The North American P-51
Mustang is probably the most well-known of American fighters of WWII.
It was developed out of the NA-73x prototype that was initially a
design for the British. The first British models were dubbed the
Mustang Mk. I. The Mustang was originally powered by an Allison engine
that was too underpowered for this new fighter. The British left the
guns intact but added camerasfor a photoreconnaissance aircraft. At
least 23 RAF squadrons flew Mustangs in this cofiguration. The USAAF
then tested the Mustang with the Rolls Royce Merlin enginethat
dramatically improved it's performance. Many developments would
continue throughout it's service life, which lasted well into the 1950
and some countries used them into the 1970s! Picture here are about
half a dozen or so Mustangs that were at the show this year. The green
one with the non-bubble canopy is a rare P-51A model.
Copyright notice:
All images on this site are copyright Van Gilder Aviation Photography.
Use of the images for non-commercial purposes is permitted providing
that the image remains unaltered. Please contact me if you wish to use
images for commercial purposes. If you use these for a personal or not
for profit website, please let me know via e-mail.
