North American P-51 Mustang

The aircraft was designed and manufactured by North American by order of the UK government as soon as possible. The first prototype NA-73X took off on October 26, 1940 , after only 117 days from the moment of placing an order for its production.

Early modifications of the aircraft were powered by the Allison V-1710 engine, which provided excellent performance when flying at low altitude, but completely unsuitable for flying at altitudes above 4600 meters.

In April 1942 , according to the results of tests by British testers, the altitude characteristics of the fighter were found to be unsatisfactory, and the question arose of replacing it with another model. But the experts were so impressed with its maneuverability and speed at low altitudes that they decided to invite specialists from Rolls-Royce for further consultations. As a result of this cooperation, the aircraft began to be equipped with the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine and its American counterpart Packard V-1650 . Replacing the engine allowed to significantly improve the altitude characteristics of the fighter, while retaining all its advantages when flying at low altitude.

"Mustang" - the first aircraft that had a laminar wing (which created less air resistance, which reduced fuel consumption and increased flight range).

World War II

During the Second World War , since 1942, the Mustangs began to be actively used in the Royal Air Force . They patrolled over the English Channel and flew to attack ground targets in northern France . The first air battle "Mustang" held July 27, 1942 over Dieppe . In this departure, the FW-190 pair was attacked and the first Mustang was lost, which was controlled by the American volunteer pilot Hollis Hillis from the 414th Royal Air Force squadron. On August 19, 1942, the P-51A, together with Spitfires , covered the landing zone during Operation "Anniversary" - the landing of British troops in the port of Dieppe, where he showed himself quite well in battle (in Dieppe, P-51 pilots shot down two German aircraft, however, 11 Mustangs were lost ^[2] ).

Since the beginning of 1944, the Mustangs began to be used as reconnaissance aircraft and cover fighters for long-range bombers , striking in Germany . The ability to install additional fuel tanks and improved altitude characteristics made them the best escort fighters of the time. Using fuel from hanging tanks, the Mustang could accompany the bombers taking off from East Anglia bases to strike at Berlin and other German cities. In the sky above Berlin, the Mustang dropped suspension tanks to increase speed and still had enough fuel in its internal tanks for 15 minutes of air combat at full throttle and subsequent return to base.

The appearance of the Mustangs in the skies over Germany greatly worsened the situation for the Third Reich air defense, since from that moment on, German fighters had to fight with American fighters, connecting them with takeoff attacks, climb and attempts to intercept allied bomber aviation formations. March 4, 1944 P-51 covered the first raid of American aircraft in Berlin, while 23 Mustangs were shot down by German fighters ^[3] .

In the same quality, "Mustangs" were used in the Pacific against Japan . Big losses were suffered on Black Friday June 1, 1945: of the 148 Mustangs that went on a raid on Osaka, 27 were lost (all due to technical problems or bad weather), 1 pilot died and another 24 were missing lead, while only 1 Japanese plane was shot down ^[4] .

The total combat losses of the Mustangs on the European theater of operations amounted to 2520 vehicles. Among the Luftwaffe pilots, the most successful fighters with the Mustangs were Wilhelm Steinman (12 shot down), Heinrich Bartels (11), Heinz Baer (10), Franz Schall (10), Wilhelm Hoffmann (10) ^[5] . Erich Hartmann , the most successful German fighter pilot, had seven shot down Mustangs.

War in Korea

After the Second World War, the most actively used P-51 during the war in Korea . They suffered heavy losses, according to the official USF Statistical Digest FY1953, in the war the US Air Force lost 356 ordinary Mustangs and 22 double ones (332 F-51, 24 RF-51 and 22 F-82, about 300 pilots died) of which 300 F-51, 22 RF-51 and 11 F-82 were lost in battle, 32 F-51, 2 RF-51 and 11 F-82 were lost in incidents. ^[7] 28 Mustangs were shot down by Soviet MiG-15 fighters and 12 Chinese MiG-15s, while Soviet MiGs shot down two twin Mustangs and one Chinese MiGs.

The South African Air Force used 94 F-51s in the 2nd squadron during the war. The squadron during the war was almost completely destroyed, having lost 74 Mustangs and 42 pilots.

South Korean Air Force during the war lost more than half of the F-51, their losses amounted to 68 aircraft. ^[eight]

The Australian Air Force used the F-51 as part of the 77th squadron, of which about 20 were lost.

Thus, during the war, about 500 F-51 fighters were lost.

Suez Crisis

P-51s were used by the Israeli Air Force . On November 29, 1956, the Israeli army, with the support of P-51 aircraft, invaded the territory of the Sinai Peninsula . During the 9 days of the invasion, the Mustangs completed 184 sorties, 9 were shot down, 2 pilots died and 1 was captured ^[9] .

