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The P-51 excelled at this mission, although losses were much higher on strafing missions than in air-to-air combat, partially because the Mustang's liquid-cooled engine (particularly its liquid coolant system) was vulnerable to small-arms fire, unlike the air-cooled R-2800 radials of its Republic P-47 Thunderbolt stablemates based in England ...
The P-51 Mustang was first flown in 1940, and it went on to become one of the most iconic USAAF fighter aircraft of World War II. The type was rendered obsolete as a fighter with the beginning of the Jet Age, but it continued to serve in the Korean War in the ground attack role. Many P-51s were sold as surplus, becoming a popular mount for air ...
Since appropriations were available for an attack aircraft, Echols specified modifications to the P-51 to turn it into a dive bomber. The contract for 500 A-36A aircraft fitted with bomb racks, dive brakes, and heavier-duty wing, was signed by Kelsey on 16 April 1942, [5] even before the first flight of the first production P-51 in May 1942. [6]
P-51 Mustang ©Hulton Archive / Archive Photos via Getty Images. WWII production count: 14,686. Aircraft type: Fighter. ... the Thunderbolt excelled as a ground attack plane, destroying over 9,000 ...
By the time the PA-48s were completed, they shared less than 10 percent of their structure with the P-51, and were longer and larger. The PA-48 Enforcer was a completely new aircraft. The two PA-48s were tested during 1983 and 1984 at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida, and Edwards Air Force Base, California. As in the Pave COIN tests of 1971, the ...
Fifty-five of these P-51-1s were outfitted with a pair of K.24 cameras in the rear fuselage for tactical low-level reconnaissance and re-designated F-6A (the "F" for photographic, although confusingly also still referred to as the P-51 or P-51-1 [7]). Two kept their P-51-1 designation and were used for testing by the USAAF. [clarification needed]
The aircraft was optimized for ground attack and was armored against ground fire in key locations, unlike faster fighters adapted to carry bombs, such as the Vought F4U Corsair or North American P-51 Mustang, which were retired by U.S. forces before the 1960s.
George Earl Preddy Jr. (February 5, 1919 – December 25, 1944) was a United States Army Air Forces officer during World War II and an American ace credited with 26.83 enemy air-to-air kills (a number that includes shared one-half and one-third victory credits), [1] ranking him as the top P-51 Mustang ace of World War II and eighth on the list of highest scoring American aces.