Americans love to admire their achievements, technology, country, military power. It has always been so.
One of the objects of their admiration is the WW2 Mustang P-51 fighter.
With someone's light hand, this plane even received the proud nickname "Messer Killer". This was told by the owner of one of the cars (the one in the picture below) Rob Lamplow - a member of the British flying club "The Air Squadron". But during the preparation of the text for this post, it turned out something completely different ...
Yes, the Mustangs shot down a lot of German planes during the war, but they themselves ... Sometimes they themselves became simply ridiculous victims.
So, during the war, two Mustang P-51s were destroyed ... by locomotives (!!!)
However, more on this below.

2. First, a little about the plane itself.
The Mustang was developed by the Americans directly for participation in the Second World War by order of the British.
The first prototype took to the air at the end of 1940.
But the plane, which was conceived as a long-range fighter-bomber, was no good. He had a rather mediocre motor power, which did not allow him to fly above 4 thousand meters.
In 1942, the British, unable to stand it, wanted to completely abandon its use.

3. But they were held back by one rather weighty argument - the Mustang behaved perfectly at low altitudes.
As a result, a compromise decision was made, and a different engine was simply put on the fighter. A miracle happened after a British Rolls-Royce was "stuck" into it. That's when he flew. The modification received the code R-51C. And when the fairing was removed (fairing behind the cockpit glazing) and a teardrop-shaped lantern (P-51D) was installed, it became very good.

4. And so, since 1942, the Royal English Air Force began to actively use the Mustangs in combat.
Their task was to patrol the English Channel and attack German ground targets in France.
On July 27, 1942, the Mustang P-51 enters an air battle for the first time on Dieppe and ... dies. It was piloted by American Hollis Hillis.

5. Very soon, on August 19, 1942, another battle took place, in which the Mustangs "distinguished themselves". During one of the operations for the landing of British troops in the same Dieppe, the Mustag squadron, along with Spitfires, covered the landing and entered into battle with German aircraft. At the same time, two enemy aircraft were shot down.
After this battle, 11 Mustangs did not return to the base airfield ...

6. These aircraft began to be used more effectively towards the end of the war - when the Germans ran out of planes, pilots and gasoline. That's when the attack of steam locomotives, convoys and horse-drawn transport began. Well, such exotic tasks as hunting for Me-262 type jet aircraft. Mustangs guarded them on landing when he was helpless.
And it was with the steam locomotives that the Mustangs had real problems. Two facts are reliably known when the Mustangs died attacking railway targets.
The most unlucky pilot on the Mustang R-51D found some kind of railway train and, well, pick it with machine guns. And there were warheads for V-2 ballistic missiles. Gasped so that the column of the explosion rose to 5 km. Of course, there was nothing left of the Mustang.
The second unlucky pilot decided to rehearse the attack of his Mustang on the locomotive in the forehead. Well, I thought something was wrong, it was smeared along the rails somewhere 800 meters before the locomotive. The crew of the locomotive escaped with a slight fright.

7. But, of course, there were also successful Mustang pilots. The most productive US Air Force pilot, George Preddy, shot down 5 or 6 Messerschits in one go. By the way - he has a short but fascinating biography.
His wingman became famous as a "hornet killer", he shot down quite a lot of Me-410 "Hornisse" ("Hornet"). And in the eighties, the follower died ... from the sting of a hornet!

8. The aircraft served for a long time in different countries.
For example, in Israel, he served wing to wing with Czech-made Messers and they merrily fought with Egyptian Spitfires and Mosquitos.
After the Korean War, a large number of Mustangs went into civilian use to participate in air shows and various competitions.
And the Mustang was completely withdrawn from service in 1984.

9. Two of these Mustang P-51s from the British club "The Air Squadron" recently visited Sevastopol, where I had a chance to talk a little with their pilots and mechanics.
For example, this instance (tail number 472216) managed to fight on the fronts of World War II. British pilots shot down 23 German fighters on it. As a reminder of this - 23 swastikas around the cockpit. The victims of the Mustang were mostly Nazi Messerschmitt Bf.109. Despite its advanced age, the aircraft is in excellent condition - it can accelerate to 700 kilometers per hour.

10. The owner of this Mustang is Robs Lamplow, a veteran of the British Royal Air Force. He found it in 1976 in Israel. The plane stood semi-dismantled in the local "collective farm" and served as a toy for children. Robbs bought it, completely refurbished it and has been flying the Mustansha for almost 40 years. "I'm 73, the plane is 70. We're flying. We're not getting sand out of us yet," says Robbs.

11. How much does such an aircraft cost now, its owner does not say. In 1945, a P-51 Mustang cost $51,000. For this money in the fifties of the last century, you could buy 17 Chevrolet Corvette cars. If inflation is taken into account, $51,000 in 1945 is the current $660,000.

12. The aircraft features a spacious cabin and the complexity of piloting when the tanks are full (the center of gravity slides back). By the way, for the first time, an anti-g compensation suit was used on it, which made it possible to perform aerobatics and shoot at high overloads.
The Mustang is quite vulnerable from behind and below - there are practically uncovered water and oil radiators: one rifle chamber and the "Indian" is no longer up to the battle - they could reach the front line.

13. Mustang exhaust pipes

14. Proud American star.

15. Pilot of the second Mustang P-51, who visited Sevastopol, Maxi Gainza.

16. A convenient trunk and a spare parts warehouse are arranged in the wing.

17. The plate says that this copy (by the way, training) was released in 1944.

18. The mouth of the tank in the wing of the Mustang

19. Mustangs in the sky of Crimea.

20.

Many thanks for preparing the text and some interesting facts about the Mustang

Fighter North American P-51 Mustang

This aircraft had many names - at first it was simply called the NA-73, then the Apache, the Invader, but it went down in history as the Mustang, becoming the most massive US Air Force fighter and the same hallmark of American aviation as the legendary World War II aircraft "Flying Fortress". Historians are still arguing which is better - aircraft Spitfire, Mustang or Soviet fighters times World War II Yak-3 and La-7. But these aircraft simply cannot be compared: they were created to perform different tasks, and when the role changes, advantages sometimes turn into disadvantages. One thing is certain: among the American fighters of that time, the Mustang was the best, earning the honorary nickname "Air Cadillac". These machines fought on all fronts of the Second World War - from Europe to Burma, putting a winning point in the raids on Japan. Even when the era of jet aviation came, they remained in service for a long time, participating in local conflicts around the globe, and in the 1960s the United States even debated the issue of resuming the production of Mustangs (of course, in a modernized form) to combat partisans.

Since World War II, the US has been bogged down in wars in Third World countries, where it has fought ill-equipped armies or even guerrillas. Using jet aircraft against them proved expensive and inefficient. The old piston machines, taken from many years of conservation, showed themselves much better. In 1961, the concept of a special "counter-guerrilla" aircraft appeared in the USA. He was required to have a low price, ease of operation and a decent combat load. It is no coincidence that they decided to take the proven Mustang as a basis. In the mid-60s, the Cavalier company, which was engaged in the alteration of old cars, released a two-seat version of the P-51D with additional external hardpoints and upgraded equipment to modern standards. Several such machines were made.

In 1967, the same company built a prototype of the Turbo Mustang aircraft with a British Dart 510 turboprop engine with a power of 2200 hp. It was no longer a remake of the R-51, but a new machine that only used some of the ideas and elements of its design. The forward part of the fuselage was completely redesigned, placing a theater of operations, closed by a cylindrical hood. At the same time, the nose was significantly lengthened. The screw was a metal four-blade. The tail section of the fuselage has also become slightly longer. The tail unit was made according to the model of the R-51N. The wing was lengthened and strengthened by placing two external suspension pylons on each side. Additional fuel tanks were located at the ends of the consoles. The car received a modern set of instruments and radio equipment. In 1968, the Cavalier plant in Sarasota completed six aircraft for Bolivia. It was paid for by the entire US government under the Piscondor program. Cars were driven to America and remade. How - it is not known in detail, but the tail section and plumage were not touched. The party included two double fighters. It is interesting that the Mustangs went back with American identification marks and US Air Force numbers on the vertical tail. In the early 80s, another company, Piper, offered its own version of a light attack aircraft based on the modernized Mustang. It was called RA-48 Enforcer. The engine was also turboprop - Lycoming T-55-L-9; he rotated a four-bladed propeller with a diameter of 3.5 m, taken from the deck piston attack aircraft A-1 "Skyrader". The length of the fuselage was increased by 0.48 m, new spars were used and the tail section of the fuselage was changed. The keel and stabilizer were increased in area. We finalized the design of the ailerons, providing them with a hydraulic drive from the T-33 jet aircraft. Racks and wheel brakes were taken from the passenger Gulfstream. The cockpit and engine were protected by Kevlar armor.

Fighter "Mustang" in flight

There were several options for weapons and equipment. The CAS-I was to have six external hardpoints, an integrated 30mm GE 430 cannon and 12.7mm machine guns. The CAS-II did not have a built-in cannon, but there were ten hardpoints, richer equipment was provided, including an indication on the windshield. CAS-III differed from CAS-I in a set of suspensions, including radar, electronic warfare equipment and an infrared search station in containers, as well as an inertial navigation system and radio equipment in an anti-jamming design. All options included cannon and machine gun mounts, bombs, napalm tanks, and even guided missiles in the range of outboard weapons. The latter were supposed to be of two types: "Maverick" (for ground targets) and "Sidewinder" (for air targets). The Maverick's guidance equipment was apparently intended to be packaged in one of the containers. The firm advertised its aircraft as having reduced radar and thermal visibility. They built two prototypes of the Enforcer, which were put to the test in 1983. But this time, the mass production of the machine did not start. The second birth of the Mustang did not happen.

Birth of the World War II plane "Mustang", which was not yet a "Mustang".

