cs and P-5 JOs. Th
nominal operational strength of eighteen
aircraft was reached in early March, but
sufficient cameras and related equipment
to convert all the fighter examples into
true reconnaissance Mustangs were not
available, so the French ended up flying
camera-equipped Mustangs alongside
straight fighters. Nevertheless, opera-
tions began from Luxeuil in February; it
is believed the first actual sorties were
flown on the L9th, The small French
Mustang Force was subsequently heavily
involved in supporting French ground
units, including the heavy fighting around
olmar in northeastern France where the
French 1st Army was in action along-
side the U 7th Army against GenTIan
forces. Subsequently GR Il/33 moved up
to Colmar airfield in the second half of
March 1945 and supported French units
involved in the Rhine Crossing at the
end of that month, and the subsequent
break-out into Germany proper. French
Mustangs closely supported French 1st
Army units, both in TacR and ground-
attack sorties, and worked with French-
operated P-47Ds by identifying targets
and calling down precision strikes in vir-
tually an FAC role.
The small French Mustang force suf-
fered a number of casualties before the end
of hostilities, but an accepted total has
never come to light. Although a number
of the French aircraFt had been converted
into reconnaissance conFiguration as F-6
look-alikes, the type was almost universally
known to the French as the P-5 Lor simply
the Mustang. The fuselage code letters R7
were worn by the Mustangs of 1l/33.
In common with US-operated P-51s,
the small French Mustang force became a
part of the Allied occupation organization
in western Germany aFter the war. The first
base used by the French Mustangs while
carrying out this task was Lahr in the very
western part of Germany, southeast of
Strasbourg, but a move was subsequently
made to Breisgau (Freiburg) to the south of
Lahr. Several of the squadron's Mustangs,
however, were based in North Africa for
a time after the the war in Europe, on
mapping duties and to 'fly the flag' in the
French North African colonies, which
had returned to French jurisdiction at the
war's end. It is quite likely that some of
the French Mustangs on this deployment
were equipped with additional direction-
finding (D/F) equipment, as evidenced by
a D/F loop installation sported by som
of the Mustangs in Algeria on the rear
fuselage, behind the standard radio mast.
During this period it gradually became
accepted practice to refer to French units
with Arabic rather than Roman numerals,
so Il/33 began to be called 2/33 in official
documents. Appropriately, some of the
unit's Mustangs carried on their engine
cowlings the names of towns in the Savoie
region of France, after which the squadron
was named. In 0 cember 1947 there were
some fifteen Mustangs operational with
four in reserve. These includ d P-51 B/Cs
and P-5JOs, plus an odd F-6K (44-12471,
a genuine US-converted F-6K). Several of
the Mustangs also appear to have eventu-
ally been on the strength (on paper at least)
of 1/33 (later 1/33) 'BelFort', although by
the early 1950s many were becoming
decidedly 'tired' and moves began to find
a jet replacement. The 'Savoie' squadron
started to leave Breisgau in the spring and
summer of 1950 as its occupation forc
role came to an end, Cognac in western
France becoming the unit's new base. The
final French Mustangs were withdrawn in
1952, the type being replaced, at least tem-
porarily, by specially conFigured F-84G
Thunderjets from the summer of the year.
A real rarity among the French Mustangs
was a two-seat liaison, 'hack' and training
Mustang, converted From a P-51D. The
conversion was definitely bizarre, the rear
part of its bubble canopy hinging upwards
at the rear to allow the second occupant
access into the rear seat a - true oddity
among Mustang.
Germany and Japan
A number of Mustang fell into en my
hands during the Second World War,
and both Germany and japan were able
to evaluate the type at first hand. In
particular, the Germans eventually had
a number of flyable Mustangs of various
marks at their disposal. This came about
because a number of shot-down examples
were not too badly damaged, and were put
back into the air.
Not surprisingly, the P-51 wa of great
interest to the Germans from the outset,
particularly as the type was soon recog-
nized as a leap Forward in Allied fighter
design and capabili ty when the RAF began
to fly Mustangs operationally in 1942.
With the advent of the Merlin-engined
Mustang and the increasingly widespread
operations of the USAAF from late 1943
onwards, the previous edge that the
German fighter force had often enjoyed
carlier in the war was finally and compre-
hensively challenged. It became a matter
of some importance for the LuFtwaffe not
only to evaluate the Mustang, but also to
teach its pilots how to tackle this highly
capable warplane.
As Mustangs roamed more and more
over enemy-held territory, so a small
number became available to the Germans
due to operational losses or mechanical
malfunction. Most of the Mustangs that
came down over Occupied Europe were
not in a fit state to be put back in the
air, but there were at least two airworthy
P-5ts available to the Luftwaffe by the
summer of 1944, Many of the captured
aircraFt that the Germans made airwor-
thy were concentrated in a special unit,
which reported directly to the Luftwaffe
high command. This was the 2nd Staffel
of the Versuchsverband Oberkommando
d r Luftwaffe (2.jVersuchsverband OKL),
which used the fuselage identification code
'T9'. Th captured Allied aircraft it flew
weI' painted in very distinctiv colours
with larg German national insignia to
227
avoid accidental shoot-downs by confused
or trigger-happy German gunners. The
unit eventually nULTlbered among its ranks
several Spitfires, Mustangs and other Front-
line Allied aircraft. It has become part of
the folklore of the assumed mystery that
surrounds this unit that it has come to be
known unofficially as the 'Zirkus Rosarius',
and there are persistent reports that its
aircraFt, flown by Germans and painted
in spurious US or British markings, were
used in combat against Allied warplanes.
In reality they were shown to combat
units to Familiarize LuFtwaFFe aircrew with
the type of aircraft they were up against in
aerial combat, and to allow some experi-
enced Luftwaffe pilots to fly the aircraft
for themselve , but not in combat. The
overall impression gained by Luftwaffe
pilots on these familiarization sorti s was
of the all-round capability of th Mustang,
and some had the chance to engag in
trial 'combats' with LuFtwaffe fight rs, A
number of other foreign nationals also had
the opportunity to examine the captured
Mustangs, including Hungarian pilots,
who were also up against the Mustang
owing to U AAF missions over southern
Europe. Indeed, at least one P-51D, From
the 354th FG, nd d up in Hungarian
hands, although it is not known for
certain what the Hungarians did with it.
The Mustangs that the Germans made
airworthy were a mixed bag, and included
at least one Fonner 4th FG P-51 B. Most of
the airworthy German Mustangs were of
the 'razorback' type, although at least one
P-51D is known to have existed inGerman
colours. There is also some evidence that
the major German military flight test and
I' search establishment (Erprobungsstelle
or E-Stelle) at Rechlin to the north of
Berlin took a look at one or more of the
captured Mustangs. At the end of the
war advan ing Allied forces 'liberated' a
number of Mustangs Found on German or
occupied airfields. Interestingly, a number
of these were on airfields in the so- ailed
Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia
(the Former Czechoslovakia, wher th
Germans had a number of aircraft com-
panies that were forced to work for them
within the overall German aircraft pro-
duction organization), and it is not clear
why they were particularly concentrated in
that part of the German-o cupied areas.
japanese Fighters began to ncounter
Allison-engined Mu tang for the first
time in major combat during October and
November 1943 over Burma, a recounted
in hapter 3. Like the German, the
japanese were very intere ted to find out
more about the American fighter, but it
was some time before an intact example
came their way. This turned out to be a
Merlin Mu tang, in fact a P-51C of the
51st FG. Th re is some confusion as to
when th Mustang concerned, named
Evalina, actually fell into japanese hands.
It landed virtually intact at uchon ailfield
in hina, and after repair it wa ferried
to japan by Maj Yasuhiko Kuroe of the
famou 64th Sentai, which had duelled
with Mustangs over Burma from late 1943
onwards. The Mustang was delivered to
a japane evaluation and test centre at
Fussa (mor r cently known as Yokota Air
Base), wher it was examined in detail. It
was later moved to Akeno, and was flown
in mo k combat against a range of th n-
current japanese fighters. Evaluation wa
made of the P-51' systems and equip-
ment, which were found to be con ider-
ably b tter than those of japanese fighter.
In particular the armour protection for the
pilot was of great int re t to the japane e
pilots who flew the aircraft, this being
something that japan aircrew would
have liked to have been much higher on
the list of prioritie for their own aircraft.
Particularly worrying for the japanese
was the Mustang's long-range capability,
which, it wa noted, would allow Mustangs
to fly over japan it elf if any of the Pacific
islands on the approach to japan were cap-
tured by the Allies, something that indeed
did happen in 1945. Ground crew were
amaz d by the Mu tang's lack of major oi I
leak in comparison to japanese air raft
of th period. It appears that the Mustang
was flown a great deal in japanese hands,
and was very well liked by those who flew
it, until a lack of pare finally grounded
it. When Mustang wer eventually able
to fly over japan in combat during 9 ~
it eem likely that at least twO more, this
time of the P-510 series, were captured by
the japan e, although the story of the e
aircraft remains unclear.
Guatemala
Guatemala's association wi th the Mustang
began in 1954, during a time of consider-
able political turmoil within the nation,
and with outside interf rence also taking
place. For several year after 1944 rebel
upported by the USA had been trying
to ov rthrow democrati ally elected
EXPORT A D FOREIGN-OPERATED M STANGS
governm nts in Guatemala. After the
mid-1940 everal attempts were made by
the legitimate Guatemalan government to
procure P-51s. This was not urprising, as
the main fighter type in the Guatemalan
inventory was the early 1930s-vintage
Boeing P-26A, six of which had been
supplied from stocks in the Panama Canal
Zone in 1943, plus enough spares to mak
another on , before the SA turned its
back on the legitimate Guatemalan gov-
ernment. The e reque ts, which included
repre entations to weden, were turned
down by the U A, which considered
the legitimate government to be com-
munist inspired. Between seventeen and
twenty Mustangs are believed to have
been involved in the thwarted deal with
Sweden, at an overall price of around
700,000. In tead, in the early summer
of 1954, two Mu tang were supplied by
the A to rebel anti-government forces
led by Col arlos Castillo Anna. Taken
from Texa A G tock, they were deliv-
ered to the rebels by U AF pilot. In a
completely shady part of the whole deal,
th two aircraft were supposedly sold to
Nicaraguan dictator Anastasio Somoza,
but were actually intended for the support
of the uatemalan rebel forces. Buoyed
up by considerable arm upplies from
the A via the CIA, including the
two Mustangs, Castillo Armas mounted
an ultimately ucce ful invasion from
neighbouring Honduran territory (known
to the IA as Operation Success), which
began injune 1954. The rebel air force was
bolstered by two or three more Mustangs
suppli d via Honduras, although there
was also considerable icaraguan involve-
ment in Operation Success. Indeed, it
appears that Castillo Mu tangs wearing
fake Guatemalan insignia might have
operated from Honduran and icaraguan
air ba e at the time of the coup attempt.
This ha led some writers to suspect that
Hondura was itself a Mustang operator,
but thi do not appear to have been
the ca e. Following the overthrow of
the legitimate Guatemalan government
by the US-supported anti-government
rebels, the Guatemalan armed force
were reorganized and re-equipped with
US-supplied hardware, which included
eleven further Mustang a well as the
ex-Ca tillo aircraft. These appear to have
been supplied in s veral batches, and
mainly compri ed F-51Ds, but there was
a two-seater among th m. At least four-
teen more Mustangs were supplied from
228
1957 into the early 1960s, in batches
that included ome that had been newly
retired by the Canadians. Most historians
agree that thirty Mustangs of one form
or another reached the Guatemalan.
evertheless, there are also rumours that
some former I raeli Mu tangs might al 0
have been r ceived. om of the air-
craft supplied during th early 1960s
had received upgrades and modifications
by T rans- Florida Aviation at arasota
in Florida, the creator of the Cavalier
Mu tang serie, and may well have
included some of the features that became
standard in the later Cavali r Mustang.
In Fuerza Aerea Guatemalteca (FAG)
service th Mustangs equipped on
fighter-bomber squadron, identified by
s veral writers as having the title of the
Escuadron osta Atlantico. (This was
during the late 1950 ; laterthe unit appears
to have been renamed the Escuadron de
Ataque 'I Reconicimiento.) They carried
Guatemalan serial numbers beginning
with 'FA 'and number d in the thr e-
hundreds (for example, FAG-345 was
a two-seater; this aircraft was form rly
44-84660, a TF-51D that was originally
a single-seat P-51D-25-NT before con-
version). Guatemalan Mustangs became
particularly high profile because they
equipped an aerobatic demonstration
team. Initially known as 'Los Machitos'
from 1955, the name wa changed to
'Los Cofres' about 1957. During the early
1970s the unit, still Mu tang-equipped,
was known a 'Quetzales'. Unfortunately
in early 1972 the team uffered a serious
accident when thr e Mustangs col-
lided during a display. In Guatemalan
service the Mustangs were occasiona11'1
used during the 1960s against insurgent
who, following the 1954 coup, attempted
to regain control of Guatemala. One
such event wok place in ovember
1960, when lement of the armed force
attempted un uccessfully to overthrow
the then-current U - upported regime.
During 1972 mo t, if not all, of the
remaining Mustangs were withdrawn
from Guatemalan service, August 1972
being the cut-off date for many. By
that time the Mustang had started to
become a cherished possession of the
growing 'warbird' fraternity, and many
of the Guatemalan Mustangs were sold
to collectors. ix were procured by the
private preservation organization in the
S known as the Confederate Air Forc .
In Guatemalan service the Mustang wa
uperseded by the Ce sna A-37B jet, the
armed COl version of the Cessna T-37
trainer.
Haiti
One of several operators whose Mu tang
use is little known, the Caribbean state
of Haiti definitely flew at lea t four and
probably six Mustangs. The operational
history of these aircraft is shrouded in
mystery, although it is known that ome
did fly in combat. Initial deliveries wer
made, apparently, in the early 1950s,
the first four aircraft seemingly arriv-
ing in 1951, and it is po ible that up
to six were obtained from the USA. It
is not clear if they were all obtained on
the open market from private vendors.
One of these aircraft ha been positively
identified as 44-15655, an F-51 D-15-NA.
In Corp d'Aviation d'Haiti service the
Mustangs were collected into a com-
po it attack and training unit locat d
at Bowen Field, Port au Prince. The
political situation in Haiti wa compara-
tively unstable during the post-Second
World War period, r suIting in coup
attempts and border incur ions from the
neighbouring Dominican Republic. In
1956 an attempted coup re ulted in some
Haitian air assets being u ed as a show
of support for the government, in which
several Mu tangs reportedly buzzed the
capital, Port au Prince. The erviceabil-
it'I of all the aircraft was often very low,
however, with little in the way of fund
available to keep them flyable under
the regime of Dr Fran<;ois 'Papa Doc'
Duvalier, who assumed power in 1957.
onsequ ntly none were airworthy when
they were required in 1963. In August
of that year rebels from the neighbour-
ing Dominican Republic in aded parts
of the country. Two of the Mustang
were hastily brought back into a roughly
flyable condition at Bowen Field and used
to good effect in ground-attack sorties
against the r bel forces, who were even-
tually forc d to withdraw. The surviving
Mustangs remained in Haitian service
into the mid-1970s, although their air-
worthine for much of that period wa
certainly questionable. An intere t-
ing story that i regularly quoted about
the Haitian Mu tangs is that they were
often flown (on the occasions when any
were airworthy) without th ir gun. The
weapon are reputed to have been locked
away in an armoury a a preventive
mea ure in case of any real or imagined
coup attempt.
Indonesia
The creation of Indone ia as an independ-
ent country from the former etherlands
Ea t Indie ( El) in 0 cember 1949
(see the section on the etherlands Ea t
Indies elsewhere in this chapter) resulted
in a number of former El air as ets being
pa ed to Indone ia' fledgling air arm.
Named the Angkatan Udara Republ ik
Indonesia (A RI), this ervice received
everal former NEI ML-K IL P-51D/K
Mustangs that, ironically, had previously
flown in combat against the terrorists
who had successfully fought for the estab-
lishment of the Indonesian state. The
exact number of Mu tangs remain open
to peculation, although it i possible that
there were at least twenty-five, includ-
ing both P-51Ds and P-5IKs. In AURI
service some of these aircraft quickly
sported mu h more flamboyant marking
than those they wore under their former
NEI owner. They appear, however, to
have retained their NEI numbers, but
now prefixed by a letter 'F'. A number of
Dutch military personnel were assigned to
the AURI to help Indonesian pilot and
ground crews tran ition to the Mustang.
The history of Indonesia ubsequent to
its creation has been one of long-running
struggles with rebellious factions within
the far-flung Indone ian r public, and
various attempts by Indone ia's leaders,
particularly Achmad ukarno, to inter-
fere with n ighbouring states. This kept
the ex-NEI Mustangs very busy during
their long Indone ian service. Apparently
at first as igned to 1 qn of the A RI, the
Mu tang also later equipped 3 qn, and
did not leave Indonesian service until the
later 1970s. everal were in action soon
after the reation of the Indone ian tate,
when rebels on the Indonesian island of
Ambon became the targ t of AURI air
asset. A major Ameri an-backed upris-
ing in Sumatra during 1957/58 resulted
in considerabl air activity, during whi h
AURI Mustangs provided bomber e cort
to B-25 Mitchell (themselves former
EI aircraft), and they also attacked rebel
positions on the ground. To the di may of
it local inhabitant, from the late 1950
Indonesia laid claim to what it calls Irian
jaya (the Dutch-administered, western. end
229
of the island of ew Guinea). In 1962 the
Indonesians taged a major and ultimately
ucce sful invasion of this Dutch territory,
with amphibious landing and paratroop
drops covered by AURI Mu tang. The
local air defence was provided by Dutch-
operated Hawker Hunters, but there do
not appear to have been any Mu tang-
ver us-Hunter a rial combat. Mu tangs
of the AURI were aloin action during
the Indonesian attempts to spread influ-
ence on the i land of Born. 0, in a major
plan to create an Indone ian empire that
would also have encompassed Malaya
and the Philippines. In what became
known as the 'Indonesian Confrontation',
Sukarno's forces were faced by a con ider-
able British and ommonwealth military
pre ence that included Hawker Hunter
and Glo ter javelin jet fighters for air
defence of the non-Indone ian territorie
in northern. Borneo. Significant excur-
sion over arawak in northern Borneo
were made by AURI B-25 Mitchell,
escorted by Mustang, on a number of
ccasions during the onfrontation,
but again no air-to-air combat resulted.
n this occa ion Indonesian imperialist
ambitions wer thwarted.
The final Indonesian Mustangs were
retired during the 1970s, some reports
suggesting that a number soldiered on
into the latter part of the decade. Indeed,
there is mu h evidence that the former
EI Mustang were augmented by a
further batch of P-51s from eI ewhere
during the 1970s. It now appears po -
sible that some of these w re avaIier-
refurbished Mu tangs, or even full-blown
avalier onversions, at least sev n air-
craft, including one or two two-seaters,
being involved. nfortunat 1'1 this aspect
of the Indonesian Mustang operations
remains especially shrouded in mystery
to thi day. By that time th Indonesian
armed force had undergone ignificant
reorganization, the air arm now being
known as the Tentara asional Indone ia
Angkatan Udara (TNI/A ). During 1978
a US citizen, teph n johnson, r covered
fifteen Mustang airframes from Indon sia,
suggesting that a significant number had
served in th ountry well into the 1970s.
In spite of al 0 operating an impres ive
array of oviet-supplied ombat aircraft,
the Indonesian had shown a very-Iong-
running faith in the P-51, and it served
them well on the occasion when it
wa committed to action. Indonesia's
Mustangs were eventually upplanted
in the ground-attack/COL role by the
Ro kwell International OV-10F Bron 0
(a product of the group into which AA
had been ab orbed), the Indonesians
having eventually become more friendly
with the U A.
Israel
A major P-51 operator was Israel, which
used the fighter in combat in at least two
wars. Following the creation of the tate
of Israel in May 194 the I raelis w re
attacked by several neighbouring coun-
tries, and needed to build an eff ctive air
force as rapidly as possible. Among several
clandestine acquisitions of aircraft at that
time, from many different sour es, wer
at lea t two Mustangs, the first of approx-
imately forty-five to fifty Mustangs of
various marks that the Israelis eventually
operated, although some Israeli source
now claim that as many as s venty-nin
might have eventually reached Israel.
The initial two combat-worthy
Mustang were obtained in 1948. It isquite
po sible that two or three more were also
bought by the Israelis during that period,
but two definitely reached Israel in time to
participate in the initial fighting in what
th Israelis call the War of Independence.
They app ar to have been shipped to
Israel labelled as agricultural equipment
to circumvent a arm embargo on the
Middle East. Thefir tflightofaMu tangin
Israel took place on 2 October 194 ,with
Gideon Lichtman at the control. 'Giddy'
Lichtman was a sea on d pilot who acted
as the P-51 project te t pilot for the Israeli.
He had two air-to-air victory claim,
although the e were achieved in the Avia
-199, the Czechoslovakian Avia equiva-
lent of th Me serschmitt Bf 109G, which
the Israeli operated in some numbers early
in the existence of the Israeli state.
Both Mustangs were assigned to the
initial fighter unit of the JDF/AF, 101
qn. The first Mustang sortie by 101 qn
wa flown on 18 ctober 194 , when
Lichtman made a reconnaissance flight
over the Lebanese capital, Beirut, and
then proceeded over Iraq, taking advan-
tage of th P-51' long range. The two
Mu tangs subs quently flew further sorties
in this initial conflict, and were cod d
D-190 and D-191 (they also appear to
have been coded 41 and 42 at some point
in their Israeli careers). One of th base
they used during this period was Hatzor.
EXPORT A D FOREIGNOPERATED M TA GS
Unfortunately there were a number of
incidents in which neutral aircraft were
shot down by th Israel is. One of these
involv d a Mustang, wh n the pilot of
D-190 shot down an RAF r connais ance
de Havilland M squito PR.Mk 34 of 13
qn on 20 ovember 194 . After several
months offighti ng, the confl ict eventuall y
ended succes fully for the I raelis during
1949. It was clear that the Mustang was of
great value, and the Israelis subsequently
made oncerted efforts to procur more
P-5Is.
The late Paul Coggan identified the
serial numbers of three early I raeli
Mustangs that might have been supplied
from the USA in the late 1940s. These
were P-5lD 44-74213 and two P-5IKs,
44-12139 and 44-12126. It seems possi-
ble that at lea t one of these was in the
original selection of Mu tangs obtained
in 194 . Certainly the Israelis were able
by clandestine mean to obtain a bewil-
dering array of odd warplan from many
different sources during this period, and
it app ars that several P-51 (possibly
ex-racing machine) were obtained from
private owners in the U A. Some Israeli
historians have claimed that as many as
thirty-six further Mustangs were obtained
from private U sources in th early 1950s,
in addition to the initial two that fought
in 1948, and possibly two others that
arrived during the War of Independence
but were delayed from entering ervice
due to a lack of pares. It i definitely
known, however, that, following the e
initial acquisitions, a considerable wind-
fall came in the early 1950s, when Swed n
began to run down its sizeable Mustang
force. The wed s were s eking buyer for
these aircraft, and in 1952 negotiations
began b tween the I raeli and Swedi h
authorities. In ptember 1952 the deal
was finalized for the supply of twenty-five
Swedi h F-51 Ds (known to the Swedes as
J26s) at $13,350 each. Spares were also
to be provided at additional co t, pos i-
bly eventually comprising everal sets of
wings, and the air raft selected for supply
wer painted in I raeli colour before
delivery. The wedish company vensk
Flygtjanst AB was contracted to deliver
the aircraft, and this was duly accom-
plished using Swedi h pilots, who ferried
the Mustang from wed n to Israel via
Germany, Franc, Italy, Greece, Cyprus
and then on to Israel. The first were deliv-
ered in December 1952. On acc ptance
by the IDF/AF they were allocated to 101
230
qn, which had a con iderable number of
Mustangs on strength in 1954, possibly
approaching ixty.
It is pos ible that the overall total of
Mustangs operated by I raelwa bolstered
by omearrival ofform rltalian-operated
aircraft. Thi in particular has been a major
ource of di agreement among historian
for some years, and it is not clear if any of
the 'scrapped' former Italian Mustangs did
indeed survive after retirement and find
their way by clandestine means to Israel.
What is certain i that by the mid-1950s
the Israeli Mustang from what ver source
had already seen considerable action, even
after the War of Independence. ome had
continued to make r connaissance flights
over Israel's neighbours, again explOiting
the P-51's long range. However, Israeli
Mustangs went into action again in
April 195 I, when four joined four Israeli
pitfire in an attack on a Syrian police
station and army camp at EI- Hama, after
yrian forces had ambu hed and killed
several Israeli soldiers. When an Israeli
naval ves el ran aground near the Saudi
Arabian coast in April 1954, Mu tang
were ent at first to cover the Israeli rescue
operations and later to bomb the ship and
destroy it before it fell into audi Arabian
hand. In October 1956, shortly before
the outbreak of the uez crisis, several
Mustangs bombed a Jordanian police
station at Kalkillia. The Mustang were
a valuable combat ass t to the Israelis
throughout thi period, even though the
JDF/AF had uccessfully tarted to obtain
growing number of jet aircraft in the arly
1950s.
It was the uez crisis of late 1956,
however, that saw the Israeli Mu tangs
back in action in a significant hoot-
ing war. Although 101 qn had been
di banded on the type in early 1956, its
Mustangs had been distributed among two
further fight r units, 105 qn (formed in
Jun 1956) and 116 Sqn, which formed
with the P-51 after the running-down
of 101 qn' Mustangs, and included a
number of flying instructors in its ranks.
Both units were ready for action when
the uez operations began in late ctober
1956, some twenty-nine Mustangs being
avai lable. During the uez operations they
operated predominantly in the ground-
attack role against Egyptian targets, which
were mainly military units on the ground,
as Briti h and French air asset were used
against Egyptian airfields. The Mustangs
began the conflict, however, by di rupting
Egyptian communication, bringing down
telephone line in the desert. Initially
several Ism Ii pilots trained at low level
with Mustangs convert d to trail a long
wire with a weight on the end to snag
and pull down the telephone lines. When
the actual operation took place, on 29
October in the opening phase of the
Suez operations, the Israelis found that
the long wires did not work effectively,
and the telephone line were brought
down instead by flying through them and
cutting them with the Mustangs' propel-
ler blade or wingtip. The I raeli mili-
tary admits to the loss of nine Mustangs
(although p rsistent reports refer to seven)
during the uez operations, which lasted
into November 1956. This illustrates the
intensity of the short but hotly contested
operations in which Israel' ground-attack
asset were involved, particularly over the
ina i Desert.
The Mustang remained in I raeli service
following the uez operation, albeit
mainly in a second-line capacity. Soon
after the end of the Suez crisis 105 Sqn
was di banded, and the final main Israeli
Mustang unit, 116 qn, was relegated
to econd-line dutie in 195 . However,
although this is often said to mark the
end of Mu tang operations in Israel, this
was not so. everal Mustangs remained
in service, ome as target-towers, and 15
January 1961 appear to be the cut-off
date for the survivor. After that a number
were simply donated to various commu-
nities and kibbutzim as childrens' play-
things, although a considerable amount of
mystery surrounds the story of the Israel i
Mustangs even at thi time. Various myths
subsequently circulated that some of the
best of th urviving P-51s were passed
to other operators. on iderable rumour
exi ted, regarding the trouble in Africa
during the early 1960s, that Mu tang
had been procured to fight in some of the
numerous conflicts of that period. The
hastily-formed country of Katanga wa the
most likely recipient, but in the event no
Mu tang howed up in any of the regional
Italy is reputed, in countless published sources,
to have operated only forty-eight Mustangs post-
World War Two. In reality approximately 173
served with the Aeronautica Militare Italiana. It
is not possible to identify this particular example
positively because at least two Italian Mustangs
had '57' as the last two digits of their Italian serial
numbers, MM4257 and MM4357.
M.V. Lowe collection
wars, as far as is known. There were also
reports that some ex-Israeli Mustangs
made th ir way to Somalia, but this could
be a confusion of the facts that some ex-
Italian Mu tangs might well have oper-
ated with the Israelis, and several former
Italian Mustangs definitely were as igned
to the newly-independent omalia in
the early 1960s but directly from former
Italian sto ks.
