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The Legacy of the P-51B Mustang
The early "B" version of the P-51 Mustang has been mostly overshadowed by its more numerous sibling, the P-51D.
Nonetheless, the P-51B was a great looking and superior flying aircraft in it's own right, and it played a very crucial role in
the outcome of World War II in the air - perhaps an even more important role than that of it's more famous sibling. As the
old saying goes, "Timing is everything".
Air War 1943
In 1943 the American daylight bombing campaign against Germany was not going well. Frontline U.S. fighters, primarily
early P-47s, didn't have enough range to escort the B-17 and B-24 bombers all the way to the target and back. Starting
out from their home bases in England, the P-47s could only stay with the bombers for a few hundred miles. Day after day
the bomber crews watched despondently as their fighter escort turned back to base, leaving the bombers to go on alone,
just as they were approaching the enemy's den. Packs of Luftwaffe fighters simply waited until the P-47s turned back, and
then, pounced on the unprotected bomber formations. Eighth Bomb Group losses were so heavy during this period that
75% of its crewmembers never completed their 25 missions. The US Air Force was on the brink of cancellation of daylight
raids -- until the P-51B Mustang came along!
Birth of the Mustang
In 1940 the embattled British were buying P-40s as fast as Curtiss could build them. Needing more fighters, they
approached North American Aviation to ask if they would build P-40s for them under license from Curtiss. The president
of North American, "Dutch" Kindelberger, didn't like that idea. He said his company could produce a combat plane that
was better than the P-40 using the same engine, that being the Allison 1,200 hp V-12. The British accepted NAA's
counterproposal, with the condition that the first prototype be ready to fly in 120 days. That's the time it would have taken
to tool up for building the P-40 at NAA. True to their word, NAA rolled out the prototype P-51 just 102 days later, minus its
Allison engine, which was late arriving. North American waited on Allison’s doorstep until the engine was ready. Once they
got it, the first flight took place on October 26, 1940. The new airplane combined advanced aerodynamic features with
exceptionally clean lines and its performance was truly outstanding. It flew 25 mph faster than the Curtiss P-40, using the
same engine. Deliveries of the airplane to England as the Mustang Mk I began in October 1941.