Still arguing about the best World War II fighter. In our country, the Yak-3 and La-7 are put forward for this role, the Germans praise the Focke-Wulf FW-190, the British - their Spitfire, and the Americans unanimously consider the Mustang to be the best fighter of World War II. There is some truth in each statement: all these machines were created to perform different tasks and at different technological levels. This is about the same as comparing the good memory "Niva" and "Maserati". The latter has an engine, suspension, and design of unearthly beauty. But in response, you can get the question: "What about driving along a country road with four bags of potatoes?"

Fighter "Mustang" in flight; click to enlarge

So all the fighters mentioned above are different. The Soviet Yak-3 and La-7 were made for the same purpose - fighter-to-fighter combat near the front line. Hence the maximum relief, gasoline - just barely enough, all unnecessary equipment - down. Pilot amenities are bourgeois luxury. Such an aircraft does not live long, so there is no need to think about the resource. Still it is necessary to take into account the backlog of the domestic aviation engine building. Aircraft designers had to limit the weight to the limit also because there were no powerful and high-altitude engines. In 1943, we thought about taking a license for the Merlin engine, but this idea was quickly abandoned. Our aircraft are technologically simple, their production requires a lot of manual labor (and not very skilled), but a minimum of expensive and sophisticated equipment.

The flight range of Soviet aircraft is small: the Yak-3 has 1060 km, the La-7 has 820 km. Neither on the one nor on the other hanging tanks were not provided. The only Soviet wartime escort fighter, the Yak-9D, had a maximum range of 2,285 km and a flight duration of 6.5 hours. But this is without any margin for combat, only in the most advantageous mode of operation of the engine in terms of fuel consumption. But Soviet aviation did not need a massive long-range escort fighter. We did not have a huge fleet of heavy bombers. The four-engine Pe-8s were actually built piece by piece, they were not enough to complete even one regiment with a full staff. Long-range aviation was used as a mobile reserve, reinforcing first one front, then another. Most of the sorties were carried out along the front line or near the rear of the enemy. They flew relatively rarely to distant targets and only at night. Why do you need long-range escort fighters?

The British created their Spitfire aircraft of the Second World War as an interceptor for the air defense system. Its features are: low fuel capacity, excellent rate of climb and good high-altitude characteristics. When the Spitfire fighter was designed, it was thought that the air war would be fought mainly at high altitudes. The task of the machine was to quickly "get" an enemy aircraft flying at a height, without wasting time, deal with it and return to its base. Then everything turned out to be wrong, and one Spitfire broke up into many specialized modifications, but the common origin of all of them somehow affected. World War II Fighter The FW-190 is a reflection of the German view of air warfare. Aviation in Germany was primarily a means of supporting troops at the front. "Focke-Wulf" - a versatile aircraft. He can conduct air combat, possessing both speed and maneuverability; its range is sufficient to escort front-line bombers; the power of his weapons is enough to cope even with a heavy bomber. But all this is within the framework of low and medium heights, at which the Luftwaffe mainly worked. Later, evolution forced the FW-190 aircraft to become both an air defense interceptor when the Americans launched their "air attack" on Germany, and a fighter-bomber, since conventional bombers in the conditions of enemy dominance in the air had little chance of reaching the target.

The plane of the Second World War "Mustang" is a representative of a completely opposite concept. From the very beginning it was a long-range aircraft. The introduction of the Merlin engine made it also high-altitude. The result was an ideal daytime escort fighter. The higher the Mustang rose, the more it outperformed its rivals in flight data, it was in rarefied air that its aerodynamics provided maximum benefits. The greatest separation was obtained at an altitude of about 8000 m - the Flying Fortresses and Liberators went to bomb Germany on it. It turned out that the R-51 had to operate in the most favorable conditions for it. If the war had gone according to the German scenario, and the Mustangs would have had to fight off massive raids, say, on England at medium altitudes, it is not known how this would have ended. After all, the practice of hostilities has shown that it is quite possible to shoot down the R-51. The Germans repeatedly did this on their World War II Messerschmitt and Focke-Wulf fighters.

On the already mentioned Yak-9D, a training battle was conducted with the Mustang at the Bari airbase in Italy, where at one time Soviet aircraft flying to Yugoslavia were stationed. So, "Yak" won. Post-war clashes between Soviet piston fighters and American ones generally ended in a draw. The P-51D was not officially delivered to the Soviet Union. But there were cars that made emergency landings during "shuttle operations" found in Eastern Europe and, finally, in Germany. By May 1945, 14 such P-51s of various modifications were identified. Subsequently, several P-51Ds were restored and transported to the LII airfield in Kratovo. Full flight tests were not carried out there, but the main flight data was taken and the general impression of the car was received. The numbers, of course, turned out to be lower than those obtained on new aircraft in America - after all, the fighters were already worn out and repaired. They noted the ease of piloting, the availability of the machine for pilots of medium qualification. But at low and medium altitudes, even this "Mustang" (it was compared with an aircraft flown in 1942) was inferior to domestic fighters in terms of dynamics - a significantly greater weight affected. He lost in rate of climb and horizontal maneuver characteristics, although he quickly accelerated and behaved steadily in a dive. But at altitudes of more than 5000 m, our fighters could no longer keep up with the Mustang, it was also superior to the captured German fighter of the Second World War Bf-109K.

Airplane "Mustang" in flight

Soviet specialists studied the design of the American aircraft and its equipment with great interest. "Mustang" was very technological. These machines could be "baked like pancakes", but with a caveat - in conditions of well-equipped production. In our country, during the war years, it was hardly possible to master the mass production of such a fighter. It would require a lot of new equipment that we did not produce. Even what they knew how to do was not enough, because the increase in the production of weapons was largely due to the curtailment of other industries. So, the production of machine tools during the war years decreased many times. New factories in the Urals and Siberia were equipped mainly with imported, most often American, equipment. And to this we must add the lack of a sufficiently powerful liquid-cooled engine in our country, the poor quality of materials, and the lack of aluminum (it was imported from the USA and Canada). "Mustang" was well adapted to the operation and repair. But it was an American renovation. Even during the years of that war, they switched to the practice of SKD replacement. The unit failed, it is removed entirely, quickly replaced with a new one, exactly the same, and the plane is again ready for battle. And the assembly was dragged to the workshops, where they would calmly disassemble it, find a breakdown and fix it. But this requires a significant supply of nodes; rich America could afford it. The repair of the Mustang in the conditions of a collective farm forge is even hard to imagine. So the Mustang could well be called the best American fighter of the Second World War, the best escort fighter, but the question is open about the rest.

At the end of the 1930s, all of Europe competed in an arms race. Last but not least, this concerned aviation. If Germany and the Soviet Union relied exclusively on their own aircraft industry, then England and France took the path of mass purchases of aircraft abroad. First of all, orders were placed in the USA. The Americans had a powerful, technologically advanced industry capable of building either a fighter or a bomber. One bad thing - American technology was expensive, if only because a worker overseas then received about twice as much as in Europe. But, given the threat of an impending war, there was no need to skimp. In 1938, the British Purchasing Commission entered into a contract with North American Aviation for the supply of a batch of NA-16 trainers, adopted by the Royal Air Force under the name Harvard. In early 1940, when a "strange war" was going on in Europe, North American President J. Kindelberger and Vice President J. Atwood received an invitation from the British Purchasing Commission to come to a meeting in New York. There, the British turned to the leaders of North American with a proposal to establish, under license from the American corporation Curtis-Wright, the production of P-40 fighters.

In the UK, these machines were called "Tomahawk". According to its flight data, the P-40 was a mediocre fighter. This will be readily confirmed by Soviet pilots, who later also had a chance to fight on these machines. But the time was hard, German planes began to constantly appear over England. Many fighters were required to rearm the Royal Air Force, and the P-40 had one important advantage - it was easy to pilot. Curtis-Wright also supplied these machines to the US Army Air Corps, which enjoyed priority. The Royal Air Force could only count on surpluses. Therefore, the British decided to conclude a parallel contract with North American, which did not sell fighters to the American government. To be honest, she never built fighters at all. The only exceptions were the NA-50 prototype aircraft and a small batch of NA-64 single-seat aircraft converted from training Texans for the Thai government. The lion's share of North American products was training aircraft. Since 1939, the B-25 twin-engine bombers of the Second World War have been added to them.

Members of the British commission assumed that the development under license of the already existing P-40 would save time. But Kindelberger felt the R-40 was a poor choice. After conferring with his staff, he made a counterproposal to the British Purchasing Commission: his company would design a new fighter that would be better than its competitors, and this would take less time than mastering the production of the Tomahawk. In fact, a draft design of such a machine already existed. In the summer of 1939, returning from a trip to Europe, Kindelberger assembled a group of designers who were instructed to create a fighter that combined all the new achievements in this area. The group was led by the chief engineer of the company, Raymond Raye, he was assisted by aerodynamicist Edward Horkey. The third in this company was the German Edgar Schmüd, who had previously worked for Willy Messerschmitt at Bayerische Flugzoigwerk. At North American, he served as chief designer. Probably, Schmüd understood fighters the most, since North American, as already mentioned, had not previously built machines of this class, but he participated in the design of the famous Bf-109 aircraft of the Second World War. The place of the leading designer of the fighter was taken by Kenneth Bowen.

Airplane "Mustang" with additional fuel tanks

The result of the group's work was the NA-73 fighter project. In the spirit of the times, it was an all-metal low-wing cantilever monoplane with a smooth skin. A feature of the latter was the use of a thin laminar airfoil developed by NACA specialists based on the results of blowdowns in a wind tunnel at the California Institute of Technology. Turbulization of the boundary layer in it occurred at much higher velocities than in those that existed before. The flow flowed around the wing smoothly, without turbulence. Therefore, the new profile provided much less aerodynamic resistance, and, therefore, could give the aircraft greater speed with the same engine thrust. In this case, the maximum thickness fell approximately at the middle of the chord, and the profile itself was almost symmetrical. Having won in reducing drag, they lost in lift. This could adversely affect the takeoff and landing qualities of the machine, so a large area flaps were provided. They occupied the entire span between the ailerons. In plan, the wing had a simple trapezoidal shape with almost straight detachable tips. Structurally, it was two-spar, and was assembled from two parts, connected along the axis of the aircraft. The front spar, which was the main one, was located in a plane approximately coinciding with the normal position of the center of pressure, as a result of which the torsional stresses that occur at high speeds (at low angles of attack), when the center of pressure shifts back, were small. Gas tanks and machine guns were placed between the spars. The trunks of the latter did not protrude beyond the leading edge of the wing. The tanks were of a soft type, multi-layered from fabric and rubber. It was planned to protect them with a layer of raw rubber, tightening bullet holes. In addition, the shift of the front spar back freed up space in the leading edge for cleaning the main landing gear.

