"The fuel booster is on, the pressure is good and the primer button is on for five seconds. I set the throttle with my left hand and push the stick back between my knees, holding the elevation in the up position. I don't want the tail to rise when the slipstream from the propeller hits the tail. The magneto switches are on and I press the starter button. The power of the starter motor jolts the polished blades slowly into life. Puffs of black smoke are expelled from the short exhaust stubs either side of the long nose. The blades turn more quickly now as the seemingly disorganised sound materialises into the smooth and familiar tune of a 'vee 12' Merlin.

Norman Lees. Display pilot

This is how it began, the first prototype, the N.A.73X. North American Aviation had build it, only after 102 days, it was equipped with an Allison engine V-1710 with 1.166 HP. It was build for the RAF, the U.S. military was not interested in the MUSTANG at the beginning. On the 24.october 1941 the first Mustang arrived at Liverpool. It was an excellent plane which better perfomance than the SPITFIRE V. The only drawback was the lack of power from the allison engine at high altitude.

This problem got resolved in november 1942 when the XP-51B startet for it's first test-flight. It was totaly redesigned, it got an MERLIN 61 engine ( build by Packard under the name V-1650-7) with 1613 HP, the airframe was made smoother, it got an 4-blade propeller and the air intake was moved from top of the nose, under the nose.

P-51A

P-51B, P51C, actually this is a P51B, but it's very difficult to make a difference between the two versions.

There existed a lot of variations of the mustang, which it is impossible for me to oversee. The next major change then was the P-51D. It had an auxilliary center fuel tank, which made it possible to escort the bombers up to Berlin. People say that Hermann Göring said, 'When I saw the MUSTANG's fly over Berlin, I knew that Germany has lost the war!'.

P-51D At this image you can properly see the changed tail-fin which gave a better direction stability.

If you are pilot and want a mustang, and are not a millionaire you could buy a mustang replica, they are smaller (aprox 2/3), not as powerfull, but also not as expensive as the original mustang. I found two replica mustangs in flight magazines.

This is the first one I saw, the FEW Mustang. Constructed by Fighter Escort Wing, Ardmore Airpark, 206, Gene Autry, Oklahoma 73436, USA.

This one is called the S51, when this article appeared it was still a prototype. I found no adress of the constructor, the only thing I know, is his name, Jim Stewart.

If you want to fly a mustang without many costs, there are a few simulations where you can ride the mustang , Aces of the pacific, Secret weapon of the luftwaffe..... Another fun thing, which I never have tried until now, is to dogfight other people over the INTERNET. With ONLINE programs as AIR WARRIOR, you can choose your favorite WARBIRD, join a squadron, and test your skills against other people on the NET .

If you want to see more mustang action, there is a comic available, which is called BIGGLES. You will meet every popular WW2-plane you like there.

As you can see this is a german edition, but I think the original is in french, this picture is from "STUKA UND LANCASTER" ( no need to translate ;-) ) the autors are Bergése, Asso and Johns. The editor is comicplus+ , ISBN 3-89474-042-6.

An other suggestion I have for all you Warbird fans is, ' MEMPHIS BELLE ', a must see for every fan, this movie tells the story of a B17 crew, flying his last mission.

Next comes my image gallery, click the tumbnails, to get a larger image. I do not have to much disk space, therefore I can not put up too many pics.

If you have comments or sugestions, Email : rocker_lx@yahoo.com

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