The P-51 Mustang

[Darts]

was the best fighter aircraft of WW II. It put the final nail in the coffin of the Luftwaffe and achieved complete air superiority for the good guys. It escorted friendly bombers deep into enemy territory and back. It was the plane flown by Lt. Chuck Yeager who later broke the sound barrier. It was the plane ("Red Tails) flown by the famous Tuskegee Airmen.

North American P-51 Mustang - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Tuskegee Airmen - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Washington’s NFL Team Could Be Renamed the ‘Red Tails.’ Real Tuskegee Airmen Have Mixed Feelings About That

According to one betting site, the "Redtails" are the odd-on favorites to be the team's new name

time.com

 

[Indiana]

Debatable

 

[Darts]

Debatable

Are you going to bring up that German jet?

 

[jerimander]

American fighters usually outnumbered those of the Luftwaffe giving an advantage to the Americans.

 

[nervousintheservice]

American fighters usually outnumbered those of the Luftwaffe giving an advantage to the Americans.

I was just about to post something simlar. While the P51 was a decent fighter, the real reason it turned the tides was the sheer number they could keep in the air. Germany was struggling to produce enough munitions and materiels at the end of the war. Most of Europe was struggling to keep up production. The USA had unlimited factories far away from the risk of bombing raids.

 

[lessjamie7]

was the best fighter aircraft of WW II. It put the final nail in the coffin of the Luftwaffe and achieved complete air superiority for the good guys. It escorted friendly bombers deep into enemy territory and back. It was the plane flown by Lt. Chuck Yeager who later broke the sound barrier. It was the plane ("Red Tails) flown by the famous Tuskegee Airmen.

North American P-51 Mustang - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Tuskegee Airmen - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Washington’s NFL Team Could Be Renamed the ‘Red Tails.’ Real Tuskegee Airmen Have Mixed Feelings About That

According to one betting site, the "Redtails" are the odd-on favorites to be the team's new name

time.com

View attachment 29082

Wow this brings back memories, I got the P-51 gas-powered fly by wire model plane 50 yrs ago and it was fully chromed, cool as fuck, we used to stand my buddy's sisters' dolls up on the grass and try to knock their heads off by swooping the P-51 down low without crashing it.

The good old days.

LJ

 

[jerimander]

One on one, the German FW-190D had a slight advantage over the P51 when flown by a good pilot because of its faster acceleration.

Hans Dortenmann--The Luftwaffe's Highest Scoring Focke Wulf FW-190D Ace

Oberleutnant Hans Dortenmann of JG 26 shooting down Major Harry Downing, CO of the 84th FS, 78th FG on 19 March 1945.

www.starduststudios.com

 

[bazokajoe]

Enough of the debate.War is over.
Let's just enjoy the old and the new flying side by side at the London Air show.

 

[scdave2003]

FW 190D probably better, ME 262 came too late, misappropriation by Hitler as a bomber and flown by poorly trained pilots. The Luftwaffe was picking from the bottom of the barrel at that stage of the war.

 

[james t kirk]

Yes, the P51 is an iconic plane. A truly legendary fighter plane built by the Americans and designed by the British.

A bit of a dog initially as the Americans insisted on putting an American Allison engine in it (Allison being General Motors' aircraft engine division at the time). It looked at the time that the plane was going to be relegated to the aviation history bin until Britain bought a few P51s from the Americans for testing, realized that the Allison engine was a woefully under performing engine, junked the piece of shit Alison engine and put in proper Rolls Royce Merlin engines. The rest is glorious aviation history as the plane positively came alive with the Merlin in it.

If you've ever heard a Merlin, it has an unmistakable sound. The Lancaster in Hamilton has 4 Merlins. On several occasions, I've been walking down the street in Toronto with my head down and heard the symphony of 4 Merlins and have known right away that VERA has taken to the skies and is flying over top.

The Germans had nothing like the Merlin. As Jay Leno correctly has stated, "it is the engine that won the war".

 

[bazokajoe]

Yes, the P51 is an iconic plane. A truly legendary fighter plane built by the Americans and designed by the British.

A bit of a dog initially as the Americans insisted on putting an American Allison engine in it (Allison being General Motors' aircraft engine division at the time). It looked at the time that the plane was going to be relegated to the aviation history bin until Britain bought a few P51s from the Americans for testing, realized that the Allison engine was a woefully under performing engine, junked the piece of shit Alison engine and put in proper Rolls Royce Merlin engines. The rest is glorious aviation history as the plane positively came alive with the Merlin in it.

If you've ever heard a Merlin, it has an unmistakable sound. The Lancaster in Hamilton has 4 Merlins. On several occasions, I've been walking down the street in Toronto with my head down and heard the symphony of 4 Merlins and have known right away that VERA has taken to the skies and is flying over top.

