#1944 P-51D Mustang

[opelman]

1944 P-51D Mustang by David G. Schultz Via Flickr: Erickson Aircraft Collection

[nocternalrandomness]

1944 P-51D Mustang "Miss Judy" in the hanger at Yanks Air Museum, Chino, CA

[aviationgeek71]

Lt Ward H Douglass in his P-51D Mustang, 355th Fighter Group, 358th Fighter Squadron, 1944.

[captain-price-unofficially]

P-51 Mustang "Sea Horse"Lieutenant Robert Elder on the deck of the carrier USS Shangri-La (CV-38) during trials of the extensively modified P-51D Mustang. He was one of the Navy’s top test pilots. 1944

[planesawesome]

Lieutenant Vernon R Richards of the 361st Fighter Group flying his P-51D Mustang during a bomber escort mission in 1944. Credit - Imperial War Museum

[deutschland-im-krieg]

Oberfähnrich Wolfgang Rose of 4./JG 26 Schlageter speaks with a cameraman who is located in the radio compartment of his Focke-Wulf Fw 190A-8 " Black 10", W.Nr. 730414, France, March 1944. Unfortunately he flew just seven missions before being KIA by either a North American P-51D Mustang or a Republic P-47 Thunderbolt on 27.6.44 age 19, while attempting to land. For more, see my Facebook group - Eagles Of The Reich

[rockyp77mk3]

A USAAF P-51D Mustang on a test flight with Bazooka Rocket Launchers 1944.

Two bazookas fired from way up there? That's cute.

[usafphantom2]

July 1944

P-51D Mustang 'Fools Paradise IV' fighter of 363rd Fighter Group, US 380th Fighter Squadron at Maupertus Airfield near Cherbourg, Normandy, France.

#america #usa #photo #photooftheday #otd #WW2

@ww2today via X

[pinturas-sgm-aviacion]

1945 01 Ramrod -Outward Bound - John Shaw

In the winter of 1944-45, the skies over Germany were usually littered with literally thousands of Allied planes flying RAMROD missions, a term used by the US Air Force to describe strikes by long-range strategic bombers escorted by fighter jets flying out of their bases in England. It shows famed three-time ace Clarence E. " Bud "Anderson flying his P-51D Mustang "Old Crow" protecting a B-17 from the 100th Bombardment Group. As the leading ace of the 357th 363rd Fg Squadron, Anderson achieved a remarkable result-116 combat missions, never coming under fire from enemy aircraft.

[airmanisr]

44-74939, North American P-51D-30-NA Mustang, NASM Silver Hill, Maryland, 09-08-1974 by Gordon Riley Via Flickr: North American built 44-74939 late in 1945. It was not delivered until July 1945 and never saw combat. The Army Air Forces first assigned the fighter to Andrews Field, outside Washington, D.C., and later to Freeman Field, Indiana. After eleven months and 211 flying hours of operational service, this Mustang was set aside as a museum specimen and later transferred to the National Air Museum. When NASM acquired this Mustang, it bore a proud admonition on both sides of the fuselage in large black letters: "Guard The Victory, Join the AAF." The airplane was probably used for recruiting drives toward the end of its military career. (Visible in my photo) For exhibit purposes, this Mustang has now been painted in the colors and markings of the 351st Fighter Squadron, 353rd Fighter Group, 8th Air Force. This unit converted from North American P-47 Thunderbolts to Mustangs on September 30, 1944, while stationed at Raydon, Suffolk, England.

[sandyhookhistory]

Evenin,' folks. The Battle Of The Atlantic Posts are fighting me on formatting, so please bear with me. In the meantime, please enjoy this: 87 Years Ago Today - (Thursday) March 5th, 1936: The prototype of one of aviation history's most important airframes takes to the skies for the very first time. The place: Eastleigh Aerodrome, in Southampton, England. The Designer: R.J. Mitchell. The Pilot: Captain Joseph "Mutt" Summers. The Tail Number: K5054. The Bird.... The Supermarine Type 300. A few modifications later, and it would forever be remembered as one of the most iconic aircraft of all time: The Spitfire. If there was one aircraft that defined Great Britain, this would be it. The Spitfire would go down in history as the symbol of British defiance during the Battle Of Britain, with English pilots holding off the German Luftwaffe in the skies over southern England in 1940. It is also one of the most aesthetically beautiful airplanes of all time. The Type 300 (a reproduction of which is seen in this photo; the original was lost in a crash during WW2), as well as it's Spitfire descendants, had a particular engine - the V-12 "Merlin," built by the famed Rolls-Royce company. Yes.. THAT Rolls-Royce. The Merlin was iconic unto itself, and remains legendary in its own right. In fact, the tie-in to American WW2 History with this post is not so much the first flight of the Spitfire (although the US Army Air Force did use some of them in combat), but rather, the Merlin engine. By 1940-41, we were working on our own masterpiece of aviation, which would be the North American P-51 Mustang. However, the early models were equipped with the Allison V-12 engine, the same that was in the famous P-40 Warhawks of "Flying Tigers" fame. The Allison was a great motor for the thick, humid air of the South Pacific... not the ice cold air of Europe. A perfect matchup occured when the Merlins - built in the US under license by the famed Packard motor company - were put onto the Mustang airframes, resulting in the P-51D. This new design with a classic engine allowed the US to to take the fight deep into Germany by early 1944 with Mustangs escorting bomber formations. (at Fort Hancock, New Jersey) https://www.instagram.com/p/CpbP2ZDtrdo/?igshid=NGJjMDIxMWI=

[opelman]

1944 North American P-51D-25NT Mustang N751RC "Lady Jo" by David G. Schultz Via Flickr: Collins Foundation Roger Collins

[nocternalrandomness]

"Kwitcherbitchin"

[aviationgeek71]

P-51D Mustang, 20th Fighter Group, 79th Fighter Squadron, "Wanda's Worry" flown by Lt Robert E Campbell, England 1944.

[captain-price-unofficially]

P-51D Mustangs of the 4th Fighter Squadron in flight over Italy, 1944.

[lonestarbattleship]

On November 14 and 15, 1944, a North American ETF-51D Mustang (SN: 44-14017, BuAer 57987) was tested on USS Shangri-La (CV-38).

The tests were to determine the suitability of the Mustang on carriers. They would launch them to escort bombers to Japan.

It was piloted by Lieutenant Robert M. Elder. He made 4 successful launches and landings at day.

It was found the Mustang had a narrow speed window to land on a carrier, with a stall speed of 82 mph and the arrestor cable speed limit of 90 mph.

Bob Elder 'made all carrier landings at the speed of 85 mph. Luckily, the Mustang reacted well, even in the most delicate situations. One just had to use the throttle wisely.' Elder reported that speed control on the ETF-51D was excellent. He also stated that 'the forward visibility was good and never gave me any problems. In fact, fighters with radial engines such as the F4U or F6F were worse than the P-51 in that respect.' The aircraft also behaved well during catapult launches.

In the end, it decided it was not worth pursuing.

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