Subsequently, a large number of Mustangs went into civilian use to participate in air shows and various competitions. On September 16, 2011, during one such show in the US state of Nevada, the Mustang R-51 crashed into a crowd of spectators watching the competition, as a result of which 9 people died and several dozen were injured ^[10] .

During World War II, 10 Mustangs were delivered to the Air Force Research Institute for review during deliveries under the Lend-Lease of the USSR. Despite its great speed and flight range, the Mustang did not cause enthusiasm for Soviet pilots: here the battles were fought at medium altitudes near the front line; for which the Aerocobra , which had high maneuverability, was more suitable. There were no further deliveries of P-51 to the USSR.

The characteristics of the P-51D modification are given. Data source: Ilyin, 1996, p. 24; Loftin, 1985; Kotelnikov, 2010, pp. 55-61.

Specifications

• Crew : 1 (pilot)
• Length : 9.83 m
• Wing span : 11.27 m
• Height : 4.16 m
• Wing Area: 21.83 m²
• Wing Elongation Ratio : 5.86
• Empty weight: 3466 kg
• Normal take-off weight: 4585 kg
• Maximum take-off weight : 5493 kg
• Fuel tank capacity: 1000 l
• Powerplant : 1 × 12-cylinder V-shaped liquid cooling Packard V-1650-7
• Engine power: 1 × 1450 l. with. (1 × 1066 kW (take-off))
• Propeller : Four- blade Hamilton Std.
• Screw Diameter: 3.4m
• Front drag coefficient at zero lift: 0.0163
• Equivalent resistance area: 0.35 m²

Flight characteristics

• Maximum speed:
  • at sea level 600 km / h
  • at altitude: 704 km / h
• Cruising speed : 580 km / h ^[11]
• Stall Speed: 160 km / h
• Practical range: 1520 km (at 550 m)
• Ferry range: 3700 km (with PTB)
• Practical ceiling : 12,741 m
• Rate of climb : 17.7 m / s
• Wing load: 212 kg / m²
• Dead weight: 238 W / kg
• Takeoff run: 396 m
• Aerodynamic quality : 14.6

Armament

• Shooting and cannon: 6 × 12.7 mm M2 machine guns in the wing, close to the fuselage at 400 pat., The rest at 270 pat.
• Unguided missiles :
  • 6 × M8 missiles in tubular rails M10 or M14 or M15
  • 10 × 127 mm HVAR missiles (together with PTB - 6 missiles)
• Bombs : 2 × up to 454 kg under the wing
• Outboard fuel tanks: 2 × 284 L or 409 L under wing

• The most sophisticated Mustang with a fully functional cockpit can be seen in Digital Combat Simulator , simpler implementations of the aircraft in the Il-2 Stormtrooper and Strike Fighters 2 Israel series of games.
• The game " War Thunder " has the opportunity to explore and purchase this fighter.
• In the game " Simple Planes " one of the originally available aircraft.
• One of the fighters of the American Eighth Air Force in the game " Secret Weapon of the Luftwaffe ".
• Also present in various modifications in the game " War Wings ".
• In the game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas , this aircraft is known as Rustler.

• North American F-82 Twin Mustang
• North American A-36 Apache

• Ilyin V. et al. North American Fighter Mustang. - M .: Tekhniform, July 1996 .-- 32 p. - (Wings - the digest of the best publications about aviation. Issue 5). - 2000 copies.
• Kotelnikov V. R. The Mustang fighter. "Air Cadillac." - M .: VERO Press, Yauza, Eksmo, 2010 .-- 128 p. - (The war and us. Aviation collection). - ISBN 978-5-699-41773-5 .
• Kotelnikov V.R. Aviation Lend-Lease. - M .: Russian Knights Foundation, 2015. - 368 p. - 1000 copies. - ISBN 985-5-9906036-3-9.
• Kharuk A.I. Fighters of the Second World War. The most complete encyclopedia. - M .: Yauza, EKSMO, 2012 .-- 368 p. - 1,500 copies - ISBN 978-5-699-58917-3 .
• P-51 Mustang. - T. 1. - (War in the air No. 39).
• P-51 Mustang. - T. 2. - (War in the air No. 40).
• P-51 Mustang. Technical description and combat use. - (War in the Air No. 89).
• R-51 "Mustang." - (War in the Air No. 124).
• Loftin LK, Jr. Quest for performance: The evolution of modern aircraft . - Washington, DC: NASA Scientific and Technical Information Branch, 1985.

• North American P-51 Mustang (North American P-51 Mustang)
• P-51D Mustang at Sky Corner
• Photos of the P-51 Mustang from the museum in Le Bourget, France
• Photos of the P-51D Mustang from the Imperial War Museum in London, UK