North American P-51 Mustang

Anyone have any information on what happened to all of the P-51H (light weight Mustang) that was developed late in the war ? There is one at located at Lackland AFB (44-64376); they were also used by the Texas ANG in the mid-50s. Last
info was that there were five (5) left.

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Performance of any specific aircraft is totally dependent on WHEN. Durring WW2 there was a lot of testing being done to improve A /C performance. The move from byplanes to jets in this short period proves that. So with that in mind, I'll start with the Allison Mustang IA, the P-51: 30 December 1942. PROOF DEPARTMENT TACTICAL COMBAT SECTION ARMY AIR FORCES PROVING GROUND COMMAND Eglin Field, Florida. That was a mouthful, but that is the FINAL REPORT ON TACTICAL SUITABILITY OF THE P-51 TYPE AIRPLANE....yea that was the rest of the title. Section a. states: the subject aircraft is the best low altitude American fighter aircraft yet developed, and should be used as the criterion for comparison of subsequent types. The complete report is on an awsome sight that can be viewed by all so I won't go into great detail. The point of WHEN is the maximum speed achieved was 385mph /15,000ft. and the maximum climb was 2427fpm /10,000ft. Those figures come close to the most publisized figures for the P-51A (390mph and 2400fpm). However, an Army Air Forces memorandum report dated April 2, 1943 gives (IMO) a much clearer demonstration of the Allison powered Mustangs capablilities goes like this: ARMY AIR FORCES MATERIEL CENTER FLIGHT SECTION MEMORANDUM REPORT ON Pursuit Single Engine P-51A-1-NA, AAF No. 43-6007, Serial No. FS-M-18-1576-A. The test results were: Engine: 1480hp. Speed: 394mph /5000ft. 415mph /10,400ft. 408mph /17,500ft. 395mph /25,100ft. The last two figures were at 1125hp and 830hp respectively. Climb: 3500fpm /S.L. 3800fpm /7500ft. at WEP. At 1400hp /377mph /S.L. with the Allison V-1710-81.

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Found the article that I had read a year ago. I didn't take the time to figure out who wrote the article or who did the interviewing but the interview was with Bob "Punchy" Powell. "Punchy" flew with the "blue Nose Bastards of Bodney" in Europe. In the article under the subheading P-51 vs P-47 he states: About half my missions were flown in P-47s and the other half in the P-51. Both were great airplanes and each had some advantages over the other. The 47 could outdive anything; had eight guns; could turn with anything above 20,000ft.; could take one hellava beating and get you home. Its major fault was lack of range.
The 51 more than doubled the range. It was much more vulnerable to enemy gunfire.
So, I loved the Thunderbolt best when making ground attacks on trains, trucks, flak towers and enemy airdromes but prefered the Mustang for bomber escort and air to air combat.
I condensed the interview considerably because of the length but it gives you one pilots opinion, who flew both great aircraft. I am not going to list the sight because of possible nixing of my post so just punch dixie wing on your computer and figure it out.

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Maximum performance of any aircraft, especially in wartime is totally dependent on WHEN. A P-51B-1 was tested by the Army Air Forces Material Command at Wright Field in 5 /18 /43. The aircraft was production No. 43-12093. Maximum Speeds reached at 60.5inches of boost were 363mph /5000ft. 394mph /10000ft. and 441mph /29,800ft. Climb: 3600fpm /S.L. 3540fpm /10,000ft. 2915fpm /20,000ft.
In April of 1944 a Mustang III (P-51) was tested at Bascombe Down using 25lbs /sq.in. of boost. The results were as follows: 419mph /5200ft. 423mph /10000ft. 454mph /20,000ft. with an absolute maximum of 455mph /17,800ft. Climb: 4500fpm /S.L. 3985fpm /10,000ft. 2990fpm /20,000ft. By April of 1944 the Mustang (in tests) was reaching 20,000ft. in 5 minutes and 15 seconds. on 150 grade fuel. The point I am trying to make is this, as the war progressed, so did the fuel and the military's restraints on the amount of boost allowed on engines. So when you see published figures on any given aircraft you have to take them into context of the time the aircraft was tested.

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Ray,
God bless you and thank you for being one of the those that have put their life on the line so that we in the USA can live the dream. You are the MAN like so many before you and still to come. Over all that water I would have prefered the P-38 or the F4U, but then the P-38L, P-63 and P-47N were the only other A /C in our inventory that could have made that trip. Once again, thank you.

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I was misassigned to Godman AFB @ Fort Knox KY.
I was with the 108th National Guard units (in error) was composed of NJ,VA
&Miss. units with F-47 & F-51.The units were tranfered home and I was sent to Sabre unit 351st.@ George AFB, Victorville
CA. Like to hear from any in the Radio Shop. in KY. or Radar Shop at George AFB.