The assembled wing was connected to the V-1710 fuselage with just four bolts. on a motor mount The pilot was protected not only by armored glass, but also by an armored back with a headrest. The mechanism for changing the pitch of the propeller was also covered by a small armor plate. The fuselage looked very elegant. In order to achieve good streamlining, the designers preferred a liquid-cooled V-engine. They didn’t have much choice: in the USA then there was only one type of such motor of suitable power, mass-produced - Allison V-1710. The numbers in its designation are not just a serial number, but a working volume calculated in cubic inches (about 28 liters). The motor was attached to a frame formed by two powerful beams or box-section bars riveted from channels. At the same time, the designers lost a little in weight, but achieved technological simplicity. The engine was covered with a well-streamlined hood. The motor turned a three-bladed metal automatic propeller "Curtis Electric"; its sleeve was closed by an elongated spinner. The question of the use of turbocharging was considered, but in this respect only some estimates were made, and then, due to lack of time, this idea was completely discarded. The Allison was cooled with a Preston mixture of mainly ethylene glycol and distilled water. After passing through the jackets of the engine blocks, the liquid went to the radiator, placed under the rear of the wing. On the one hand, this made it possible to hood the radiator well, fitting it into the contours of the fuselage, on the other hand, the lines for supplying and discharging the mixture turned out to be very long. This increased both the pumping power cost and the vulnerability of the pipelines. The oil cooler was in the same fairing.

The radiator block had a very remarkable device. According to the principle of operation, it was closer not even to the English ejector radiator that was on the Spitfire, but to the so-called "Efremov turboreactor", tested in our country in the late 30s. The air, passing through the radiator, was first compressed, as in a ramjet engine, and then heated. This heat was used to create jet thrust in the exit device. The air flow was regulated by a flap at the outlet and a downward deflecting scoop-deflector at the inlet. Later experiments showed that the resulting thrust exceeded the losses due to the additional resistance of the radiator block. At first, the radiators were placed behind the wing, but blowing through the models showed that this creates intense vortex formation. We tried several options. The best in terms of drag reduction was the one in which the "lip" of the air intake went under the wing. The designers set themselves the task of achieving a high aerodynamic perfection of the aircraft, while at the same time ensuring a high degree of manufacturability. The contours of parts were easily described mathematically by straight lines, circles, ellipses, parabolas and hyperbolas, which simplified the design and manufacture of templates, special tools and fixtures. Structurally, the fuselage was divided into three parts: front, center and tail. The pilot sat in the cockpit in the central part of the fuselage under a closed canopy. Bulletproof glass was mounted in the wind visor of the latter. For landing the pilot, the middle section of the canopy was opened. The left side hinged down, the lid to the right. For a parachute jump, the entire section could be dropped - just pull a special handle. The lantern passed into the fairing; this improved the flow around the fuselage, but worsened the view to the rear. In order for the pilot to be able to see at least something, large side windows were cut behind his place in the fairing. The basis of the power structure of the fuselage were four spars of variable section, tapering towards the tail section of the aircraft. They were connected to a set of frames.

The fighter had a tail wheel chassis, traditional for that time. The main racks were widely spaced. This provided good stability on the run, even on uneven field airfields. All racks, including the tail, were removed in flight. The main struts, together with the wheels, folded along the wing in the direction of the axis of the aircraft, taking place in niches in the leading edge of the wing, and in the retracted position they were completely closed by shields. The tail wheel went back, hid in a niche in the fuselage and was also covered by shields. An interesting feature of the NA-73 was the extensive use of hydraulics. The hydraulic drive not only extended and retracted the landing gear, but also extended the flaps, controlled the damper and radiator deflector, and also actuated the wheel brakes. The car was supposed to have powerful weapons. Four large-caliber machine guns were installed in the wings outside the propeller sweeping disk, and two more, connected with the synchronizer, in the front of the fuselage, but not in the usual manner - above the engine, but below the axis of the machine.

Mustang plane at the airport

The whole design was thought out in such a way that at first small units were assembled independently, then they were combined into larger ones, and five main parts of the aircraft (three sections of the fuselage and two halves of the wing), pre-"stuffed" with everything necessary, went to the final assembly. According to calculations, the NA-73 was supposed to have very high flight data. The British did not think long. On April 10, 1940, Kindelberger received an answer - the proposal was accepted, but with a condition. The condition was that in four months, North American was to present to the customer a prototype of the new fighter. There was one thing left to fix. After the outbreak of World War II, the US Army Air Forces headquarters received the right to prohibit the supply of combat aircraft for export if it believed that this would damage the country's defenses. But the British agreed with the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, General H. Arnold. Permission to export the NA-73 was obtained in exchange for a promise to then give two production aircraft for testing at the military center at Wrightfield Base. This was stated in a letter dated May 4. But the project needed improvement. In particular, the British wanted to increase the number by obtaining the desired results in flight tests. And for this it was necessary to lift the car into the air.

Kindelberger forced his designers to work overtime, sometimes up to 16 hours a day, with no days off. They started at half past seven in the morning and ended at half past ten in the evening. Meetings were held daily, in which all managers and representatives of the customer participated. They coordinated all the questions accumulated over the previous day. The same thing happened in the experimental shop at the plant. The prototype aircraft was actually made according to sketches, using simple technology. Instead of stamping, the sheets were knocked out by hand, the profiles were bent, and so on. As a result, after 102 days, the fighter was ready, but without the engine, which did not arrive on time. On September 9, 1940, the plane was rolled out to the airfield of the Mainsfield airfield in the suburbs of Los Angeles. The wheels on it were not "native", but borrowed from the serial training aircraft AT-6 "Texan". Armor protection and shooting sight were absent. V-1710-F3R engine with 1150 hp (this was an export version of the V-1710-39, which was on the P-40E, the letter "R" meant "right rotation") arrived only after 20 days. It was quickly assembled and tested on the ground for the first time on October 11. Then began jogging around the airfield, interspersed with the debugging of the engine. The plane was considered the property of the company and was registered as a civilian one. In some ways, this corresponded to the truth, since there were no weapons on the prototype NA-73X. There was also no armored glass provided for in the project - the lantern had a rounded visor without bindings.

On October 26, 1940, the famous pilot Vance Breeze, specially invited to test a new fighter, taxied to the end of the runway, then gave the engine full throttle and released the brakes. The machine soared lightly into the air; landing followed five minutes later. In November, Breeze made three more flights, which made it possible to determine the main flight data of the fighter. The NA-73X turned out to be slightly lighter than the P-40E: the weight of the empty car was 2850 kg, and the take-off weight was 3616 kg (against 2889 kg and 3767 kg, respectively). With the same engine, he overtook the competitor by about 40 km / h. By this time, the prospects for the NA-73X looked more and more rosy. On September 20, 1940, North American received notice that the delivery of Mustangs to England had been approved by the government. The fourth and tenth production vehicles were allocated by contract for testing by the US Army Air Force, they were given the designation XP-51. And on September 24, when the plane had not yet flown, the British Purchasing Commission increased the order to 620 fighters. This, apparently, was a reflection of the "battle for England" that was going on at that time, during which the Royal Air Force lost significantly more aircraft than the factories managed to supply them with.

In September, the North American design bureau began work on the final design of the NA-73, taking into account the requirements of mass production. More than 100 employees were involved in it. The design of the entire aircraft was led by Bowen, his deputy was George Gerkens. The wing leader was Arthur Patch, the fuselage leader was John Stipp. The most difficult task seemed to be to make the fighter technologically simple. It had to be produced in large quantities in conditions of rapid growth in production, when there was not enough skilled labor. Therefore, any detail was meticulously studied for whether it could be simplified. Then it was very useful when America entered the war and the places of the workers drafted into the army were taken by former housewives. In total, the designers made 2990 different drawings. Great attention was paid to reconciling them with each other. As already mentioned, the NA-73X was conceived according to the nodal assembly scheme. Many small units were assembled in parallel in different places, then they were connected into larger ones until the wing and fuselage were received for final assembly. An error in one part did not allow to assemble the assembly, an error in the assembly - the assembly of the next level. Therefore, the foremen checked the drawings of ordinary designers, Patch and Stipp - linking large units, and Gerkens coordinated the assembly of the aircraft as a whole.

The Mustang aircraft that has survived to this day at the airfield

It was not easy, some nodes changed repeatedly. In particular, it depended on the results of the work of the group of aerodynamicists. Under the direction of Horka, she made models of variants of the fighter as a whole and its individual components and blew them in a wind tunnel at the California Institute of Technology. In particular, based on the results of the purges, Horki predicted the need to change the air intake of the radiator block and lengthen the channel to the engine intake pipe. It was possible to save about 20 kg, facilitating the design of the flaps with virtually no loss in their effectiveness. In parallel, they made specifications, technological maps, developed drawings of special tools, fixtures, assembly slips. On November 12, 1940, the members of the British commission signed an act of approval of the full-size layout presented to them, showing the final placement of equipment and weapons. Since in England all combat aircraft have a name, the NA-73X was also given it. The name was sonorous and fully reflected the American origin of the car - "Mustang". December 9 "North American" received a letter from across the ocean, in which she was informed that henceforth the car should be called "Mustang" I. Kindelberger promised the British to begin the delivery of serial fighters from January 1941, each of them was supposed to cost no more than 40 thousand dollars.

