North American P-51D Mustang

peret

The P-51 was designed as the NA-73 in 1940 at Britain's request. The design showed promise and AAF purchases of Allison-powered Mustangs began in 1941 primarily for photo recon and ground support use due to its limited high-altitude performance. But in 1942, tests of P-51s using the British Rolls-Royce "Merlin" engine revealed much improved speed and service ceiling, and in Dec. 1943, Merlin-powered P-51Bs first entered combat over Europe. Providing high-altitude escort to B-17s and B-24s, they scored heavily over German interceptors and by war's end, P-51s had destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft in the air, more than any other fighter in Europe.

Mustangs served in nearly every combat zone, including the Pacific where they escorted B-29s to Japan from Iwo Jima. Between 1941-5, the AAF ordered 14,855 Mustangs (including A-36A dive bomber and F-6 photo recon versions), of which 7,956 were P-51Ds. During the Korean War, P-51Ds were used primarily for close support of ground forces until withdrawn from combat in 1953.

The P-51D on display was obtained from the West Virginia ANG in 1957 and was the last prop-driven USAF fighter assigned to a tactical unit. It is painted as the -D flown by Col. C.L. Sluder, CO of the 325th Fighter Group, 15th Air Force, in Italy in 1944. The name of this aircraft, Shimmy IV is derived from the names of Col. Sluder's daughter and wife; Sharon and Zimmy.

SPECIFICATIONS
Span: 37 ft. 0 in.
Length: 32 ft. 3 in.
Height: 13 ft. 8 in.
Weight: 12,100 lbs. max.
Armament: Six .50-cal. machine guns and ten 5 in. rockets or 2,000 lbs. of bombs.
Engine: Packard built Rolls-Royce "Merlin" V-1650 of 1,695 hp.
Cost: $54,000
Serial Number: 44-74936
Displayed as (S/N): 44-15174

PERFORMANCE
Maximum speed: 437 mph.
Cruising speed: 275 mph.
Range: 1,000 miles
Service Ceiling: 41,900 ft.

peret

The P51 is the most famous of the American "big three" from WWII: those being the P47, P38, and P51. It seems ironic that this fighter is so closely associated with American air power in the second world war; as it's design specifications and requirements were driven entirely by the RAF in the form of an order from the British Purchasing Commission. If it hadn't been for the outstanding performance of this fighter it might have existed simply as an American export to England; but after test figures came through the US was compelled to start using the P51 along side the P38 and P47 designs they had already committed to.

The P51 owes its rightful place as one of the best fighters in WWII to some innovative design and a small piece of luck. The design was in the low drag airframe and laminar flow wings, which allowed for some truly staggering at the time top end speed, and the luck was a British decision early on it's history to attempt to mount a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine in place of the original Allison supplied in Mustang Is. The resultant Mustang I/Merlin combination provided such astounding performance it basically replaced any plans to use Allison variants; instead the U.S. began supplying Packard-built Merlins in P51 frames.


A saying came about in WWII that describes the Mustang well: "The Mustang won't do what a Spitfire does, but it does it over Berlin". P51s had a staggering amount of fuel capacity hidden in their sleek lines, and with the addition of disposable external fuel tanks could range upwards of 2,000 miles - full operational distance for most bombers. They weren't the best turning planes in the air, but by the time they were widely in use pilots understood that turning was a very limited performance characteristic in combat - what was required of newer fighters was speed. And the P51 had it in droves; it was faster than almost everything in the air, climbed reasonably well, and suffered much less high speed maneuverability loss than most of its opponents, due to the wing design. When it came to high speed fights the P51 was very much in its element - it had flaps specifically designed to deploy at almost any speed, an airframe with tolerances that reached into high G range, good dive acceleration, and steady horsepower even at very high altitude.


The P51 is one of several planes contained in a WWII set of playing cards I have that are "spotter cards" showing the planes in profile. These were distributed to G.I.s and such in the war to allow them to learn the plane shapes. Note that the Mustang is listed as a British fighter and the cowling configuration which shows this to be a P51-A.

peret

Type Two-seat (some, single-seat) long range fighter interceptor, light bomber.  
Manufacturer North America Aviation Inc.  
Armament Six .50-cal. machine guns and ten 5 in. rockets or 2,000 lbs. of bombs.  
Maximum speed 437 mph  
Cruising speed 275 mph  
Climbing speed 16400 ft/min  
Range 1000 miles  
Service ceiling 41,900 ft  




Technical Specification


Length 32 ft 3 in  
Wing span 37 ft 0 in  
Height 13 ft 8 in  
Weight 12,000 lbs max  
Engine Packard built Rolls-Royce "Merlin" V-1650of 1,695 hp.  

alphawolf

Memang pelik tapi itulah hakikat...Mustang asalnya dibina khusus syarikat North American untuk dijual kepada British.
Tapi Mustang versi asal hanyalah pesawat yang 'average' sahaja dengan enjin Allison. Tetapi bila enjin tersebut ditukar kepada enjin Packard V1650, ianya menjadi sebuah pesawat yang outstanding. Ironi lagi sebab enjin Packard asalnya ialah enjin Rolls-Royce Merlin...buatan UK!

