Marin wrote:rednev wrote:06:24:20 PM
*Hmmmmmmmm interesting rewrite of history
*From that comment I can only assume you have never read the correct history of the P-51.* The information I wrote I got from North American's* archives which we (Boeing) now own.* Here's some more of it.
archive documents ( contracts ect ) or pr dept spin ?
The intital P-51 was an impressive plane aerodynamically but its Allison engine did not give it good performance above 15,000 feet, just as they did not give any airplane equipped with them good performance at altitude-- P-40, P-39, etc.* The P-38 had two of them and they were supercharged, which is why that airplane had much better performance than the planes with just one.**** Wright fields evaluatin sums it up below 22,000ft the p51has the best all round fighting qualities of any fighter
Not until the P-51 was fitted with a Rolls Royce Merlin did the it's potential become apparent.***** *so all those expert observers (including eddie rickenbacker )sending reports back to gen arnold suggesting that the p51 be fitted with the merlin didnt see its potential ?
One thing most people don't know is that the P-51 originated not as a US airplane but as the result of* a request from the British to the US for a fighter that could be developed for them in 120 days . At the time they needed fighters to augment their own planes but no American plane in production met the British requirement.* The Curtiss P-40 came the closest but P-40 production was running at capacity already.***
*But your first post said the stangs performance was so underwhelming the us sent some to england
It was determined that it would be faster to create a new, better plane to meet the British request using the same Allison engine as the P-40 than it would to set up a production line for the P-40 itself.* North American, which at the time was just building T-6 trainers, was given the task.
How about the british purchasing commision approache nort american to build the p40 under licence and nrth american counted with a proposal to build a better fighter in a shorter time frame than it would need to tool up for p40 production.dutch kindlerberger had toured british and german facilities in 1938 and had constant feed back from expert observers in europe hence his quote you cant pull a rabbit out of a hat unless you carefully put a rabbit in the hat beforehand .
The project to create a plane for the British was called the NA-73X and the prototype was completed in late 1940.*** na-73x first flight as nx-19998 october 26th 1940
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*The first 300 planes were ordered by the British Ministry of Air Productie plane that eventually became the P-51 was initially called the Apache.* The British called the planes they received the Mustang I.* It was far superior to the P-40, but like the P-40, it's performance at altitude was pretty sluggish.* The US Air Corps was initially underwhelmed by the Mustang and largley ignored it, even to the point of it being suggested it might make a good advanced trainer.
The us air corps was going o cancel a british project ? Reading between the lines the air corps seemed to dimiss the mustang because it was built to a british specifaction for the british not really a true american aircraft ( funny because history judged it a n american icon )
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In 1942 British test pilot Ronald Harker flew a Mustang and while he was extremely impressed with the plane at lower altitudes he, too, noted that it "died" above 15,000 feet.* He suggested it would do far better with a Rolls Royce Merlin in it. * The pairing of the Merlin with the Mustang airframe totally transformed the plane and North American began fitting them with Packard's license-built Rolls Royce Merlin.* At this point the US Army Air Corps began to take notice and the 1943 they introduced the P-51 into combat roles on a large scale.******** Fitting a different engine dosnt turn a sows ear into a silk purse it did however turn a very good aircraft into a great aircraft
It is considered the best fighter of WWII but it was not the best in every aspect.* The Spitfire was considerably more maneuverable than the P-51 and was considered the superior dogfighting airplane.* However the Mustang--- due largely to its fuselage design which gave it a very large fuel capacity--- had the longer range.* As one fighter pilot who flew both put it, he would prefer to fight a German fighter in a Spitfire unless it was over Berlin, in which case he would want the Mustange because it could get him home after the fight.
The term fighter is a bit misleading . the spit was a point defence air superiorty fighter the stang an escort fighter .bit like coastal cruiser long range passagemaker different set of compromises but look to the untrained eye the same.
If you look at the grumman archives you will be told (by the pr dept ) that the hellcat was designed from combat experience gain with the wildcat .but the hellcat was off the board before the wildcat saw combat.* just saying ya have to dig a little deeper than company fluff pieces
-- Edited by Marin on Tuesday 31st of January 2012 02:44:57 PM
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