Beginning on the fourth flight, Breeze was replaced in the cockpit of the NA-73X by Paul Balfour. Everything was going well until November 20, when the future Mustang took to the air for the ninth time, the engine suddenly stalled in flight. Balfour glided into a plowed field and sat down, releasing the landing gear. On the run, the wheels got bogged down, the fighter steered and fell on its "back". The pilot was not injured, and the car was sent for repair. The NA-73X came out of it on January 11, 1941. Subsequently, it was found that the cause was an interruption in the supply of fuel. Balfour himself was to blame, belated with switching the tap to the second gas tank. The refurbished NA-73X was then flown by test pilot R. Chilton. Until decommissioned on July 15, 1941. the machine made a total of 45 flights. Since mid-April, the first serial Mustang was tested in parallel with it, on which part of the program was also completed.

The first serial "Mustangs"

The first production Mustang was rolled out of the factory in Inglewood on April 16, 1941. Seven days later, he made his first flight. It differed from the experimental NA-73X by a number of structural elements. Firstly, it has a new wind visor with bindings and armored glass in front. Secondly, they redesigned the air inlet to the radiators. It turned out that a turbulent boundary layer was sucked in from under the wing. This reduced the cooling efficiency. On serial machines, the "lip" of the radiator was moved forward and lowered down, moving it away from the lower surface of the wing. And, finally, they provided for the installation of a complete set of weapons. Two fuselage synchronous heavy machine guns had 400 rounds of ammunition, two 12.7 mm machine guns in the wing - 500 rounds each, and four 7.62 mm machine guns - also 500 rounds each. However, there were no weapons on the first Mustang - only mounts for it. Since the aircraft was intended for testing, it was not even considered necessary to paint it, only a black stripe was applied in front of the cockpit visor to protect the pilot's eyes from glare on the polished metal skin.

This fighter was not sent overseas. It remained at the disposal of North American and was used for various experiments. In particular, they tested the carburetor air intake extended forward, which was extended almost to the very spinner of the propeller. It became standard on subsequent machines. The first Mustang to go to England was the second serial copy. Unlike the first, he wore the standard English camouflage for that time. On the wings and fuselage, large spots of earthy brown and green-grass colors were applied; the bottom of the plane was sky blue. British identification marks, tricolor cockades, and flags of the same colors on the keel were painted back in the USA. In the same place, English military numbers were written in black paint on the tail section of the fuselage - a combination of two letters and three numbers. These numbers were painted even when the order was issued. The second serial fighter was accepted by the customer's representatives in September 1941, then dismantled, packed and sailed to the UK by sea. On the way, the ship was attacked by German aircraft, but it safely reached the port. The fighter arrived at Bartonwood Air Force Base on 24 October. There, the Mustang was understaffed. The fact is that under the contract, the radio station, sight and some other equipment had to be of English production. It made no sense to bring all this to the USA, and it was assembled at repair bases in England. This is what they did with the first Mustang that arrived in the country.

This machine passed the test program at the AAEE (Aircraft and armament experimental establishment) at Boscombe Down. The fighter showed a speed of 614 km / h at an altitude of 4000 m, which was very high for that time. At low and medium altitudes, it turned out to be faster than not only the Kittyhawk and Airacobra, but also the Spitfire. Up to an altitude of 4500 m, the difference in speed with the Spitfire V was from 40 to 70 km / h. The range of the Mustang was greater than that of all British fighters. The maneuverability and controllability of the aircraft were rated as satisfactory by the testers. But above 4500 m the situation changed. The Merlin engine on the Spitfire V was equipped with a two-speed supercharger. Having risen high, his pilot switched to high speeds of the impeller, raising the boost. This compensated for the rarefaction of the surrounding air. A similar scheme was used on the Soviet M-105 engine. The Allison did not have such a device; above 4500 m, the engine power quickly dropped, and with it all flight data deteriorated. Therefore, the leadership of the Royal Air Force decided to use the Mustangs not as fighters, but as high-speed reconnaissance and attack aircraft.

Based on this, a special unit in Duxford began to work out the tactics of using new machines. Approximately two dozen sa

This unsurpassed "Mustang"

With the outbreak of World War II, England and France, faced with powerful German air forces, began to experience an urgent need for modern fighters. Purchases of military equipment began in 1939. However, in terms of their characteristics, the acquired vehicles were inferior to both the German VP09E fighters and the new fighters from England and France. The British decided to order a new fighter overseas that meets the requirements of the British Air Force. North American was chosen as its developer and supplier, which managed to prove itself well with English pilots. Soon they created a preliminary design of the fighter, approved by the customers, signed a contract for the technical development and construction of a new aircraft, according to which the first aircraft was supposed to be delivered in January 1941.

It was decided to use the Allison V-1710 twelve-cylinder liquid-cooled engine with a single-speed supercharger on the fighter. Without the bulky turbocharger used on the Lockheed P-38 aircraft, which has similar engines, the NA-73X fighter engine had a low altitude, which limited the aircraft's possible application, but there were no other suitable liquid-cooled engines in the United States at that time.

Prototype "Mustang"

The first flight of the new fighter took place in 1940, and at the end of the winter of 1941, the British also began testing the Mustang (this name was given to the aircraft after it was adopted by the British Air Force). During the tests, a maximum speed of 614 km / h was achieved at an altitude of 3965 m, good handling and takeoff and landing characteristics were noted. The Mustang was soon recognized as the best of the fighters supplied to England from the USA under Lend-Lease. However, the insufficient altitude of the Allison engine made the aircraft ineffective in the fight against German bombers, which, under the cover of powerful fighter forces, raided England. We decided to use it for operations on ground targets and for air reconnaissance.

The first sortie of the Mustangs took place on May 5, 1942. The planes carried out reconnaissance of the French coast. To do this, they were equipped with the F-24 AFA, installed in the cockpit canopy behind the pilot in a special blister at a certain angle.

The “baptism of fire” of the Mustangs took place on August 19, 1942 during a raid on Dieppe. Then the Mustang won its first victory: the British Air Force volunteer pilot X. Hills from California shot down the Focke-Wulf -190 in an air battle. On the same day, one Mustang was lost.

Even inferior to the Luftwaffe in altitude, the Mustangs were a difficult opponent for German fighters, as they usually made combat flights at low altitude at high speed. The long range allowed the Mustangs to fly over the territory of the Third Reich.

In the first half of 1942, the Mustang 1 arrived from England to our country, where it was tested at the Air Force Research Institute (a little later, another 10 Mustangs 2 were sent to the USSR).

The successful use of the Mustang by the British aroused the interest of the American military in it. The US command decided to purchase them for their own air forces. In April 1942, a contract was concluded for the supply of these aircraft to the army in the version of a dive bomber, which received the designation A-36A "Invader". The Mustang bomber was equipped with an Allison V-1710-87 engine with a capacity of 1325 hp. with. The armament of the aircraft is six machine guns with a caliber of 12.7 mm and two bombs with a caliber of up to 227 kg, suspended under the wing. To ensure dive bombing, the A-36A was equipped with air brakes installed on the upper and lower surfaces of the wing and providing a dive at a speed of 402 km / h (without brakes, the Mustang dive speed could reach 800 km / h). The maximum speed of the aircraft was 572 km / h at an altitude of 1525 m, with the suspension of two bombs, it decreased to 498 km / h.

During the fighting in the Mediterranean theater of operations and in the Far East, A-36A dive bombers made 23,373 sorties, dropping 8,000 tons of bombs on the enemy, shooting down 84 enemy aircraft in air battles and destroying 17 more on the ground. Invaders' own losses amounted to 177 vehicles - not so much for aircraft operating with such high intensity over the enemy's front line.

1510 Mustang aircraft of various modifications with the Allison engine were built. They were used in combat operations in Europe until May 1945 and earned a reputation as excellent fighter-bombers, dive bombers and long-range high-speed reconnaissance aircraft capable of successfully conducting dogfights. However, due to the low altitude of the engine and the high specific load on the wing, which limited maneuverability, they were little used as fighters. At the same time, with the increase in the production of heavy bombers in the United States and the start of the Allied air attack on Germany in 1943, the need for escort fighters with greater range and combat characteristics at considerable altitudes, corresponding to the working echelons of "flying fortresses", increased. Such an aircraft was a new modification of the Mustang, born thanks to the joint efforts of British and American specialists.

Ronnie Harker, a test pilot familiar with other Rolls-Royce-powered aircraft, said after a 30-minute flight in the Mustang that the new machine had exceeded his expectations, showing excellent low-altitude performance. However, they will be even better if the Mustang is equipped with the Merlin engine used in Spitfires and Lancaster bombers.

Harker's recommendations were taken into account. For a start, it was decided to install Merlin engines on several Mustang aircraft 1. Representatives of the US Air Force and North American, with which the US government signed a contract for the construction of two P-51 fighters with Packard V-1653-3 engines, became interested in these works ( American name for the engine "Merlin", produced in the United States under license).

The first aircraft converted in England by Rolls-Royce, the Mustang X took to the air for the first time in October 1942, showing truly outstanding flight characteristics: an experimental fighter with a take-off weight of 4113 kg reached a maximum speed of 697 km / h at altitude 6700 m (for comparison: the R-51 aircraft with the Allison engine with a takeoff weight of 3910 kg during flight tests in England reached a speed of only 599 km / h at an altitude of 4570 m). At sea level, the maximum rate of climb of the Mustang X was 17.48 m/s (R-51 - 9.65 m/s), and at an altitude of 2290 m - 18.08 m/s (R-51 - 10.16 m / s at an altitude of 3350 m). According to the initial plans, it was supposed to re-equip 500 Mustang 1 fighters with Rolls-Royce engines, but overseas, with the efficiency characteristic of the Americans, they began to produce large quantities of new Mustang aircraft with British-designed engines.

