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North American P-51 Mustang Best Fighter of All Time

The North American P-51 Mustang holds the number 1 spot as the best American fighter plane of all time. To this day the P-51 holds the top spot. The Mustang was a fighter bomber built as a single seat fighter. It primary service was during World War II, Korean War and a number of other Military conflicts. P-51 Mustang fighter pilots shot down 4,950 of the enemy aircraft during World War II. Its record is second to the Grumman F6F Hellcat only because of its late introduction to the War.

The British Purchasing Commission desperate for planes to fight the War with ordered from North American Aviation a plane per their specifications. After North American signed the contract they made history with the roll out of the NA-73X the first prototype in just 102 days. The prototype did not have an engine yet but the airframe was ready. Per the contract the Mustang was to be used as a low altitude fighter bomber and tactical reconnaissance. The power plant was to be the Allison V-1710.

Very early on the Mustang gained great respect because it was a simple aircraft with a very reliable engine that was easily serviced and understood. The P-51 airframe had lots of internal space to carry a tremendous fuel load. It could also carry external fuel tanks that extended its range all the way to Germany and back again. This made it perfect for bomber escort to and from the deepest targets all over Germany.

The German Luftwaffe tried to adapt to the new U.S. fighters by flying in a single formation flying fast straight through the bombers on attack. The P-51 Mustangs flying in close formation had little time to react and pursue. The German Luftwaffe also increased their armament on the fighters with big heavy cannons. This degraded the performance of their aircraft making them easy targets for the P-51s.

The P-51B/Cs were used as a defense against the V-1 rockets launched at London. They would fuel the Mustangs with 150 octane fuel that made them fast enough to catch the rockets and shoot them down.

The success of the North American P-51 Mustangs seriously depleted the German Luftwaffe airfields and fighter planes that they no longer made useful targets. So operation cleanup started and the P-51s started targeting railways, troops and materiel being transported. The Mustangs were very successful at this mission with one drawback their losses were much higher. With the Mustang’s using liquid cooled engines the cooling systems could be taken out by small arms fire with a simple puncture.

The German Luftwaffe suffering such high losses they put their effort into much higher performance aircraft to try to dominate the Allied Air Forces. The high performance aircraft they tried to use were the Messerschmitt Me 163 rocket interceptor which proved to be more dangerous to the Germans than the Allies and also the Jet Fighter the Messerschmitt Me 262 with its unreliable jet engines. The Me 262 was vulnerable on takeoff and landings. The first Me 262 shot down by an American fighter pilot was by Lt. Chuck Yeager. He caught the Me 262 coming in for a landing. The Luftwaffe’s high performance aircraft development was never any real threat because they could not produce and numbers or quality.

It wasn’t until late 1943 that the USAAF’s Eight Air Force began to escort bombers in raids over Germany with P-51B’s. By late 1944 they were getting the newer P-51Ds. From this time on the P-51 say some service all over the world with the Allied Air Forces in the theatres of North Africa, Mediterranean and Italian. The P-51 saw some service in the War in the Pacific against the Japanese.

The Mustang was the primary fighter plane used by the United Nations at the start of the Korean War. Later the roll was taken over by the newer Jet Fighters like the F-86 Saber. And the roll of the Mustangs switched to ground attack fight bombers.

North American P-51 Mustang Has Had a Long Life

Even with the introduction of the newer advanced Jet Fighters the P-51 Mustang remained in service with some Air Forces up into the 1980s. After the War and Korean conflict many of the Mustangs were used in air racing for civilian use.

Model collectors of World War II airplane must have the North American P-51 Mustang in their collection they are available in the $4 to $5 plastic model airplane to the large RC RTF sky burners.

Find Many Other P-51 Mustang Model Plane in This List!