Friday, 28 December 2012

Mustang Ally: North American Aviation P-51 Mustang

p 51 mustang north american aviation santosh rajkumar
Illustration by the author
The best designs are usually the simplest. This is especially important when the duties required of a design could help shape the course of a war, and, consequently, history. One of the most successful creations of the World War II era was North American Aviation’s P-51 Mustang fighter that was credited with almost 5000 German aircraft kills.

The uncomplicated, yet slippery silhouette of the P-51 is one of the most recognisable shapes of aircraft history. The characteristic under-belly scoop housing the oil cooler and coolant radiator, a bubble-canopy which ensured excellent visibility, and sophisticated wing construction were elements of this fighter’s design that won the hearts of aircraft enthusiasts the world over. I remember drooling like a hungry hound over a picture of the Mustang even as a little kid, and still treasure my first sketch of this stunning fighter.

The P-51 was originally developed in 1939 for the RAF of Great Britain that was looking to rapidly improve their fighter repertoire, since the outbreak of full-scale war in Europe seemed inevitable. The initial idea was for North American Aviation (NAA) to build P-40s (a fighter dating back to 1933) for the British. However, James H. Kendelberger, the president of NAA at the time, realised that P-40s were outdated and convinced the RAF that they would create an entirely new airplane using the same Allison V-1710-39 power of the P-40. Little did he realise at the time that the P-51 would soon be capable of even better performance and become such an invaluable tool of the Allied Forces.

The first prototype was ready in 117 days sans engine, but October 26, 1940, saw the first P-51 airborne, piloted by ace test pilot at the time, Vance Breese. The Mustang performed brilliantly, and was even better than one of the best planes at the time, the Spitfire. But a major drawback of the Allison motor was its loss of power at higher altitude because of its normally aspirated engine (meaning it did not employ a turbocharger or supercharger). This prompted a genius British test pilot Ronald Harker to suggest that the higher power of a Rolls Royce Merlin 60-series engine would fully harness the potential of the Mustang’s advanced construction. His input truly changed the way a P-51 was looked at, since the plane now posted much-improved performance with its two-stage supercharger that performed well at altitudes up to 30,000 feet. Also, with an increase in top speed that now needled 437 mph (the fastest ‘H’ variant was capable of 497 mph) and almost 1500 horses on tap, it was eons ahead of the previous Allison engine.

An important claim of the P-51’s bragging rights was its surprisingly long range, far superior to other fighters at the time. The Mustang was capable of flying for over 1600 miles with external fuel tanks fitted, which gave it amazing versatility. The P-51D was pressed into duty by the Americans to carry out dive-bombing, ground attacks, bomber escorts, transport duties, photo-reconnaissance and even interceptor missions. So capable were the Mustangs that on long escort missions they were sent out ahead of the large bombers to sniff out Nazi fighters on the prowl for American aircraft, a job they handled with hmm, flying colours. In fact, the protagonist Tangos were memorably remembered to have downed a fair number of the mighty Me-262 turbojet competition towards the end of WW2.

After the war, enthusiasts and racers very quickly grabbed examples of the P-51 that were made available to the public. Mustangs were even procured for as little as USD 1,500 by the lucky ones! Some investments those were, since even moderately-restored versions today are worth over a million USD. With good reason. The streamlined shape that sliced through the air, impressive handling, and relative simplicity of engine modification soon gave the P-51 a new lease of life as an air racer. Air races are held much closer to sea level, where there is greater drag and hence the power output of the original Merlin V-12 engine had to be uprated to be competitive. Race-winning P-51s today are thus usually extensively modified, some even with different engines. However, it is testament to the amazing designers at North American Aviation that an aircraft from the 1940s is still able to compete with modern racers. The fact that the Mustang is still so successful has sparked a popular theory in aircraft enthusiast circles that NAA originally designed this fighter as a racer, and only later ‘threw on’ the armoured cockpit and the six 13mm machine guns in an effort to get the government to fund its development…

Speculations aside, there is no doubt that the P-51 Mustang occupies a special place in Aviation’s Hall of Fame. The combination of its clean, yet iconic profile, astounding range and performance, versatility, and serious offensive capability has made it very hard for any fighter of the time to command a similar level of respect. There are very few things I wouldn’t give up for a chance to gawk at a competition P-51 taking to the skies at the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada.


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Sources - World Wild Web

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