At the end of November 1941, North American completed the construction of the first XP-51B aircraft with a V-1650-3 engine with a take-off power of 1400 hp. with. and power in forced mode 1620 l. with. at an altitude of 5120 m. The aircraft took off on November 30, 1942 and showed characteristics significantly superior to those of its English counterpart. With a takeoff weight of 3841 kg, a maximum speed of 729 km / h was obtained at an altitude of 8780 m. The maximum rate of climb at an altitude of 3900 m was 19.8 m / s, the service ceiling was 13,470 m.

During the construction of the aircraft, some changes were made to their design: in particular, on the aircraft of the R-51V-1 - R-51V-5 series, an additional fuel tank with a capacity of 322 liters was installed in the fuselage. Similar design changes were made to the R-51C-3 aircraft, manufactured in Dallas. After installing an additional fuselage tank, the normal takeoff weight of the aircraft increased to 4450 kg, and the maximum (with bombs and PTB) - up to 5357 kg. However, during the operation of the aircraft, it turned out that the additional fuel tank changes the centering of the fighter too much, and therefore it was decided to limit its capacity to 246 liters. The R-51V-15 and R-51C-5 series aircraft were equipped with the V-1650-7 engine with increased power.

With an additional fuselage tank, the maximum flight range of the R-51V was 1311 km at an altitude of 7620 m, with two external tanks with a capacity of 284 liters, it increased to 1995 km, and with two PTBs with a capacity of 409 liters, originally developed in England for the Republican fighters R -47 "Thunderbolt", - up to 2317 km. This made it possible to use the Mustangs with the Merlins as escort fighters on a par with the P-47 and P-38 aircraft.

The first sortie of the P-51B fighters took place on December 1, 1943, when a group of new Mustangs made a fact-finding flight over Northern France and Belgium, during which several aircraft received only light damage from German anti-aircraft artillery fire, and enemy fighters to the Americans did not meet. The first air battle with the participation of the R-51B took place only on December 16, 1943 over Bremen, when the American Mustang managed to shoot down a Bf110 air defense fighter.

On March 3, 1944, the British Mustangs, together with the Lightnings, took part in the raid on Berlin. The next day, P-51Bs reappeared in the skies of Berlin, escorting US Air Force bombers. As a result of the ensuing air battle with German interceptors, the Allied fighters shot down 8 enemy aircraft, but their own losses were much higher and amounted to 23 R-51V, R-38 and R-47, including 8 Mustangs. On the other hand, on March 6, Allied fighter aircraft took full revenge: during a massive raid by British bombers, escort fighters shot down 81 German fighters, losing only 11 aircraft. The Mustangs accounted for 45 downed German vehicles that day. After this battle, the R-51B and R-51C established a reputation as the best Allied escort fighters.

Mustangs successfully operated to destroy and block German air defense fighters at airfields.

To increase the range of the R-51, fiber external fuel tanks with a capacity of 409 liters began to arrive from British factories in large quantities (the rate of their release was 24,000 per month), which gradually replaced aluminum ones by 284 liters. Another innovation of English origin, introduced on the P-51 B and C aircraft, was the Malcolm Hood cockpit canopy, which differs from the standard canopy in a “bloated” central part, providing the pilot with a much better view. Such lights were installed on both English and American Mustangs. However, in November 1943, in the USA, on the P-51 B aircraft, tests began on an even more advanced lantern, providing the pilot with a 360-degree view. Its design, introduced on later P-51s, has become "classic".

The P-51D was equipped with the V-1650-7 engine (1750 hp), the armament was increased to six 12.7 mm machine guns (400 rounds per barrel). A modification of the P-51D was the P-51K aircraft with an Aeropradakt propeller having a diameter of 3.35 m (the plant in Dallas built 1337 of these aircraft). To compensate for the decrease in directional stability caused by the use of a new lantern, a small forkil was installed on individual series of the P-51D aircraft. A distinctive feature of these fighters was also an increased chord of the wing root. A total of 9603 R-51 and K aircraft were built.

The excellent speed and altitude characteristics of the fighter allowed the new modification of the fighter to successfully fight enemy jets. So, on August 9, 1944, P-51s escorting B-17s engaged Me-163 jet fighters, shooting down one of them. At the end of 1944, the Mustangs fought several times successfully with Me-262 jet fighters. In addition, the P-51 was intercepted and shot down by another German "flying exotic" Ar-234 and "composite" aircraft Ju-88 / Bf109 "Mistel", as well as V-1 projectiles.

R-51N - the last of the "Mustangs"

At the end of the war, Mustangs with Merlin engines began to enter the Pacific theater of operations, where they participated in raids on Iwo Jima and the Japanese Islands. The P-51 was escorted by B-29 bombers, having two 625-liter aluminum external tanks and six HVARs under the wing (in this configuration, the take-off weight of the fighter was 5493 kg and taking off from the airfield in tropical heat became a difficult task). Collisions with Japanese fighters attempting to intercept B-29s were relatively rare and usually ended in favor of the Mustangs. Japanese aviation, having lost its best flight personnel and equipped with aircraft less advanced than those of the enemy, could no longer provide serious opposition to the Americans, and air battles looked more like a beating than a fight of equal opponents. However, the appearance at the very end of the war of the new Kawasaki Ki.100 fighter, which had excellent maneuverability at relatively high speed at low and medium altitudes, to some extent equalized the chances again. "Mustangs" in battles and with these Japanese machines, as a rule, achieved victory due to higher speed, which allowed them to impose their battle tactics on the enemy. At the same time, the numerical superiority and the best professional training of American pilots had a decisive influence on the result of the battle.

Nevertheless, North American began work on the creation of new modifications of the Mustang, which are distinguished by their lower weight and improved aerodynamics. On three experimental lightweight Mustangs, designated XP-51F, the V-1650-7 engine was installed, the other two aircraft were equipped with a Rolls-Royce Merlin 145 (RM, 14, SM) engine with a capacity of 1675 hp. with. with a four-bladed Rotol propeller (these aircraft were designated XP-51G). The takeoff weight of the XP-5IF was 4113 kg (one ton less than the R-51), and the maximum speed was 750 km / h at an altitude of 8839 m. The XP-51 G was even lighter and faster machine (takeoff weight - 4043 kg, maximum speed - 759 km / h at an altitude of 6325 m). XP-51F first took off in February 1944, XP-51G - in August of the same year.

Despite the higher performance, the XP-51G did not receive further development, and the serial fighter P-51N was created on the basis of the XP-5IF. It was armed with 6 machine guns, the engine was a Packard-Merlin V-1650-9 with a four-bladed Aeroproduct propeller. At an altitude of 3109 m, the engine in emergency mode could develop a power of 2218 liters. with. This modification of the Mustang turned out to be the most “frisky”: without external fuel tanks and other external suspensions, the aircraft developed a horizontal speed of 783 km / h at an altitude of 7620 m. The rate of climb was 27.18 m / s. With a supply of fuel only in the internal tanks, the flight range of the R-51N was 1400 km, with external fuel tanks - 1886 km.

The aircraft first took to the air in February 1945. The US Air Force ordered 1,450 P-51H fighters from the Eaglewood factory, but only 555 were built before the end of the war.

After the war, the Mustangs were in service with many states in almost all parts of the world and participated in various local wars, the last of which was the “football war” between Honduras and El Salvador in 1969. They had a chance to conduct air battles with Soviet-made vehicles: in during the Korean War, the P-51 was in service with the American, Australian, South African and South Korean squadrons that took part in the hostilities. "Mustangs" were used mainly as attack aircraft, but they managed to shoot down several North Korean Yak-9 and La-11. Meetings with the MiG-15 ended, as a rule, with the destruction of the R-51 aircraft. For this reason, the number of Mustangs that took part in the battles gradually decreased, although they still “survived” before the armistice signed in 1953.

On the basis of the Mustang, numerous sports and record-breaking aircraft were created (including Frank Taylor's aircraft, on which in 1983 the absolute world speed record for a piston aircraft, which has not been beaten so far, is set - 832.12 km / h).

In the 1980s, attempts were made to revive the Mustang as a modern attack aircraft. Based on the P-51, the Piper company created the RA-48 Enforcer light attack aircraft, designed to fight tanks. Two experimental aircraft were built, but the series never came to fruition.

Such a brilliant and long career of the R-51 is due, of course, to the technical and aerodynamic perfection of its design, the successful choice of engine, and, most importantly, the timely appearance of this fighter. In fact, the P-51 with the Merlin engine began to enter the troops when it was most needed: during the deployment of an air offensive against Germany and Japan in 1944, and most fully harmonized with the B-17 and B- 29, which it was intended to accompany. Of particular note is the fact that the Mustang was the fruit of "international" technical creativity: built to British specifications and, ultimately, equipped with an English engine, it seemed to combine the best qualities of American and British fighters.

Vladimir Ilyin

"Wings of the Motherland" No. 10 1991

Technical description

A single-seat single-engine fighter of all-metal construction, built according to the scheme of a cantilever low-wing aircraft with retractable landing gear and a tail wheel.

Main production modifications:

"Mustang I", R-51 / "Mustang IA", R-51 A / "Mustang II" - fighter, reconnaissance fighter for low altitudes;

A-36A - dive bomber / attack aircraft;

Р-51В/Р-51С/ Mustang III/P-51D/P-51K/ Mustang IV/ Mustang IVA - long-range fighter, fighter-bomber;

The R-51N is a long-range fighter adapted to the conditions of the Pacific Ocean.

The wing is all-metal, two-piece, two-spar, trapezoidal. Wing elevation 5 gr, laminar profile NAA-NASA. The line passing at the level of 25% of the wing chord is rectangular to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. Both wings are bolted to the central frame. The upper side of the wings inside the fuselage forms the floor of the cockpit. Each wing has 21 ribs. The wing tips are removable, connected to the wing console with screws. Wing skin made of light Alclad aluminum alloy. The skin on the fuselage and wings was fastened in a standard way - using rivets with oval heads. The ailerons and flaps are all-metal, suspended on the rear surface of the spar. Ailerons and flaps made of light alloy. Aileron two-spar with 12 ribs. The flaps are also two-spar with 13 ribs. The ailerons are statically and dynamically balanced, equipped with trim tabs (adjustable on the left, fixed on the right). Aileron drive with rods and levers. Aileron deflection angle 15 degrees up and down. The flaps are hydraulically driven, the deflection angle is from 0 to -50 degrees in increments of 50 degrees.

