The Spitfire IX and P-51 have similar climbing abilities at 3200 feet per minute, the P-51 is faster at 440 to the Spits 404 mph, and the Spit is far lighter by 2 full tons (much of that in fuel) and far more maneuverable as a result.
The Bf 109 was arguably the best fighter in the world in 1940. It was faster than the Spitfire at high altitude, could dive more rapidly and carried a more effective armament of two cannon and two machine guns.
So the AFDU decided to try the aircraft with a Rolls Royce Merlin instead. That aircraft became one of the greatest fighters of the Second World War - the P-51 Mustang. The P-51 could fly and fight with British and American bombers all the way to Berlin and back again.
The P38 was designed to be an interceptor, the P51 a fighter. When introduced, the P38 was faster, and had a much better climb rate, the idea was when you spot the enemy coming, be able to get up fast and get to them. It was not as maneuverable as the P51, but did have a longer range and better firepower.
In December 1942, Allison approved only 1,570 horsepower at 60 in Hg manifold pressure for the V-1710-39. The RAF later operated 308 P-51Bs and 636 P-51Cs, which were known in RAF service as Mustang Mk IIIs; the first units converted to the type in late 1943 and early 1944.
Masters of the Air. Season 1. Episode 3. This is an insane air Dogfight.
What did German pilots think of the P-51?
Pilots thought of it as a dangerous likeness of a 109, with the A model outperforming the 109 at low altitude and later the D model outperforming it at high altitude. Similar turn rates. The D had instabilities in a dive or a zoom climb, which the 109 could take advantage of, and the Fw190 could roll faster.
The Mustang was powered by the liquid-cooled Allison V-1710 engine, which had limited high-altitude performance. This was the P-51's major flaw; it restricted the aircraft to operations below 15,000 feet. (Later turbocharged versions of the Allison engine improved this performance significantly.)
The P-47D could fly at 425 mph. the P-51 at 440 mph, the Corsair at 446 mph, the P-47N at 470 mph and the P-47M at 500 mph (hot-rodded) and all at level flight, don't let anybody tell you different.
Their design, dubbed Mustang by the British, had a low-drag laminar-flow wing and an efficient low-drag engine cooling system that gave it exceptional speed and range. It had a maximum speed of about 390 miles (630 km) per hour and a combat range of roughly 750 miles (1,200 km).
P-51 was generally a very good fighter. Sure, it wasn't the fastest in climb rate, neither in roll rate, and there were competition that was just as fast or slightly faster. But there was one thing the P-51B and later really excelled at! High speed energy fighting at 30000 feet!
Was the Messerschmitt Me 262 the fastest plane in WW2? Nowhere near the fastest. The Me163 Komet had a top speed about 100 mph faster than the Me262, at 659 mph vs 559 mph.
The Bf 109 was produced in vast quantities, with a total of 34,248 being built until April 1945. With such a huge number being active in the skies over Europe, Africa, and the Mediterranean, it is also the fighter plane with the most kills in history.
The P-51 was very fast in level flight and in a dive. It was excellent at high and low altitudes and could defeat – or at least hold its own – in dogfights with German fighters.
Everyone always trumpets how until the Spitfire lX came into production the Fw 190 rained supreme. But the truth is the German 190 pilots were not fazed by the Spitfire lX when it arrived in numbers. If a Spitfire got behind a 190 the Germans would simply dive away at speed.
The maximum speed of a P51D was 437mph whilst the Spitfire was slightly faster at 448mph. For interception, this was clearly quite important. However, the P51D was generally more specialized than the Spitfire. In it's main role, the Mustang proved itself as a superb escort fighter in Allied bombing raids over Germany.
The Spitfire's steady pace of development meant that it always remained a formidable adversary to any opponent. Even the world's first jet fighter, the Me262, was first shot down by a Spitfire.
The airfields on the islands of Okinawa and Iwo Jima were taken over by US forces in early 1945, providing fighter units with forward bases to escort the bombers to mainland Japan. Thus a navalized P-51 was no longer required and the program was terminated.
What did the P stand for in WW2 fighters? “P” stood for pursuit. Like the P38 Lightning, and P51 Mustang, it was the US Army Air Corps later US Army Air Forces designation for what we now call fighter planes. It was later changed to “F”.
He definitely preferred the Thunderbolt, as it had much better armament, more armor, a durable and air-cooled engine, carried a bigger payload, while being almost as fast and having almost as much range. The late war variants of the P-47 had a higher top speed than the P-51s.
Because the P47, P51 and Spitfire were designed for higher altitude fighting than the Soviets liked. They liked their fighting at low altitudes and those aircraft were not as maneuverable at lower altitudes.
The German Dornier DO-335 was unique in having a tractive (pulling) propeller in its nose and a propulsive (pushing) motor behind its cockpit, technology that at the time was totally new. It had a maximum sustained speed of 665 km/h (413 mph), increasing to 765 km/h (477 mph) with emergency boost.
The Thunderbolt was one of the three most important American fighters produced during the war and saw extensive service with the United States Army Air Force before its comparatively late introduction into RAF operational service in 1944.
The most important reason the Soviet Union did not like the P 51 Mustang was that it was an aircraft for the Anglo-American doctrine of air warfare, not the German-Soviet one. The North American P-51 Mustang is a single-seat long-range fighter of World War II.
The long-range P-51 Mustang fighter was invaluable to the Allied victory, enabling resumption of strategic bombing after heavy losses suffered by unescorted bombers in 1943. Developed for export to Britain, models modified by the British to use Rolls-Royce Merlin engines became America's most capable wartime fighters.
Vertical maneuvers in the -51 are also easy if done right, but they can bite you if done wrong. There are heavy torque changes in the vertical plane as the airplane slows down, and also angle of attack changes. You use a lot of rudder to keep it straight over the top.
