The P-51 Mustang: The Fighter that Won World War II

Video from the channel Megaprojects about North American P-51 Mustang, linked on its Above Ten Thousand entry. Duration: 24:34. Language: English. Video type: Documentary.

An informational documentary about the North American P-51 Mustang that traces its origin as a British order, its performance in the P-51D version, its role in World War II and its later service until retirement. Includes a sponsor ad segment at the start.

The story begins in 1938, when the United Kingdom, anticipating war in Europe, was looking for American-built fighters. The only model close to its requirements, the Curtiss P-40 Tomahawk, could not be produced at the needed rate, so the British turned to North American Aviation, which proposed its own design despite never having built a fighter before. The first prototype left the factory in September 1940 and flew for the first time on 26 October of that year. The United States retained two examples, designated NA-73, for evaluation and later 57 more, mainly for reconnaissance; the arrival of the Rolls-Royce engine, which greatly improved high-altitude performance, convinced the USAAF, whose first order came in the summer of 1942. In the RAF, the first Mustangs were used for ground attack and reconnaissance, including Operation Jubilee against Dieppe and the search for V-1 flying bomb launch sites. With the Merlin engine they became the escort that let Allied bombers reach targets such as Berlin, and from early 1944, under James Doolittle, they shifted to seeking air superiority by attacking German fighters and airfields, including against the Me 262 jet. In the Pacific they escorted bombers from Iwo Jima. Renamed F-51, it served in Korea until 1953.

More than 8,000 P-51Ds, built mainly in Inglewood, California, were produced from mid-1944. It measured 32 feet 3 inches long, nearly 10 m, with a 37-foot (11.3 m) wingspan and about 7,600 lb (3,500 kg) empty weight; it took off at more than 12,000 lb. Its Packard-built Merlin V-1650 delivered 1,720 hp in war emergency power. It reached 440 mph (710 km/h), a 362 mph cruise, 1,650 miles (2,660 km) of range with drop tanks and a 42,000-foot ceiling. Armament: six .50 caliber Browning machine guns, plus rockets or bombs under the wings. According to the video, the last military Mustang was retired from the Dominican Air Force in 1984.