The right and left halves of the R-51A fuselage.

The left half of the R-51V fuselage.

The fuselage is made of duralumin, with working skin. Technologically, the fuselage was assembled from three segments, connected by fingers. In the nose segment were the engine and engine mount. The cockpit and water radiator were placed in the central segment, and the tail unit was in the tail segment. The mechanical strength of the fuselage was provided by four stringers stamped from duralumin sheet. An armored bulkhead is installed between the front and middle segments.

The cowling of the nose segment consisted of four flaps and a bottom cover. The sashes were fastened with special quick clamps. At the bottom of the hood there were three holes for the carburetor. The motor mount is made of two box spars with auxiliary cross members. The entire frame was fastened with four fingers to an armored bulkhead. This design made it possible to remove the engine from the aircraft along with the engine mount in a matter of minutes.

The central part of the fuselage was made in the form of two halves connected in the region of the longitudinal axis of symmetry. The upper stringers of the fuselage of the I-section, in the rear part, passed into the Taurus. The lower stringers, also having an I-section, passed into the channel. Behind the pilot's back, the upper part of the frame formed an anti-bonnet arc. The central section of the fuselage consisted of eight parts: a fire bulkhead, an anti-bonnet arc, an upper skin, a left and a right skin, a radio compartment, an overlay and a bottom with an air intake. In the event of a repair, any of the listed units could be replaced entirely.

Rack of the radio station on R-51V/S. The stiffening ribs (2) are welded to the rack, the rest of the parts are attached with rivets. Item 9 - oil cooler shutter drive attachment assembly. Detail 11 - krzych thrust of the Elevator.

Fuselage units R-51V/S. Detail 1 - fire bulkhead, which included armor plates 2, 3, 4 and 5. Inset A - one of the wing attachment points. Inserts B and C - motor mount attachment points. Insert D - the attachment point of the upper stelluk of the radio station (29). Detail 2S is the bottom rack shown close up in the previous picture. Detail 20 - a frame with an anti-bonnet arch and a wing mount in the lower part.

Wing-to-fuselage connections R-51V/S. The numbers indicate the part number in the catalog.

Fuselage skin and joint fairings on R-51V/S. 1. Radiator air intake fairing. 2. Oil cooler service hatch. 3. Oil cooler panel. 4. Adjustable oil cooler damper. 5. Service hatch of the air intake. 6. Drainage system. 7. Radiator shroud. 8. Radiator service hatch. 9. Access hatch inside the fuselage. 10. Service lukradiator. 11. Movable radiator outlet damper. 12. Access hatch to the air duct damper drive. 13. Service hatch of the fuselage. 14. Tail wheel niche flaps. 15. Service hatch at the top of the fuselage. 16. Service hatch. 17. Service hatch. 18. Service hatch. 19., 20. Fairing. 21. Service hatch. 22., 23. Fairing. 24. Upper service hatch of the dashboard. 25. Onboard service hatch of the dashboard. 26. The neck of the oil tank. 27. The panel of the expansion tank of the cooling system. 28. The neck of the cooling system. 29. Air filter panel. 30. Hot air duct panel to the carburetor. 31., 32., 33., 34. Details of the fairing at the junction of the wing and fuselage. 35. Covering the rear fuselage. 36. Covering the front of the fuselage. Insets A, B and C show, respectively: the upper mount of the motor mount, the lower mount of the motor mount, the junction of the front and rear of the fuselage. Inset D shows the tail of a P-51D with an additional stabilizer (55) and fairing at the junction of the horizontal stabilizer with the fuselage.

Connection of the R-51A fuselage with the wing.

P-51D fuselage to wing connection.

Plumage R-51A on a transport trolley.

Tail sections of R-51B at the stage of final assembly.

Transfer of the R-51V tail section for installation on an aircraft.

Attaching the oil tank to the fire bulkhead.

The R-51V fuselage with an installed fire bulkhead and an oil tank suspended from it. The picture was taken on the assembly line in Inglewood.

For comparison: P-51D fuselage with a fire bulkhead and an oil tank suspended from it. You can see the full equipment of the cockpit, where there is no pilot's seat yet.

Left landing gear P-5ID with landing searchlight. The inner side of the wheel arch sash and its pull are clearly visible.

Landing light in the wheel well, introduced on the P-51D.

Left landing gear, inside view.

Right landing gear P-51D. Visible wheel arch. In the foreground are the engine piping.

Right wheel arch in P-51D wing. Numerous pipelines are visible. Notice the darker polished stainless steel plate riveted to the niche door. This plate protected the sash from damage from the wheel that was still rotating after taking off from the ground.

Left wheel well in P-51D wing. This series of photographs was taken at the Duxford Museum, England. This copy is completely restored and flies, participating in various shows.

Left landing gear on P-S1B/C with mask and wheel. The stand (2) was attached to the mask (1). Detail 3 - stand shield, suspended on a loop to the same mask. With the help of two movable levers, the shield was also connected to the rack.

Tail wheel on R-51V/S.

Main landing gear on R-51V/S. The landing gear is fixed in a metal cast mask (2) riveted to the wing bearing elements. The strut (3) comes out under the pressure of the hydraulic thrust (15) after the pilot releases the latch (46) from the cockpit.

Merlin engine (Packard V-1650-7) on P-51D. 1. Expansion tank of the engine cooling system. 19. Magneto. 21. Bendix PD-18-A1 carburetor. 23. Oil tank. 28. Screw hub. 30. J6437A propeller blade. 31. Screw adjuster 4G10G21D. 45. Oil pump. 50. Pump forced circulation of the cooling system. 53. Gasoline pump G-9.

Structural elements and panels of the engine casing on the P-5IB/C

The cockpit had a windshield bulletproof glass. The cabin was equipped with a heating and cooling system. Windshield 1 inch thick, five ply, tilted 31 degrees. The movable sash consists of three pieces made of 3/16" thick plexiglass. The right half is fixed, the left and upper are suspended on hinges. Above the dashboard there was a rubberized ledge that protected the pilot's head in the event of an accident. There was also a system for blowing the windshield with warm air, a sight and an auxiliary handle that made it easier to enter the cockpit. In addition, the ledge shaded the dashboard, preventing sun glare from appearing on it. The canopy was attached to the two upper fuselage stringers at four points. There was a system of emergency reset of the lantern. In the fuselage skin behind the pilot's seat there were two windows that opened access to the radio compartment. Behind the radio compartment was another bulkhead - this time made of plywood. The above description of the cockpit applies to aircraft modifications A, B and C. Starting with the P-51D modification, the cockpit canopy was given a teardrop shape, and the tail section of the fuselage was lowered.

The cover of the lantern was moved manually along special guides. The pilot's seat is adjustable. Behind the seat are two armored plates that protect the head and backs of the pilots.

Rolls-Royce Packard V-1650 Merlin engine on a transport trolley. On such carts, the engine was transported through the assembly shop.

Motor assembly for the Rolls-Royce Packard V-1650-3 engine of the R-51V fighter.

Rolls-Royce Packard engine frame for R-51V/S.

Bearing elements and panels of the Allison V-1710 engine casing on the R-51A and A-36A.

Rolls-Royce Packard V-1650-7 engine support and shroud on a P-51D.

Installation of exhaust pipes on the V-1650-3 engine on the R-51 K/S, assembly line in Inglewood.

The design of the rear fuselage consisted of two stringers, three bulkheads, five auxiliary frames and a rear wall to which the tail was attached.

The tail unit is cantilever, two-spar, trapezoidal. Sheathing from Alclad light alloy sheets. The ends of the horizontal stabilizer are removable, allowing you to install or dismantle the elevator ... The elevator is lined with fabric, deviates 30 degrees up and 20 degrees down. On aircraft of later series, the rudder skin is metal. The elevator is compensated for weight and aerodynamics, equipped with adjustable trim tabs. Keel two-spar with duralumin sheathing. The keel is wedged at an angle of 1? to the left of the axis of the aircraft. Some P-51D aircraft had an additional stabilizer, with which they tried to increase longitudinal stability. The rudder is covered with fabric, equipped with a trim tab. The elevator drive with the help of rods, the rudder and trimmers - with the help of cables.

The chassis is classic, with a tail wheel. The main landing gear is equipped with hydropneumatic shock absorbers. Racks are retracted into the wing in the direction of the fuselage. The drive of the chassis cleaning system is hydraulic. Disc brakes were pedal operated. Main landing gear wheels 27 inches (68.5 cm) in diameter. Covers of wheel niches double-leaf. One leaf was tightly attached to the landing gear, the other was suspended from the fuselage. As a result, the wheel arch was completely closed, which ensured good aerodynamics. The tail wheel was hydraulically retracted in the direction of flight.

This wheel also had a hydropneumatic shock absorber. The tail wheel was steered in parallel with the rudder. Wheel and steering control could be disengaged when parking or taxiing. To do this, the control handle should be pulled all the way forward. The tail wheel niche had a double-leaf cover. Tail wheel diameter 12.5 inches (32 cm).

The propulsion system on the aircraft of the first modifications (R-51, R-51A, A-36A) was an engine of the Allison V-1710 family. Engine 12-cylinder, four-stroke, V-shaped, liquid-cooled, up to 1200 hp. Volume 1710 cu. inches (28021.88 cm3). Stroke 152.4 mm, bore 139.7 mm, compression ratio 6.65:1. The engines were equipped with mechanical single-speed single-stage supercharging with a compression ratio of 8.8:1. Rotor diameter 241.3 mm, propeller gear ratio 2:1. Maximum operating mode - 3000 rpm. Engine weight 1335 pounds, length 2184.4mm.