It is certain, however, that I rael proved
to be a fruitful sour e of Mu tang for the
growing private 'warbird' fraternity from
the 1960 onwards. One of the most
ucce sful collectors, who visited Israel
and came away with four Mustangs, was
Robert Lamplough One of the four der-
el ict examples he saved was numbered 41,
and trace of the bogus US civil registra-
tion 22B were found on it when it wa
tran ported to England for rebuild. It i
very difficult to di cover erial number
and Israel i number correlations, especially
as the Israelis attempted to remove all
traces of identity andmanufactur rs'data
plates from each airframe. Thi i a further
reason why a compr hensive and thorough
listing and history of the Israeli Mustangs
remains very diffi ult to thi day.
Italy
The P-5l's Italian service is one of the
least well-documented aspects of the
type's forign use in published source. It
is often claimed, completely erroneously,
that forty-eight Mustangs served with the
Italian air force postwar. This is com-
pi tely wrong. In r ality approximately
173 Mustang serv d in Italy at one time
or another.
231
Like many countrie , aft r World War
Two the Italians found themselves short
of modern front-line combat aircraft,
despite having a number of indigenous
types either in production or available at
the war' end. A ignificant part of the
Italian armed forces fought with the Allie
as the war in Europe came to a close, and
the assort d aircraft types in service with
the Allied-leaning Italian forces formed
the basis of the post-war Italian air force.
In keeping with several other countrie ,
Italy subsequently became a benefi iary
of one of the postwar military aid
programme. Thi led to the supply of
military equipment that included a large
number of Mu tangs. Initially, however,
the Italian acqui ition of the Mustang
was a omewhat difficult experience, with
similar problems to those encountered by
the wi and the wede.
The initial bat h of Mustangs for Italy
compri ed fifty aircraft, plus a mysteri-
ous converted two-seater, although some
Italian sources claim that the two-seater
was actually a part of the fifty-aircraft first
assignment, rather than separate from it.
Allo ated to the Italians in eptember
1947, the e were certainly not new air-
craft, but were former U AF Mu tangs
that were stockpile j in All ied-contr lied
western Germany. To say that som of
them were in poor condition is an under-
statement. Many were war veteran (and
ome were decidedly war-weary), having
erved with Eighth and inth Army Air
Force unit, and many had been neglected
wh re they tood in various air depots or
collection points. Nevertheless, some
were comparatively low-hour airframes,
and mo t if not all were P-51D. The
initial example, assigned the Aeronautica
Militar [ta[iana (AMI) serial numbers
MM4234 and MM4235, were moved to
Italy in September 1947. They were pI' -
pared for service at Nap[es-Capodichino,
and were followed comparatively slowly by
the remaining aircraft, the final deliveries
being made in the second halfof 1948. The
s rial number range for these first fifty air-
craftwasMM4234 toMM4283. Thesome-
what mysterious two-seater has not been
positively identified, but itmaysimply have
been MM4234. ome of the later aircraft
were flown from Germany by the Italians
themselves, the Americans being preoc-
cupied wi th the blockade of Berlin and the
Berlin Airlift later in 1948. The first major
AMI unit to transition to the type was the
4 Stormo at Naples-Capodichino.
The initial batch was followed by a
second batch of twenty. Allocated in
February 1949, they received the Italian
serials MM4286 to 4305 (it will be
noted that there are two 'missing' serial
numbers between this allocation and the
first batch). Th se Mustangs again came
from USAF storage in Allied-controlled
western Germany. It is believed that most,
if not all, of these initial Mustangs from
the first two batches were P/F-51 D-20 and
D-25-NA versions, most Italian histori-
ans now agreeing that at least thirty-eight
were of the latter mark.
This was only the start, however. In
subsequent years a further 102 Mustangs
were supplied to Italy. Unlike the pre-
vious allocations, however, these later
aircraft wer delivered from the U A,
and were shipped across the Atlantic.
Deliveries b gall. in September 1950 and
continued into early 1951, the aircraft
being offloaded in Brindisi Harbour. The
Italian serial numbers allocated to the
main block of lOO aircraft were MM4306
to MM4405. The final two examples were
MM4431 and MM4432, which arrived
independently. However, just to cloud
the picture, thr e further serial were allo-
cated, MM4406 to MM4408, apparently
to rebuilt aircraft. Whether these three
were rebuilt from existing Italian air-
frames or pieced tog ther from parts sup-
Following the conquest of the Netherlands East
Indies by the Japanese in 1942, the NEI authorities
fought on in Australia and New Guinea, and late
in the war secured the acquisition of Mustangs
for the Netherlands East Indies Air Force. All of
the forty-one aircraft supplied were built at NAA's
Dallas factory, including the one shown here.
R.L. Ward collection
EXPORT A D FOREIGN-OPERATED MUSTANGS
plied by the Americans is not clear. All of
the main batch of 100 were P/F-51D-25s,
fifty-six being D-25- As and forty-four
being D-25-NTs.
Italian Mustangs equipped Nos 2, 3,
4, 5, 6 and 51 Stormi. A number of
Mustangs were also used in a training
capacity by some of the Aeronautica
Militare's Scuole di Volo, some early on in
the P-51's AMI operational history, and
also n ar the end of their Italian service in
the 1950s. This included the Scuola Volo
at Lecce-Galatina, and the SE (Sclda
Elmas) at Cagliari-Elmas on the is [and
of Sardinia. The 4 Stormo additionally
flew several specially-equipped Mustangs
for target-towing. At least one Mustang,
MM4371, a former F-51D-25- T, was
converted for PR, with a non-standard
camera fitting in the port side of the fuse-
lage, aimed out through a window in the
upper fuselage beh ind the cockpi t; it served
with the 3 Stormo. Italy's Mustangs were
increasingly replaced by jets, types such
as the Vampire starting to equip Italian
units from the early 1950s onwards.
evertheless, the Mustang continued in
AMI service well into the 1950s, most
remaining examples being withdrawn
in 195 but some continuing into 1959.
Latterly some were used as fast transports
and 'hacks' in the AMI's regional com-
mands, sometimes being used as personal
transports by high-ranking officers. A
small number were operated in Somalia
while Italy looked after that country in a
UN trusteeship agreement up to 1960.
As all. interesting footnote to the Italian
Mustang story, the poor condition of the
ex-USAAF Mustangs in the initial alloca-
tions to Italy caused some rather heated
232
moments. Italian technicians had to carry
out a considerable amount of work on
some of these aircraft at their storage bases
in southern Germany to make them serv-
iceable, and this was also true for the Swiss
crews who were performing similar work
on Mustangs allocated to them. On more
than one occasion Italian technicians felt
that the Swiss ground crews had removed
useful parts from the Italian aircraft under
the cover of darkness whi Ie the aircraft
were waiting to be flown to Italy. The
same was also true of the Swiss personnel,
who on more than one occasion accused
the Italians of doing the same.
Although many of the Italian Mustang
were scrapped at the end of their service, a
number were transferred to Somalia when
that country gained its independence in
1960, as described in the Somalia section
later in this chapter. [t is also possible that
some of the 'scrapped' Italian Mustangs
found their way, clandestinely, to Israel,
as mentioned in the Israel section in this
chapter.
Netherlands East Indies
In common with Britain and France, the
Netherlands similarly established a pur-
chasing organization to address its lack
of significant numbers of modern combat
aircraft. Although the Netherlands fell
quickly following the German invasion of
the country on 10 May 1940, the Dutch
possessions in the Far East (the Dutch East
Indies) remained free and determined
to fight on. The Royal etherlands East
Indies Air Force (RNEIAF, or ML-K IL
in Dutch) was very poorly equipped,
however, its more modem types including
the woefully inadequate Brewster Buffalo
fighter. The etherlands Purchasing
Commission therefore attempted to
acquire more modern combat aircraft
in the USA, initially seeking to procure
Bell P-39 Airacobra fighters. This plan
was turned down by the Americans, but
instead a curious arrangement was sug-
gested whereby 100 Curtiss PAOEs des-
tined for Britain would be redirected to
the R EIAF. The Dutch refused this,
however, and started to take all. interest
in the orth American A-73 project.
They eventually decided on a require-
ment for 100 Mustangs, but nothing came
of this idea, and the RNEIAF was totally
ill-equipped when the japanese struck
the El in December 1941. Defeated and
driven out of their colonial possessions,
the N E[ forces were obliged to fight on
from Australia. The RNEIAF eventually
flew a number of Curtiss PAONs, which
were outclassed and war-weary by 1945.
A further request was therefore made to
the Americans by the Dutch East Indies
authorities for Mustangs, and this time
they were lucky. Forty-one were earmarked
for EI service, and were redirected from
existing contracts. Many, if not all, were
painted with Dutch insignia on the NAA
production line. Deliveries appear to have
started in March 1945, the NE[ Mustangs
being gradually delivered to the Dutch
maintenance facility at Bundaburg in
Queensland, Australia, where RAAF per-
sonnel apparently helped assemble the air-
craft after they arrived by sea. Eventually
the ML-KNIL received forty Mustangs,
serialled N3-600 to N3-640 (this makes
4 I; the 'missing' Mustang, N3-623, never
made it to Dutch service). The final air-
craft accepted into NEI service appear
to have been delivered after assembly in
March 1946. The forty Mustangs com-
prised ten P-51 Ks (the initia Iten aircraft of
the batch) and thirty P-51 Ds. They had a
mixture of canopies, either the more wide-
spread teardrop form or the 'Dallas' shape.
Some of the 'Ds had uncuffed Hamilton
Standard propeller blades, while others
had the more usual cuffed variety.
Two RNZAF Mustangs. New Zealand received
thirty Dallas-produced Mustangs in 1945, butthey
were not put into service until the early 1950s,
when most were allocated to territorial squadrons.
RNZAF
EXPORT AND FOREIGN-OPERATED MUSTANGS
These Mustangs arrived too late to
operate against the japanese, but they
formed part of the Dutch presence as the
NEI were gradually returned to Dutch
rule after the SecondWorld War. In April
and May 1946 they wer flown from
Australia to Batavia (now jakarta) by
EI pilots. The first EI squadron to be
fully equipped was 12[ qn, and later 122
Sqn also operated some of the Mustangs.
Unfortunately a major independence
movement had by then been established
in the EI, many of whose members had
collaborated with the japanese occupy-
ing forces during the war. Trouble soon
began, and the RNE[AF Mustangs were
committed to action against terrorists in
a variety of locations in what became a
protracted conflict. The P-51s partici-
pated in two major police actions against
independence-seeking rebels (the first in
1947, the second in 1948/9), both 121 and
122 Sqns being involved. They almost
exclusively flew ground-attack missions,
using a variety of weapons including free-
fall bombs and unguided RPs in addition
to the Mustangs' six 0.5in machine-guns.
These missions were largely successful,
with a wide variety of ground targets being
attacked, although the Mustangs often
encountered considerable anti-aircraft
fire from the ground.
Starti ng in 1947 the code system used
on the Mustangs was changed from the
original' 3' prefix to all. 'H', most aircraft
keeping their original numbers, although
the P-51K batch were renumbered at
random. [n addition, a handful of the
Mustangs were specially configured to fly
reconnaissance operations. This entailed
the use of a camera-equipped reconnais-
233
sance pod specifically convened for the
purpose. The pod was fitted beneath the
port wi ngofthe reconnaissance-configured
Mustangs, which operated with a unir
named the Photo Verkennings Afdeling
(PVA). The first aircraft was so equipped
in 1947, and in the PVA the Mustangs
flew alongside other types, including the
B-25.
Unfortunately outside pressure, some-
what ironically particularly from the USA,
eventually led to the Dutch agreeing to
the formal establishment of the republic
of Indonesia. In 1949/50 Dutch rule in
the EI came to all. end, Indonesia offi-
cially receiving authority from the Dutch
in December 1949. [n the latter stages
of the Dutch administration 120 Sqn of
the RNE[AF was equipped with most
of the remaining airworthy NEI Mustangs,
the unit finally disbanding in june 1950,
when the Dutch hand-over of power was
virtually concluded. Some Dutch per-
sonnel were subsequently seconded to
the fledgl ing Indonesian armed forces as
advisors, and a significant number of the
remaining NE[ Mustangs were passed to
the newly-established Indone ian air arm
(refer to the section on Indonesia e[se-
where in this chapter).
New Zealand
During World War Two the Royal ew
Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) operated
Vought F4 Corsair and Curtiss PAO
fighters of various marks with consider-
able success. However, in 1945 New
Zealand successfully negotiated for the
supply of P-51s to enhance the R ZAF's
capabilities in the Pacific. A total of
370 was envisaged, apparently to com-
pris 167 P-51Ds plus a balance of the
intended Dallas-built P-51M produc-
tion model. [n the event the P-51M
was never mass-produced, and the war
against the japanese was finally con-
cluded in Septembel' 1945, befor the
P-51 D entered front-line R ZAF service.
Nevertheless, an initial batch of thirty
P-5IDs had been earmarked for deliv-
ery to the R ZAF, and these were duly
received in August and September 1945,
having been shipped from the USA on
two separate transport ships, but they
were at once placed in storage. However,
in the postwar years the New Zealand
military activated the second-line res rve
Territorial Air Force, and this subse-
quently operated a variety of aircraft types.
In 1951 it was planned to equip several of
the Territorial Air Force's squadrons with
some of the stored Mustangs, and they
started to be brought out of storage. They
received the New Zealand serials Z2401
to NZ2430, and were from AA Dallas
production within US procurement
(all were in fact P-51D-25- Ts). For
example, NZ2413 was ex- 45-11503. The
first to fly was Z2406 (ex-45-11495)
in August 1951. The initial squadron to
operate the Mustang was 4 (Otago) Sqn
of the Territorial Air Force, and subse-
quently 1 (Auckland), 2 (Wellington)
and 3 (Canterbury) qns were also P-51
equipped. The type remained in service
until October or November 1955, when
the final examples in Territorial Air
Force service were withdrawn, although
four soldiered on until the early months
of 1957, when the final example was
withdrawn, as target-towers, fighter-affi 1-
iation and communications aircraft with
42 Sqn R ZAF.
Several of the New Zealand Mustangs
were sadly involved in fatal cra hes, and
one (NZ2408, ex-45-11498) wa almost
a cidentally shot down by a RNZAF
Vampire. While itwas with2 (Wellington)
qn it was towing a target during a live
firing exercise for Vampires when it wa
hit by cannon fire. Fortunately its pilot was
able to land safely, but the aircraft never
flew again. A small number of the ew
Zealand Mustangs survived the inevitable
scrapping, parts from one being brought
back to flying condition as recently as the
summer of 2001 in Britain and registered
G-M TG (formerly NZ2427, ex-45-
11518).
EXPORT A D FOREIGN-OPERATED MUSTANGS
Nicaragua
ne of several countries that benefited
from the comparatively large number
of Mustangs disposed of by Sweden,
icaragua became the largest Mustang
operator in Central America, eventu-
ally managing to obtain examples from
a number of sources. Ruled by a succes-
sion of dictators who were acceptable
to the USA, notably the notorious and
tyrannical Somoza dynasty, Nicaragua
was successful over a long period in
obtaining US arms without any restric-
tions. This included an assortment of
Mustangs from at least two different
sources. It i often said that the supply
of Mustangs to Nicaragua started with a
major deal with weden in the latter half
of 1954, but two Mustangs were appar-
ently obtained by Nicaragua before this
via the USA, through the CIA. [n fact
the story is slightly more complicated.
The two Mustangs involved were actu-
ally supplied to US-backed Guatemalan
rebel forces under Castillo Armas, in a
deal that involved Nicaraguan dictator
Anastasio omoza, who was complicit in
the Guatemalan coup of June/july 1954.
The Nicaraguan military were obvi-
ously impressed by the Mustang, as
negotiations began with the Swedish
authorities through Henry Wallenberg
& Co. AB in Swed n for the purchas
of Mustangs specifically for Nicaragua.
Wallenberg's representative were suc-
cessful in their negotiations, and a deal was
agreed in September 1954 for the supply
of twenty-five Mustangs. Th se included
both straight fighter and camera-equipped
reconnaissance Mustangs (known to the
wedish as J26 and S26 respectively).
Six Mustangs were already prepared for
another customer (po sibly Indonesia, in
a deal that had fallen through, although
they probably dated back to the final batch
of Mustangs destined for th Dominican
Republic, which were not delivered),
and these were diverted instead to the
Nicaraguan order. They were priced at
15,500 each. Nineteen more ex-Swedish
Mustangs were made ready for Nicaragua
to add to these six, at a price of 7,750 each.
The Swedish company vensk Flygtjanst
AB, which was contracted to deliver the
aircraft, di mantled them for shipment by
sea. In th end there were tw nty- ix and
not twenty-five Mustangs in thi consign-
ment, as Wallenberg apparently managed
to obtain an additional one from the
234
Swedish military before they were shipped,
and it appears to have been added to the
Nicaraguan order. (This might well have
been the final 26 Mustang in Swedish
service.) In any case, the twenty-six P-51
arrived by sea in Nicaragua in January
1955, and were subsequently prepared for
Nicaraguan service by U technicians. At
least nine more, from US sources, were also
obta ined by Nicaragua at various times
in the late 1950s. One former Swed ish
Mustang is rumoured to have been sup-
plied by Nicaragua to Guatemala in late
1955, in return for an F-47 that had
been used covertly in Op ration Success in
neighbouring Guatemala. This particular
'deal' underlines the difficulty of tracing
the movements of 'export' Mustangs, the
story of which is sometimes shrouded
in mystery, rumour or unsavoury deals
between local dictators.
The Nicaraguan Mustangs were given
'GN' prefixes and two-number codes. On
several occasions a number were used in
combat, Nicaragua and its surroundings
being particularly volatile during the
Mustang period. On at least two occasions
in the late 1950s there were incursions
into Nicaraguan territory from osta Rica
in which Mustangs played a small part
in the Nicaraguan response. Nicaragua
was also an operator of the F-47N, the
two types together forming a compara-
tively formidable striking force in the
Nicaraguan inventory. The most dramatic
incident for the Nicaraguan Mustangs
took place in 1957, when a significant
clash occurred between Nicaragua and
neighbouring Honduras. This argument
concerned a disputed stretch of inhos-
pitable territory known as the Mosquito
oast, each country laying claim to parts
of it. In February 1957 Honduras formally
annexed the area, gi vi ng rise to figh t-
ing between Honduran and Nicaraguan
forces, and Nicaraguan Mustangs were
involved, attacking ground targ ts and
flying armed visual reconnaissance over
the disputed area. Four years later, in a
very separate incident, it appears that at
least three Nicaraguan Mustangs weI'
readied for transfer to the US-backed
rebel who attempted to seize power in
Cuba from Fidel Castro' forces in the
notorious 'Bay of Pigs' landings. However,
these Mustangs were not used by the
Cuban anti-government forces.
Despite th is brief combat period in
Nicaraguan service, the Mustang did not
stay in favour for long. Indeed, Nicaraguan
pilots appear to have much preferred the
F-47N to the P-51. Nevertheless, several
Mustangs were used for demonstrations at
military events, and the Fuerza Aerea de la
Guardia Nacional de Nicaragua operated a
dwindling number of airworthy examples
as more modem equipment was supplied
by the USA, eventually including T-28
Trojans. [n the early 1960s (probably
1963, although this fact is open to inter-
pretation) possibly twenty or twenty-one
of the surviving Nicaraguan Mustangs,
including some non-airworthy examples,
were sold to a S organization known as
the MACO Corporation.
The Philippines
Some foreign-operated Mustangs led
active lives. This was especially true of
those that were flown by the Philippines,
and they were involved in a consider-
able amount of combat in the decade
following World War Two. The sprawl-
ing island nation of the Philippines had
been the scene of considerable Mustang
activity during the later stages of the
Second World War As described in
Chapter Six, USAAF-operated Mustangs
had played an important part of the war
against the japanese in the Philippines,
principally performing fighter and armed
reconnais ance roles in that part of the
Southwest Pacific Theatre. However, it
was in ground-attack the Mustang came
to prominence over the Philippines in the
decade after the war.
The nation of the Philippines as we
know it today came into existence inJu[y
1946. At that time there was still a com-
paratively large American presence in the
area, following the significant wartime US
air, naval and ground activity. The fledg-
ling Philippine Air Force was brought into
being in july 1947, and had as a part of
its early equipment a number of P-51Ds.
These had been supplied from US stocks,
and it is possible that some of them were
combat veterans of US operations in the
area during the latter stages of the war. In
fact the Philippine military as a whole was
heavily reliant on US assistance from the
start, and it at once found itself in a major
shooting war.
To put this into an historical perspec-
tive, in late 1941 Japanese forces had
invaded the Philippines, and had rapidly
conquered the Philippine islands despite
heroic resistance from US and local
EXPORT AND FOREIGN-OPERATED MUSTA GS
forces. During the Japanese occupation a
major home-grown resistance movement
had developed. Known as Hukbalahap or
Huks, this disparate resistance organiza-
tion had successfully harried the japan se
until the Philippine islands were gradually
liberated by US forces later in the war.
With th onset of peace in 1945 the Huks
had expected to be a part of the Ph iii ppine
leadership in the postwar period, and won
several seats in elections following the
Japanese defeat. However, the Huks were
instead viewed as a threat by the new
Philippine leadership, which governed
with American support. Armed conflict
between the Huks and the U -leaning
Philippine force soon erupt d, and
Philippine-operated Mustangs were in
combat almost from the first. Huk forces
were soon a regu lar target of the Mustangs,
which were operated exclusively in
ground-attack missions owing to the lack
of opposing airpower. There were even-
tually enough Mustangs to equip three
squadrons, although the exact number of
Mu tangs operated has remained unclear.
The Mustang- quipped unit were the 6th,
7th and 8th F s. All were home-based in
Manila, although many detachments
were established around the extensive
Philippines as required, as the Huks often
operated in remote areas away from large
towns. From 1950 American influence
in the conflict became significant, as
the Philippines assumed a new strategic
importance to the U A due to the out-
break of the Korean War. The Philippine
armed forces increasingly received
American military and CIA a sistance. A
number of other aircraft types joined the
Mustangs in the COIN war, includingT-6
Texans, which often identified targets for
their NAA stable mates. The Huks were
re-named as the People's liberation Army
in 1950, but by 1954 their insurgency was
defeated and the conflict closed in the
autumn of that year.
Philippine Mustang strength gradually
ran down in the later 1950s and the type
was eventually repla ed by another NAA
product, the F-86F Sabre, and therefore
was out of service when internal revolt
again flared up in the Philippines in
the early to mid 1960s. Mustangs had
proved very successful in the war against
the Huks up to 1954, and some exam-
ples soldiered on to the late 1950s. In
the ground-attack role the type had used
various ordnance, including underwing
unguided RPs mounted on 'zero-zero'
235
rocket rails. A variety of individual air-
craft numbering systems appear to have
been used on the Mustangs during their
Philippine service. Reputedly at one stage
th 6th F had aircraft numbered in the
200 series, the 7th FS used numbers in
the 300 s ries and the 8th FS used 400-
series numbers, although some aircraft
wer mark d with a three-number code
beginning with zero; P-51D-30-NA No.
415, named S/Jiric of Maccan, was formerly
44-74383.
Somalia
Italian Somaliland was occupied by
British forces during the Second World
War, but was restored to Italian trustee-
ship under the UN in 1950. Between
then and 1960, the country was under
Italian administration. As a ecurity force
within the trustee territory the Italians
established the Corpo di Sicurezza della
Somalia. This organization used several
F-51Ds from Italian stocks as a part of its
air element, some of which were based at
the capital, Mogadishu. The operating
unit for at least some of the time appears
to have been the Squadriglia Caccia
Aviazione Somalia. The country eventu-
ally gained its independence in 1960, and
I' c ived aid from the Italians before and
immediately after independence. This
included military assistance, and one of
the aircraft types supplied by the Italians
was the F-51D. It seems likely that eight
were handed over to the Somalis (pos-
sibly numbered from 1 to 8), and formed
the main part of the combat element of
what became the Somali Aeronautical
Corps. However, just how effectively the
newly established omali armed forces
were able to make use of the Mustang is
not clear, and the Somal i ervice of the
Mustang remains an area of considerable
mystery, compounded by a la k of infor-
mation. The continuing troubles in that
country make it highly unlikely that any-
thing particularly meaningful will come
to light about the Somali Mustangs for
some time to come. What does appear
certain is that the surviving Mustangs
were retired in or around 1968, this pos-
sibly coinciding with a left-wing coup in
Somalia in the late 1960s, after which the
country was increasingly aligned with the
Soviet Union and thenc forth received
military aid from that country and its
satellites.
EXPORT AND FOREIGN-OPERATED MUSTANGS
--. --..... -' ,- to 41--" - ---:--- " -.,. .. .-.. .... ~ ~ t ~
- =---- ~ ." .. -. -- ....... ~
The NAA factory at Dallas (actually Hensley Field in Grand Prairiel, constructed in the early war years, primarily manufactured AT-6 Texan trainers. However,
significant numbers of Mustangs were also built there. In this view across the active flight ramp of the Dallas plant, an AT-6F-NT destined for the Soviet Union
stands beside a Mustang bearing the markings of the Netherlands East Indies Air Force (not France, as widely claimedl, followed by an SEAC-marked Mustang,
Mustang F-6D-20-NT 44-13038 destined for USAAF service, and finally a Mustang in RAF markings. NAA
The Soviet Union received approximately ten
Mustangs from Great Britain, beginning in the first
half of 1942. They were assigned for test purposes
after delivery and are believed not to have seen
widespread active service, although a small
number is believed to have undergone combat
evaluation. Among them was Mustang Mk.l AG348,
the fourth production aircraft for Britain, and this
is the aircraft that some historians have claimed
was handed over to the USAAF as the first of the
two XP-51 s. As can be seen, this was not the case,
because the aircraft's serial number can be clearly
seen, together with the Soviet red stars applied
where British insignia have been painted out.
M.V. Lowe collection
West rn Allies to assist the Ru siallS that
all kinds of munitions were earmarked
for transportation to the oviet nion,
but it is little known that the Mustang
became caught up in this major effort
to help the oviet force. Although the
Mustang wa created specially for British
service, even in the early days of Allison-
engined Mu tang production for Britain
th re wa a growing desire on the part
of sam officials (and presumably ome
politician also) to divert a quantity of
the much-needed Mustang production for
Britain to the Soviets. Indeed, the initial
batch of 320 Mustangs ordered by Britain
in May 1940, the subsequent batch of
300, and the first Lend-Lease Mustangs
became the focus of intended diversions
to the Soviet Union rather than deliv-
ery to Britain. In August 1941 Britain
e tabl ished the basis for assistance to th
oviet thar was formally enshrined in an
agreement ofJune 1942,and in ovemb r
1941 the Lend-Lea e arrangement that
the U A had agreed with Britain were
extended to include the oviet nion.
Correspondence that involved British
purchasing repre entatives in the A,
dated 4 ovember 1941, speculated
that thirty to forty Mustang would be
hipp d to Russia direct from the A in
December 1941, with further quantities to
follow later. Subsequent corre pond n e
on 12 De ember 1941 hypothesized that,
of those initial Mustang bat hes, enough
would be retained for British service
to allow for four UK-based squadrons,
the remaining aircraft being supplied to
Russia
l
Fortunately wiser heads appear to
have prevail dar higher level, and these
shipment were not made. However, it is
certain that a number of Mustangs were
supplied to the Soviet Union, possibly
up to ten Allison-engined Mk Is from the
early production intended for Britain.
According to Russian sources that have
come to light following the end of the Cold
War, at least four of these Mustangs can
be identified. They were AG34 ,AG352,
AG353 and AG354. Intere tingly, the
first of these, AG34 ,was the fourth pro-
duction aircraft for Britain, an I it i this
aircraft that ome historian have claimed
was handed over to the AAF a th
first of the two XP-51s
1
Clearly this was
not the case, and there are ufficient pho-
tograph of AG34 in RAF camouflage,
but with its RAF roundels (and fin flash)
painted out and Soviet red stars painted
on, to disprove this theory completely.