The Germans had nothing like it. As Jay Leno correctly has stated, "it is the engine that won the war".

Vera flies over my house when it goes on it's summer flights. It flies pretty low and man is it loud. Usually hear it before I see it.

 

[jcpro]

If you want to know the real facts, figures and the reasons behind the "collapse" of the Axis air forces, read the United States Strategic Bombing Survey. It is a fascinating document prepared right after the second WW. It is basically a forensic audit of the war. In this Covid times and extra time available, I went through the Far East portion and it really puts the things in perspective. It left me actually feeling sorry for the Japanese people and wondering about the depths of the human stupidity. Where the P-51 fit into this? It doesn't. It is simply not that important; a foot note, at best. https://www.history.navy.mil/resear...rrogations-japanese-officials-voli.html#no108

 

[Boss Nass]

The P-51 was probably the best. Its long range was one of the better attributes, enabling bomber escort duties that many others couldn't do. The laminar flow wing, while a good idea, was not really up to snuff, and didn't give it the advantages that were expected: http://www.aviation-history.com/theory/lam-flow.htm

The Me-262? Where to begin? Great aircraft, if you could keep it flying. The axial flow engines were ahead of the technology and metallurgy available, giving them an average lifetime so short that you were lucky to get to the runway and take off. Britain did the right thing by using thecentrifugal flow designs first, lower power and larger frontal area, but far more reliable. They had axial flow engines up and running, but didn't pursue the technology fully at first, realising that it would take time. German over-engineering, and overconfidence in their engineering, was one of their biggest stumbling blocks from beginning to end.

 

[Darts]

I went through the Far East portion and it really puts the things in perspective. It left me actually feeling sorry for the Japanese people and wondering about the depths of the human stupidity. Where the P-51 fit into this? It doesn't. It is simply not that important; a foot note, at best. https://www.history.navy.mil/resear...rrogations-japanese-officials-voli.html#no108

The P-51 didn't make much impact in the Pacific Theatre. Much of American air power there was carrier based.

Naval victories opened the way for land based B-29's to attack the enemy's home islands.

"The Great Marianas Turkey Shoot"

The U.S. Navy’s offensive in the Central Pacific gathered tremendous strength in early 1944 and moved to within striking distance of Japan. With the threat of an American push into the Marianas Islands by June, the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) hoped to protect their home islands. Realizing the...

www.history.navy.mil

 

[fhp1556]

For me, I’m personally a fan of the Vought F4U Corsair. But they are both great fighters in their own right.

 

[Darts]

"The Corsair was designed and operated as a carrier-based aircraft, and entered service in large numbers with the U.S. Navy in late 1944 and early 1945. It quickly became one of the most capable carrier-based fighter-bombers of World War II.[2] Some Japanese pilots regarded it as the most formidable American fighter of World War II and its naval aviators achieved an 11:1 kill ratio.[3][4"

 

[Darts]

The P-38 Lightning.

The P-38: When Lightning Strikes

Explore the Legacy of the P-38 Lightning, the iconic twin-tailed fighter aircraft that redefined aviation with its speed, innovation, and unmatched versatility.

www.lockheedmartin.com

Richard Bong - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[jerimander]

Naval victories opened the way for land based B-29's to attack the enemy's home islands.

Only the P-51 had the range to escort the B-29s to Japan. Here's some interesting info:

The Mustang was the only fighter with the range to effectively escort Superfortress bombers on their raids over Japan. However, the combat record of the Mustang in this theater was not nearly as outstanding as in the European theater. In return for destroying 221 Japanese aircraft, the Mustangs suffered 114 combat losses, 43 operational losses, and 107 lost pilots. Given the toughness of the Superfortresses and the weakness of Japanese air defenses at this stage of the war, this exchange rate is difficult to justify. The long flights were so stressful on pilots that they were rotated home after as few as 15 missions, and it became customary to change all the spark plugs out of the engines after every escort mission due to fouling during the long, low-RPM cruises.

 

[Darts]

However, the combat record of the Mustang in this theater was not nearly as outstanding as in the European theater. In return for destroying 221 Japanese aircraft, the Mustangs suffered 114 combat losses, 43 operational losses, and 107 lost pilots. Given the toughness of the Superfortresses and the weakness of Japanese air defenses at this stage of the war, this exchange rate is difficult to justify. The long flights were so stressful on pilots that they were rotated home after as few as 15 missions, and it became customary to change all the spark plugs out of the engines after every escort mission due to fouling during the long, low-RPM cruises.

Surprising stats. German pilots and machines were highly regarded.

Anyway, I think the two B-29's that dropped the A-bombs flew unescorted. They flew at an altitude higher than the AA guns.

 

[Indiana]

Are you going to bring up that German jet?

Good plane with the best pilots wins.
Having said that, ME262 was very good.
Better with better pilots.