F-82E on the assembly line. The Allison V-1710-145 engine is installed and aggregated with the Aeroproducts propeller. It remains only to install the engine cover. Notice the 12 exhaust pipes on one side of the engine. Each branch pipe has its own outlet valve.

V-1650-7 engine assembly mounted on a P-51D.

Installing the V-1650-7 engine on the P-51D. The engine mount is connected to the fire bulkhead. The operation was fairly simple. Even in the field, the engine could be replaced in a day, including the time to check the operation of the new engine.

Starting with the R-51B modification, the aircraft was equipped with a 12-cylinder four-stroke V-shaped liquid-cooled Rolls-Royce Merlin 68 engine, manufactured under license by Packard Motor Car Co. from Detroit under the designation V-1650-3. The angle of the collapse of the cylinder block is 60 gr, the working volume is 1650 cu. in. (27029 cm3), stroke 152.4 mm, bore 137.16 mm, compression ratio 6:1. The engine was equipped with a gearbox (0.479: 1) and a two-stage two-speed supercharging, which made it possible to maintain the engine power unchanged up to a height of 7800 m. s. / 956.8 kW at the first and 1450 hp. A067.2 kW at second boost speed. For a short time, the engine could be boosted to 1620 hp / 1192.4 kW. At the same time, the pressure in the intake tract reached 2065 hPa, and the engine developed 3300 rpm. Engine weight 748 kg, length 2209.8 mm. The engine was aggregated with a four-blade propeller "Hamilton Standard 24D" with a diameter of 3.40 m and an automatic pitch control system. The propeller weight is 208.5 kg.

On aircraft with an Allison engine, the engine air intake was located at the top of the hood, just behind the propeller. Through the air ducts, air entered the carburetor. The air flow was regulated in such a way that the air could go directly into the carburetor, or could be heated by the heat of a running engine. The control knob was located on the left side of the cab.

On machines with Merlin engines, the air intake system could operate in one of three modes: direct air intake, air intake through filters, air intake heated from the engine.

Before the first start-up, the engine was lubricated under pressure. In the picture, a mechanic lubricates the camshaft system. tons and valves on the V-1650-3 engine of the R-51V/S aircraft.

Two shots. Left and right side of the P-51D. The casing is removed, the V-1650-7 engine is visible. Additionally, the air duct was removed.

The air intake was at the bottom of the hood just behind the propeller. Air was supplied to the rear of the engine compartment, and then rose up to the carburetor. The injection carburetor, equipped with a double-membrane pump, automatically regulated the composition of the air-fuel mixture. The amount of air supplied to the carburetor was regulated using a knob located on the left side of the cab. With the air duct completely closed, air was taken in through perforations in the sides of the hood and air filters. In winter, the direct air intake was blocked.

The exhaust system of the engine consisted of 12 individual exhaust pipes - one for each cylinder. Export aircraft "Mustang I" were equipped with special shields that covered the nozzles and did not allow flames from the nozzles to blind the pilot.

Additional engine equipment consisted of a carburetor, two magnetos, a propeller speed controller, a fuel pump, an oil pump, a forced coolant circulation pump, a hydraulic system compressor, a generator, a drain pump, a starter and a tachometer.

The Allison engine controls were electrically driven. On Merlin engines, the gas handle was interlocked with the manifold of the machine that regulates the pressure in the intake tract. Automatic machines manufactured by Packard or Simone were used. The machine maintained the pressure in the intake tract unchanged, regardless of the flight mode. On the back side of the throttle there was a lever that regulates the composition of the air-fuel mixture. The switching of turbocharging modes took place automatically using a barometric sensor. In the event of a sensor failure, the pilot could control the boost manually using a lever. The engine was started using a fuel pump (manual in early versions, later with electric drive) and an ignition system.

The propeller on early Allison-powered P-51s is a 10'9" three-blade Curtiss Electric C532D. Blades type 57000 made of aluminium. The speed of rotation of the screw is constant, the pitch of the screw is changed by means of an electric drive.

The boost duct on an early P-51B.

Radiator air intake on R-5 ID. The numbers indicate the sequence of dismantling operations.

Adjustable radiator air intake on P-51D.

Air duct for later R-51V/S.

The forward fuselage of a P-51D from Duxford. The engine cover is removed, the boost duct is dismantled. A propeller with a characteristic oval emblem of the Hamilton Standard company is visible on the front tank.

The left side of the P-51D. The service hatches of the radiator have been dismantled.

Starboard P-5ID.

Radiator air intake under the P-51D fuselage. Aircraft from the collection of the museum in Duxford.

Adjustable radiator outlet, rear view. A vertical pusher is visible, which determines the position of the damper.

Aircraft with a Merlin engine were equipped with a four-bladed Hamilton Standard 24D50-65 Hydromatic or -87 propeller. Aluminum blades type 6547-6, 6547A-6 or 6523A-24. Propeller diameter 11'2". Some P-51Ks were fitted with four-blade A542S Unimatic propellers from Airoproducts. Propeller diameter 11 feet 1 inch, blades type H20-156R-23M5 made of steel. All propellers were equipped with aluminum spinner.

propeller pitch control system. All P-51 aircraft had constant speed propellers. On Allison-powered aircraft, there was an automatic propeller pitch switch under the instrument panel, eliminating the need for the pilot to adjust the pitch manually.

On airplanes with the Merlin engine, there was also an automatic control unit that adjusted the propeller pitch depending on the engine speed.

The water injection system first appeared on the R-51N aircraft.

Engine cooling system on aircraft with Allison engines, the expansion tank of the cooling system was located above the engine, directly behind the propeller. The forced circulation of the coolant (antifreeze) was provided by the pump. The radiator was located in a tunnel in the central part of the fuselage, behind the cockpit. Exit - the opening of the tunnel was blocked by a valve regulated from the cockpit. Merlin-powered aircraft used two cooling systems. The engine radiator remained basically the same as before. An intermediate radiator was added, in which the air-fuel mixture was cooled, between the first and second boost stages. The total capacity of the intercooler was 4.8 gallons, including a 0.5 gallon expansion tank capacity.

The airflow through the radiator tunnel on later Mustangs was automatically controlled. The pilot could choose one of four modes of operation: automatic, open, closed, control off. Automatic control had to be abandoned only in the event of a thermostat failure.

Boost control. Aircraft with the Allison engine had a single-stage, single-speed boost that did not require any control. The Merlin engines were aggregated with a two-stage two-speed boost, controlled automatically by an aneroid that determined the air pressure in the carburetor inlet. The second boost speed was turned on at altitudes from 16,000 to 25,000 feet, depending on engine modification. In the cockpit there was a switch that allowed you to manually adjust the operation of the pressurization.

Canopy R-51V.

Canopy R-51C. Shown is a window on the windshield.

Elements of the cockpit canopy R-51 V/S.

Lantern designed by engineer Malcolm (the so-called "Malcolm hood").

Details of the P-51D/K lantern.

Malcolm Lantern Guide.

Varieties of fasteners used in the construction of the lantern.

Windshield R-51V/S, view from the inside.

The central panel of a lantern assembled.

The back panels of the lamp.

Double cabin TF-51D, canopy removed.

The left side of the cab "Mustang I". You can see the flywheels-regulators of the aileron trimmer (light at the bottom, vertically), the rudder (black, horizontally) and the elevator (black, on an inclined console). Above you can see the combined throttle and pitch knobs. The landing gear release lever is visible at the bottom of the picture.

The starboard side of the Mustang I. In the center is a pocket for maps. Above it is a panel of switches for navigation and landing lights, as well as a pitot tube heating system. Even higher, on the frame of the lantern, a rounded Morse key is visible. The top of the control stick in the form of a ring was typical for British aircraft. For the Americans, this part had the shape of a pistol grip. On the ring, a large button for lowering machine guns is visible. A small panel with two round scales, to the right of the chair, is the oxygen supply regulator.

Main dashboard XP-51. It almost did not differ from the dashboard of the Mustang I, which was produced for Britain. A traditional American control knob is visible in the foreground. The ST1A red dot sight is visible at the top of the image, with an auxiliary concentric sight to its left. Under the main dashboard there is an additional panel on which the starter controls are assembled.

The left side of the cockpit R-51. The pilot's seat has been removed. The differences from the British version are minimal. The control knob ends not with a ring, but with a pistol grip. Under the landing gear release lever there is an additional tail wheel lock lever. A concentric sight is visible at the top, and next to it is a ST1A collimator sight.

Cockpit P-5IB. An almost fully equipped cockpit, only a seat and a few signs are missing. There is a rear-view mirror at the top of the windshield. Under the mirror is an N-3C red dot sight. Behind the sight is five-layer armored glass 38.1 mm (1.5 inches) thick, mounted at an angle of 31 degrees.

Additional panels under the main dashboard. The upper one served to control the start of the engine, and the lower one was equipped with a gas tank switch and a fuel gauge.

Left console with trim controls and throttle and prop controls.

The right side of the R-51V/S cockpit. The radio control units SCR 522 and SCR 535 are visible.

The main dashboard, under it is the starter panel, even lower than the gas tank switch in the R-51V / C cockpit. The pedals with the North American logo are clearly visible. Below the emblem is an inscription informing the pilot that the pedals must be depressed to release the wheel brakes.

Cabin P-51D-5. You can see the difference in the design of the main dashboard, the starter panel and the location of the controls on the sides of the cab.

View of the cockpit P-5ID / K from above, from the point of view of the pilot boarding the plane. A pipe of the cabin heating system runs parallel to the guide cover of the lantern.

Left side of the cockpit P-51D/K. The main difference compared to previous modifications lies in the design of the console with trimmer controls.

The starboard side of the cockpit P-51D/K. Noteworthy is more equipment. In the center you can see the cockpit light bulb, and on the right is the handle that opens the lantern.