Stewie

kapal terbang jenis ini banyak feature dalam buku buku cerita dan novel...
patut lah popular pun... widely used

peret

sekarangpun  masih diguna pakai ... tapi bukan untuk berperang ... tapi untuk perlumbaan atas sebab reliabilitynyer pesawat ni ...

Dutch-Lady

AURI F-51D "F-338" was the Mustang flown by Capt. Dewanto when he finished off Pope's B-26 on 18 May 1958. Several details about the appearance of this aircraft at the time remain unclear, however: it is unknown if the plane has got the full national insignia, for example. By 1958, most - but by far not all - of the Indonesian Mustangs (regardless if F-51Ds or F-51Ks), should have got the national markings between the prefix "F", and serial. If not, then the aircraft might still have carried the Indonesian flag underneath the right wing instead the Pentagon. Unclear is also the colour of the spiner and propeler: some sources insist these were painted blue, as seen here, others that they were pained red (spinner) and black (propelers, like on the artwork bellow), but it is also possible that the spinner was blue, but propellers black with yellow tips. Interestingly, today there is an AURI Mustang F-338 preserved at the Yogyakarta Air Force Musuem. The aircraft in question, however, is a Cavalier Mustang previously coded F-361: it was re-serialled into F-338 in memory of Capt. Dewant's aircraft, which scored the only known air-to-air kill in the history of the Indonesian Air Force. There is also a second F-338 - possibly fake - displayed on pole at the Air Force's Headquarters in Jakarta.


Alternatively, Capt. Dewanto's P-51D might have looked this way, with AURI's Pentagon instead of the dash between F and 338, and underneath the right wing as well.

Dutch-Lady

Having its tail painted either in red or dark blue (most likely red - at least on the spinner, as this colour is generally associated with AURI Mustangs), F-328 wore also personal insignia on the left side of the fuselage, underneath the cockpit. The meaning of the title "Sally" remains unknown, but it is known that another AURI Mustang, F-330, was named "Dotty" - reportedly for pilot's girlfriend from the times he was in training in the USA. The aircraft should have worn the insignia of the 3 Skuadron on the right side underneath the cockpit, like F-322 shown above. Some of AURI Mustangs had also chequered rudders, but it remains unknown which colours were used in their cases.


On the right side, the F-328 (which was also seen without any other markings but the serial and the fin flash) also carried the marking of the 3 Skvadron.


Of special interest in the case of the F-322 is the fiery insignia of the 3 Skvadron. It consists of a red field with white figure "3", with two black winged arrows, outlined in white, with yellow shadows, and flames on the rear end of the red field. If the tail was indeed painted red - or dark blue, remains unconfirmed. The aircraft was reportedly seen in these markings - and in pristine condition - at Padang airfield, in April 1958, while AURI Mustangs were escorting B-25Js into attacks against CIA-backed rebels. Nevertheless, photographic evidence is missing and the full backgrounds of this report remain unclear. Namely, in general, ex-Dutch Mustangs have kept the same serial they had at the time of the transfer to the AURI, However, the KNIL-ML P-51D H-322 was reported as missing on 10 October 1949, consequently, the AURI should not have had a Mustang serialled F-322.

www.acig.org/artman/ publish/article_175.shtml

peret

kalo nak compare zero dgn mustang, mustang mempunyai kelebihan ketinggian altitude dan manuverability nya lebih dahsyat. tetapi agak sukar nak dikawal di kawasan rendah sbb kelebaran sayapnya agak terbatas. zero pula kurang dari segi kelajuan... tapi lebih mudah dikawal.

HangPC2

pernah menembak jatuh Jet Pertama di dunia

alphawolf

6# peret

Mustang terakhir dalam perkhidmatan tentera dipencenkan pada tahun 1984 oleh tentera udara Republic Dominika.

Selain perlumbaan udara, banyak Mustang yang masih boleh terbang yang dioperasikan oleh persatuan peminat 'warbirds' serta individu.

BotakChinPeng

Deruman enjin rolls royce pesawat mustang nih sungguh enak didengar

alphawolf

Yep.....