Model Aircraft  |  MAE-04 P-51 Mustang
Building the P-51 Mustang
Model Aircraft Extra #4
Compiled by Andy Evans
Marrying an American dive-bomber design and a British engine, the North American P-51 Mustang became one of the greatest fighters of World War II. The iconic P-51 was a World War II single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber that also saw service in the Korean War and other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October. The Mustang was designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which had limited high-altitude performance in its earlier variants. The aircraft was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). Replacing the Allison with a Rolls-Royce Merlin resulted in the P-51B/C (Mustang Mk III) model and transformed the aircraft’s performance at altitudes above 15,000ft, without sacrificing range, allowing it to compete with the Luftwaffe’s fighters. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66 and was armed with six .50 calibre M2/AN Browning machine guns.
meer lezen
minder lezen
Als abonnee ontvang je de volgende voordelen:
• Een korting op de verkoopprijs van je tijdschrift
• Je tijdschrift elke maand op je apparaat
• Je zult nooit een editie missen
• Je bent beschermd tegen prijsstijgingen die later in het jaar kunnen plaatsvinden
Je ontvangt 6 edities gedurende een periode van 1 jaar Model Aircraft abonnement op een tijdschrift.
Opmerking: Digitale edities bevatten niet de omslagitems of supplementen die je zou vinden bij gedrukte exemplaren.
Artikelen in deze editie
Hieronder vindt u een selectie van artikelen in Model Aircraft MAE-04 P-51 Mustang.