Following the attack on the oviet nion
by Germany in June 1941, the Soviet
Union was supplied with significant
numbers of U warplanes during World
War Two, in addition to considerable
quanti tie of other war materials. Good
use was made by the oviets of many
of these suppl ies, and even omewhat
less than first-rate fighters such as the
P-39 and P-40 proved useful in Soviet
service. Such was the willingness of the
Soviet Union
all F-51 Ds) were given to th RoKAF by
the U A from storage. These Mustangs
formed the 0- ailed 'Truman Gift', and
were initially flown mainly by AF
pilot econded to the RoKAF to help that
force's pilot to transition to the type, the
RoKAF having flown only trainer and
liaison aircraft up to that time. The head
of the S contingent, Maj Dean He s,
was instrumental in the establishment
of the RoKAF as a viable fighting force,
and the role of the pilots and mainte-
nance personnel was vital in helping the
outh Koreans to take on the nUITlerically
far superior orth Korean forces.
The RoKAF operated the F-51 through-
out the Korean War, from 1950 to 1953,
the US continuing to supply Mustangs to
the South Koreans from existing stocks of
former U AF air raft. In addition, further
Mustangs were pass d to the RoKA Fwhen
2 Sqn AAF ceased operating the type in
Korea in late 1952. Historian M.J. Hardy
in his book The arch American Mustang
claims that the 10th and 11 th Fighter
Wings of the RoKAF flew the Mustang in
combat, while other writers have named
the 1 t F of the RoKAF a the princi-
pal outh Korean squadron to operate the
type. In reality the exact detail of the
outh Korean Mustang remain shrouded
in some mystery, few precise details of
the RoKAF being available due to much
secrecy surrounding this country's military
organizations because of the continuing
stand-off between North and South Korea.
It does, however, appear that Mustangs
remained in South Korean service after
the end of the Korean War, possibly
until the late 1950s. n F-5ID-25- T
that flew with the RoKAF, 44-84669, is
exhibited at the Korean War Museum in
eoul, South Korea, as a reminder of the
type's important role in the early years of
the RoK F.
Another country that flew the Mu tang
in combat was outh Korea, the RoKAF
being a major operator during the 1950s.
s described in Chapter 9, the first
Mustangs to reach the South Koreans did
so in mid-1950, when ten (most probably
South Korea
In the latter stages of World War Two,
during eptember and October 1944,
5 quad ron AAF transitioned to
Mustangs from the Curtiss Kittyhawk in
the Mediterranean Theatre, and briefly
continued to operate the type postwar.
Two other AAF squadrons, I and 2
qns, were earmarked to receive the
Mu tang in Italy at that time, but did
not fly it in combat. South Africa was
not an export operator of the Mustang
postwar, until the Korean War resulted in
the South Africans having one squadron
of Mustangs in combat. As des ribed in
Chapter 9, South Africa assigned a fighter
squadron to the conflict in Korea as a
part of its commitment to the U cause.
The unit concerned was 2 'Cheetah' Sqn,
which was made up of volunteer from the
outh frican armed forces and equipped
with F-51 Ds supplied from tocks.
Initially, twenty-five F-51 D were made
available to the outh Afri ans, who
ub quently operated under the umbrella
of the I th FBW, and began operations
on 19 November 1950. A long period of
combat re ulted, until December 1952,
when 2 qn ceased Mustang operations.
The outh Africans operated with distinc-
tion during their time on the Mustang,
and ontinued to be attached to the I th
FBW during all their time in Korea, prin-
cipally based at Chinhae (K-I 0) in outh
Korea in the latter stages of their opera-
tions. During its time with the Mustang
2 qn had been allocared further batches
from S stocks, but had lost seventy-
three or seventy-four aircraft to all causes,
some twelve pilots having been killed in
action and others missing or captured in
at least 10,373 sorties flown. The squad-
ron transitioned to the F-86F abre after
finishing with the lustang. number
of the outh African F-5IDs returned
to the AF in December 1952 while 2
qn converted to the jets. t least two
of these, and probably more, were then
handed over to the RoKAF.
South Africa
236 237
These four identified Mustangs appear to
have been shipped to the oviet Union
from Britain in May 1942, and at least
AG34 was examined at the oviet air
force's re earch and evaluation institute
( II VV ). Tantalisingly, it i possible
that up to three were subsequently tried
out in combat by the oviet air for e'
5 GIAP (5th Guards Fighter Aviation
Regiment) of the 3rd Soviet Air Army
in the Kalinin area during the autumn of
1942. One of the pilots thought to have
flown the type was the regiment' com-
mander, V.A. Zajtsev, who was a compe-
tent fighter pilot with at least thirty-four
aerial victories by the end of the Gr at
Patrioti War, and wa twice awarded
the Hero of the Soviet Union decoration.
The result of these evaluation was that
the Russians thought the Mustang a heavy
fight r that was not suitable for front-line
operations; exactly what some oppo-
nent of the Mustang within the USAAF
thought at that time.
In addition to these deliveries of early
British Mustangs, the oviet nion al 0
came by a further quantity of Mustangs
much later in the war. All Merlin-engined,
these were aircraft left behind when the
U AAF used everal air base in the
Ukraine for the 'Frantic' shuttle missions.
Th Americans had three air bas s made
available to them by the oviet authori-
tie in th kraine (which was a part of
th Sovi t Union at that time): Poltava,
Mirgorod and Piryatin. A total of even
'Frantic' shuttles were flown from arly
June 1944 onwards, and several unserv-
iceable P-51s were left behind by the
Americans at the Ukrainian bases when
they finally pulled out. Most of these wou ld
have been P-51Ds, but some might well
have been P-51Bs or C . In addition, the
Soviet are thought to have come across
further Mustangs, presumably damaged
or captured examples, as they advanced
Sweden obtained. in several batches and as a
result of wartime landings on neutral Swedish
territory. 161 Mustangs plus others that were
used for spares. In Swedish service the Mustang
was known as the J26 in its normal fighter
configuration. but there was also a Swedish
reconnaissance conversion known unofficially as
the S26. The reconnaissance-configured aircraft
were flown by the Swedish reconnaissance wing
F21. and as the Mustang shown here has the
number '21' behind its fuselage national insignia
it would appear to be a reconnaissance S26
allocated to that unit. R.L. Ward collection
EXPORT AND FOREIGN-OPERATED MUSTANGS
acro s Ea tern Europe in the later tages
of the war. Although evidence is scarce,
it is possible that some of the e variously
acquired Mustangs were ubsequently
madeflyable,andevaluatedbythe ovi t.
A far as is known they did not enter oper-
ational service, and their later hi tory in
the oviet nion remains unclear.
There is an unu ual footnote to the
Soviet Union' association with the
Mustang. During 1943 a display was
mounted at the oviet aviation research
institute (TsA I) to show-off new tech-
nology. Included in the exhibition was
a captured Bf 109G-2, a Bell Airacobra
Mk [, a Hawker Hurricane and several
other types, including a Mustang. This
Mu tang wa painted in RAF camouflage
and was definitely an Allison-engined
example, but unusually it wore prewar-
style national insignia, consisting of
a white star on a blue circle with a red
disc in the centre of the star. Just why this
aircraft was in U markings is not clear,
but presumably it had been painted that
way especially for the exhibition to how
it original U manufacturing origins,
although the Airacobra in the same pre -
entation retained RAF roundels.
Sweden
A major European operator of the P-51
was the Kungliga ven ka Flygvapnet
(Royal Swedish Air Force, R wAF).
After a low start, 161 Mustangs eventu-
ally served with the RSwAF, although the
total number bought wa a little higher,
and the purchase arrangements were
238
somewhat fraught with problem. on
of these aircraft were new-build. They
were all from fonner AAF stocks, and
following wedish service a number went
on to operate eI ewhere in the world.
Like many other countrie, weden
found it military aviation element were
left behind in terms of quality and moder-
nity as the 1930 wore on. Attempts were
duly made to develop indigenou modern
fighter de ign ,and to buy the latest avail-
able fighters from abroad, against the back-
drop of a major expansion in the wedish
armed forces. In addition, weden' politi-
cal and geographical situation was virtu-
ally unique among the European pow rs
in the early 1940s. Neutral, but with links
to all the major protagonists during the
S cond World War, weden increasingly
became an arrival point and refuge for
damaged combat aircraft that wer unable
to return to their own bas s. As the con-
flict wore on an increasing proportion
of the e were American, and as wedish
air bases gradually filled with more and
more U AAF aircraft, so the number of
interned American aircrew in weden
increased. At one stage during 1944 it
appears that approximately a thousand
American aviators were on wed ish soil,
awaiting the end of the war.
Among the ever-growing number of
warplanes that were arriving over
weden as the conflict continued were a
number of Mustangs. The first Mustang to
de cend on Swedish soil crashed in April
1944 and was written off. On 13 May
1944, however, a P-5 [B landed intact but
critically short offuel at Rinkaby Airfield,
and it pilot was interned. From the 354th
FG of the Ninth Air Force, whi h at that
time was still performing some bomber
e cort work, it was named Z HUB (serial
number43-6365).ltwasthefir tofseveral
Mu tang that collected at wedi h air-
fields during the final twelve months of
the war, allowing the wede to have
five flyable Mustang by October 1944,
including everal P-51 Ds. The e aircraft
remained U property, and when flown
they w re piloted by interned American
pilots in weden. One was destroyed in
a fatal crash, but in March 1945 Swedish
pilots were cleared to fly the existing four
airworthy Mustangs in the country. By
then the Swedish military was well aware
of the type's capabiliti s, and it appeared
to be an excellent fight r with which to
update weden's a rial combat strength.
The most modern fighters that Sweden
had possessed up to that time were out-
dated US Seversky warplane (derivatives
of the P-35, known to the Swedes as the
J9) and [talian Reggiane Re.2000-serie
fighters (20), as well as the indigenous
FFV J22.
There was clearly room for improve-
m nt, and an initial deal appear to have
been truck in which hundr ds of the
interned U airmen would be repatri-
ated before the end of the war (techni-
cally they should have been released only
when hostilities ceased) in return for
Sweden being supplied with U fighters.
evera I wedish representa ti ve vi ited
England in October 1944 to look over
U fight r types, resulting in a request for
sev nty P-47s. The Swedes h ld good to
this under tanding and return d veral
hundred US airmen, but the Americans
did not keep their side of the bargain and
no Thunderbolts were delivered. The
wedes asked for a number of Mustangs
instead, but again nothing was forthcom-
ing. Eventually negotiation were entered
for the wedes to purcha e a number of
Mu tang, in addition to buying the four
airworthy Mustangs already in weden.
After ome tortuous negotiation an agree-
ment was reached in early April 1945 for
weden to buy forty- ix Mustangs from
U stocks for 70,000 each, plus the four
surviving airworthy interned example
for 25,000 each. Some spares were also
included in the deal.
This time the Americans held good to
the agreement, presumably now that cash
was changing hands, and the first Mustangs
were prepared in England before the con-
tract had been signed. On 10 April, a day
after the contract wa agreed, the first
batch departed Metfield in Suffolk and
flew non-stop to Bromma near tockholm
in weden. Initially t n Mustangs made
the trip, followed by eighteen on 13 April,
fifteen on 14 April and three on 25 April.
All of the Mu tang were ferried by U
pilots. It has always been rumoured that
the 14 April consignment was intercepted
by German fighter on the way to Sweden,
resulting in an air battle during which two
German fighter were shot down.
[n Swedish ervice th Mu tang was
designatedJ26, and the fir t unit to receive
the newl y-del ivered aircraft was Flygflotti Ij
F16 at Uppsala, north of Stockholm. The
three squadrons of this wing, I/FI6, 2/F16
and 3/F16, were fully equipped with the
type by the end of April 1945, replacing
the wing's J22 fighters.
The Mustang was immediately well-
liked in Swedi h ervice by those who
worked on it and flew it, and was regarded as
a major upgrading of weden's aerial capa-
bility. In early 1946 repre entations were
made by the Swedish government for more
Mustang. By that time hundreds of used,
battle-worn Mustangs were tockpiled at
air base in Allied-controlled Germany,
and the price had fallen to 3,500 per air-
craft (although, as we have seen elsewhere
in this chapter, the condition of the e air-
craft was in some cases very questionable).
In April 1946 wedish personnel visited
Germany to inspect th Mustangs that
were available, and came away with the
idea of purchasing about 100, plus thirty
more as a source of spares. On 16 April a
contract was signed by wedish officials
and US liquidation stock personnel for
the purchase of ninety Mustangs. At once,
the US State Department invalidated the
deal, because weden was not on a pre-
ferred list of overseas countries with which
the American wi hed to trade. Legal
proceedings ensued, be ause weden had
cancelled a deal for new aab J21 fight-
ers owing to th intended purchase of
the additional Mustangs. weden in tead
turned to a mor r liable ally, Britain, for
the purcha e of pitfires, which must have
turned American heads, because the deal
for ninety Mustangs wa suddenly resur-
rected by the U authorities. In the event
ninety Mustangs were duly supplied by the
SA, all from war-weary surplus tocks
at urnberg-Furth airfield. The Swedes
therefore went down the same road as the
Italians and wiss, in trying to find some
decent airframes among the increasingly
239
ragged stockpiles of surplus aircraft
in Allied-controlled Germany. wedi h
ground crews and German worker who
helped them succeeded in locating and
re toring a selection of reasonably u ful
airframe at urnberg-Furth, where the
AAF' 10th Air Repair quadron wa
over eeing the storage and dispo al of th
large number of surplus aircraft there. The
fir t of the ninety were flown to weden
from Hirth in ovember 1946, arriving at
Malmen on the 24th of the month. ome
were found to need considerable over-
haul work on arrival in Sweden, and the
final xampl s were not ready for front-
lin quadrons until well into 194 . The
final thirty airframes of this order w r
for par ,and were in such poor condi-
tion that they had to be dismantl d and
shipped by rail to weden. Eventually
only twenty-one of the e were allocated
wedish serial numbers, the remaining
nine being scrapped. A a finale, weden
later bought thirty more, possibly to make
up for th i hortfall, and in March 194 a
contract wa agreed between the wedish
government and U repre entative for
thirty Mu tangs at 2,500 each. All of
the e aircraft were al 0 eventually ourced
in Germany from surplus tock .
wedish procurement of the Mustang
therefore consisted of four interned air-
craft, the initial order for forty-six, fol-
lowed by ninety, and then the final thirty.
This makes 170 in total, but as nine were
scrapped the final total was 161, of which
157 were actually purchased, rather than
from interned stocks. The figure of 157 is
often quoted in published sources as the
total ordered by Sweden, but as the for -
going a ount shows, it was not quite as
imple a that.
In wed ish service the Mustang wer
allocat d the serial numbers 26001 to
26161. Th initial four, 26001 to 26004,
were the original four airworthy interned
aircraft, of which the fir t flyable arrival
in weden, Z HUB, was 26001. Thi air-
craft, plus 26002, were the only P-51 B
Mustangs, all the rest being P-5 [D seri s
(the other two interned aircraft were
P-51D-5- As). Many of the Mustangs
bought by the wedes were P-51D-20-
As. In wedish service, the original
operational wedish wing, F16, was even-
tually joined by another operational wing,
F4, based near 0 tersund. [t received its
first Mustangs for I/F4 in May 1947, but
was not fully operational on the type
until many months later. Mustangs were
EXPORT AND FOREIG -OPERATED MUSTANGS EXPORT AND FOREIGN-OPERATED MUSTANGS
Switzerland was a major Mustang operator in the post-war era, procuring 130 from US war surplus stocks in Europe. The example illustrated, P-51D-25-NA
J-2113, is currently preserved in Switzerland and is displayed in the Swiss Air Force Museum at Dubendorf Airfield near Zurich. Mike Hooks via R.L. Ward
also allocared to F20, alrhough rhis Wing
borrowed aircrafr from FI6 as necessary.
Each Wing was normally made up of rhree
squadron, and rho e rhar were Musrang-
equipped on paper had fifreen operarional
aircrafr, plus everal for rhe Wing' raff or
headquaners fI ighr. The peak was reached
inJuly 1949,when 127Mu rang wereon
srrengrh as fronr-line aircrafr.
Alrhough no Mustangs were boughr
from rhe Americans as dedicared recon-
nai sance aircrafr, rhe RSwAF had a ne d
for reconnaissance a sers, e pecially wirh
rhe developing Cold War and rhe need to
mainrain a vigil over Swedish warers for
Sovier acriviry. To rhis end a programme
was in rirured to converr several of rhe
wedish Musrangs. A number of instal-
lations were tried on s veral different
Mustangs from early 1948 onward with
various camera types installed, much of
the work being performed at Maim latt.
Eventually an installation u ing the
British F.52 camera (called the Ka 10 in
weden) in a vertical mounting in the
rear fuselage was found to be the most
workable, and from mid-1951 onwards ten
Mustangs were converted into reconnais-
ance aircraft (there were also two further
prototypes probabl y configured to th is
standard). They were generally known
as 26, although this doe nor seem to
have been an official designation. They
al 0 retained their gun, and used the
Mustang's long range to good advantage.
In front-line service the reconnai sance
Mustangs served within F21 at Kallax,
and usually operated at medium to high
altitud s. They were partnered by veral
reconnaissance Spitfire PR.Mk XIXs.
A further R wAF unit to fly the
Mustang was F8, which employed the
type in small numbers for liaison and com-
munication flying, often in the hands of
ranking officers. At least ten Mustangs
were used by this unit's fourth quadron,
most, if not all, with their guns removed
and the wing gun bays used to carry
luggage. Mustangs erved with this unit
from the autumn of 1952 onwards.
The ervice of the Mu tang as a front-
line fighrer in Sweden wa comparatively
short, as re-equipment with jets began as
soon as was practicable. From April 1952
F16 began convening on to the indigenous
aab J29A jet fighter, 3/F16 giving up its
final Mustangs ar the end of that ummel'.
During that period the wedi h Mu tangs
began to be offered for sale, I' ulting in all
of the surviving airwonhy wedisb aircraft
finding new homes many mile from that
country, as described elsewhere in this
chapter. Fighter Wing F4 convened on
to the de Havilland Vampire (J2 ) during
1952, the final operational Mustangs being
retired by thi unit for sale abroad in late
September 1952. The liaison unit within
F retired it final Mustangs in October
1954, these being replaced by Vampire
and readied for sale to icaragua. The
longest-lived of the wedi h Mustang
were rhe reconnaissance-configured S26s,
of which the final example in service
were retired in crober 1954, having been
sold to icaragua, although the last f1igbt
of a Swedish reconnaissance Mustang
was on 24 November 1954. It had been
expected that this final Mustang would
be kept for museum display in Sweden,
but it too was sold via the wedish export
company Henry Wallenberg & Co. AB to
Nicaragua. wedi h Mustangs were also
supplied via Wallenberg to Israel (twenty-
five) and the Dominican Republic (fony-
two), in addition to the twenty-six shipped
to Nicaragua. Larer some of these moved
on again to other operators, either civil or
military, and a ignificant number survive
to this day. Israel eventually donated one
of it urviving Mu'rangs to weden in
the mid-1960 for permanent display, this
being the former wedish 26020 (origi-
nally 44-63992).
Switzerland
In common with other European countries
such as Italy and weden, Switzerland
operated the Mustang post-World War
Two as an interi m fight I' until new-gener-
ation jet-powered combat aircraft became
available in sufficient numb I' , and to
replace increasingly ob olete existing
piston-engined typ s. The wiss obtained
130 Mustangs from 1948 onwards, all
from existing ex- AAF stocks, and the
type soldiered on in wiss service for a
decade. everthele s, as with with many
other over ea operator of the P-51, the
type came to be well loved by its pilots
and ground crew, and it repre ented the
zenith of pi ton-engined fighter opera-
tion for tbe wiss.
Before witzerland became an offi-
cial overseas operator of the Mustang,
however, the type had already become
familiar. eutral in World War Two,
Switzerland lay geographically very close
to many of th air battl s that took place
240
during that conflict, particularly later in
the war, when U heavy bombers raided
targets deep in Germany from bases in
England and the Mediterranean. On
a number of occasions battle-damaged
bombers and fighters land d in
witz rland, and in one instance the air-
craft involved was a Mustang. Arriving on
19 July 1944, a 4rh FG P-5IB was in good
enough condition to be rested by rhe wiss
armed forces and examined by representa-
tive of the wi s aircraft industry. The
Mustang obviously impressed the wiss,
and with a large surplus of ex-USAAF
Mustangs available after World War Two
it is no urprise rhat the Mustang was seen
as a good prospect for Swiss service b fore
new jet equipment became available. The
wi s needed a replacement for front-line
fighters like the Morane-Saulnier MSA06
(locally built as the improved 0-3 01
and in various developed versions) and
Messerschmitt Bf 109E, which were of
late 1930s design vintage and certainly
approaching obsole cence. The Swiss al 0
had a number of newer Bf I09Gs obtained
late in the war, but all of the e fighter weI'
likely to need replacement in the hort-
esr possible time. Postwar, witzerland
evaluated and later ordered from Britain
the Vampire fir t-generation jet fighter/
fighter-bomber, but the Mustang seemed
to be an excellent aircraft with which to
moderniz th Swiss fighter arm before the
Vampires arrived in significant number.
Switzerland was not in line for the
type of U aid that was made available
to many of the countries of Europe that
had suffered wartime depredations, and
therefore actually purchased Mustangs
from the Americans, but at a knock-down
price. Like those Mustangs supplied to
Italy and weden, however, its Mustangs
were not new. They were stockpiled
in Allied-controlled western Germany
(what became post-war We t Germany),
and to say that ome of them were in poor
condition i an under tatemenr. Already
having erved in the war, many had been
neglected where rhey stood in various air
depot or collection points, and it was
ome of the e that the wiss purchased. A
wi s delegation visited the U air depots
at Oberpfaffenhofen and Lirnberg-FLirth
airfield in outhern Germany to survey
the large numbers of former front-line
fighters in storage. In addition to Mustangs
there were many stored PA7 and medium
bombers at these airfields, as well a stocks
of spar parts. Initially the majority of the
aircraft available were in good condition,
but the better ones were gradually taken,
leaving only the Ie s de irable airframes.
everthele , a deal was reached in
December 1947 for the wiss to buy 100
P-5IDs, most preferably of the 0-20 and
0-25 production series, plus tools, spare
pans and replacement engine. In addi-
tion, a further thirty were also eventually
procured to serve as a source of spare for
th initial 100.
Purchased for 4,000 each (although it
is not clear if that price also appl ied to the
final thirty), the 130 P-5lsappeared to rep-
resent a good-value, low-co t solution to
the impending'figbtergap' in witzerland.
It was hoped that the Mustangs would
only be operational for some three years,
but it remained in service for ten years in
the fighter and later fighter-bomber role.
An initial delivery of twenty- ix was made
by AF pilot in early February 194 ,
and the final aircarft of the 100-aircraft
main batch arrived in witzerland during
August 194 .
World events rhen intervened. Owing
to the ovier blockade of We t Berlin
and the e tablishment of what has come
to be called the Berlin Airlift, many
personnel were tied up with the resup-
ply by air of Berlin. Consequently the
remaining thirty 'spare parts' Mustangs
had to be collected from Germany by the
Swiss air force itself. Starting in October
194, wiss ground per onnel and pilots
were flown in wiss-operated Junkers Ju
52/3m transports to Oberpfaffenhofen.
Much work wa required to make the e
last thirty Mustangs serviceable for the
ferry flights to witzerland. At roughly the
same time rhe Italians were in the same
situation with their Mustang, which im-
i1arly needed to be pi ked up in Germany
for the same reasons, and on several occa-
sions the Italian technicians felt that the
Swiss ground crews had removed useful
parts from the Italian Mustangs under the
cover of darkness. Th same was true of
the Swiss personnel, who on more than
one occasion weI' convinced that the
Italian had quietly removed useful parts
from the wiss Mu tang. The problem was
exacerbated by the fact that the number of
ailframes in good condition was minimal,
and to make the thirty wis aircraft
flyable, many others on the airfield had to
be cannibalized for parts. The first exam-
ples were flown from Oberpfaffenhofen to
witzerland in October 194 ,and the final
Mustangs arrived that December. They
were all ferried by wi air force in tructor
pilots familiar with the Mustang, and the
undercarriages were usually not retracted
in ca e of hydraulic problems.
Although it was intended that tbe
thirty late-arriving Mustangs would be
used for spare, the wiss were very suc-
ces ful in procuring a good separate supply
241
of spare parts, and in the event some of
the final thirty served in front-line unir
like the initial 100 better ailframes. The
wis air force (named the chweizerische
Flugwaffe after World War Two) num-
bered the 13 Mustang J-2 1 to J-2130
in the then-current wiss numbering
system. (Originally the numbers J-901
to J-997 were allocated, because it was
thought at first that just 100 aircraft would
be procured, with three of them serving
as spare parts sources. The first two Swiss
Mustangs were actually painted as J-901
and J-902 before it became apparent that
the ad litional thirty would be procur d,
causing tbe change to the J-200 I to J-2130
block.)
Mustangs duly served with the wi
air force from 1948 to 195 . This was
very timely, as mo t of the final wi s
Bf 109 were scrapped in December
1949, many of the survivors having been
taken out of service in October 1947.
Altogether, five front-line fighter/fighrer-
bomber squadrons of the cbweizeri he
Flugwaffe flew rhe Mu tang. These were
Fliegerstaffeln (Fl t) 16, 1 , 19, 2 and
21. Of rhese, Fl t 16 was a part of the
Ueberwachungsgeschwader ( eG) at
DLibendorf Airfield. The UeG was the
permanent, full-time pan of the air force,
with profe ional full-time military pilots
assigned who were also respon ible for pi lot
rraining. Th other four Fliegerstaffeln had
EXPORT AND FOREIG -OPERATED MUSTANGS
Although the USA had originally intended that Uruguay would have P-47 Thunderbolts as its post-war equipment, the Fuerza Aerea Uruguayana received F-510s
from 1950, including '273' illustrated. The Uruguayan Mustangs were eventually replaced by Lockheed F-80 Shooting Star jet fighters. M.V. Lowe collection
CHAPTER 12
increasingly unwanted by the military for
whom it had been built. At that time it was
possible to buy a Mustang for only a few
hundred dollars (there is a popular legend,
never officially verified, that at least one
Mustang was bought from the war surplus
officials at Kingman for only 25). At
first many privately purchased Mustangs
were intended for air racing, when that
sport was revived after the end of the
war, but others were bought as 'executive'
transports and run-arounds, although the
Mustang was not particularly suitable for
the latter use, particularly as it had high
running costs, something that was not a
concern during military operations.
With the coming of the Korean War in
1950 and the sudden need for Mustangs in
the ground-attack role for close support of
U forces, many USAF personnel must
have cursed that such a potentially valu-
able aircraft as th Mustang had been so
depleted in numbers during those first
few years of peace. This led, as r lated in
Chapter 9, to the robbing of ANG squad-
rons of any available P-51 Os to fulfil the
demands of combat in Korea. Since that
time the value of Mustangs has steadily
incr ased, and with the release from US
military service of the Mustang in 1957
more and more civilians have owned and
cared for this increasingly iconic aircraft.
With the advent of the 'warbird' move-
ment from the 1960s onwards, the value
of surviving World War Two-era aircraft
of almost any mak and description has
steadily increased. With that increase
has come the desire to ensure that no
Mustangs, whatever their condition, are
The end of World War Two saw many Mustangs
become surplus to requirements, even though the
type continued to serve in significant numbers in
the active inventory of the USAAF and, later, the
USAF. This anonymous civil-registered example is
believed to be P-510-25-NA 44-74012/N65190.
Via Chris Ellis
units had ended the war there, and partly
becaus the Mustang was one of the US
front-line types assigned to occupation
duties following the war's end. When
jet fighters started to arrive in numbers
to update the US fighter capability in
Allied-controlled Germany, many of the
surviving Mustangs there were simply
put out to pasture. Some were stor d at
air bases such as Ni.irnberg-Fi.irth, but
others were destroyed using small explo-
sive charg s, often placed in the cockpit,
after all usable parts had been removed.
Frequently those doing the demolition
work were German hired hands who had
fai led to perform that ame task for the
German armed forces during the war.
