Whenever I’ve gotten into conversations about people’s favourite World War II aircraft – and I’ve gotten into many – perhaps the one that comes up the most often is the P-51 Mustang, even among Britons. Yet despite having produced some cracking aircraft – like the T-6 Texan, the B-25 Mitchell, and the F-86 Sabre, North American Aviation is an aircraft manufacturer that’s often forgotten about in the annuls of history.

The Mustang was an aircraft that was built for the Second World War, and epitomised the best of Anglo-American engineering. Well, it eventually did. The P-51A with an Allison V-1710 engine was a bit mediocre, with its single-stage supercharger sharply dropping off power when above 15,000ft, effectively rendering it useless for what it was designed for (escorting bombers over occupied Europe). As such, the Royal Air Force used the P-51A for light reconnaissance and fighter-bombing duties. That was until Ronald Harker, a test pilot for Rolls-Royce, suggested fitting the Mustang with a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, which was already used in the Spitfire and Hurricane fighters. Initial test flights in late 1942 showed exceptional results, and thus the P-51B/C (or Mustang III to the British) was born. It was introduced to bomber escort duties in early 1944, and the effect was immediate: Messerschmitt Bf-109s and Bf-110s, and Focke Wulfe Fw190s were torn to shreds thanks to the Mustang’s superior high-altitude performance. Indeed, Reichsmarschall Herman Göring is rumoured to have once said “When I saw Mustangs over Berlin, I know the jig was up”. And for the Reichmarschall, so were the gallows. :P

Hope you enjoy!