 |
 |
|
|
Mustang History
In 1937, aircraft engineer and president of North American Aviation James H. "Dutch" Kindleberger made a trip to Germany to see some of the finest aircraft being built at that time by the German Luftwaffe. While there, Dutch examined the planes and their components, paying close attention to the advanced fighter aircraft. He recognized that nobody else in the world was building aircraft this well. On the way home, Dutch imagined in his mind a fighter that he would like to build for his company.
At the onset of WWII in 1940, Britain was up to her knees in desperation. The German Luftwaffe demanded the best that the Royal Air Force (RAF) had to offer, both in machine and pilot. The Spitfire was a fine plane, and was in heavy demand. Being shorthanded of planes, the RAF requested Curtiss Aircraft Corp. to build the tough and durable P-40 fighter for England. Curtiss simply could not do this due to production being at full strength already. The RAF then offered to contract Dutch Kindleberger to build P-40's under license of Curtiss. Dutch, being a shrewd business man, would not build another company's fighter, thus, he offered to build an entirely new and superior fighter in just 120 days. 120 days! Dutch had already designed the plane in his mind, and, since the RAF had no other alternatives, they accepted the offer. Before the end of 1940, Dutch had ready the first prototype fighter which was termed NA73X. Testing went well, and it was found that the plane performed well, although only as a low level fighter, with its American Allison V-12 engine.
During 1941, a British pilot who flew the new plane, then termed P-51A, said that the plane handled very well, was sleek, and had very nice Laminar-Flow wings, and had the potential to be much faster, more efficient, with a higher ceiling were it to be given a better engine. The pilot recommended testing the plane with a Rolls Royce Merlin V-12 engine. Rolls Royce had been in the business of building engines for a long time, and they were very good at it. Thus, the plane underwent new testing with a new engine, and it was found that the Merlin far out-performed the Allison. So, the new version of the plane, P-51 B, received the new engine in 1942.
The Army Air Corps had also been using the P-51A with the Allison engine as a low-attack, ground support fighter named the "Apache" A-36. Many of the ground crew and pilots of this plane gave it great compliments. It was dependable, sleek, and convenient to work on. The Army Air Corps heard of the engine change, and took interest by testing the plane with the new engine.
|