In addition, large numbers of redundant
military aircraft were stored in the U A
a 1945 wore on, often being transferred
direct from the factory to storage facilities
such as Kingman in Arizona.
The fortunate Mustangs amongst
these were bought by a small but growing
number of demobbed military pilots or
entrepreneurs who saw a potential u e for a
high-performance warplane that was now
Air Racers, Warbirds and
New Production
Surplus to Requirements
The Mustang's long military service
around the world has been matched,
indeed emulated, by the type's long-
standing and continuing popularity in th
hands of civilian owners. Without doubt
this love affair between private owners
and the P-51 has ensured the type's endur-
ing survival into the twenty-first century.
Ill. a further twist to the P-51 's story, the
early years of that century have not only
seen the survival in airworthy condition
of several hundred Mustangs in private
hands, but there has also been an exten-
sion to the numbers of Mustangs built,
with the start-up of new production.
It probably breaks the hearts of many
enthusiasts and owners for them to be
reminded that, at the end of the Second
World War, significant numbers of
Mustangs (and of almost all other types of
US warplanes that had fought in the war)
were simply destroyed. A considerable
number of Mustangs were concentrated,
in Allied-occupied Germany, partly
because some Ninth Air Force combat
mentioned earlier, Honduras has often
been said to have operated Mustangs,
although this was not the case. Although
that country might well have approached
the French during the 1950s with a
view to obtaining ex-Armee de l'Air
Mustangs, this did not result in any
Mustangs entering Honduran service. A
South American country that has some-
times been associated with the Mustang
is Venezuela. In this case, although
Venezuela definitely did not operate
Mustangs in any numbers, there have
been persistent rumours and far more
corr t claims that at I ast on Mustang
found its way into Venezuelan service.
This little-known event took place via
Bolivia, when the Venezuelan air force
was disposing of some F-86s and B-25s
(both, like the Mustang, NAA products)
to Bolivia and a Mustang appears to have
gone the other way as a goodwill gesture,
possibly in 1968. The aircraft concerned
appears to have been a former Swedish-
operated Mustang, possibly Swedish
serial 26142, and it was later displayed
at the Venezuelan Air Force Museum at
Maracay. It has also often been claimed
that the three Mustangs that definitely
did reach Fidel Castro's forces during the
fighting in Cuba in the late 1950s were
obtained with Venezuelan help.
Venezuela
A number of countries have be n claimed
to have been Mustang operators. As
the postwar era was Uruguay. Suffering
from a lack of modern fighter air-
craft, Uruguay was offered P-47s by
the USA under one of the military aid
programmes. According to a proposed
delivery plan, thirty P-470s were to
have been suppl ied, but th is offer was
rejected, and instead the Fuerza Aerea
Uruguayana eventually received F-510s.
A total of twenty-five was supplied,
starting in 1950. umbers allocated in
Uruguay were in the 260, 270 and 280
blocks. Most were subsequently oper-
ated by Grupo 2, some in the fighter-
bomber role, and they remained in
servi e until the late 1950s, when they
wer increasingly replaced by Lockheed
F-80 hooting Stars. This re-equipment
hardly represented a step-up to interna-
tional standards, as the F-80 itself was by
then very outdated. Six or possibly eight
of the surviving aircraft were sold to
Bolivia in 1960 for a nominal 1 each.
For example, Uruguayan F-510-20-NA
FAU-272 (originally 44-63807) later
became FAB-506 ill. Bolivian service.
Another South American country that
benefited from American military aid in
Uruguay
personnel attached who were 'part-time'
military personnel under the Swiss system,
wi th citizen militia status. Air bases used by
the Mustangs included Alpnach, Buochs,
Di.ibendorf, Emmen, Meiringen, Payerne
and Sion.It should be remembered that in
Switzerland, aircraft are not permanently
assigned to any given unit, but are kept
in a pool and issued according to need; in
other words, the un its get what is available
when they need the aircraft. This did not,
however, preventa numberofthe Mustangs
being adorned with the badge of the unit
to which they w re assigned. Several were
converted into reconnaissance platforms
with a local modification to allow a camera
to be carried in the rear fuselage. The
Mustangs were well liked in Swiss service,
but were eventually replaced by Vampires
and Venoms, as witzerland at last slowly
made the transition to j t-powered war-
planes. High airframe hours and engine
problems finally caused the Mustangs to be
phased out of service in 1958, Apri Iof that
year being the cut-off date for most, if not
all, ofthe surviving aircraft.
242 243
scrapped. In the early postwar days a pri-
vately-owned Mustang would be scrapped
if it was even lightly damaged in a mishap.
Nowadays, even heavily-damaged air-
frames are lovingly restored by anyone
of several businesses world-wide that spe-
cialize in reconditioning even the worst
wreck into a seemingly brand new aircraft.
The same has been true for ex-military
aircraft from overseas Mustang operators,
some of whose used Mustangs have been
found by enthusiasts in an awful condi-
tion, but which have been brought back
to life; such as the former Israeli-operated
Mustangs rescued from oblivion in Israel
by Englishman Robert Lamplough and
subsequently beautifully restored to air-
worth iness.
Racing Mustangs
With its agility and excellent turn of
speed, the P-51 in its various versions
was a natural choice for civilian buyers
with air racing in mind when war-surplus
Mustangs started to become available at
the end of World War Two. During the
pre-war period in the A, air racing
had been a very-high-profile, big business
aspect of aviation. Several racing pilots
had become nationally known 'house-
hold names', and the annual air races
at Cleveland had become a prominent
part of the pre-war aviation world in the
U A. The coming of war brought an
end to this activity, but soon after the
war's end efforts were made to ressurrect
air racing as a major activity. However,
gone were the specialist, nimble and
purpose-built racers that had graced the
skies in the innocent and long-forgotten
pre-war world. With large numbers of
high-performance military aircraft such
as the Mustang and Corsair coming on
to the market at knock-down prices, it
was inevitable that some of these aircraft
would now invade the air-racing world.
In fact they almost immediately took over
air racing completely, and in a short time
it was not uncommon to see Mustangs
mixing it with Corsairs and Lightnings in
all manner of air races across the USA.
The National Air Races were resur-
rected at Cleveland, Ohio, in late August
and early September 1946. They took the
form of races over a closed-circuit course,
the aircraft competing in several laps
around the pylons. This sort offlying is very
dangerous, with engine failure, the risk of
AIR RACERS. WARBIRDS AND NEW PRODUCTION
collision, and the lack of any safe height
to overcome aerodynamic or system fail-
ures being some of the chief hazards, and
there had been some serious accidents in
the 1930s. Now the events were going to
be contested by high-performance former
military aircraft, and the prospect thrilled
many but appalled some.
The most famous pylon race was the
Thompson Trophy, of ten laps around a
30-mile (48.3km) course with four pylons,
which was contested in 1946 by a mixed
bag of former warplanes including several
Mustangs. They were beaten on this occa-
sion, perhaps rather embarrassingly, by a
P-39Q Airacobra. However, Mustangs
won the top two places in the secondary
Sohio Trophy (an event sponsored by the
Standard Oil Company of Ohio, featur-
ing eight laps over a 30-mile (48.3 km)
triangular course for aircraft that did not
qualify for the Thompson Trophy event),
top honours going to Dale Fulton in his
P-51D.
In addition to the pylon races, held
in a relatively confined area in front of
a large audience, the National Air Races
also featured a long-distance race that was
more in keeping with the traditions of air
racing from earlier times. In 1946 this was
the resurrected pre-war Bendix Trophy
transcontinental race, the inaugural long-
distance race following the wartime break.
It was staged from Van Nuys, California,
to Cleveland (a distance of 2,048 miles
(3,296km)), and in this type of event
the Mustang was in a class of its own.
With its good turn of speed and excellent
range, the Mustang was the perfect mount
for long-distance racing. In a large field
of ex-military aircraft of various types,
Mustangs swept the board, gaining the
first four places in the 1946 event. In first
place was a towering figure in post-war ex-
military aircraft operation, Paul Mantz. His
Mustang was specially-converted P-51C
X1202, which flew from Van Nuys to
Cleveland in only 4hr 42min 14sec, aver-
aging 435.501mph (700.87km/h). This
beat the pre-war record time by approxi-
mately two-and-a-half hours, showing
how aviation in general had progressed
in the war years, compared with the top
performances of the pre-war era. Second
behind Mantz was the famous American
female record-breaking pilot ]acqueline
Cochran, also in a P-5IC, and third was
another P-51C, with a P-51D in fourth
place. This early dominance of the 1946
Bendix Trophy by Mustangs was a fore-
244
taste of the great success that Mustangs
were to enjoy in later years in races of
all kinds in the USA. Although there
was an early dominance of the P-51C,
increasingl y it was the P-510 that took
over as the pre-eminent ex-military racer,
rivalled in practical terms in the early days
only by the Corsair and an occasional
P-38 Lightning or P-39 Airacobra. From
the start, the Mustang pi lots and owners
had shown originality in preparing their
aircraft for the rigours of air racing. The
most important early innovation was the
provision of a 'wet' wing. This entailed
the Mustang's wing being reconfigured,
principally through careful sealing, to
allow it to carry fuel within its actual
structure, rather than simply within a spe-
cially-made fuel tank. This allowed much
more fuel to be carried internally, giving
the aircraft greater endurance on its own
internal fuel. The wet wing was a particu-
larly important development, and subse-
quently found applications much further
afield than racing aircraft, being adopted
for a variety of aircraft types. Mantz also
carefully prepared his Mustang's exterior
surfaces for the Bendix race, polishing
the paint to a high standard of finish to
improve the aircraft's overall perform-
ance.
ollowing the 1946 National Air Races
the Mustang gradually gained ground as
the aircraft of choice for many racing
pilots. Although most of the Mustangs
that competed were bubble-canopy
P-5IDs, a rare Allison-powered Mustang
occasionally appeared as well. In the 1947
ational Air Races in late August and
early September of that year, at the same
venue as 1946 and with similar events,
Mustangs again dominated the long-
distance Bendix Trophy race. Six Mustangs
entered in addition to other entrants,
and the Mustangs filled the top six posi-
tions. Paul Mantz won again, in the same
P-51C as the previous year, underlining
the excellent performance of his NX1202
with its wet wing. He covered th course
in 4hr 26min 57sec at a breathtaking
average speed of 460,423mph (741km/h).
A trick used when the aircraft was being
refuelled before take-off was to wrap the
fuel hose with dry ice to condense the fuel,
and the aircraft was flown at high alti-
tude (30,OOOft (9,150m) when possible)
most of the way, and at full throttle. This
would not have been tried by USAAF
pilots during their bomber escort missions
several years earlier, and it probably did
AIR RACERS. WARBIRDS AND NEW PRODUCTION
A considerable feat was achieved in January
1951 when a Mustang piloted by airline pilot Capt
Charles F. Blair successfully flew the Atlantic
Ocean non-stop between New York and London's
new airport at Heathrow. The aircraft concerned
was the successful Bendix Trophy-winning
air racer NX1202, by then N1202 and renamed
Excalibur 111. It is seen here, in its smart red-
and-white paint scheme, on arrival at Heathrow
following the transatlantic flight. It survives to this
day, and is owned by the Smithsonian National Air
and Space Museum in the USA. Via Chris Ellis
245
Air racing had been a major attraction in
pre-Second World War America, and it was
resurrected rapidly after the war's end. Among
the former military types that formed the basis of
post-war air racing US-style was the Mustang, and
a variety of different marks of P-51 competed in a
wide variety of events. One of the successful early
exponents was former P-51 CNX1202, in which Paul
Mantz won the prestigious 1946 and 1947 Bendix
Trophy long-distance races. R.L. Ward collection
King's Cup winner. This smart red-and-white US
civil-registered Mustang, N6356T, spent some time
in England during the late 1960s. It was actually
P-510-30-NA 44-74494, but saw little service with
the USAAF and was operated in Canada by the
RCAF as '9237' during the 1950s. Charles Masefield
flew the aircraft to success in the King's Cup air
race of 1967. Via Chris Ellis
the engine little good, but for air racing
it proved decisively successful.
However, during the ational Air
Races at Cleveland in early September
1949 the Bendix Trophy long-distance
race witnessed one of the greatest
Mustang speed performances of all ti me,
The event was flown from Rosamond Dry
Lake in California to Cleveland, a dis-
tance of 2,008 miles (J,232km), and the
first three places were taken by Mustangs,
top honours going to well-known racing
pilot Joe DeBona, Flying F-6C N5528N
with a wet wing, he covered the course in
4hr 16min 17sec at an incredible average
speed of 470.136mph (757km/h), surely
one of the most impressive Mustang per-
formances of all time.
Mustangs continued to dominate the
long-distance events during this post-war
revival heyday of the National Air Races,
but problems lay ahead. The que t for
better performance, particularly for the
mu h more challenging pylon racing, led
to innovations that in th end went too
far. One of the design features unique to
the Mustang was the positioning of the
radiator in the lower mid-fuselage posi-
tion, wi th its associated large underfuse-
lage air intake. For pylon air racing some
pilots saw this as an unnec ssary creator
of drag, and a number of att mpts were
made to redesign th whole layout. The
result was the positioning of a new radia-
tor arrangen,ent in the wing leading edges,
doing away altogether with the radiator
installation in the fuselage and the large
underfuselage intake. This radical modi-
fication was tried on Anson Johnson's
P-51D Nl3Y (formerly 44-72400), in an
installation not unlike that us d on the
Bell P-39, the new radiators being housed
in the wing gun bays.
Far more radical was the extraordi-
nary wingtip radiator installation on
Jacqueline Cochran's P-51C Mustang
4845 , Beguine. This again did away
with the standard underfuselage intake
and fuselage radiator, the new radiators
being contained in streamlined pods that
looked like fuel tanks at the tips of reduced-
span wings. The aircraft had a unique
Hamilton Standard propeller with four
paddle-type blades of very thin section.
The man chosen to fly this very odd con-
version was a well-known US pilot of
the period, Bill Odom. Unfortunately he
had little experience of pylon racing. He
entered in the 1949 Thompson Trophy
race, but on the second lap he lost control
AIR RACERS, WARBIRDS A D NEW PRODUCTION
while turning past the second pylon and,
with the aircraft's shortened-span ailerons
giving little control response, the aircraft
crashed. It ploughed into a residential
area, killing Odom as well as a woman and
child in a house.
It appeared that the radical modifica-
tions to which racing aircraft were increas-
ingly being subjected were going too far.
In 1950 the start of the Korean War put a
halt to much of the air racing activity at
Cleveland and other venues where it had
started to take root, and particularly as a
result of the Odom accident air racing in
theU Awentintoadecadeofdeclin .It
was eventually rescued in the early 1960s
by a group of enthusiasts in Nevada led by
Bill Stead, who successfully relaunched it
along the lines of the old Cleveland days.
The first revival meeting was staged in
September 1964 at ky Ranch, to the
north of Reno, Nevada, but from 1966
the Stead airfield at Reno its If became
the v nue for the annual air race festival
that continues today. Right from the start,
Mustangsdominated proceedings, the only
real competition eventually coming from
Grumman F8F Bearcats and Hawker ea
Furies. The Reno events included long-
distance and pylon races from the outset,
and the Mustang excelled at both. For the
inaugural Reno races (the title National
Championship Air Races was eventu-
ally widely adopted for the Reno events)
a long-distance race took place between
St Petersburg, Florida, and Reno on 12
September 1964. Called the Harold's
Club Transcontinental Trophy Dash, it
was flown over a distance of 2,254 miles
(3,627km), which was a little long-legged
even for a wet-wing Mustang when flying
against headwinds and in bad weather.
All eight contestants were Mustangs
(nothing could have possibly competed
in a meaningful way against them over
such a distance), the winner being Wayne
Adams in P-51D N332. Although the air-
craft had the wet wing modification it still
n eded to make a r fuelling stop en route.
Adams' time was 7hr 4min 7sec at an
average speed of 318.88mph (513km/h).
Mustangs also began to make a big impres-
sion on the pylon races from the start of
the Reno meetings, the main event in
1964, the Harrah's Trophy, being flown
over ten laps of a course just over 80 miles
(l30km) long. Bob Love won the final
race in P-51 D 2869D Bm'dahl S/Jecial,
but the complicated scoring system for the
whole event gave the overall victory to a
246
Bearcat. Mustangs and the radial-engined
Bearcats have mixed it ever since at the
Reno pylon races, and are still the keenest
of rivals today.
Th great success of the 1964 revival
races at Reno led to an explosion of air
racing in the USA, with new events
subsequently being staged at a variety
of locations across the continent, This
included not just the big, powerful ex-
military piston-engined warplanes like
the Mu tang (nowadays known as 'unlim-
ited' racers) but also the smaller, purpose-
built racing aircraft (sometimes referred
to as 'midgets'). The two distinct types
never race each other in the premier
events. Overall, however, even with the
renewed interest in all kinds of air racing
after 1964, it is the Reno races that have
endured and prospered. These now include
the 'unlimited' racing of the Mustangs
and their competitors, but also additional
classes for other types of aircraft, includ-
ing biplanes and T-6 Texans. It became
an established ritual at Reno that the
premier races would begin with a flying
start, the racers led over the start line for
the pylon events by another towering per-
sonality of the post-war Mustang world,
Robert A. 'Bob' Hoover. A Second World
War fighter pilot, Hoover was a great
champion of the Mustang and for many
years flew a well-known yellow Mustang
sponsored by Rockwell International.
Such has been the enduring success of
the Reno races that in the first decade of
the twenty-first century they still attract
large crowds and a considerable amount
of sponsorship. Mustangs were eclipsed
by the big radial-engined fighters at Reno
for several years during the initial years of
the twenty-first century, but the premier
pylon event at the 2008 Reno spectacle,
the Unlimited Gold final race, was domi-
nated by the Mustangs. The winner on
14 September 2008 was Bill Destefani in
the modified P-51D rrega, who r ached
a top speed of 483mph (777km/h), while
in second place was the well-known and
longstanding P-5ID Daga Red. It will be
noted, incidentally, that racing Mustangs
are usually referred to as P-51 Ds, instead
of the historically more correct later mili-
tary designation ofF-SID.
Converting Mustangs into full racing
capability to give their best at Reno
became something of an art form in its
own right from the later 1960s onwards.
Some of the early conversions, like the
disastrous Beguine of Bill Odom, were
not well planned or thought out. In more
recent times great care and considerable
private research has been expended in
making safe but effective conversions of
the normal Mustang layout. These have
included cut-down, highly-streamlined
cockpit canopies; reduced-span wings
usually achieved by clipping the aircraft's
wingtips; the use of high-octane fuels
(160 octane sometimes being u ed); and
the continuing use of the wet wing, one
of the early but nevertheless innovative
and successful conversions of the stand-
ard Mustang. Hand in hand with these
airframe developments have been many
engine alterations over the years, giving
increased power. Since the earliest days
of the boom in air-racing with ex-military
aircraft of the later 1940s onwards, a host
of engineers have worked to squeeze more
power from the Rolls-Royce and Packard
Merlins. Some of this development work
was undertaken in parallel with attempts to
use the Merlin for waterborne speed craft,
the I ssons learned in that sphere giving a
boost to work carried out to increase the
performance of Merlin engines for racing
Mustangs. It must be stressed that much
of this work has been 'unofficial', with
private individuals and small companies
involved, rather than it being 'official' or
manufacturer-led.
One of the first Mustangs to compete
with a specially modified, 'souped-up'
Merl in installed was Chuck Lyford's
Bm'dahl S/Jecial, which flew at Reno from
1964 onwards, having won the Harrah's
Trophy at the 1964 revival meeting there.
The team behind the work on this air-
craft's Merlin already had considerable
experience of improving the performance
of engines in racing boats, and went on
to make many special improvements to
Merlin performance. One of the engineers
was Dwight Thorn, whose innovation and
untiring work on the racing Merlin has
brought great success at Reno over the
years. His contributions have included a
number of improvements to the engine's
configuration and equipment. An impor-
tant step forward was the 'beefing-up' of
the basic Merlin engine block by bolting
a steel plate to the outside of the crank-
case on each side. This one-inch (2.54cm)
thick, four-inch (10.16cm) wide steel bar
reinforces the engine block at high revo-
lutions. Being made from aluminium,
the basic Merlin crankcase needs this
reinforcement if the engine is to be run
at high continuous power, as required in
AIR RACERS. WARBIRDS AND NEW PRODUCTION
furious round-the-pylon racing. Thorn
also adopted the procedure of replacing
the connecting rods that link the pistons
and crankshaft. These are much stronger
in Allison engines such as the V-1710,
compared with those in the Merlin, but
are slightly longer and require attachment
with a different bolt. Thorn found an off-
the-shelf bolt that was stronger than that
usually fitted in the Merlin. The Allison
connecting rods are just slightly longer
than the normal Merlin rods, however,
requiring the Merlin pistons to be care-
fully shortened by precision machining to
allow the Alli on rods to fit. Thorn sub-
sequently started to forge his own, shorter
pistons to avoid the arduous process of
machining-down standard Merlin pistons.
The result of this difficult cross-kitting of
parts from two different engine types is
greater engine strength to withstand the
rigours of high-performance output in
short bursts, as needed for pylon racing,
with performance output improved from
the modified Merlins that Thorn has
worked on.
Another enhancement has been
adopted for engine cooling under Thorn's
guidance. The standard and distinctive
Mustang radiator arrangement with the
famous underfuselage air intake is retained
on the Mustangs that Thorn and his team
have improved, but a spray bar is fitted
to spray water on to the radiator during
pylon racing, thus enhancing cooling. A
downside of this otherwise innovative
modification is that a tank of water has to
be installed in the aircraft to provide the
cooling water, thus increasing weight.
These changes, plus other modifica-
tions, such as increasing the pressure in the
oil system and also increasing oil capacity
(racing Mustangs tend to consume, and
often throw, large quantities of oil), have
brought a great improvement in engine
strength and output. The engine Thorn
prefers as a basis for these modifications is
the Packard V-1650-9, and taken together
the improvements can lead to a modified
engine running at an amazing 3,600hp, far
in excess of the 1,720hp or thereabouts
available to P-51D pilots with maximum
boost from their standard V-1650-7s in the
later stages of World War Two. The term
'Mouse Motor' has been used to de cribe
the Thorn-modified Merlin configura-
tion in its current form (although it ha
existed, in steadily evolving form, since
the late 1980s), and it has been raced suc-
cessfully at Reno in the early years of th
247
twenty-first century, notably in the racing
Mustangs Daga Red and Srrega.
The work to increase the power availa-
ble to the Mustang has not centred entirely
on the attempts to improve the output of
the Merlin, however. At least one bizarre
conversion was tried out which sought to
re-engine the Mustang altogether. It con-
cerned the racing P-51 D N7715C Miss
R.]., which already had a distinguished
racing career before being radically altered
in the mid-1970s. It was re-engined with
a Rolls-Royce Griffon 57 from an Avro
Shackleton maritime patrol aircraft. A
six-bladed contrarotating propeller unit
was fitted, and the airframe also under-
went a number of aerodynamic changes.
Renamed Red Baron, the Mustang sub-
sequently gained legendary status among
Mustang aficionados. Flown by Darryl
Greenamyer, it won the Unlimited Gold
race at Reno in 1977. On 14 August 1979
it went one better and gained the world
speed record for piston-engined aircraft,
reaching just over 499mph (803km/h)
while flown by Steve Hinton. Sadly it was
writt n-off during the following month at
the Reno air races.
Bearing in mind the dangers involved
in air racing, and the fact that the supply
of Mustangs and their engines is finite,
even with several hundred still happily
in existence, attempts were made in the
latter years of the twentieth century to
develop a specialized racing aircraft. This,
it was hoped, would be a competitive air-
craft that would satisfy the appetites of
racing pilots in the Unlimited Class at
Reno without them feeling the need to
climb into a Mustang or Bearcat. Sadly
the new aircraft, the Scaled CompOSites
Pond Racer, was a good idea that met a
disastrous end. First flown in 1991, the
one and only Pond Racer was a twin-
ngine twin-boom design mad from
composite materials and powered by
a pair of converted Electramotive V-6
motor car engines of approximately
600hp each, There were problems with
the engine installation from the start, and
although the Pond Racer competed rea-
sonably well at Reno in 1992, it suffered
an engine failure whi Ie qualifying for the
1993 event and crashed. Tragically its
pilot, Rick Brickert, was killed. With no
modern Unlimited Class racer available
as a result of the Pond Racer failure, the
old warriors from the Second World War
continue to race at Reno, and will do so
for the foreseeable future.
The Warbird Movement
Without doubt, the Fact that there are
today so many airworthy Mustangs is
thanks not only to the air racing popula-
tion, but al 0 to the growth of the warbird
community. The u e of the term 'warbird'
appear to have arisen in the 1970s, and
generally describe an ex-military aircraFt
preserved and operated by a civil owner.
OF course there is a cross-over between
the air ra ing and warbird communitie in
the A, and both have roughly similar
goals, but without doubt many warbird
owners are very passionate about pre-
serving Mustangs For prosperity in their
original Form, rather than as cut-down or
souped-up racers.
perating and maintaining in flying
condition an hi toric aircraFt of any type
is an exacting, time-consuming, oFten
Frustrating, and certainly very expensive
pastime, particularly in the case of a high-
AIR RACERS. WARBIRDS A D EW PRODUCTION
performance warplane like the Mustang.
evertheles, the Mustang is without
doubt one of the most loved and treasured
warbird , and i now regarded in the U A
as a part of that nation' celebrated avia-
tion and military heritage and tradition,
even though it was originally created For
the British, and was at First een as surplus
to requirements by the U military.
The warbird community has come a
long way ince the 196 ,when people
began to realize the importance of keeping
alive and cherishing old aircraFt. [n those
days Mustangs tended to be painted in
colour schemes that had nothing to do
with authenti ity or historical research,
even though hey were purported to
show 'genuine' colour schemes From
earlier times. Today there is quite a con-
trast. BeautiFully restored Mustangs can
nowadays be seen in authentic, highly
researched colour schemes that are exact
copies of the real scheme and markings
worn by Mustangs in military service.
There are many expert re torers in the
A and everal other countrie , includ-
ing Britain, which specialize in complete
rebuilds From the ground up oFhistoric air-
craft, and paint shops that produce Fanta -
tic recreations of original e ond World
War colour scheme.
Mustangs have participated in many
air shows and commemorative events,
completely eparate to the ra ing events,
but two in particular stand out. These are
the two ev nts called the 'Gathering of
Mu tang and Legends', the First of which
wa staged in April [999 and the second
in September 2007. The latter event
was held at Rickenbacker Airport in
Columbus, Ohio, and attracted seventy-
seven airworthy Mustangs, surely one of
the largest, iF not the largest, gatherings
of Mustangs since the Korean War. At
least 156 Mu tangs were airworthy at
the time of writing this book during the
AIR RACERS. WARBJRDS AND EW PRODUCTION
Few warbird Mustangs have ever been painted in
accurate British or British Commonwealth colours
and markings, making the Mustang illustrated
here all the more unique. It is the former P-51 D-
25-NA 44-73463 Oklahoma Miss, which changed
ownership after the photograph elsewhere in
this chapter, depicting it in US markings and
polished natural metal finish, was taken, being
sold to Michael Potter and placed on the Canadian
civil register as C-FVPM. It was duly painted in
camouflage colours and finished to represent
Mustang Mk.IV KH661/Y2-C of 442 Sqn, a Canadian-
manned unit that flew the Mustang in Europe as
a part of the RAF from March 1945 to August 1945.