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Steve Larmore is instructing in Crazy Horse, a two seater P51 just south of Orlando Florida. When you get proficient in the rear seat you move to the front seat. This is a real airplane and well worth the $1,200 an hour.

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I flew the P51D 1945 out of Iwo escourting B-29s to Japan &
back.8 hrs over the Pacific. The Mustang was my horse.

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I read all the posts here and found them interesting. The NA P-51 is the best fighter aircraft to come out of World War II. A Special Congressional Commission after the the war made that determination. In the photo above are 2 P-51A models with Allison engines. The drawing is of a P-51B or C model With the Merlin engines. The difference is the location they were make (B model in Inglewood, CA and the C model in Dallas, TX). The P-51D (also with Merlin engines) built in Inglewood, CA is the most popular of all the models, but a K model was identical being built in Dallas TX. One of the most interesting of the variants is the XP-82 Twin Mustang, where 2 P-51H fuselages were mated to create a very powerful attack aircraft. Various National Guards used them for many years. Alas, with all these planes built by North American Aviation Co. maybe about 100 are still around the world, with many of them not even flyable.

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The P-51 was just one of the classic single seat fighters of WWII and well suited to the USA, came in late in WWII and thinks it won the war all on its own.

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I personally think that the mustang is the best fighter of all time.Maybe not the most famous, but most lijkely the best.Well, even the military says so. I was watching a show on the military channel called "top tens" where they count down the top ten best fighters,bombers,tanks, etc.and i was watching the one about fighters and they the p-51 mustang came in first.

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P-51D-15: North American test at Wright Field, Dayton, Ohio on June 15, 1945 (aircraft was tested with wing racks):
ENGINE: V-1650-7 boosted to war emergency power (67").
SPEED: 375mph /SL. 416mph /10,000ft. 421mph /20,000ft. 442mph /26,000ft. 408mph /30,000ft.
CLIMB: 3600fpm /SL.- 4800ft. 3000fpm /20,000ft.
COMBAT CEILING (1,000fpm): 35,000ft.
SERVICE CEILING (100fpm): 41,900ft.
WEIGHT AT TAKE-OFF: 9,760lbs.
I read an article about a year ago. I can't remember who it was written by but I remember the person being affiliated with North American and the military. He stated the true maximum performance of the P-51D was as follows:
SPEED: 448mph at critical altitude.
INITIAL CLIMB: 3745fpm /SL. SUSTAINED CLIMB: 3,475fpm.
I did not copy the article and I wish I could find it again. It was very interesting and indeapth.
I'll post Offical Military performance test results for the P-51A and P-51B as soon as I am able.

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The three view drawing is of an A-36. The colored profile is a P-51B-10. The photograph is of a P-51A.

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I'm developing a Program on the P-51 from it's birth in WW2 up to today. If you have any qiestions I may be able to answer them also if you have any tips or good information I may add it to my program.

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THE P-51 WAS A GREAT FIGHTER OF WW2.THE EARLY P-51s HAD "TEETHING" TROUBLE.I THINK THERE WERE A FEW NORTH AMERICAN AVIATION CORP.TEST PILOTS KILLED TRYING TO FLY THE PROTOTYPE P-51s.THE P-51h IS MY FAVORITE P-51 VARIANT.

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You are thinking about the Tuskeegee Airmen. The first all Afican American, fighter squadron. The original was the 99th. There leader was Benjamin O. Davis. They flew escort for the 15th airforce out of Ramatelli Italy. They had one ace, Lee Archer who passed away a few months ago.

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I think that there was also a group of airmen who made history when, they became the first blacks to graduate from flight training and excelled in combat in europe. They deserve some credit and history has been long in giving it to them, so my hat is off to them.

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The P-51 story is a real kick. So much has been said already, I tend to highlight others. That doesn't mean it's not a favorite of mine too. True, it could be out-turned, out climbed and out fought close-in by many worthy fighters. But how many could fly higher, faster, and farther?

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My father, SSGT Pat Asher, was a crew chief on TF-51Hs & T-33s at Tyndall, 1951-55. Cecil J. Poss and Wrench007, PLEASE get in touch with me.

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As a little boy, I used to watch the Idaho National Guard training with Mustangs high above my house. You could always hear them (with that beautiful, unique Packard Merlin sound) but you couldn't always see them because they were up so high. I had to use strong binoculars! This plane is by far my favorite of all time. Go to "Mustang Encounters" on the web and read about the many WW2 Mustang pilots kills. Many of these include the German ME262 jet in high altitude encounters! Great reading about the greatest fighter plane ever!

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