The K-14A collimator sight was installed above the dashboard. A spongy shock absorber is visible, protecting the pilot's face from hitting the sight in the event of an accident.

The lubrication system consisted of an oil tank (80 liters on aircraft with a Merlin engine) mounted in the front of the fuselage, in front of the fire bulkhead. The oil cooler was in the tunnel. The oil temperature was controlled by a thermostat. The oil pump took power from the engine, the lubrication system did not allow the flight down the cabin for more than 10 seconds.

Fire extinguishing system. Aircraft of all modifications were equipped with open fire sensors and an automatic fire extinguishing system.

The fuel system on aircraft powered by Allison engines consisted of two tanks in the wings with a capacity of 90 gallons. Tanks were in the center section between the spars. The left tank had an additional reserve capacity of 31 gallons. Early P-51 aircraft could not take external tanks. On the R-51A and A-36A aircraft, such an opportunity appeared. 75 and 150 gallon tanks were used. The former were used during combat sorties, the latter during long-distance flights outside the combat zone.

On aircraft with a Merlin engine, the fuel system consisted of two 348-liter tanks located in the center section. Starting with the R-51V-7 / R-51C-3 series, Mustangs were equipped with an additional 85-gallon tank installed inside the fuselage. Special kits were also produced that made it possible to install such tanks on aircraft by field workshops. With the additional tank filled, the center of gravity of the aircraft shifted greatly, which made piloting difficult. Therefore, no more than 65 gallons were usually poured into the tank. As before, the aircraft could carry two outboard gas tanks. In the cockpit there was a lever for dropping outboard tanks, which could be used in the event of a failure of the electrical system. The aircraft was refueled with 100/130 octane fuel. Floatless carburetor, with injection from a gasoline pump. At altitudes of more than 2500 m, additional pumps installed at the tanks were connected. There was a panel in the cockpit that allowed switching the fuel supply and pumping it between tanks.

Cockpit view of P-51A-1-NA (43-6055). The radio compartment is visible. Pay attention to the fact that the armored back of the chair is attached to the anti-bonnet bar. Visible lantern shutters.

Installing the SCR-274 radio station behind the pilot's seat. The design of the anti-bonnet arc is visible. The armored back of the chair has not yet been mounted.

The rear of the P-51B-7-NA cab. The rack for the transceiver and battery is visible. An additional gas tank and its drainage tube are visible immediately behind the seat.

12.7 mm machine guns under the XP-51 engine.

Wing layout with two 20 mm cannons installed in it. Spent shells are visible on the ground.

M-2 guns of 20 mm caliber mounted in the R-51 wing.

Flight and navigation instruments. Aircraft with the Allison engine were equipped with: a chronometer, an accelerometer, an altimeter, a curvimeter, a gyrocompass, a speedometer, a transverse inclinometer, a variometer and a magnetic compass. The operation of the engine was controlled by a vacuum gauge, an intake tract pressure gauge, a tachometer, coolant and oil temperature gauges. There were fuel and oil gauges. Other instruments: oxygen consumption indicator in the breathing apparatus, pressure indicator in the hydraulic system and ammeter.

Aircraft with the Merlin engine were equipped with the following instruments: speedometer, compass, gyroscopic course indicator, chronometer, variometer, accelerometer, altimeter. Engine monitoring: vacuum gauge, intake tract pressure gauge, coolant temperature gauge, tachometer, carburetor air temperature gauge. Other instruments: oxygen pressure gauge, hydraulic pressure gauge, ammeter.

Electrical equipment. Allison-powered aircraft: 24-volt, DC, single-wire wiring. Powered by battery and alternator. The battery was located behind the pilot's seat. Consumers: ignition system, propeller pitch control mechanism, fuel pumps, instruments, radio station, running lights, machine gun triggering, sight illumination, bomb and external tanks drop system. On airplanes with the Merlin engine, the 24 V mains voltage was maintained using a 28-volt 100-ampere generator. In the event of a voltage drop on the generator below 26.5 V, a 24-volt battery with a capacity of 34 Ah was connected. Initially, the battery was located behind the pilot's seat, later it was moved to the engine compartment. Additionally, the aircraft was equipped with an alternating current generator (26 V, 400 Hz) to power the compass. The on-board network was connected to a pressurization control machine, a cooling system control machine, a starter, fuel pumps, machine gun release, bomb locks, cockpit heating, radio and lighting equipment. External lighting consisted of position lights and landing searchlights installed in the leading edge of the wings.

The oxygen equipment on aircraft with the Allison engine consisted of two D-2 cylinders installed in the rear fuselage, as well as an A-9A regulator. The P-51Ds had two D-2s and two F-2s and an AN6004 or A-12 regulator.

Additional equipment. The aircraft was equipped with a full set of navigation equipment, as well as instruments that control the operation of the engine. In addition, there was a K-9 sight or a K-14 gyroscopic sight on the dashboard. There was an emergency mechanical sight on the engine hood. The button for releasing machine guns and dropping bombs was on the control stick.

Radio station. Aircraft with an Allison engine were equipped with an SCR-274 radio set, which included a transmitter and three receivers. Later, radio stations SCR-522, 515, 535, 695 appeared, which became the standard for aircraft with the Merlin engine. The radio station was placed in a compartment behind the cockpit.

Aircraft of later series were additionally equipped with an AN / ARC-3 radio station, an AN / ARA-8 radio beacon and an IFF AN / AFX-6 transponder.

Cartridge boxes and features of their fastening in the R-51V/S wing.

12.7 mm Colt-Browning M2 machine gun.

Installing machine guns in the R-51A wing. The machine guns were at a significant angle to facilitate the feed of the tape. The left inset A shows the spring-loaded rear mount of the machine gun. The right inset C shows the channel that guides the spent cartridges.

Armament and armor R-51V/S. 1. Bomb rack. 2. Armored back of the chair. 3. Photo machine gun N1 (focal length 75 mm) or N4 (35 mm). 4. Bomb release handle. 5. Fire bulkhead. 6. Armored plate in front of the expansion tank of the cooling system. 7. Containers with 12.7mm rounds. 8. Guide tapes of the internal machine gun. 9. Guide tapes of the external machine gun. 10. Auxiliary sight. 11. Machine gun "Colt-Browning M2" caliber 12.7 mm. 12. Auxiliary sight ring. 13. Collimator sight. 14. Descent machine guns type B-5. 15. Armored headboard of the pilot's seat.

Installation of M2 machine guns of 12.7 mm caliber in the P-51D/K wing.

Three 12.7 mm Colt-Browning M2 machine guns in the P-51D wing. The new wing made it possible to increase the number of machine guns and their ammunition load compared to the R-51V/S.

Collimator sight ZV-9 on R-51D. In front of the sight is five-layer bulletproof glass 38.1 mm (1.5 in) thick.

A 227 kg (500 lb) practice bomb on a holder under the wing of a P-51D.

500 lb (227 kg) bomb on a hydraulically lifted cart. "Mustang" could take two of these bombs.

Armament. Various modifications of the Mustang could carry machine guns of 12.7 mm, 7.62 mm (export versions) and 20 mm M2 guns. The weapon configuration depended on the series. The first Allison-powered Mustangs carried two 12.7 mm machine guns mounted under the hood. The machine guns were equipped with a synchronizer, which made it possible to shoot at engine operating modes from 1000 to 3000 rpm.

The first American Mustangs carried four 20-mm M2 cannons in the wings with 125 rounds of ammunition per barrel.

The following modifications - R-51A, A-36A - carried six 12.7-mm machine guns - four in the wings and two under the hood. Under the hood, machine guns could be absent. Ammunition up to 200 rounds per barrel, and the total ammunition load did not exceed 1100 rounds.

The machine guns were adjusted so that their trajectories converged at a distance of 270 m from the nose of the aircraft. The pilot could reload machine guns mounted under the hood. For this purpose, two thrusts were brought into his cabin. If there were no machine guns under the hood, there was no need to place ballast instead.

The P-51V/S and Mustang II/III aircraft carried only machine guns in the wings. At the same time, the power supply system was improved.

Aircraft with machine guns in the wings could take up to 250 rounds of ammunition for the barrel of internal machine guns and 350 rounds for the barrel of external machine guns. The descent of machine guns was carried out electrically.

Export Mustangs I / IA additionally carried a pair of 7.62 mm machine guns mounted in the wings between the 12.7 mm machine guns.

The P-51D already had six 12.7-mm machine guns in the wings, equipped with a J-1 or J-4 lock heating system. Ammunition for internal machine guns was 500 (later 400) rounds per barrel. The ammunition load of the remaining machine guns is 270 rounds per barrel. In the case of dismantling a pair of medium machine guns, the ammunition load for all four machine guns was 500 rounds each.

P-51A, A-36A and P-51 V / C could additionally take two bombs weighing 100, 250, 325 or 500 pounds (45,113,147 and 227 kg, respectively). Bombs were hung on locks under the wings. Bombs could be dropped in a hill up to 30 g, level flight and a dive up to 5 g due to the possibility of damaging the propeller.

In addition, the Mustangs could carry 5-inch HVAR rockets or 4.5-inch bazookas under the wings.

UZV sight mounted on R-51V.

Photomachine guns used on the R-51V / C: N-1 (lens focal length 75 mm - left) and AN / N-4. (lens focal length 35 mm).

A-1 machine for the N3C collimator sight on the R-51C.

The K-14A sight used on later P-51Ds.

From the book Lost Victories of Soviet Aviation author

BOK-1 technical description The BOK-1 wing, equipped with a center section and detachable consoles, is three-spar, unlike the ANT-25, at the junction with the fuselage does not have powerful fairings. Detachable parts of the wing (POC) have 16 ribs, the upper belts of which protrude into the oncoming flow. Belts

Technical description Pilots in the cockpit of the V-25SD This description is based on the design of modifications C and D, indicating the changes made to the machines of other variants. The V-25 bomber is a twin-engine all-metal cantilever monoplane. It had a fuselage