Jerry Day
It has become a crowd-pleaser at US air shows
in recent times to have a presentation in close
formation of combat aircraft from several
generations as a 'heritage flight'. A recent example
is shown here, comprising the Commemorative
Air Force's P-51D-25-NA 44-73264 Gunfighter lIin
company with an F-4 Phantom, a P-47 Thunderbolt
and, nearest the camera, from the current
generation, a lockheed Martin F-16C from the 388th
FW stationed at Hill AFB, Utah. USAF
Representing the colourful but also carefully
researched colour schemes that currently adorn
many 'warbird' Mustangs, beautiful P-51D-30-NT
45-11553 is now civil registered as Nl51VF and
painted as Shangri-La, as flown by famous 4th FG
ace Don Gentile. This aircraft, however, does not
represent the Shangri-La Mustang that Gentile flew
in combat over Europe, which was an Olive Drab
and Neutral Grey-painted P-51 B, but rather the
smart natural metal-finish P-51 Dthat he was much-
photographed with in the USA after he finished his
combat tour and rotated home. Jerry Day
248
Although there appear to be three people sitting in
this Mustang, the middle 'occupant' is the pilot's
headrest structure. It is, however, illustrative of the
fact that a considerably large number of currently
airworthy Mustangs are configured as two-seaters,
a very different situation to when the aircraft were
first built. Some are actual two-seat Mustangs with
full dual controls, while others have a rudimentary
set of controls for the rear seat while really being
one-pilot/one-passenger aircraft. Others simply
have the possibility of fitting the second seat if
it is required to carry a passenger. This highly-
polished Mustang in less-than-accurate markings
was Oklahoma Miss, P-51D-25-NA 44-73463, civil
registered N351 D. It was owned at the time by Bob
Baker, who was based in Oklahoma. Jerry Day
249
Resplendent in 4th FG colours as Glamorous Gal
with serial number 44-13903 and code WD-l, this
Mustang, civil registered as Nl751RB, displays
a feature common to a number of airworthy
Mustangs, namely a highly polished exterior
finish. Operational Mustangs were not polished to
this degree, but it makes for a very eye-catching
appearance, as well as being practical for warbird
operations. This P-51D-30-NA, originally 44-74453,
is owned by Robert Baranaskas. Jerry Day
Many Mustangs have been modified for air racing
since the type first burst on to the racing scene in
the aftermath of World War Two. Pictured at Nellis
AFB, las Vegas, Nevada in 2002, Voodoo shows
off its non-standard polished and pointed spinner,
paddle-bladed propellers, cut-down cockpit
canopy. distinctive racing colour scheme and other
racing refinements. Civil registered as N551VC.
it was photographed at the start of air racing
demonstrations at the Aviation Nation air show at
Nellis in October 2002. Malcolm V. Lowe
One of the most famous 'unlimited' racing
Mustangs is the spectacular Dago Red, N5410V.
This aircraft has graced the air racing circuit in the
USA. under a number of owners and pilots. since
the mid-1980s. having been rebuilt from a former
racer using parts of other Mustangs. It is also one
of the most successful racers in the Unlimited
Class events down the years at the world-famous
Reno air racing festival. In September 2008 it
was in the forefront of the Mustang revival at
Reno. taking second place in the Unlimited Gold
final race behind Bill Oestefani in the modified
P-51 D Strega. This re-established Mustangs as
the premier Reno racers after several years of
domination by the radial-engined Bearcat and Sea
Fury racers. It is seen here at Nellis AFB in October
2002. Malcolm V. Lowe
The very modern cockpit of the racing Mustang
Voodoo is a world away from the military Mustang
fighter cockpit interior of the 1940s. Modern
instrumentation. an ergonomic layout of controls
and instruments for ease of flying during racing,
and the altered cockpit rim and canopy opening
mechanism to suit the cut-down canopy. all
contribute to a completely different appearance
and feel from the original P-510 interior.
Malcolm V. Lowe
250
econd half of 2008, of which all were
M rlin-powered Mustangs except for two
Allison-engined examples.
Civil-operated Mustangs have some-
times been used for high-profile events
away from th air racing and warbird
circuit. In 1951 a Mu tang mad a famous
fast crossing of the Atlantic Ocean, fol-
lowed by a polar flight. The Mustang
concerned was none other than 1202,
the P-5l that had won the 1946 and
1947 Bendix Trophy race. ow owned
by Capt harles F. Blair and re-named
'Excalibur Ill', the Mu tang wa flown by
Blair acro s th Atlantic on 3l January
1951 at an unofficial 010 record time of
7 hours, 48 minute. Th rossing was
made from ldl wild Airport in ew York
to London's new airport at Heathrow, at
an average speed of 442mph (711km/h).
This remarkable non-stop fl ightwas
achieved with the 'wet' wing modifi-
cation that had helped the aircraft to
it Bendix Trophy ucce se , the total
internal capacity available within the
Mustang being 65 U gallons. Blair
and 'Excalibur Ill' then flew into the
history book by becoming the first to
make a 010 flight over the North Pole.
This was achieved on 30 May 1951, from
Bardufoss in orway, across the orth
Pole to Fairbanks, Alaska. This very long
flight took 10hr 29min to complete, over
an incredible distance of 3,375 mile
(5,432km). Although not a world record,
it was certainly the longe t di tance
covered non-stop by a Mustang.
There have also been many alterations
AIR RACERS. WARBIRDS AND NEW PROD CTION
and upgrading ofcivil-operated Mustang,
in addition to the many conv rsions and
modification that have been made to
, oup up' racing Mustangs. The changes
to non-racing aircraft were the provision
of a second seat behind the pilot, and the
fitting in some cases of rudimentary dual
controls. ome two-seat conversions have
even gone all th way and r suited in
the aircraft being made into a full-blown
two-seater with full dual control. The e
conversion have been carried out by
a variety of companies and individuals,
re ulting in few of the e aircraft being
similar and most being to varying speci-
fications. One of the earliest known con-
versions was carried out by Israel Aircraft
Industries to specifications fum ished by its
owner, William Lear, the de igner of the
famou Lear Jet executive jet transport.
The aircraft' original military identity is
unknown, but it wa civil r gi tered in the
U A as 251L. adly it wa 10 t in a fatal
crash inJune 1963. ince then there have
been many two-seat conversions, mostly
but not exclusively to P-51Ds. The trend
was institutionalized by Trans-Florida
Aviation/Caval ier Aircraft Corporation
in some of the avalier Mu tang con-
ver ions an I upgradings performed by
that company in the 196 . However, in
recent years several companie , notably
the tallion 51 orporation ofKi immee,
Florida, have offered conver ion courses
for pilot to transition to the Mustang,
and in that sense there ha been a mini-
boom in the provision of two- eat train-
ing on sp cially converted Mustangs.
251
The cut-down, specially streamlined windscreen
and cockpit cover of Dago Red. together with
the revised 'turtledeck' upper fuselage line aft
of the cockpit. Over the years racing Mustangs
have featured many adaptations from the original
Mustang layout, but those of Dago Red have proved
particularly successful. Malcolm V. Lowe
New Production
It i pleasing to end thi book with the
fact that, in the early years of the twenty-
fir t century, limited production of genu-
inely new Mustangs has been undertaken.
Although highly commendable, such a
development i not unique. In Germany,
several new example were built during
the same period of the Luftwaffe's fine
radial- ngined fighter from the econd
World War, the Focke-Wulf Fw 190.
imilarly, in the A there was a limited
production run of the German jet fighter
of the late econd World War period, the
Messerschmitt Me 262.
New production of the lustang was
undertaken by T ri- tate viation of
Wahpeton, to the south of Fargo, orth
Dakota. The company's proprietor, Gerry
Beck, intended a production run of ten
new-build Mustangs, and the first of the e,
with Beck at the controls, flew on 7 June
2006. The ver ion chosen wa the P-51A,
with an Alii on V-1710, making the e new
Mustangs unusual in their own right, as few
Allison-engined Mustangs currently exist
andonlytwoairworthysurvivorsareknown.
Original AA plan were used a the basis
of the work, and the first aircraft, civil reg-
istered 8082U, performed well. Tri-State
Aviation is well known in the world of air-
craft restoration in the U A, and works
to a very high standard. Tragi ally, Gerry
Beck was killed during July 2007 when he
ra hed in this new Mustang while landing
at the famous EAA AirVenture airshow in
shkosh, Wisconsin.
Sadly, ill fortune also truck another
ambitious Mustang recreation scheme.
During the 1990 a very close represen-
tation of the P-51D called the Thunder
Mu tang, but cal d down to ome 75 per
ent of th original, was available from a
U company named the Papa 51 0 Ltd.
The Thunder Mu tang came a a knock-
down kit containing all the major airframe
components and basic equipment needed
to build it. Everything, in fact, from the
spinner, propeller and engine back to the
tailwheel, but not including the buyers'
choice of instruments, avionics, paint and
I
June 1971 by none other than famous postwar Mustang
pilot and demonstrator Robert A. 'Bob' Hoover. Miss
America also had a Packard V-1650-9 specially tuned
for air racing.
Keefe sold the aircraft in 1981 for $195,000, and
it passed through several more owners before being
purchased by its present owner, Dr Brent Hisey, in
September 1993. An accomplished surgeon and equally
talented pilot. Dr Hisey has often raced Miss America at
Reno, the Mecca of US air racing. He began his air-rac-
ing career at the Phoenix 500 air races in Mesa, Arizona,
in March 1995. His first Reno air race was in September
of that year, and he has participated whenever possible
ever since. Miss America is claimed to be the longest-
established Reno racer, having first appeared there in
1969. Unfortunately it was damaged at the September
2002 Reno event. when Hisey had to crash-land it
during a race, but excellent airmanship enabled him
to get his aircraft down in one piece. Fortunately Miss
America was fully repaired, and was flying again by
the 2004 season. In addition to having a 'stock' Packard
V-1650-7 engine for normal flying, aspecially configured
racing engine able to generate some 3,OOOhp is also
available for events such as Reno. For normal flying,
1DO-octane fuel is used, but high-grade 160-octane is
required for racing. Aside from the wingtip modifications
the Mustang is very close to its original configura-
tion, even to having fabric-covered tail control surfaces.
Miss America is normally based at Wiley Post Airfield,
Oklahoma City, where Hisey is also the proprietor of his
Oklahoma Museum of Flying. Today Miss America is
valued at 1.5 to 2million dollars.
America was assigned in turn to the 4160th base unit.
Hobbs Field, New Mexico; the 4171st base unit. Kelly
Field, Texas; the 109th FS/FIS, Holman Field, Minnesota;
the 18th FIS, Minneapolis-St Paul, Minnesota; the
117th FBS (Pennsylvania ANG); the 112th FBS, Akron,
Ohio (Ohio ANG); and finally to the Air Material Area,
McClellan AFB, Sacramento, California, in August 1956
as surplus.
The aeroplane was eventually sold in 1958, its
first civilian owner being an M. Parker of Texas, who
purchased it for $3.700. Initially receiving US civil
registration N5452V, the Mustang subsequently passed
through the hands of a number of private owners. In
1969 it was re-registered as N991 RC, having come
into the possession of Robert N. Cleaves, but later that
year it passed to the first of its well-known owners,
Howie Keefe. A Los Angeles newspaper executive,
Keefe bought the Mustang for $25,000 and raced it
on a number of occasions. Under Keefe's ownership
the P-51's registration was slightly changed to N991 R.
which it retains to this day. Modifications made by
Keefe to Miss America included 'clipped' wingtips, the
fitting of spray bars to the air intake scoop beneath the
fuselage to enhance engine cooling, and the installation
of inflatable 50 US gal wing fuel tanks in the former gun
bays. The wingtip modification was initially carried out
in 1971, making this one of the first racing Mustangs (if
not the first) to have this feature. Since then, several
other Mustangs have included similar adaptations in
their racing modification programmes. The conversion
is fully FAA approved. Indeed, following adaptation into
this configuration, Miss America was test flown on 5
AIR RACERS. WARBIRDS AND NEW PRODUCTION
At the time of the completion of this book, in late 2008,
there were at least 295 known surviving Mustangs
of all marks worldwide, of which 156 were identified
as airworthy. Many of these are well-known air show
performers, while others are most renowned for their
performances at the continuing and highly successful
Reno air races. Indeed, in 2002 a new additional venue
was developed for air racing, with the demonstration of
air racing, including performances by several Mustangs,
at the Aviation Nation 2002 air show at Nellis AFB,
Nevada, on the outskirts of Las Vegas.
One of the best-known racing Mustangs is the famous
Miss America, currently owned by Dr Brent N. Hisey of
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. This aircraft has become vir-
tually the standard-bearer for the airworthy Mustang fra-
ternity, and through the marketing of the Miss America
Air Racing Team it is a celebrity 'pin-up' in addition to
being an historic aircraft.
Built in 1944 by NAA at Inglewood as aP-51 D-30-NA,
Miss America began life with constructor's number 122-
41076 and US military serial number 44-74536. Data
plates inside its cockpit state that it was constructed
under Order No. AC16013. By the time of the Block 30
P-51 Ds, Mustang production was reaching its peak and
more than enough P-51 Ds were available for combat
deployment. Miss America therefore I emained in the
USA, initially being assigned to the 372nd FG at Esler
Field, Louisiana, an operational training group of the
Third Army Air Force. The unit initially operated P-40
Warhawks at other locations, but increasingly from the
spring and summer of 1945 it flew Mustangs, having
settled at Esler Field in February 1945. After this, Miss
manufactured from new components on
specially created jigs, making the aircraft
a genuinely new build, although around
10 per cent of the components were likely
to be original Mustang parts. This type
of one-off production was intended to
be separate from the more commercially
viable new-build manufacture undertaken
by Tri-State Aviation with its completely
new P-51A series production.
Perhaps the greatest accolade that
can be paid to the Mustang is that it is
as popular today as it was in its heyday
back in the late Second World War era.
It has certainly become one of aviation's
most iconic warplanes, and with the con-
tinuing popularity of the type as a racer
and as a 'warbird', it is a happy thought
that airworthy and beautifully groomed
Mustangs will be with us for many more
years to come.
Miss America Mustang
to manufacture the Thunder Mustang
through foreclosure on a loan, and duly
posted the Papa 51 assets for sale. A
comparatively small number of Thunder
Mustangs continue to fly worldwide.
A burning question in the realms of air-
craft preservation centres on how 'original'
many restorations of historic aircraft really
are. Increasingly the 'warbird' movement
has seen very ambitious rebuilds over the
years, often of incomplete wrecks, and
some currently airworthy aircraft retain
very little of their original structure or
fittings. During the first years of the
twenty-fi rst century at least one collector
has commissioned the building of a 'new'
Mustang. The person in question is Dr
Brent Hisey, owner of the racing Mustang
Miss America. In this case the 'new'
Mustang was intended to b a Merlin-
engined P-51 B and was essentially to be
AIR RACERS. WARBIRDS AND EW PRODUCTION
interior finish. The aircraft was powered
by a 640hp Falconer V-12, which gave an
excellent power-to-weight ratio, better
than that of the original P-51 D, and could
be configured as a two-seater. The wing
span was 23.8ft (7.25m), and the kits sold
for up to $285,000 including engine and
propeller. Including the prototype, a total
of thirty-seven complete or partial kits
were produced. Of these, twenty-seven
were delivered as complete kits includ-
ing the Falconer engine. nfortunately,
tragedy struck the project when the pro-
totype, N151TM, was destroyed in a fatal
crash in Idaho on 30 May 1998, killing the
Papa 51 pilot Dale Clarke and an impor-
tant investor in the project. Subsequently,
Thunder Mustang production ceased
in 1999, and Papa 51 eventually went
out of business. The Thunder Builders
Group LLC acquired the assets required
One of the most famous surviving Mustangs is Miss America, the well-known racing P-510 registered N991 R. For over a decade it has been owned by Dr Brent
Hisey, and is raced regularly at Reno. The Mustang is seen here in 2003 at Wiley Post Airport, Oklahoma City, where it is based. Jerry Day
Racing Mustang N991 RMiss America at its home, Wiley Post Airport, Oklahoma City. The aircraft was damaged in an accident during the 2002 Reno air races,
but is seen here in 2003 following rebuild and return to airworthiness. Jerry Day
252 253
APPENDIX I
P-SJH Mustang
Span 37ft 0.3in (11.29m); length 32ft 2.65in (9. 2m); height 12ft 2in (3.7Im)
One I, 150hp Allison V-171O-F3R inline piston engine
Loaded ,6331b (3,916kg)
Maximum speed 3 2mph (615km/h) at 13,700ft (4,176m); range c. 750 mile (J ,200km); service ceiling
32,000ft (9,750m)
Span 37ft 0.3in (l1.29m); length 33ft3.25in (l0.14m); height 13ft in (4.17m)
One Packard V-1650-9 (Merlin) inline piston engine, producing 2,270hp with maximum boost and I, 30hp
for take-off
ix 0.5in machine gun, plus underwing tores of drop tanks, two 1,0001b bombs, or up to ten Sin unguided air-
to-ground RPs
Empty 7,0401b (3,193kg); loaded 9,2501b (4,196kg)
Maximum speed 4 7mph (784km/h) at 25,000ft (7,600m); range c. 1,160 miles (I ,870km) with drop tank;
service ceiling 41 ,600ft (12, 700m)
Weights
Performance
Weights
Performance
Dimensions
Powerplant
Armament
F-82G Twin Mustang
Dimensions Span 51ft 7in (I ~ n m ; length 42ft 2.5in (l2.87m); height 13ft lOin (4.22m)
Power plant Two 1,600hp Alli on V-171O-143/145 inline piston engines
Armament Six 0.5in machine guns, plus underwing stores of drop tanks, or up to 4,0001b (l,800kg) of bombs or other
stores
Empty 15,997lb (7,256kg); loaded 25,891lb (ll,744kg)
Maximum speed 459mph (739km/h) at 21,000ft (6,400m); range c.2,240 miles (3,600km); service ceiling
38,900ft (II ,850m)
illustrations elsewhere in thi book, that
5/l6in (closely equivalent to a third of
an inch) nevertheless existed in the
official manuals used to maintain the
P-51 in the field. It is therefore included
in the following specification summa-
ries, which are believed to be the mo t
accurate yet published for the Mu tang
series.
Appendix I
be made to the aircraft's size and general
layout throughout its lengthy wartime
production. evertheless, there have
been a number of anomalies within pub-
lished sources over the years as to what
the size of the Mustang really was. This
has partly arisen due to the understand-
able tendency in many publications to
round off the wingspan and lose the
5/16in over 37ft. As can be seen by
Dimension
Powerplant
Weight
Performance
One of the yardsticks by which a suc-
ce ful aircraft design can be judged is
the amount that its airframe is altered by
choi e rather than by necessity during
production. In the case of the P-51,
apart from the very obvious change from
the Allison to the Merlin engine, few
significant alterations actually needed to
Mustang Specifications
NA-73X
P-SJA Mustang
Dimensions
Powerplant
Armament
Weight
Performan e
pan 37ft O.3in (11.29m); length 32ft 2.88in (9.83m); height 13ft 8in (4.17m)
One 1,200 hp Allison V-1710-81 inline piston engine
Four 0.5in machine guns, plus underwing stores of drop tank, or two 500lb bomb
Empty 6,8501b (3,107kg); loaded 10,6001b (4, 08kg)
Maximum speed 390mph (627km/h) at 12,000ft (3,650m); range c. 1,250 miles (2,000km) with drop tanks;
service ceiling 31 ,000ft (9,450m)
P-SJD Mustang
Dimensions
Powerplant
Armament
Weight
Performance
Span 37ft 0.3in (11.29m); length 32ft 3.3in (9.84m); height 13ft 8in (4.17m)
One Packard V- 1650-7 (Merlin) inline piston engine producing I ,nOhp with maximum boost and 1,490hp for
take-off
Six 0.5in machine guns, plus underwing stores of drop tank, or two 500lb bombs (or, later, two 1,0001b bomb
or up to ten Sin unguided air-to-ground RPs)
Empty 7,1251b (3,232kg); loaded 12,1001b (5,4 9kg)
Maximum speed 437mph (703km/h) at 25,000ft (7,600m); range c.2,080 mile (3,350km) with drop rank;
ervice ceiling 4 I,900ft (12, OOm)
254 255
APPENDIX II
Mustang Production
It must be stressed that not all the above
aircraft were delivered to Britain. Some
were retained for trials in the USA, some
were taken for use by the USAAF, a small
number crashed on acceptance or testing
before delivery, and several were lost at
sea in transit. In addition to these actual
production aircraft for Britain, a number
of other Mustangs found their way into
British service or were allocated British
Surprisingly for such a well-known and
well-documented aircraft, there has been
a considerable amount of confusion in
the past over the Mustang's production
numb rs and actual serial numbers. This
appears to have been caused, in pub-
lished sources at least, by typing errors
and accidental duplication of batches.
ome writers' arithmetic also appears to
have gone astray, with batches of produc-
not necessarily tally with the overall total
manufactured in specific batches as given
here.
Texas, production plant. Among these
batches are deliveries to the RAF, there-
fore the totals referred to elsewhere in
the text for deliveries to the USAAF do
'NA' referred to NAA's Inglewood (Mines
Field - Los Angeles Municipal Airport),
California, factory production, and 'NT'
related to NAA's Dallas (Hensley Field),
Mustang production under US contracts, mainly for US use
Model NAANo. Serial Nos Quantity
A-36A-1-NA NA-97 42-83663 to -84162 500
XP-5l-NA NA-73 41-38to-39 2
P-51-NA NA-91 41-37320 to -37469 150
P-51A-I-NA NA-99 43-6003 to -6102 100
P-51A-5-NA NA-99 43-6103 to -6157 55
P-51A-10-NA NA-99 43-6158 to -6312 155
XP-51B-NA NA-101 41-37352,41-37421 2
P-51 B-1- A NA-102 43-12093 to -12492 400
P-51B-5- A NA-104 43-6313 to -7112 800
P-51B-10-NA NA-104 43-7113 to -7202
42-106429 to -106538
42-106541 to -106738 398
P-51B-15-NA NA-104 42-106739 to -106978
43-24752 to-24901 390
P-51C-1-NT NA-103 42-102979 to -103328 350
P-51C-5-NT NA-103 42-103329 to -103778 450
P-51C-10-NT NA-103 42-103779 to -103978 200
43-24902 to-25251 350
P-51 C-1O/11-NT NA-111 44-10753 to -11152 400
XP-51D-NA NA-106 42-106539,42-106540 2
P-51D-5-NA NA-109 44-13253 to -14052 800
P-51D-10-NA NA-109 44-14053 to -14852 800
P-51D-15-NA NA-109 44-14853 to -15752 900
P-51D-20-NA A-l22 44-63160 to -64159 1,000
44-72027 to-72626 600
P-51 D-25-NA NA-l22 44- 72627 to -74226 1,600
P-51D-30-NA NA-l22 44-74227 to -75026 800
P-51D-5-NT NA-111 44-11153 to -11352 200
P-51D-20-NT NA-111 44-12853 to -13252 400
P-51D-25-NT NA-124 44-84390 to -84989 600
45-11343 to -11542 200
P-51D-30-NT NA-124 45-11543 to -11742 200
TP-51D-NT 45-11443 to -11450 8
44-84610 to -84611 2
P-51K-1-NT NA-111 44-11353 to -11552 200
P-51K-5-NT NA-111 44-1l553 to -11952 400
P-51K-10-NT NA-111 44-11953 to -12852 900
XP-51F NA-I05 43-43332 to-43334 3
XP-51G NA-105 43-43335 to -43336 2
P-51H-1-NA NA-126 44-64160 to -64179 20
P-51H-5-NA NA-126 44-64180 to -64459 280
P-51H-10-NA NA-126 44-64460 to -64714 255
XP-51]-NA A-lOS 44-76027 to -76028 2
P-51M-l- T A-124 45-11743 1
150
50
300
350
141
220
30
251
200
393
56 (canx)
2
Quantity
320
300
installation of the Merlin engine. These
were AL963, AL975, AMI21, AM203
and AM208; they have often been called
Mustang Mk X. A further Mustang,
AG518, was evaluated for this programme
but was not converted. AM121 was later
passed to the Americans. It is often for-
gotten that Rolls-Royce also employed
a number of other Mustangs at different
times for various evaluation and test work.
Quantity
1
P-51 D). The 'P' stood for'Pursuit', the orig-
inal USArmy name fora fighter. Following
the creation of the independent USAF in
1947, outdated designations such as this
were eventually changed. The old Pursuit
designation was altered in 1948 to 'F' for
Fighter. Surviving Mustangs were thus
redesignated, the designation F-51 being
increasingly adopted; hence all Mustangs
that served with the USAF in Korea wer
F-5Is. The Douglas A-36 Invader was des-
ignated in the 'A' for 'Attack' category.
Serial as
AG345 to AG664
AL958 to AM257 and
AP164 to AP263
FD418 to FD567
FR890 to FR939
FB100 to FB399
FX848 to FZ197
HB82ltoi B961
KH421 to KH640
KH641 to KH670
KM493 to KM743
KI-I67 I to KH870
KM100 to KM492
KM744 to KM799
TK586, TK589
Registration
NXl9998
serial numbers, sometimes for temporary
service or test work. These include A-36A
EW998 (42-83685), plus 42-84016,
42-84019 and I-1K944 to I-1K947, and
possibly also HK955 to HK956; Mustang
Mk Ills FR411, and SR406 to SR440;
P-51 I-I K 987; XP-51 F (sometimes called
a Mustang Mk V) FR409; and XP-51G
FR410. Five Mustangs were specifically
used by Rolls-Royce as test aircraft for the
Appendix II
tion aircraft being given incorrect totals,
apparently without any attempt to check
how many serial numbers there are in a
batch. The following is the most com-
prehensively checked listing of Mustang
serial numbers published to date, although
it is acknowledged that some of the erial
number allocations within production
batches remain contentious.
Fighter models of the Mustang in US
service were designated P-51, with a
suffix letter for the particular version (e.g.
NA-91
NA-99
NA-I04/111
AANo.
NA-73
NA-83
NAANo.
A-73X
Mustang Mk IV
Mustang Mk IA
Mustang Mk II
Mustang Mk III
Mustang Mk IVA
Mustang production for Britain
Model
Mustang Mk I
Mustang Mk I
Prototype
Model
NA-73X
256 257
APPENDIX II
Mustang assembly/production in Australia
Model NAA No.
CA-17 Mk20 (NA-IlO)
CA-18 Mk 21
CA-18 Mk 22
CA-18 Mk 23
Serial Nos
A68-1 to -80
A68-95 to -120
A68-81 to -94
A68-187 to -200
A68-121 to -186
Quantity
80
26
14
14
66
Appendix III
The P- 2H wa a conv rsion from P-82F
and P-82G production blocks, but is
shown h re separately for clarity. Most
of the later versions of the Twin Mustang
Reconnaissance Mustangs
R connaissance versions of the Mustang
w r designated F-6, the 'F' standing for
'PhotographiC' in the rather cumb rsome
d ignation allocations of the interwar
USAA .AIIPRMustangsw reoriginally
Th above w re manufactured in
Australia by the Commonwealth Aircraft
Corporation. The first eighty (CA-17 Mk
20) were made up from 100 sets of com-
ponents supplied from the USA. Mustang
assembly/production in Australia was def-
init Iy 200, not 286 a claimed in ome
published ource.
However, in addition, Au tralia also
r eived 299 Mustangs from US produc-
tion, which were s rial I d A68-500 to
-5 3, and A68-600 to -813. Most, if not
all, of the fonner were P-51 K equivalents,
the latter being P-510 equivalents. The
'299th' was A68-1001, which was in effect
a 'pattern aircraft' for the Australian pro-
duction and is believed to have been a
P-510 in origin.
Approximate Mustang service dates
4/42 - 12/44
4/42 - 1/44
4/42 - 9/43
2/44 - 3/46 (Merlin only)
1/42 - 3/44, late 1944 - 6/45
6/42 - 3/44
8/44 - 5/46 (Merlin only)
12/43 - early 1946 (Merlin only)
1/46 - 12/46 (Merlin only)
6/44 - 12/46 (Merlin only)
1/45 - 3/46 (Merlin only)
2/44 - 8/45 (Merlin only)
12/44 - 3/46 (Merlin only)
4/44 - 5/45 (M r1in only)
2/45 - 3/45 (Merlin only)
2/45 - 6/45 (Merlin only)
11/42 - 10/44
6/42 - 9/43
6/42 - 1/44
9/42 - 12/42
5/44 - 2/47 (Merlin only)
5/42 - 8/43 (also other types)
4/43 - 1/44
9/44 - 7/45 (Merlin only)
5/42 - 9/43
4/42 - 11/42
9/44 - 8/45 (Merlin only)
8/45 - 1/47 (Merlin only)
4/44 - 8/45 (Merlin only)
4/42 - 8/45 (also Typhoons c 7/44 - late 1944)
3/45 - 6/45
4/45 - 12/46 (Merlin only)
3/44 -1/47 (Merlin only)
7/42 - 1/47 (also Hurricanes c2/44 - 10/44)
3/44 - 12/46 (Merlin only)
4/44 - 12/46 (Merlin only)
6/42 - 12/43
6/42 - 7/44
1/43 - 12/44
squadrons and th ir officially a igned
squadron code letters where applicable
(although these were not always applied),
with, where possible, details of their time
on the Mustang, but it mu t be stressed
that many units phased aircraft types in
and out of service alongside their pred-
ecessors and successors, so exact dates in
that context are only a guide.
