The P-51 Mustang was developed by North American Airlines and first flew on October 26, 1940, first supplied to the British Air Force in August 1941, and was officially procured by the U.S. Air Force in December and retired in 1984.
In 1940 North American Airlines designed a new fighter for the British Air Force, with the project name NA-73. Delivered to the British Air Force on 9 September 1940.
P-51
The P-51's laminar airfoil highly compact fuselage design greatly reduced its aerodynamic drag to 1370 km to cover the B-17 bombers for long-range attack missions. Because the early P-51 was not a fixed model in the US military, it could not use a turbocharger, and could only use the Arison V.-1710 liquid-cooled engine of the first-speed supercharger as the power source, so the high-altitude performance was not good. In 1942, North American Airlines and Rolls-Royce worked together to convert the P-51 engine into a Merlin engine licensed by Rolls-Royce to Paicade.
P-51 fighter
This improvement increased the maximum speed of the P-51 by 709 km/h. The P-51 fighter (P-51D) has a weapon system of six 12.7mm machine guns, 1880 ammunition, two ammunition, four 440 rounds each, and 270 rounds.
P-51 fighter
The P-51 had a very high status among the Allies and was one of the finest fighters of World War II.