1947. In addition, Mustangs also served
with a variety of Commonwealth squad-
rons that operated under the umbrella
of the RAF during the cond World
War, and several squadrons that were
manned principally by personnel from
occupied countries also used Mustangs
and served under the auspices of the
RAF. The following is a listing of these
RAF Mustangs
The RAF was the first air force to employ
the Mustang in combat, and successfully
operated the type from 1942 until the end
of World War Two. RAF Mustangs went
into action a year before the first USAAF
Mustangs saw combat. The type subse-
quently served with the RAF postwar until
Squadron (code)
2 (XV)
4 (TV?)
16 (UG)
19 (QV)
26 (RM, XC)
63 (none)
64 (SH)
65 (YT)
93 (HN)
112 (GA)
118(NK)
122 (MT)
126 (5))
129 (OV)
154 (HG)
165 (SK)
16 (OE?, poss. QC)
169 (VI)
170 (BN)
171 (none)
213 (AK)
225 (WU?)
231 (none)
234 (AZ)
239 (HB)
241 (RZ)
249 (G )
250 (LO)
260 (HS)
268 ( M)
285 (VG)
303 (RF, later PO) Polish
306 (UZ) Polish
309 (WC) Polish
315 (PK) Polish
316 (SZ) Polish
400 (SP) Canadian
414 (RU) Canadian
430 (G9 rarely applied) Canadian
Quantity
2
1
9
9
1
1
100
91
29
16
5
9
Additional Mustang serial numbers
The USAF procured a number of avalier
rebuilt Mustangs in the 1960s, chiefly for
export. These received the serial numbers
67-14862 to -14865 and 67-22579 to
-22582 for the single-seat Cavalier F-51 0,
and 67-14866 for a two-seat TF-510
trainer. The U Army obtained two two-
seat communications/chase F- 51 Os, serial
numbers 68-15795 to -15796. The pro-
totype close-support Cavalier Mustang 11
received the civil registration N4222A,
and the Cavalier Turbo Mustang III was
61670. The original two-seat Cavalier
Enforcer wa N202PE, and the single-
seat avalier Enforcer 201 PE. The
two single-seat Piper PA-48 Enforcers
were registered 481 PE and N482PE.
Some fifteen TF-510 conversions were
made post-World War Two, includ-
ing work carried out by Temco, known
sellal numbers being 44-84654 to -84658,
44-84660,44-84662 to -84663, 44-84665
to -84670, and 44-84676 (it is quite pos-
ible that these were the only fifteen so
converted).
service or were taken on charge. A total
of 273 Twin Mustangs of all types was
built.
Serial Nos
44-83886 to -83887
44-83888
44-65160 to -65168
44-65171 to -65179
44-65169
44-65170
46-255 to -354
46-405 to -495
46-355 to -383
46-389 to -404
46-384 to -38
46-496 to -504
were actually known as F-82s virtually
from the start, as the changeover from
the old 'P' designation to the new 'F'
was starting to take place as they entered
serialled in the blocks of fighter P-51s,
and therefore their production quantities
should not be added to the total number
of fighter Mustangs built for US forces.
They included up to fifty-five F-6As con-
verted from Allison-engined P-51 air-
frames, and thirty-five F-6Bs converted
from Allison-engined P-51As. They were
followed by ninety-one F-6Cs that were
ither P-51B or ' , conversions, these
and ubs quent reconnaissance Mustangs
being Merlin-powered; some 146 F-60s
that were fonner P-510s (44-13020 to
-039; 44-13131 to -13140; 44-13181;
44-14547; 44-15453; 44-84509 to -84540;
44-84566; 44-84773 to -84778; 44-84835
to -84855; and 45-11655 to -11689); and
163 F-6Ks that were originally P-51Ks
(including 44-11554; 44-11897 to -11952;
44-11993 to -12008; 44-12216 to -12237;
44-12459 to -12471; 44-12523 to -12534;
and 44-12810 to -12852). It must be
noted that these numbers ar a guide
only, the exact total of I' connai sance
Mustangs is impossible to verify, although
these figures are a close approximation.
NAANo.
NA-120
NA-120
NA-123
NA-144
NA-149
NA-150
P-82H-NA
P-82C-NA
P- 2D-NA
P-82E-NA
P-82F-NA
P-82G-NA
P/F-82 Twin Mustang
Model
XP-82-NA
XP-82A- A
P-82B-1-NA
258 259
Squadron (code)
441 (9G) Canadian
442 (Y2) anadian
516 (none)
541 (none)
61L (FY)
613 ( Y)
No. 1437 Flight (none)
In addition to th above squadrons, various
other organizations flew Mustangs with
or in conjunction with the British and
ommonwealth forces, notably the test
establishments at Boscombe Down and
Farnborough. These latter formations did
not usually carry their own distinguish-
ing marking or codes on the aircraft that
APPENDIX III
Approximate Mustang service dates
5/45 - 8/45 (Merlin only)
3/45 - 8/45 (Merlin only)
4/43 - 2/44
6/44 - 4/45 (M rlin only)
1/45 - 8/45 (Merlin only)
4/42 - 11/43
7/43-10/43
were (sometimes briefly) assigned to them.
Several RAF squadrons flew Mu tangs
'borrowed' from US stocks in addition to
their main equipment, a dictated by oper-
ational circumstance, particularly in the
Middle Ea t and southern Europe. These
included 14 and 260 qns, and also prob-
ably 225 qn. The last-named unit had
260
already operated Mustangs from England
before deployment to the Mediterranean,
whil 260 Sqn later b came a Mu tang
quadron in it own right. Additionally, a
number of Mustangs served with training
units; r cords of these are sketchy, but
one of these organizations appears to have
been 0.61 OTU.
Mustangs in Europe
The P-51B/C and P-51D/K Mustang ver-
sions erved with a number of significant
U AAF fighter unit in the ETO, and
were an important contribution to the
overwhelming success of the Allied air
forces against the Luftwaffe during the
later stages of World War Two. The
best-known of these US Mustang opera-
tor in Europe are the fourteen FG that
v ntually op rated the Mu tang within
the Eighth Army Air Force from bases in
England, as detailed here (assigned quad-
ron code letters gi ven in bracket) with
their bases while flying the Mustang:
4th Fe:
334th (XR, later QP), 335th (AV, later
WD), 336th (MD, later VF) FS ; P-5l
ops from 25/2/1944; based at Debden to
end of war.
20th Fe.
55th (Kl), 77th (LC), 79th (MC) FSs;
P-51 ops from 20/7/1944; based at King's
Cliffe to end of war.
55th Fe.
38th (CG), 338th (CL), 343rd (CY)
FSs; P-51 ops from 19/7/1944; based at
Wormingford to end of war.
78th Fe:
82nd (MX), 83rd (HL), 84th (WZ)
FSs; P-51 ops from 29/12/1944; based at
Duxford to end of war.
Appendix IV
339th Fe:
503rd (07), 504th (5Q), 505th (6N)
FS; P-51 op from 30/4/1944; ba ed at
Fowlmer to end of war.
352nd Fe.
328th (PE), 486th (PZ), 487th (HO) FSs;
P-51 ops from 8/4/1944; based at Bodney
to end of war, but also temporarily at
Asch (Y-29), and Chievres (A-84) in
Belgium.
353rd Fe.
350th (LH), 351st (Y]), 352nd (SX) FSs;
P-51 ops from 2/10/1944; based at Raydon
to end of war.
355th Fe:
354th (WR), 357th (OS), 358th (YF)
FSs; P-5l op from 9/3/1944; based at
Steeple Morden to end of war.
356th Fe.
359th (OC), 360th (Pl), 361st (Ql)
FSs; P-51 ops from 20/11/1944; based at
Martlesham Heath to end of war.
357th Fe:
362nd (G4), 363rd (B6), 364th (C5) FSs;
P-51 ops from 11/2/1944; ba ed at Liston
to end of war.
261
359th Fe:
368th (CV), 369th (IV), 370th (CS) FSs;
P-51 ops from 5/5/1944; based at East
Wretham to end of war.
361st Fe.
374th (B7), 375th (E2), 376th (E9)
FSs; P-51 ops from 12/5/1944; based at
Botti ham until late September 1944,
then Little Walden to end of war, but
also temporarily at Saint-Dizier (A-64) in
France, and hievres (A-84) in Belgium.
364th Fe.
383rd ( 2), 384th (5Y), 385th (5E)
FSs; P-51 ops from 28/7/1944; based at
Honington to end of war.
479th Fe.
434th (L2), 435th (2), 436th (98)
FSs; P-51 ops from 13/9/1944; based at
Wattisham to end of war.
Note: Originally under the operational
control of VIlI Fighter Command, these
FG were divided on 15 eptember
1944 (effective 10 October 1944) under
the auspices of fighter wings that were
linked to the bombardment divisions
that controlled the Eighth Air Force's
heavy bombers. The assignments were as
follows: the 4th, 355th, 361 t and 479th
FGs came under the 65th Fighter Wing;
the 55th, 78th, 339th, 353rd and 357th
FGs were a igned to the 66th Fighter
Wing; and the 20th, 352nd, 356th, 359th
and 364th (and for a short time the 361st)
FGs came under the 67th Fighter Wing.
In the Mediterranean/southern Europe,
the following FG operated the Mustang
in the Fifteenth Army Air Force:
In addition to the fourteen Eighth Air
Force FGs that flew the Mustang in
northwest Europe, the following Ninth
Army Air Force FGs also operated the
Mu tang in that theatre:
It will be noted that the code letters
carried by Mustangs of the Fifteenth
Ai r Force's 31st and 52nd FGs were the
same as those worn by the 78th and 4th
FGs respectively of the Eighth Army Air
Force. It is usually aid that this was done
to confuse German intelligence.
Group
354th
363rd
370th
Squadrons/code
353rd (IT), 355th (GQ), 356th (AJ)
380th (A9), 381st (B3), 382nd (C3)
401st (7F), 402nd (E6), 403rd (90)
APPENDIX IV
Group
31st
52nd
325th
332nd
Squadron/code or numbers
307th (MX), 308th (HL), 309th (WZ)
2nd (QP), 4th (WO), 5th (VF)
317th (10-39), 318th (40-69), 319th (70-99)
99th, 100th, 301st, 302nd
Air National Guard Mustangs
The P-51 holds th record of having been
assigned to mor NG/ANG squadrons
than any other aircraft type. This ervice
began in 1946, when it was still called the
National Guard, and continued into 1957,
Appendix V
when the West Virginia ANG was the
last State to operate the type. Mustangs of
several versions served in the NG/ANG,
including the P-51D/F-51D, the F-51H,
the RF-510 reconnaissance model and
the TF-51 0 two-seat train r. Remarkably,
seventy-five of the active Guard squadrons
during the post-World War Two period
operated the Mustang in one mark or
another. The following is a list of the NG/
ANG squadrons that flew the single-seat
Mustang in its F-510 and F-51H versions
(some of these al a operated examples of
the rare two- eatTF-51DMu tang):
262
Squadron
lOlst
lO3rd
104th
107th
108th
109th
110th
III th
112th
113th
115th
116th
118th
119th
120th
121st
123rd
124th
125th
126th
127th
128th
131 t
132nd
133rd
134th
136th
137th
138th
139th
141st
142nd
146th
147th
148th
152nd
154th
155th
156th
157th
158th
State
Massachusett
Pennsylvania
Maryland
Michigan
Illinois
Minnesota
Missouri
Texas
Ohio
Indiana
California
Washington
Connecticut
New Jersey
Colorado
Washington, D.C.
Oregon
Iowa
Oklahoma
Wi consin
Kan as
Georgia
Massachusetts
Maine
New Hampshire
Vermont
New York
New York
New York
New York
New Jersey
Deleware
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Pennsylvania
Rhode Island
Arkansa
Tennessee
North Carolina
South arolina
Georgia
approx. service
1951-54
1953-54
1951-55
1952-54
1952-55
1946-56
1946-52
1947-51,1952-54
1952-56
1947-55
1953-54
1947-50, 1952-54
1952-53
1952-55
1946-53
1952-54
1946-51,1952-53
1946-53
1947-50, 1952-54
1947-49,1952-53
1946-50, 1952-54
1952
1951-54
1950-54
1952-54
1950-54
1952-54
1952-53
1950-53
1951-54
1952-55
1952-54
1951-54
1951-54
1950-51,1952-55
1952-55
1946-50
1946-51
1949-51,1952-53
1946-50, 1952-54
1952-53
263
In addition to the above seventy-three
squadrons, the following ix A G quad-
rons flew the reconnaissanc -configured
Abbreviations
159th
160th
162nd
163rd
164th
165th
166th
167th
16 th
Squadron
169th
170th
171st
Innd
173rd
174th
175th
176th
17 th
179th
lIt
1 2nd
15th
16th
17th
18 th
190th
191st
192nd
194th
195th
196th
197th
Squadron
105th
153rd
154th
155th
160th
15th
Florida
Alabama
Ohio
Indiana
Ohio
Kentucky
Ohio
West Virginia
Illinois
State
Illinois
Illinois
Michigan
Michigan
ebraska
Iowa
outh Dakota
Wiscon in
North Dakota
Minnesota
Texas
Texas
Oklahoma
Montana
Wyoming
ew Mexico
Idaho
tah
evada
alifornia
California
California
Arizona
State
Tennessee
Mississippi
Arkansas
Tennessee
Alabama
Oklahoma
APPENDIX V
1947-48, 1952-55
1947-50
1948-55
1947-54
194 -53
1947-51,1952-56
1947-50, 1952-54
1952-57
1954-55
approx. service
1947-56
1948-53
194 -50, 1952-55
1947-54
1946-48, 1950-53
1947-50,1951-53
1946-54
1948-52,1952-53
1947-54
1948-54
1946-50,1951-54
1947-50, 1952-55
1947-51,1953
1947-53
1946-53
1947-53
1946-53
1946-55
194 -55
1949-54
1946-54
1946-47, 1952-54
1947-50,1952-53
RF-51D (four of these are also in the
list above, because they additionally flew
other marks of Mustang, thus making
approx. service
1952-54
1952-55
1952-54
1951-52
1952-55
1951
264
a total of seventy-five A G squadrons
that flew the Mustang in one form or
another):
2nd TAF
A&AEE
AB
A
A G
AD
ADGB
AFB
AFDU
Al
AMI
ANG
AST
AT
AT
AURI
BA
BCOF
BP
BG
B
BW
CA
CBI
01
D/F
DoD
ETO
FAB
FAC
FAD
FAG
FAREP
FAS
F-AW
F-AWW
FBG
FB
FBW
FC
FEAF
FG
FG(P)
FI
FIW
FM
FS
econd Tactical Air Force
Aeroplane and Armament Experimental
Establishment
Air Base
Army Co-operation ommand
Air Commando Group
Air Defense Command
Air Defence of Great Britain
Air Force Base
Air Fighting Development Unit
airborne interception (radar)
Aeronautica Militare Italiana
Air ational Guard
Air ervice Training
Air Technical ection
Air Technical ervice Command
Angkatan Udara Republik Indonesia
British Air Commi ion
British Commonwealth Occupation Force
British Purchasing ommi sion
Bombardment (or Bomb) Group
Bombardment (or Bomb) quadron
Bombardment (or Bomb) Wing
Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation Pty,
Ltd
hina-Burma-India (Theatr
counter-insurgency
direction-finding
Department of D fen e
European Theatre of perations
Fuerza Aerea Boliviana
Forward Air ontrol
Fuerza Aerea Dominicana
Fuerza Aerea Guatemalteca
Fight r Airplane Range Extension Program
Fuerza Aerea alvadorena
Fighter-All Weath r quadran
Fighter-All Weather Wing
Fighter-Bomber Group
Fighter-Bomb r quadron
Fighter-Bomber Wing
Fighter ommand
Far East Air Force(s)
Fighter Group
Fighter Group (Provisional)
Fighter-Interceptor Squadron
Fighter-Interceptor Wing
Foreign Military ales (plan)
Fighter Squadron
F (AW)
F
F (P)
FW
FW(AW)
FY
GA
GAMC
GR
HVAR
IAF
lDF/AF
l]AAF
IL
MAP
MAP
MDAP
Mo
MTO
AA
ACA
EI
NG
II VVS
OTU
PG
PoW
PR
PRG
PR
PYA
RAAF
RAF
RAP
RCAF
RG
R EIAF
R ZAF
RoKAF
RP
R wAF
AAF
AC
SAR
265
Fighter Squadron (All Weather)
Fighter Squadron (Commando)
Fighter quadron (Provi ional)
Fighter Wing
Fighter Wing (All Weather)
Fis al Year
G neral Aviation Corporation
Gen ral Aviation Manufacturing
orporation
Groupe de Reconnaissance
high-velocity aerial (or aircraft) rocket
Israeli Air Force
Israeli Defence Force/Air Force
Imperial ]apane e Army Air Force
instrument landing system
Military Assistance Program ( SA)
Mini try of Aircraft Production (UK)
Mutual Defense A sistance Program
Ministryof upply
Mediterranean Theatre of Operations
orth Am rican Aviation
National Advi ory ommittee for
Aeronautic
Netherland East Indies
National Guard
Soviet Air Force research and evaluation
institute
Observation Group
Observation Squadron
perational Training Unit
Photo(graphic) Group
prisoner of war
photographic reconnaissance
Photographic Reconnaissance Group
Photographic Reconnaissance Squadron
Photo Verkennings Afdeling
Royal Australian Air Force
Royal Air Force
Reimbursable Aid Program
Royal Canadian Air Force
Reconnai ance Group
Royal etherlands East Indies Air Force
Royal ew Zealand Air Force
Republic of Korea Air Force
rock t proje tile
Royal wed ish Air Force
South African Air Force
Strategic Air ommand
search and rescue
ABBREVIATIONS
hp
WPA
TA
Ta R
TBO
T l/AU
TRG
TR
haft horespower
South-West Pacific Area
Tactical Air ommand
tactical reconnaissance
time between overhaul
Tentara a ional Indonesia Angkatan dara
(Indone ian Air Force)
Tactical Reconnai sance Group
Tactical Reconnaissance quadron
Ueberwachungsgeschwader
United ati ns
nited tares Army Air Corps
United tate Army Air Force
nited tates Air Force
United tate Air Force in Europe
S Marine orp
avy
Further Reading
266
A very large number of books and maga-
zine articles have been publi hed on the
P-51 Mu tang over the years. Most of
these have been very good, a number
have been indifferent, but many have
contribute I in some form or another to
telling th long and diverse hi tory of the
Mu tang. Unfortunately a large propor-
tion of th se are now out of print. The
following Ii t include recently publi h d
or comparatively recent sources, as well as
several long-since unavailable and out of
print, but which are neverthele s worth
searching for. Several of these publica-
tions shed a much more detailed light on
aspe ts of the Mustang's career that have
not been the main focus of this book, or
which further di cuss some of the issue
raised.
Air Force Combat Units of World War ll:
History and Insignia by Maurer Maurer
(ed.), Zenger Publishing, 19 0
Air Force Combat Wings: Lineage and
Honor Histories 1947-1977 by harle
A. Ravenstein, Office of Air Force
History, 1984
Air War Over Korea by Larry Davis,
quadron! ignal Publication, 1982
amoujlage & Markings: RAF Northern
Euro/)e 1936-45 Number 2 - N.A.
Mustang by Robert C. Jone , Ducimu
Books, no date
Camouflage & Marking: USAAF, ET
and MTO, 1942-1945 umber 16 -
orth American P-51 and F-6 Mustang
by Roger A. Freeman, Ducimus Books,
no date
Dutch Profile 2 - P-51D!K Mustang by
Luuk Boerman and Gerard Casius,
Dutch Decal, 2004
Fl)'ing the Frontiers - ACA and ASA
Experimental Aircraft by Arthur Pearcy,
r l ~ Publishing, 1993
Jane's All the World's Aircraft, various
publishers including ampson low and
Jane's Yearbooks, annual editions from
1928 onwards
J26 Mustang by leif Hellstrom, Alit om
Hobby AB, 1997
Mustang by tewart Wilson, Aerospace
Publications (Australia), 2001
Mustang: A Documentary History of the
P-51 by Jeffrey Ethell, Jane's Publishing
ompany,19 1
Mustang: The Story of the P-51 Fighter by
Robert W. Gruenha n, Arco, 1976
Mustang at War by Roger A. Freeman, Ian
Allan, 1974
Mustang Survivors by Paul Coggan,
Midland Publishing, 2003 (and Aston
Publications, 19 7)
Osprey Aviation Elite 7 - 354th FG by
William . Hes , 0 prey Publi hing,
20 2
Osprey Aircraft ofthe Aces 26-Mustangand
Thunderbolt Aces of the Pacific and CBI
by John Stanaway, Osprey Publishing,
1999
Osprey Frontline Colour I - F-51 Mustang
Units Over Korea by Warren Thompson,
Osprey Publishing, 1999
Ospre)' Production Line to Frontline 1 -
orth American Aviation P-51 Mustang
byMicha IO'l ary,O pr yPubli hing,
1998
P-51 Mustang: Develo/)ment of the Long-
Range Escort Fighter by Paul A. ludwig,
Classic Publications, 2003
Rolls-Royce and the Mustang by David
Birch, Rolls-Royce Heritage Trust,
1997
taTS & Bars: A Tribute to the American
Fighter Ace 1920-1973 by Frank Olynyk,
Grub treet, 1995
The Allison Engine atalog 1915-2007 by
John M. leonard, Rolls-Royce Heritage
Trust - Allison Branch, 200
The Incredible T-6 Pilot Maker by Walt
Ohlrich and Jeff Ethell, pecialty Press,
19 3
The Merlin in Perspective - the Combat
Years by Alec Harvey-Bailey, RolI-
Royce Heritaae Tru t, 2003
The Mighty Eighth: A History of the US th
Anny Air Force by Roger A. Freeman,
Macdonald and Jane's Publishers, 1978
The Mighty Eighth War Manual by Roger
A. Freeman, Cassell & Co, 2001
267
The orth American Mustang by M.J.
Hardy, David & Charles, 1979
Walk Around Number 7 - P-51 D Mustang
by Larry Davis, Squadron! ignal
Publication, 1996
Walk Around Number 13 - Allison Engined
Mustangs by Glen Phillips, Squadron!
Signal Publi ations, 1998
The World's Greatest Air Depot by Harry
Holm ,Airlife, 1998
World War II Combat Squadrons of the
United States Air Force: The Official.
Military Record of Every Active SqL!adron
by Maurer Maurer (ed.), Smithmark
Publi hers, 1992
2nd Tactical Air Force by Christopher F.
hores, Osprey Publications, 1970
2nd Tactical Air Force Volumes One to
Three by Christopher hores and hris
Thomas, Classic Publications, 2005
In addition to the above, there are a
number of primary sources (i.e. deposito-
ries of original documents) holding unique
docum ntation relating to the Mustang.
In Britain, the ational Archive at Kew
contain many document r lating t the
Mu tang' early hi tory, specially cover-
ing Britain' relations with AA and the
activities of British purchasing organi-
zations and individuals in the U A in
the late 1930s and during the war years.
Much of the original company documen-
tation of NAA has travelled a long path
over the past decades due to the variou
takeovers and mergers that the remnant
of that once-great company have under-
gone. ome of the material i now held
by Boeing in eattle. The historie of U
units that operated the P-51 are held in
the Albert F. Simpson Historical Research
enter at Maxwell AFB, Alabama, while
those for Briti h units and details of indi-
vidual aircraft histories are split between
variou bodi s, including the National
Archives at Kew and the RAF Museum,
Hendon.
Selected Websites
Index
Selected Web sites
There are many web sites that deal with
the Mustang, either exclusively or as
a part of their content. Like published
sources, some are infinitely better than
others. Some are quite awful, with mis-
leading information or material that bears
little resemblance to the facts or has been
simply copied from early books that con-
tained significant errors, the latter being
one of the great bugbears of the Internet
in general. The following is a selection
of the better and more interesting web
sites, which again cover aspects of the
Mustang's story in greater background
detail than is possible in this book, or link
to other interesting resources. Some of
these sites refer to the Mustang as a part
of their overall coverage.
http://www.li ttlefriends.co.uk
http://www.web-birds.com
http://mustangsmustangs.org
http://www.swissmustangs.ch
http://www.rafweb.org
268
The Swiss Mustangs site in particular is a
wealth of information, not just on Swiss-
operated Mustangs, but also on the P-51
in many other specific areas. In addition
there are various other sites that refer spe-
cifically to individual units or pilots. Two
typical examples are http://www.55th.org
for the Eighth Army Air Force's 55th
FG, and http://www.flyingtigeLorg for the
23rd FG in the eBI Theatre.
2nd TAF 48-50, 119-120, 125, 129
21 st Infantry Regiment 190
24th Infantry Division 190
A prefix airfields
A-2 Criqueville 109
A-4 Deux jumeaux 68, 117
A-7 Azeville 109
A-9 Le Molay 117
A15 Maupenus 109
AZ7 Rennes/Saint-Jacques 117
A-35 Le Mans 117
A-38 Montreuil 117
A-64 Saint-Oilier 109
A-84 Chicvres 109
A-S Vigilal1lc 16
A-20 Havoc 58.61
A-24 61,65,72
A-26/B-26 Invader 194--195
A-27 22
A-31 65
A-35 Vengeance 65, 127
A-36A Invader 48-51,59-63,65-68.
71,83,172,202,213
AC-130U Spectre 16
APG-28 radar 171
APS-4 radar 171,173-174
APS-13 130
AT-6series( A-16etc) 14,16,17,
60,84,200,202,237,146
A6M 'Zeke' 148
A6M3 'Hamp' 147
A&AEE 17,35,38.40,44--45,47,65,
120,130,159-160,165
Abbeville. France 94
Abilene Army Air Field, Texas 118
Abner, Alan 99
ACC 39,46-48
Achmer, Germany 105
Adams, Wayne 246
Aeroproducts propeller> 97, 124, 159,
162,171-173,203-204
AFDU 38,72,77,78,129,206
Aichi DJA 'Val' 142
Air Defence of Greal Britain 126, 129
Air Ministry, London 19,74,
Air National Guard 149-150,153-154,
164--164, 188-189,243
Air National Guard (see also Appendix
V) 150-151, 153-154, 158, 160,
164-165,122,152-253
Air Service Command 118
Air Service Training 78,84
Air Technical Section 78
Air Technical Service Command 118
AirTransportAuxiliary(ATA) 127
AirVemure Museum 22
AirVemure air show 251
Akyab, Burma 138
Alameda, California 190
Alaska 163,171,194
Algcria 51
Allen, Edmund 'Eddie' 13
Allison, Janles 71
Allison 250 engine 71
Allison V-1710engine 10,18,20--21,
24--29,30,36,3 39,44--46.
48-52-53,55-56,58-60,63-64,
66-68,69-70,71-73,75,76,
79--83,115-118,120,125-117,
129,133-134,136,138,155,158,
160, 170--171, 173, 198-200,202,
206--208,213-214,224,244,
247,251
American Civil War 143
American Volunreer Group 36-37,67,
134, 144
Amiens, France 88
Anchorage, Alaska 194
Andrews Field, Essex 122,119-130
Anglo-French Purchasing Board 19
Ankang, China 137
Ansbach, Germany 109
A R (Italy) 132
Amung, Manchuria 196
Antwerp, Belgium 70
Amio, l[<tly 58
Apache name 57
Arcadia Conferencc 69
Ard, john 170, 173
Ardennes offensive, 1944 102,109,117
Arkansas National Guard 57-58
Army Co-operation Command 39,
41,46-48
Arnhem, Holland 129
Arnold, Henry H. 'Hap' 17,74,79, 118
'Arsenal of Democracy' 24
Ashiya Air Base, Japan 190
Ashkenas, Irving 83
Assam, India 65
Atlantic ocean 35,38,110,112,245
Anacker, Supermarine 27
Atwood, John Leland 'Lee' 17, 21,
14--26, 199,207
Augsburg, Germany 150
Aust,jr, Abner M. 148
Auster 132
Australia 17,65,130,137,141,
190--192,216--217,258
AVCO Lycoming engines 184
Avezzano, Italy 63
Aviano, Italy 107
Aviation Nation, Las Vegas 250,252
B-prefix airfields
B 7 Manragny 126
B-12 Ellon 120,116
B-14 Saint-Andre 129
B40 Beauvais 129
8-60 Grimbergen 129
B/J Aircraft Corp 13,16,20
B-1 Lancer 16
B-17 Flying Fomess 69-70,72,85,88,
90,93,105,110--111,114,154
B-24 Liberator 66--67,72,85,88,92,
93,105,110,138,154
B-25 Mitchell 14,16,30,66-67,72,84
B-26 Marauder 59
B-26/A-26 Invader 194-195
B-29 Superfortress 13,140--141,
147-149,154,193
B-45 Tornado 15, 16
BAD I 112,127-128
BAD2127
Balfour, Paul 13,30--31,34,199
Balkan Air Force (RAF) 132, 155
Balkans 105, 113, 132, 155
Bally, India 138
Baltimore, Martin 51
Banff Strike Wing 131
Bankey, jr, Ernest 112
Baranaskas, Robert 249
'Bardahl Special' Mustang 246--247
Barton, joe 159-160
Bassingbourn, Cambridgeshire 110
'Battle Hymn' movie 165
Battle of Britain 29,60, 72, 207
Battle of France 60, 207
Baxtcr, Iowa 94
Bayeux, France 120. 126
BCOF/BCAIR 190,217
Bearcat, Grumman F8F 246,250
Be31,fighter, Bristol 126, 131,222
Beck, Gerry 251
'Beguine'Mustang 246
Belgium 50,87,108,129
llellanca 199
Bendix 55,84, 161
Bendix Trophy 246, 251
llenrwaters, Suffolk 129-130
Berchtesgaden, Germany 131
Berck. France 39
Berger allli-g suit 95
Berlin, Donovan 18,36,72
Berlin, Germany 92,94,98,102,
107-108, Ill, 114, 125, 147,217
Berliner-joyce 13-14,16
Bell (see also P-39) 26
Bendix Trophy 244-246
Bf 109 12,36.38,59,63,88,90,93,
95,106,108-109,112,114,123,
126, 129-132, 144,106--207,
112,240
Bf 110 47,88.90,93,144
Biak 141
Biferno, Italy 155
Big Week 93
Biggs Field, Texas 105
Blair, Charles F. 245,251
Blakeslee, Donald 87
Blida, Algeria 58
BOOenplalte (Operation) 49, 114
Bodney, Norfolk 109
Bolivia 179,217-218
Bolling Field, Maryland 158
Bologna, Italy 107
Boeing 16
Bomber Command, RAF 129
Bong, Richard Ira 70,145
Bonin Islands 147-148
Bordeaux, France 155
Boscombe Down, Wiltshire 35,38,40,
44--48,65,73,77,78,83,120.130,
159-160,165
Bonisham, uunbridgeshire 44,89,98
Bou Ficha, Tunisia 59
Boulogne, France 39
'Bout One' 185-186,189-191
Bovingdon, Henfordshire 78
Bowatef 92, 97
Boxted, Essex 86,87,108
Bradley,Omar 117
Brandenburg, Germany 102
Breech, Ernest 16
Breese, Vance 30-31
Bremen, Germany 88, 130
Bricken. Rick 247
Brink,jim 127-128
British Air Commission 19,38
British Purchasing Commission 7, 18,
19-21,24,35,38,47,84, 199,207
British Second Army 50
Brooks, John 110
Brown, Eric M. 9
Browning machine guns 35,98, 125,
166,169-170,188,196,209-111
Brownwood, Texas 58
Brussels, Belgium 105,129
Brunswick, Germany 88, 151
BT-8 13, 17
BT-9 13,30
Bucharest, Rumania 107
Buffalo, Brcwstcr 26
Burma 37, 65-68, 138, 218
Burns, Richard 189
Burra-Robinson, L.M.A. 129
Bunonwood, Lancashire 112,
127-128
C-47 Skytrain 108,112,134,146
C-130 Hercules 16,71,127
CAC 17,198,216--217,258
Caen, France 108, 126
Calcutta, India 138
Caldwell, Clive 36
California 13, 16
Caltech 21,27,199
Camm, Sydney 12
Camp Kilmer, New Jersey 85,105
Canada(see also RCAF) 19,21 221
Canadian Car & Foundry 14
Canadian First Army 50
Canton, China 143
carburation systems 76, 161
Carroll, F.L. 55
Casablanca, Morocco 94, 131
astro, Fidel 222,242
Cavalier Aircraft Corporation 100,
178-184,217,224,251
269
Cavalier Mustang (all marks) 178-184,
203,215,217,224,251
Celie, Germany 50
Central America 12
Central Field, IwoJima 147
Ceylon 137
Chalgrove,Oxfordshire 117-118
Challier, Witold 73
Chance Vought 38,91
Chennault, Claire 135
Cherbourg, France 109
Cherbourg Airport. France 109
Chesapeake Bay 208
Cheshire. Leonard 131
Chester, Art 24, 199
Chiang Kai-shek 221-222
Chichi Jima 147
Chilton, Robert C. 34,54,61,66,83,
157,159-161,199,205
China 36--37,67,117,133-138,
193-194,196,215,221-222,228
Chinese-American Composite Wing
137-138
Chi"ese pilots 22,215, 133
Chinhae, South Korea 185-187,189,
193-197
Christian, Jr, Thomas 130
Chromite (Operation) 192
Cincinnati, Ohio 141
'Circus' operations 46
Citizen Air Force (Australia) 217
Clarion (Operation) 114
Clark Field/Air Base, Philippines 146,
190--191
Clarke, Fred 94
Cleveland, Ohio 244,246
Cleveland air races 244,246
Coastal Command, RAF 126,131
Cobra (Operation) 117
Cochran, Jacqueline 244,246
Cochran, Philip 65,68
COIN 179,182,184
Coggan, Paul 7,224,230
Cold War lOS
Colorado Springs 57
Colrishall, Norfolk 126, 129
Columbus, Ohio 16
Commonwealth Aircraft Corp 17, 198,
216--217,258
Confederate Air Force 228
Connecticut National Guard 136
Coolham, Sussex 125
Corkscrew (Operation) 61
Cors.:1ir, Vought and Goodyear 38, 194,
208,233,244
Corsica 116
Costa Rica 222
Courtesy Aircraft 214
Cox's Bazaar, India 8,64,66, 138
Creil, France 116
Croydon, England 94
Cuba 222,242
Cuban Missile Crisis 117
Curdes, Louis 145-146
Curtiss, Glenn 13, 16, 18, 36
Curtiss Electric propellers 97, 206
Curtiss Model 75 18, 20, 36
Curtiss Model 81 18-19,36--37
Curtiss Model 87 36--37
Curtiss V-1570 engine 14
Cuniss-\Vright (see also 1'-40) 20,
24-25,27,36--37, 198
Cutella, Italy 131
Cyprus 155
Czechoslovakia 12, 132
d/f loop 134,203
D-Day 43,50,68, 102, 108-109, 117,
119-110,126,132
DC-3, Douglas 130
'Dago Red' Mostang 246--247,250--251
Daimler Benz 12
Dalcross, Scotland 46
Dallas, Texas 16,80,84,90,97,100,
104,118,129,132,148-149,160,
164--165,198,202-204,213,233,
234,257
'Dallas' Provisional Sqn 190-191
Dart lUrbopropenginc 183,217
Darwin, Australia 170
Dauntless, Douglas 61,65,72,96
Dawson, G. . 39
DB 60 I engine 12
DB 605 engine 129
Deans, George 186
Debden, Essex 87, III
DeBona, joe 246
Debrccen, Hungary 107
Deenethorpe, NorthamplOnshire 103
Department of State 22
Derben, Germany 114
Derby, Engla"d 72, 77
Destefani, Bill 246,250
Desert Air Force 51,131
Dessau, Germany 147
Detroit, Michigan 74,75,80
Deux Jumeaux, France 68, 117
Dieppe, France 46,93,94,218
Dijon, France 116
dimensions 10,28,156,213-114,
254--255
Dinjan, India 65-67, 137-138
Diver (Operarion) 121, 126
Doley, A.5. 124
Dominican Republic 182,222-225
Doolittle, james H. 94,95, 114
DonmundEms Canal 46
Douglas, Donald W. 13,16,17
Dresden, Germany 205
Dresden military muscum 205
Dreux, France 132
Drew Field, Florida 61
Drew, Urban 105
Dundalk, Maryland 13,16
Dunham, \Villiam 146
Du POnt paint 32
Durban, uth Africa 194
Duxford, Cambridgeshire 38,72-73,
77, 100, 105
Eagle Squadrons, RAF 87,93,94,106
Eagleston, Glenn T. 109
East Anglia 42
East, Clyde 117
EaSt \'Vretham, Norfolk 105
Eastern Air Transpon 13
Echols, Oliver 24,55,66,70,72-73,
92,118
Ecuador 21-22
Eglin Field, Florida 64,65,78, 162
Eighth Anny Air Force 44,69-70,
72,78,85-102, 105-115, 117,
123,125,127, 130--131, 142, 145,
147-150,181,194,209
Eindhoven, Holland 49
Eisenhower, Dwight D. 109
EI Salvador 225-226
Elder, Robert M. 208
Ellon. Fra<Ke 120, 126
Ellor, J.E. 80
Emden, Germany 88,92
Emu, Soum Australia 217
Enforcer, Piper 180, 184
England, James 66-67, 136
Erickson, Barbara Jane 128
Erickson, Earl 87
Erkner, Germany 93
Eschwege, Gennany 117
Esler Field. Louisiana 111,252
Ethell, Jeffrey 60
ethylene glycol 71, 206
'Excalibur III' Mustang 245,251
Experimental Aircraft Association 22
F.24 camera 42,51,55
F-5 Lighming 67-68,116--118,149
F-4 Phantom 248
F.6Mustang(general) 100.115-117,
137-13 ,150
F6A MUSlang 48.51,56-59.65-66,
6 , 115
F6B Mustang 68.87, 115. 117
F.6CMuSlang 9,109,115-117.
132.246
F6D/K Mustang 109,115-117,138.
141-142.144-145.148,153,162.
203-2 . Zl1
F 7 L.J1CralOr 138
1'16 F,gh'ing Falcon 83,105,24
1'47 Thunderbolt (sec also PA7) I ,
222,224.234
1'51 MUSlang (sec also P51) 149,246
1'51 D Mustang (sec also P51 D)
149-150,157,179,181,188-190,
192-197,222,236,246
F5IH (sec also P5IH) 154-165,
188-189
1'61 Black WIdow 186
1'80 Shooling ,or (sec also P80)
152.175,187-188,190-192.194,
196-197,242
FBl Twin Mustang (general) 71, 186,
194,210.215
FBl operating units 172-178
F82E (sec also P82E) 177
F82F(seealsoP82F) 171-172,177
F82G (sec also P82G) 105, 171-172.
175, 186,255
F8/H 171-172
1'84 Thunderje, 105, 127 151, 197
F86Sabre 15,16.100.109,127,145,
154,161,196-197,199.224.236
1'94 Starfire 175, 194
1'100 Super Sabre 15,16.199
1'111 105
1'61' Hellca' 94
Fa"child, Muir S. 66.92
FAREP 92-93
Fargo. onh Dakota 251
Farnhorough. Hampshire 8
Fa\'ctlcville, Nonh Carolina 117
Federal A"lcUlOn Admllllsrrauon 253
1'115663
Fiehclkorn. ErneSl 1 105,194
FIfteenth Army Air Force 5 .91, JOl,
105-107, Ill, 147, 151
FlfrhAirFuree 178.1 9-190,194
F,f'h Army A" Foree 70.139.141.
143.145-146,151
Flgh,er Command, RAF 46,126, 130
lin lillet 97, 101
Firefly. Fairey 194
Fi'" World War 127
Fishermans Bend, Australia 198.216
Flake. Rnss 196
Floridahlanca. Philippines 146
'Flying Tigers' 36,67,134-135
Foggia, Ital\' 49, 51
Fokker Aircraft Corp of America 16,199
Ford, Henry 75
Ford, Sussex 126
Formosa 67,145-146.221
Fort Myers, Florida III
FllurtccmhArmyAirForcc 67, 135-137
Fowlmcrc, Cambridgeshire 87, III
Fox, Orrin 189
France 11,12,18,20,24,36.39,
46-47,58,68,85,91-92,94, 109,
116-117,125-126,145,215,
226-227
Frank anti-g sun 95
'Fmmic' shuttle missions 105, 107,
III, 113
Fraser, Carl 187
Free French 36
Freeman, RogerA. 7,47.7.
97, 207
Freeman. \Vil(rid 73. 4
French airloree 19, 116,226-227
French Indochina 13 .146
Friswn, Sussex 126
Fuel
87 octane 209
90 octane 26
l00netane 126.209,253
130 netane 126. 209
150netane 159.209
l60netane 247,253
PEP 209
Fulmar, Fairey 26
Fursten(e1dbruck. Germany 150
Furth, Germ.nl' 116-117, 132, Z43
Fw 190 9,45-46,63, 72, 74, 90, 93, 94,
105,107,109, Ill, 114, 117, IZ6,
IZ9-132, 144,206,251
G4M 'Belll", MilSub"hi 142, 145
gsuit 95
'Gathenng o( Mustanl,'S and
Legends' 24
Gatwick, Surrey 39,46,4 .50
Gela, Sicily 62
General Aircraft 16
General Aviallon 13.16.20
General Electric J4 7 rurboJct 15
General Moro" 13,16,71,83,11
199
Gentile. DominiC S. 87,93,249
Germany (see also place names) I I.
18-19,46.50,58.69,107,113,
115-118, 127, 149,209.227-22
243,251
Gilze Rljen, Holland 50
'Glamorous Gal' Mustang 249
Goebel, Robert J. 107
Goodson, James 106
Goodyear Aircrah 38
Goxhill, Lincolnshire 110-111
Grand Prairie, Texas 16.97.198,
202,257
Grant. Duncan 47
Gravesend, Kent 120, 126
Greenamyer, Darryl 247
Greenham Common, Berkshirc 85,87
Gri((on engine 147
Grimbcrgen. Belgium 129
Gross, Clayton 86
Guam 147
Guatemala 182.118--229
Gulf of Mexico 58
Gu,mn, Jr. Charles F. 88.90
gun Jamming 88, 98, 110. 109-110
gunsighung 33, 1,101,210-211
Hagenow,'Germany 112
Haguenau, France 116
Hailakandl. India 68
Halu 229
Halherstadt, Gemlany 90
Hali(ax, Handley Page 130
Hankow, Chllla 136
Harker 73
Hamble, Hampshire 78.84
Hamburg. Germany 130
Hamchang, uth Korea 192
Hamilton Field. Call(ornia 85
Hamilton tandard propellers I.
83, 4,97,181,203-204.206.
209,246
Hankow,China 137
Hanton, Frank 47
Hardy. M.J. 208
Harker, Ronald 72,207
Harrison Division, GM 83
Hanley, Caner 199
Harvard (sec AT-6)
Haslope, John 130
'Haunch' operations 46
Havana, Cub'l 222
Havne, Douglas 57-58,61
Haw.ii 12.141,146,170,173
Hawaiian Air Force 141
Hayes. Thomas 94
He III 129
Hearn, Raymond 121
Hearne. Peter 131
Heath Robinson 112
Heathrow, England 245,251
Hector, Hawker 39
Hegland, D.J. 160
Hellcat, Grumman 94,208
Hengyang, China 67
Hensley Field, Texas 16.257
Hergla. Tunisl3 62
HerhSl,John 135-136
Herzogenaurach. Germany 109
Hess. Dcan 165.185
HIli AFB. Utah 248
Hill. DaVid L. 67
Hills, Hollis 46,93,94, 117. 148,218
Hinoki, Yohei 67
Hinton, Steve 247
Hiroshllna,Japan 141.148
Hisey, Dr. Brent 152-153
Hirchcnek. Jr. Thomas 73, 74. 7 , 79.
118,207
Hider, Adolf II, 131
Hives, Ernest 72-73,83
Hoelker. John 117
Hocngsong, South Korea 194, 196
Hofer, Ralph 113
Holland 102,129
Holmsley South, Hampshire 126
Honduras 242
Hong Kong 136
I DEX
Honington, Su(folk 110. 112
Hoover. Robe" A. 246,253
Horbaczewski. Eugcniu5z 121
Horkey, Edward 21, 27, 83.199
Howard, James H. 90-91, 92, 142-143,
145, 192
Howes. Bernard H. 112
HSlan. China 136
Hucknall, Notlinghamshire 72-73.76.
78.83,89
Hudson, \Villiam 187
Hunan Provlllce, China 133
Hunter, Hawker 154
Hurric.ne, Hawker 12,26, 72, 74, 75.
129, 138,206
Husky (Opcra'ion) 61
Ie Shima 145-146,151-152
IjAAF (Japan) 66-67, 146
1jAAFUnits
64th SeOla, 66-67, II
Ilyushin 1110 187,189
Impha!' India 68
Inchon, South Korea 187,191
India 65-66. 68. 133. 135-138
Indi;mapolis,lndi<lna 71
lndonesi. 183,229-2 0
Inglewood, alifornia 13. 15, 16,
20-21,26, 29, 35, 38, 66. 73, 78.
79,84,85,97,100,102,118,llJ,
129,137,140,142.149,161, 167,
171.198-204,221.252.257
invasion of Europe, 1944 42-43.68,
102.108, 126, 132
Irrawaddy River 138
Isley Field, Saipan 147
Ismailia. Egypt 170
Israel 155,230-231, 244
Israel Alrcra(t Industries 151
Italy 49,5 59,61-62,66,105-107,
111,116,119,121-122, 131-132.
154-155,231-232
Itazuke, Japan 17 , 186. 192, 195-196
Iwakuni.Japan 190.196,217
lwojima 14 142,147-148
Jaguar, Grumman 108
Jane', All The IVor/d's Aircraf, 13. 182
Jap.n 22, 140-141, 145-149.151-152,
185,227-ll8
Java 68
je,Ranger. Bell 71
JohnsonAB.Jal"'n 152.178,191,194
Johnson, Anson 246
Jones, Cyril 105
Jones, Reps P. 103
ju 52/3m 46,63
Ju 87 'S,uka' 59-60,62, 132
Ju 88 49-50, 112
Jubilee (Operation) 46
Jumo turbojet 101
Jumo210engine 12
Junkers cngincs 12, 101
K prefix airfields
K2 Taegu 191,19 196
K3 Pohang 191,194
K9Pus.n 194,196
KIOChinhae 186-187,189,
194-197
K13 Suwon 194,197
K14 Kimpo 194,196
K16 Seoul 194
K18 Kangnung 197
K24 Pyongyang 194
K27 Yonpo 194,196
K46 Hoengsong 194,196
K55 Osan 194,197
K14/14A gunslgh, 101,162,210-211
K17camera 116
K I gunsight 2 I0
K22 camera 116
K24 camera 42,55,68, 116
K25 camera 116
Kairouan airstrip 57
Kalulkunda. India 13
Kangnung, South Korea 197
Kansas Ciry, Missouri 16, B4
Karachi, India 65
Kearby. eel 29,145
Keefe, Howie 253
Keevil. \Viltshire 109
Kelly AFB, Texas 222
Kenncy, George C. 141
Kepner, William 87,94.95
Key Field, Mississippi 57,61,116-117
Keys, Clement M. 13
Ki21 'Sally' 67
Ki43 Hayabusa 'Oscar' 66-68, 136
Ki44 Shoki 'Tojo' 67.135-136, 138
Ki45 Toryu 'Nick' 66
270
Ki46 'Dinah' 145-146
Ki49 Donryu 'Helen' 67
Ki61 Hien 'Tony' 142, 147
Ki84 Hayate 'Frank' 146.148
Kiangwan, China 135
Kiel, Germany 88,90. 109
Kimpo. Sou,h Korea I 7,192,194.196
Kindelberger. 'Dorch' 13,16,17.21.
27, 199
King, Robert 103
King's Cliffe, Nonhamptonshire
102-103, 105, 194
King's Cup air race 245
Kingman. Arizona 243
KiSSImmee, Florida 251
Kitryhawk, Curtiss (see also p. )
36-37,39,51,121.131-132.155,
216.236
Kitzingen, Germany 151
Knigh,. Raymond 145
Knudsen, William liB
Koblenz, Gemlany 109
Kolberg, Germany 112
Komaki AB, japan 195
Korba, Tunisia 59,61
Korea (North and South) 16, 100. 105.
117,145,185-197
Korean War 15,16,100,105,109,117,
145,152,160,178,185-197,210,
217, 243, 246
Krebs, George 160
Kunming, China 133, 137
Kurmitola 64,66
Kweilin, China 67.135,137
L4 Cub 132
LA IllIemational Airport 13, 16
LA Municipal Airport 16
Ladd AFB, AI",ka 194
'Lagoon' operntions 46
Lake Balaton, Hungary 106
'Iaminarfiow' 27,40.19 199.201.
205
Lampcdusa 61
Lamplough, Robe" 244
Lancaster. Avro 74,75, 130-132.206
Land",. John D. 100-101
La Senia. Algeria 62
Lashenden. Kem 10 109
Las Palmas, Peru 21
Las Vegas, evada 250. Z5Z
Laval, France 117
Lavariano, Italy 121
LavnehkinLa717.1
Lear Je' 251
Lear, William 251
Lederer, Henry B. 98
Ledo, 1ndi. 67
Lee, John B. 104
Leipzig, Germany 114, 130
LeiSlon, Suffolk 88,90,98,99, 150
Legarra. Philip 73.78
Le Mans, France 117
LendLease 36,47,55,66, 118, 138,
208
Lemini, Sicily 51
Lesina, Italy 107
Levy, Howard 64
Lewkowicz, J. 46
Leyte, Philippines 141, 144-145
Liberty engine 75
Libya 49,62
Liege, Belgium 109
Lincoln, Abrnham 143
Lindsay. Jr, David Breed 178- 184
Lingayen, Philippines 141, 145
LingLing, China 138
Linosa 61
Lipscomb, Paul 142
Linle, James 187
Lillie, Robert C. 132
lillie Walden, Essex 105, 109
Liuchow, China 135
Liverpool, England 35.85, 112, 115,
127-128
Lockheed (sec also P38) 127
Log.n, W.G. 55
Lendon, England 3 , 126
Los Angeles. California 13, 16,35
Leve. Bob 246
Levell. Robe" 79
Lucera,lml)' 111
Ludwig, Paul lJ
Luftwaffe 11.36,46,50.69,75.88,94.
95,102.105,111-115,120,126,
130-132,227
Lu(rwa(fe units/organizations
JG 5 131
KG 200 liZ
JG 400 105
Kommando Noworn)' 105
OKL 227
Luke Field. Arizona B5,88
Luliang, China 135
Luneburg, Gennany 113
Luqa, M.lta 51
Luzon. Philippines 68,141-142,
145-146
Lyford, Chuck 247
Lyke, J.B. 49
Lyon, A.J. 7 , 3
Lysander, Wesdand 39.41.43,45
M2 machine guns 35.98. I Z5, 166,
169-170.188,196.209-211
M4 75mm cannon 14
MAP/MDAP/RAP/FMS 215
MacA"hur, Douglas 189
Maclaren 'drift undercarriage' 46
Madna. Italy 106
Mahony. Grant 68
Mahurin, \Valkcr 145
Maison Blanche, Algeria 106
Malcolm hood 95, 103, Ill, 116.
118-119, Ill-123, 128
Manchester, England 39
Manchuria 193, 196
Manhattan. New York 98
Mantz, Paul 244-245
Mao Tse'ung 221-Z22
Marauder, Martin 51,59
Mareh Field, Cahfornia 102, 136
Marienburg. Germany 147
Matchbox model kits 124
Material Comm.nd 24,36.55.65-66,
70. 4,92,118
Mather Field, California 102.
Madask, orfolk 129
Martin, Glenn 17
Martin, Kenneth 7.93.144
Martlesham Hea,h, Suffolk 17
Maselield, Charles 245
McClell.n AFB, California 253
McComas, Edward 117. 136
McGuire,Jr, Thomas 7 ,145
McKenzie, M.A. 66
Mcd.1 of Honor 90.142-145.192
Me 163101,105.114,130
Me 262 101-102.105.107.114-115,
118,130,251
Me 410 90
Meiktila 67
Melbourne, Australia 198, 2 I6
Membury, Berkshire 68.116
Mercer. A.D. 49-50,
'Meredith Hfect' 27
Meredith, Frederick W. 27
Merlinengine(scealsoY.1650) II,
12.36,52.68,71-80.118,125,
133-134,136,138,157.159-161,
188.198,202,207,209,213-214,
216-217,244,247
Merrill's Marauders 67
Merseburg, Germany 114
Mesa, Arizona 253
Mcsserschmin AG 199
Meteor, GloSler 154, 196,217
Mexico 22, 58
Meyer. Corwin 'Corky' 208
Meyer. John C. 100. 107
Michigan National Guard 68
Middle Eas, 36
Middle Wallop, Hampshire 68.
116-117
MiG15 145.193,196
MiG-19 15,16
'MiG Alley' 196
Mines Field. LA 13,16,23.30-31,35,
3.84,137.198,257
Mingaladon, Burma 66
Ministry of Aircraft ProductIon 29,
75.78, 4
Ministry of Supply 73
Minnesota NG 117
Mirgorod, Ukraine 107. III
'Miss America' Mustang 252-253
'Miss R.J.' MUSlang 247
Missouri National Guard 145
Mistel composite aircraft 112
Mirchell, R.J. 12
Mitsubishi 147
Molland, Leland P. 106
Mondolfo. Irall' 151
Moore, Robert W. 37,140,147-148
Moose Jaw, Canada 14
Moran, Charles 187, 194
Morris Field, Nonh Carolina 58
Morris Motors 76
Mosquito, de Havilland 48, 110. 126,
131,171,206.222
Mostar, Yugoslavia 113
MoulU Fann, Oxfordshire 117
Mulhollem. Robert 67
Munich 'Agreement' 12
Murphl', John 105
Mussoblll, Benito 154
Mustang name 35
Mustang I 32,33-35.38-4 ,50.
52-55,68.71-7 ,94,117,120.
14 .214,218,236-238
MUSlang IA 47-4 ,55-56,60.66,68,
71.123.208
MUSlang II 48.66, 6 71
Mustanglll II 123.126.129-132,
159,206,209
Musrang IV/IVA 124, 130-132, 13 ,
155.160,165,209,249
MUSlang TF IV (Canad.) ZI8-221
Mustang V 165
MUSlang X 74-78
Mustang 'export' operators 215-242
Au",all. 216-217
Bolivi. 217-218
Canada 218-221
China 221-222
Costa Rica 222
uba 222
Dominican Republic 182,222-225
EI Salvador 225-226
Frnnce 226-227
Germany/Japan 227-228
GlI.tem.la 182,228-229
Hai'i 229
Indonesia 183.229-230
Israel 230-231
I,aly 231-232
e,herlands East Indies 232-233
ew Zealand 233-234
icaragu. 234-235
Philippines 235
malia 235
South Alrica 236
Sou,h Korea 236
Soviet UllIon 236--238
Sweden 182.23 240
witIeriand 240-242
Urugu.y 242
Venezuela 241
Mustin Field, Pennsylvania 2
MV A,hlone Castle 85
Mye", Joe 105
Myitkyina, Burma 138
2A gunsigh, 33
3Bgunsight 81, 101,210
.9gunsight 81,101,210
A16 Harvard{Texanseries 13,14,
16,17,20-22,26,29,30,84,200.
202,216
NA26 21
A40 16,30
A44 (NA69) 22
NA50 21-22, 29, 30
NA68 22
NA 73 (sec also P51 marks) 20-21,
29,35,53
A 73X 23-24,26,29-32,34-35,68,
71,199.254
ACA(NASA 24.27.37,54,74,
83,167,172.177-178.199,
201.205
A A Ames 83
agasaki,Jal"'n 142.148
agoya. Japan 147-148
aha, Okina"," 17 I 6. 194
akajima 147-14
ancy, France 116
anking, China 135
napalm I 7-1 8,193
ational Air Races 244.246
ation.1 Guard 57-58.68,117.145.
149,153
National Socialists (Germany) II
NATO 150
awadih, India 65
Nellis AFB, evada 250.252
e,herlands EaSllndies 141,232-233
ewark, New Jersey 153
ew Forest, southern England I
ew Guinea 141, 145-146
ew York 16,19-21,170.173
New Yark Times 19
ew Zealand 233-234
icaragua 222.234-235
icosia, Cyprus 155
Nil VVS (Sovie, Union) 54.238
ijmcgcn, Holland 129
Inth Army Air Force 5 ,68.85. 9,
91.93,95,102,107-110.115-118,
126-127,143.150-151.243
oland, George 148
oorduyn Aviation 17
ormandy, France 46, SO, 9,10 109,
117,120.126,132
orth American Aviation 10, II,
13-17,19-27,29-32,34-35.
37-4 ,50. 53-55. 57, 60. 63. 66.
68,71,73.75,78.79, I 4.95.
97,100.102.115.119.123.127.
129.137,140,146,155-157.159,
161, 166-167, 169-171, 181, 195,
19 201, 203-2 ,210,213-214,
16,221,234,251-252.257
orth Amencan Rockwell 16, I 4
orth Field, lwo Jima 148
No"h Pole 251
No"hropCorporntion 118.171,199
North Weald. Essex 155
Norway 46, 131
Noworny, \Valter 105
04716,58
OJ.2 16
OVIO Bronco 16
O'Brien, Gilbc" 88
O'Leary, Michael Z7,34
Odiham, Hampshire 44,50
Odom. Bill 246
Office o( Production Managcmem 1/8
Okinawa 146,149,186,194
OKL (Luftwaffe) 227
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma 252-253
Old Sarum. \Viltshire 39
aids. Robin 7
Olsen, Mar" 186
Oll'nyk. Frank 8. 136
Oranienburg. Germany 102
Osaka, Japan 14
Osan. South Korea 194.197
Oschersleben. Germany 90.143
'Oklahoma Miss' Mu"ang 248-249
Oshkosh. Wisconsin 22.251
P12 I 2
P16 14.16
P26 102,22
P35 18.
P36 18.20.27,36-37.71-72, 102.
207
P37 18
P-38 Lightning 29.3 ,52-53.59,
66-67.69-71,85.8 ,92,102-104,
I 109.112,125,128,137.139.
141,145.149,158,162,214.244
P39 Airacobra 1 ,26.29,52-53.
57-58.66,69,71, 85, 91, 92.102,
107.127.139,141-142,144-146.
233.244,246
P40 Warh.wk series I 21,24-25.
27,29.35,36-37.52-53,55.63,
66-72, 75, 92, 94,101-102, 107,
121, 127, 131, 133, 135-140.
144-146.155,163,187,198.
206-207,214,2 3, Z52
P47 Thunderbolt 36,52-53,63,66,
68-70.85.87,88,91-93,95.97,
102.105-107, 109-110, 113-115.
118.125.127,138-139,141.
145-147.149-150,158,162-163.
I ZI4-215, 222, Z42, 248
P-51 MUSlang (general) 16,36.52-53.
61,66.115, 11,127,134-135.
143.149.155,167,170.188.
19 200.214,216,243-245
P51 48,51,56-61,65-66,68,71.115
P5IA 48.63-68,71-72, 3,84.115.
128. 136.202,251-252,254
P5IB 75,79-97.100-101,103, Ill,
113.115-116,11,120,123.125.
127-128.133, 135-136, 144, 159.
162.165.203,205-206,209-211,
221.227, 249, 25Z
P5IC 75. 4,91-97,100-101, III.
113.115-116.118.120,123,125,
133-137,159.162.165,205-206.
209-211,221.228.244-246
P5ID/K 75,96-116, 11,124-125.
127,129-130.134-142,145-149.
151-153.155.157,159,161-162,
165,178, 181, 197-198, 201-206,
208-212,214-221,227-228,230,
243-254
P5IE 165
P51 H (seoa1so 1'51 H) 155-165,203,
208,214,255
P5IM 164,234
P/F61 Block Widnw 171,17 175
I DEX
P63 Kingcobra 71
P64 21-22
P78 79,82,83
P80 Shooting S,ar(see also F ) 127,
163, 175.242
P82 Twin Mus'ang (sec .lso F 2) 16,
167-169.210
P82A 170
P82B/C/D 167-171.173-175
P-82E (sec also F 2E) 170-174,
176-177
P82F (sec also F 21') 171
P82G(seealsoF82G) 171,175
P86 abre (sec also F 6) 16.146.161
PB1 14
Packard Motor Car Company 74,75,
76,80-<l9
Packard family 75
Packard V-1650 engine 36, 75, 7 ,
4.89,98.100-101, I 115,
125,127,158-161,164-165.167,
169-170,181, 200-201, 206. 209,
216, Z47, Z53
Palestine 155
Palmdale, Cali(ornia 16
Panama Canal 12
Paruelleria 61
Pap. 51 251-252
Paris, France 129
Panridge, Earle 189
PasdeCalais. France 87, 125
Pasadena, alifornia 21, 199
Paxton, Heyward 137
Peace Condor (Project) 182
Pearl Harbour, Hawaii 22.47-48,54,
102,116.137,141,146
Peaslee. Bud 11 0
Peru 21-22
Peruvian air arm 21-22
Pescara dam, Italy 132
Peterhead, Scotland 131
Peterhead \Ving 119,131
Philippines 12.22,61,68.139,141,
143-146.190-191,235
Piper Aircraft Corporallon 180, I
Pinches. Maurice 131
Pirya'in, Ukraine 107, III
Pinsburgh. Pennsylvania t 6
Plexiglas 35,56
PloeSll. RumanIa 106.147
Pohang, South Korea 191,194
Poitiers, France 126
Pol.nd}Pollsh pilots 19,73, III, 121,
123. 125-126, 155
Polar Bea" 251
Polilka, Karl L. 196
Poltava, Ukraine 107, III
Pond Racer, Scaled Composites 247
Pope AFB, orth arolina 127,151
'Popular' operations 46
Po"land, Dorse' 108
Portland, Oregon 85
Potsdam, Germany 102
Prall & Whitney J57 turbojet 15
Pratl & Whillley R134O Wasp
engine 17
Prall & Whillley R1830
Twin Wasp engine 18
Preddy, Jr. George 109
Proving Ground Command 65
PT boats 75
Pungchacheng, China 67.134
Purvis, Arthur B. 19
Pusan, Sooth Korea 192.194,196
Pyongyang. onh Korea 193-194
Queen Ellzabe,h 102
Quesada, Elwood 109
R. Malcolm Ltd 123
R.prefh airfields
Rll Eschwege 117
R28Fu"h 117, 150
R70 Kaufbcuren 150
R 77 Gablingen 150
R85 eubiberg 150
RAAF 36,138,191-192.216-217
RAAF Squadrons
3 Sqn 131.216-217
75Sqn 217
76Sqn 217
77Sqn 190-192,196,217
78Sqn 217
82Sqn 217
84 Sqn 13 ,216-217
86 Sqn 138, 216
RAE, Farnhl""'Nh 88
RAF 12,32 JI. 17 19.41, 4 8.
SO, S2 SUS 51. S9. 6S, M 69,
12 74.79.87,91.94,102.106.
271
110.115,118-121,123-127,
129-lll, 138.154-155, 170.
206-207,227,249
RAF fiying gear 91
RAF Squadrons (sec also AppendIX III)
2 n 39,43.48, 50
3 n 129
14 Sqn 48.51
16 Sqn 39
19 Sqn 119-120,124-126.129,
131-132,155
26Sqn 39.42-43.46,50.72,155
56 Sqn 129
64Sqn 129-130,155
65Sqn 120.125-126,129.131,155
93 Sqn 155
112 n 121-12Z, 131, 155
118Sqn 129,155
122 Sqn 120, 126, 129, 132, 155
126 Sqn 123, 129-130, 155
129 Sqn 125-126
133Sqn 7.93
154 Sqn 131
165 Sqn 129-130, 155
168Sqn 44,50
213Sqn 131-132,155
225 In 51
231 Sqn 48
234 Sqn 129,155
237Sqn 155
239 Sqn 46
241 Sqn 39,44
249 Sqn 131,155
250 Sqn 36, 155
260Sqn 49,51,131-132,155
268 Sqn 39,46.48-50. 155
285 Sqn 155
303 Sqn 131, 155
306 Sqn 120. 122, 125. 130. ISS
309 Sqn 46, 123. 129-131, 155
315 Sqn 121, IZ5, 155
316 Sqn 126.129,155
400 Sqn 39, 41 , 46-48. 50. 21
414 Sqn 39,46.48.50.93,94.117.
14 ,21
430 Sqn 39,48.50.21
441Sqn 131,218
442 Sqn 131, 218, 249
450Sqn 216
486 Sqn 129
611 Sqn 131.155
613 Sqn 39,48
617 Sqn 131-132
410TU 39
RAF Flights
1437FIIgh' 49-51
RAFGroups
2 Group 126
3 Group 130
5 Group 130
83 Group 48
84 Group 48
RAFWings
35 Wing 46, 50-51
39 Wing 48-51
122 Wing 120,125-126,129
133 Wing 125-126,129, 13Z
150 Wing 129
239Wing 131
283 Wing 132
RAuxAF 39, 131
Rader, Valenrllle 116
Ramitelli,ltall' 107
'Ramrod' operations 46
'Ranger' operations 46
Rangoon. Burma 66-67
Ras el Ma, French Morocco 61
Raydon. Suffolk 99
RB45 15
RCAI' (see also RAF uadrons) 14,
39.41,46-47.50,93,94.117.178.
181,214.21 221.245
RCAI' Squadrons/UOIlS
2 Sqn 219-221
3 Sqn 221
416 n 221
417 n 221
420 Sqn 221
424 Sqn 220. 221
442. n 221
443. n 17.219,221
I (F) OTU 2lI
R hllll, J<rm""y 227
'RoJ 11.",",' M""hIllN 247
R...lhili. St"rey 48
Relltn hI"N. Gertnany 85
Renne. Frnnce 47
Reno, Nev.da 246-247,250,252-253
Reno air races 246--247
Republic Aviation 70
Reynolds, Thomas 13
RF51 MUSlang (sec also P51/F51)
195,197
RF 0 194-195.197
Rhine Crosslllg 10 109
Rhubarb 46
RIce. Raymond 199
Righetti, Elwyn 115
Rivenh.lI, Essex 109
River Loire. France 116
River Seine, France 126
River Danube 132
R ZAF 36. 233-234
Robinson, Heath 112.167
Robinson, Russell 199
rocket armament 46,63, 100, 132,
134-135, 187-188, 162. 170-171,
182,193,196,210,212.217
Rneke'dyne 16
Rockwell Corporation/International
16.246
RoKAF 185-197,236
RollsRoyce 11,71-78, 8Z, 83, 89,157,
159,161,183,207.216-217,247
Rolls.Royce armoured car 41
Roosevelt, Franklin D. 12, 19,24,
47,58
Rosie the Riveter 91
Rostock, Germany 108, 147
ROlOl propell", 76,78,157
Rouen, France 69
Ruhr, Germany 46, 108-109, 130
Russo, Michael T. 63
SAAF 131,187-188,194,236
SAAF uadrons
2 Sqn 187-189,194-195.197.236
5 Sqn 131,236
Sabre. Canadair 94
SaintLo, France 109.117
Saipan 147
Salerno, I,aly 61,63
Salisbury. Wiltshire 118
San Francisco. California I SO. 158
San Savero, haly 106
Sanders, Homer 136
Sanderson and Holmes 77
Sandlin, Harry I 9
Santa Rosa, California 85
Sarasota, Flonda 178
SarasotaBrademon Airport 178
Saturate (Operation) 197
Sbeitla, Tunisia 57
.Ied Composites 247
Schmucd, Edgar 17,21,27, 79,81,83,
118.158,199,207
hneider rrophy 12
Schbuer, D.M. 85
SCR-5lZ ..dio 204
SCR7Z0r.dar 167,171,174
Schwab. Alfred 57
Schwein(un, Germany 85.150
Seafang, Supcrmarinc 27
Sea Furl', Hawker 246.250
Seaman, Owen 88
Search & Rescue 193
Sebille. Leuis J. 192
Sele, Italy 62
Self, Henry 19-21.25,207
Seoul, u,h Korea 187.192-194
Sevemh Army Air Force 37,140-141,
146-148
ve"kl' 13.17, 18
Shackleton. Avro 247
'ShangriLa'Mustang 249
Sharp. Evelyn 128
Shaw Field}AFB, Sooth Carolina 105
Shepherd, R.T. 76, 7
Shinchiku airfield. Fonnosa 67
Shomo, Wilham A. 141-142.143-145,
192
hUll Ie mi 'OlU lOS, 107. III. 113
,am 22
ICily 51, 59.61-62, lOS. 116
ImJ'l<.... John W. II S
S""'o"". Fnlll e III
Skal k" tanbl.w IJ2
kynuUer. Duual. 194
'mith Square. Lend,... 73
nowd(n, ~ r t 91
nowden. Val 91
,h,o Trophy 244
Somalm 232.235
Sookerating, India 65
Sorman, Libya 51
Sorman WeSl, Libya 49.51
uth Africa (sec also SAAF) 194.236
Soulh Field, Iwo Jima 147
South Korea 236
Soviet Union 15,18,29,36-37,52,54,
95, III, 185, 187-188, 193, 196,
202,236-238
Spaatz, Carl 153
Space Shuttle 16
Spanish Civil War 12
spark plugs 75,89, 209
Spanan (Exercise) 42
Speke .irfield 35,39, liS, 127
Spiteful. Supermarinc 27
Spitfire. Supermarine 9, 12,26,3 39,
50,57,69,72-77, 93, 94, 95, 97,
lOS, 118,120,125-126,129-131,
138, ISS, 171,205-206,227
Spriggs. Frank 84
STIA gunsight 33,210
Smllion 51 Corporation 251
SUlplehurst, Kent 109
Suwangcr, Norway 46
Stead, Bill 246
Steeple Morden, Cambridgeshire 90,
110,150
Stoney Cross, Hampshire 108
Storch. Ficselcr 63
Strangle (Operation) 197
Stratford, Connecticul 91
Stewart, John 67
Strasbourg. France 116
Strategic Air Command 154. 172. 174
'Srrcga'Musmng 246-247,250
51t1debaker 7,
SU carbufcuor 76
Suez Crisis, 1956 230
Suichwan, China 67
Sullivan, Jr, Clarence E. 89
Suwon, South Korea 189,192,194.
197
Sweden 182,215,224,230,238-240
'Sweeps' 46
Switzerland 240-242
Szymanski, Tadcusz 126
T56 turboprop engine 71
T-2 Buckeye 16
T-6Texan(seealsoAT-6) 193,
195, 246
T-28 Troim, 16,154
T-38 T.lon 199
TF-51 D Mustang 213
TP-5JD Mustang 100,213
T.cR 45-46,48,50-51,56-57,59,
68-69,115-118,141
Tactical Air Command 151
Taegu, South Kore. 190-192,194-196
T.llx)[, Gil 86
T.it,J.B. 131
Taiwan 67,222
T.pp,J.mes 147-148
Temco Aircraft Corporation 100,160,
181,213
Tempest, H.wker 126,129-130,
ISS, 206
Tenth Army Air Force 65-66,136, 138
Termoli, Italy 106
Territorial Air Force (NZ) 234
Texas National Guard 57-59, 116
TP-5IDrrF-5ID 160,179,181
Th.cker, Roben E. 170, 173
Th.iland 22, 138
The Wall Soeet}ollmal 13
Third Army Air Force 252
Thompson Trophy 244,246
Thorn, [}.vight 247
Thresher, Raben 196
Thunder Mustang 251-252
Thury, Joseph III, 115
Time magazine 192
Tinian 147-148
Tirstrup, Denmark 112
Tokyo, J.p.n 147-148, 186, 190
Tomahawk, Curtiss (see also P-40)
36-37,39,41, 43, 45, 218
Tonopah, Nevada 85
Torch (Operation) 58
Trans-Australia Airlines 130
Trans-Florida Aviation 178--184,203,
224,25 I
Transcontinental & Westcm 13
Tri-State Aviation 251-252
Truman, Harry S. 153
'Truman Gift' 185
Tuguegarao, Philippines 142,145
Tul""Oklahom. 16
Tumer, Andrcw 91
Tumer, John Felton 150
Twelfth Army Air Force 58-59,61-62,
105,107
Twenticth Army Air Forcc 141,
147-148
Twenticth Air Force 178
Typhoon, Hawker 50
U-boats 38, 130
Ukra;ne 105,107, I I I
Ulzen, Germany 94
Union Castle Line 85
United Nations 185, 188, 191-194,
196-197,243
Uniled States (see also place names)
12,35,69, 185
University of\Vashingron 27
Upper Heyford, Oxfordsh;re 105
Uruguay 242
US Army 109,143,153,192
US Emb.ssy, London 73,79,207
USAAC 13,17-20,22-24,29,36-37,
52-54, 58, 71, 79, 85, 127, 166,
206-207
USAAF II, 37, 48,52-63,66-71,85,
102,106-107, 110,115, 118,120,
123,125-127,129-133,138-139,
141, 147, 153, 160-161, 166, 194,
206-207,227,244-245
USAAF Groups (see also Appendix IV)
1st ACG 65,67-68,138
2nd ACG 135, 137-138
3rd ACG 139,145-146,151-152
3rd FG(P) 135, 137-138
4th FG 70,87,92-93,95, 106, III,
113, liS, 131,222,227,249
Ith FG(P) 135,137-138
7th PG/PG(R) 117-118
8th PRG/RG 138
10th PG(R)/RGrrRGrrRW 87,
116-117,132, ISO
15th PG/FG 37,140-141,146-148
20th PG/FG/FBGrrFW/FW
102-105,194,209
21st FG 141-142,146-148
23rd FG 67,133-137,187
27th BG(L)/FBG 61-63,172,176
27th TG 112
31st FG 105-107,151
35th FG/FIW 145-146,151-152
49th FG 101
51st PG/FG 134-137,228
52nd FG 105-106,175
53rd FG I I I
55thFG 70,102,110,112-113, liS,
150
56th FG 70,87,92-93, 102, 145,
163
57th FG 163
67th TRG/RG 68, 116-117, 196
68th OG/RGrrRG 57-59, 116,
69th OGrrRG I 15-116, 118
7IstTRG/RGrrRW 141,143-145,
151-152
73rdOG 117
78th FG 92,100-101, lOS, 113,
115
79th FG 107
82nd FG 145, 163
86th BG(D)/FBG 61-63
91st BG 110
97th BG 69
308th BG 66
311th FBG/FG 64-67,72,88,
133-137
325th FG 105-107,175
332nd FG 91, 105-107
339th FG 87,95, I I I, I IS
348th FG 142,146,151
352nd FG 100,101,107, 109, I I I
353rd FG 92,95,99, I 15
354th FG 57-58,84,85,86,87,88,
90-91,93, 143-144, 107-110,227
355th FG 90, 110, ISO, 209
356th FG 92, 115
357th FG 88,91-94,98,99,101,
114-115, ISO
358th FG 91, 150
359thFG 105,154
361st FG 44,89,98,99, lOS, 109,
130
363rd FG 89,107,109, 117,
126-128
363rdTRG/RG 89,109,117,151
364th FG I 10, I JZ
370th FG 107-109,151
37ZndFG 111,252
389th BG 110
40lst BG 90,143-144
407th BG(D)/FBG 61
408th FBG 118
412th FG 163
INDEX
479thFG 7,214
492nd Be 110
493rd BG 110
496th FrG 110-111
497th BG 147
498th BG 147
499th BG 147
SOOth BG 147
506th FG 139-140, 148
509th CG 148
5306th PRG( P) 138
USAAF/USAF Squ.drons (see .Iso
Append;x IV)
1st FS(C) 138
2nd FS(C) 138
2nd FS 106
3rd FS(C) 139, 145
3rd PS 68
4rh FS 106
4th FS(C) 139, 145-146
4th F-AWS lOS, 178, 186, 194
5th FS 106
7th FS(P) 137-138
8th FS(P) 137
8th TRS 194
10th TRS 116
12thTRS 117,132,195
12th FBS 185,190-191, 194,
196-197
15th TRS 117,132,194-195
16th BS(L) 61,63
16thFS 137
17th BS(L) 61
17th FS( P) 138
20th TRS 138
22nd PRS 118
22ndTRS 115-116,118
25th FS 134, 137
26th FS 134, 137
26th FS(P) 138
27th FS(P) 138
28th FS( P) 137
29th FS(P) 138
32nd FS(P) 137
33rd PRS I 17
34th PRS 116
35th FBS 189,192,196
36th FBS 192,196
39th FS 145-146
39th FIS 192-193,196-197
40th FS 146
40th FIS 190-192,196
41st FS 146
41st FIS 192
44th FBS 191
45th FS 140,146
45th TRS 195-197
46th FS 141-142, 146
47th PS/FS 140,146
51st FS(P) 190-191
55th FS 102, lOS
67th FBS 191-192,196-197
68th F-AWS 178, 186-187, 194
7Znd FS 146
74th FS 135
75th FS 135-136,187
76th FS 67, 133, 135
77th FS 102-103,105
78th FS 140,146-148
79th FS 102,104-105
80th FBS 189,192
82ndFS 105
82nd TRS 141-145
84th FS 113
91st BS(L) 61
99th FS 107
100th FS 107
107thTRS 68,87,116-117
l09th TRS 117
II0th TRS 145,148,153
Illth OS/RS(F)rrRS 57-59,63,68,
91,116
118thTRS 117,136
154th OS 57-59,68
160th TRS I I 7
161st TRS 89,117
162nd TRS 117
30lst FS 107
302nd FS 107
307th FS 106
308th FS 106-107
309th FS 106
309th BS(D) 62
310th BS(D) 62
312th BS(D) 62
317th FS 107
318thFS 107
319thFS 107
272
334th FS III
335th FS III
336th FS 87,93, III
338th FS 113
339th F-AWS 178, 186-187, 194
HOth FS 146
341st FS 146
342nd FS 146
343rd FS 112, III
352nd FS 99
353rd FS 85,88, 109
354th FS 90
355th FS 85,86,88
356th FS 85
362nd FS 91
363rd FS 91, 99
364thFS 91,94,115
369th FS 154
374th FS 98
375th FS 99
376th FS 89
380th FS 89,109, 117
381st FS 109, 117
382nd FS 109,117,127-128
385th FS II 2
40lst FS 10 109
402ncl FS 108-109
449th FS 67, 137
449th F-AWS 194
457th FS 148
458th FS 139, 148
459th FS 66
460th FS 146
462nd FS 148
485th FS 108-109
487th FS 109
503rd FS 87
505th FS I I I
522ndFBS 61,63
523rd FBS 61
524th FBS 61
525th FBS 62
526th FBS 62
527th FBS 62,64
528th FBS 65-66, 136
529th FBS/FS 65-66, 134
530th FBS/FS 64-67, 134, 136
531st FS 146
555th FrS 110
632nd-638th BS (D) 61
857th BS 110, 115
862nd BS 110
USAAF/USAF Wings
8th FBW 178, 185, 190, 192-193,
196
18th FBW 189-191,193-194,
196-197,236
27th FW/FEW 172, 174, 176-177
35th FIW 178,190,192,196
51st FIW 178,197
52nd FW(AW) 175
58th Bomb Wing 148
65th FW 114
66th FW 114
67th FW 114
67th TRW 195-196
68th CompoSite Wing 133
73rd Bomb Wing 147
306th FW 106
313th Bomb Wing 147
314th BW 147
325th FW(AW) 175
347th FW(AW)/F-AWW 175, 178
388th FW 248
USAAF/USAF Additional Un;ts
1st Air Division 110
1st Bombardment Division 110, 114
1st Scouting Force 110,115
2nd Bombardment Division 110,
114
2nd Scouting Force 110
3rd Bombardment Division 110-111,
114
3rd Scouting Force 110
9th WRS(P) 110
543rd Tactical Support Group195
61 Ith Base Unit 162
BAD I 112,127-128
BAD2127
USAF 117,127,145,151, 153-154,
171, 176, 185, 189-190,192-194,
197,243
USAF Museum 165
USAFE lOS, ISO
US Coast Guard 16, 143
US Congress 47,58
US First Army 117
US M.rineCorps 192,194
US N.vy 16,58,61, 91, 94, 116,
143-144,147,153,192,194,208
USS Boxer 190-191
USS M.con 71
USS M;ssour; 148
USS Sh.ngr; La 208
US Ninth Army 117
Umh Beach, France 108
Utrecht, Holland 50
VI 'flying bomb' 109,121,125-126,
131,210
V2 rocket 50
V-1650cngine (sec Packard)
V-I 710 engine (see Allison)
VE-Day 131,154-155
Vampire, de Havilland 154,217,222,
224, 234
Vandenburg, Hoyt S. 127
Van Nuys, California 149, 244
Varsiry (Operation) 109
Vassiliades, B.M. 132
Vengeance, Vultee 65
Venezuela 242
Vickers'S' gun 45-46
Victoria Cross 143
France 126
Vincem, Clinton 133
Vincent family 75
Virgin, Ed 159
Viscount, Vickers 183, 217
'Voodoo'Must.ng 250
VolI, John J. 106-107
Wait, Louis 34,57
Waite, Larry 199
Waits, Joe 117
Wang, Kuang-Fu 138
Warhawk, Curtiss (see also 37
Warton, Lancashire 112,127-128
Warner, Edward P. 74
Washington, D.C. 20,66, 79,92,94
WASP 127-128
Watson, Florene 127
Weatherscouts 110,115
Welch,GeorgeS.15,146,160,I99
Wellesley, V;ckers 170
West Mailing, Kent 126
Westcrn Air Express 13
Weston Zoyland, Somerset 39
Wethersf;eld, Essex 105
Whitehead, Enn;sC. 141,145
Wiener Neustadt, Austria 106
Wiley POSt Airport, Oklahoma
252-253
Wilhelmshaven, Germany 70
Willard Hotel 20
Winant, John G. 73,79
Wingare's Chindits 68
Wirraway,Commonweallh 17,216
Witten, Germany 130
Wittering, Nonhamplonshire 77
Woodhall Spa, Lincolnshire 131
Wormingford, Essex 110,150
Wright brothers 36
Wright Field, Ohio 18,24,36-37,
53-56,65-66,70,73, 78, 79,92,
118, 127, 159, 162, 165
Wright 1\-975 engine 13, 17
Wright R-1820 Cyclone engine 18,
21-22
X-IS 16
XB-70 Valkyrie 16
XP-37 18
XP-46 24-25,36-37,55,72, 206-207
XP-51 34,52-55,68
XP-5IF 158,160,162,165,169
XP-5IG 157,159-160,162,165
XP-5IJ 71,160,162,170
XP-60 Z7, 37,55,70,72
XP-75 Eagle 72
XP-82 167,169-170
XX-73 26,35
X/YP-37 18,71
Y airfields
Y-29 Asch 109
Y-320phoven/Zwartberg 108-109
Y-90Giebelstadt 150
Y-99Gutersloh 108-109, lSI
Y.k-9 187,189,196
Y.k-II 187
Yalu River 193,196
Yangtze River 137
YeMdley, A. 130
Yellow River, China 136
Yokota, Jap.n 186
Yonpo, North Korea 194, 196
Yugoslavia 132, 155
'Zirkus Rosarius' 227
Zwartberg, Belgium 109