My Top 5 Favorite Aircraft of WWII

#1- North American P-51 Mustang

This is my number 1 favorite because it IS the best fighter. In WW2 it could compete against anything, it was packed full of technology (like laminar flow wing design), and it was the only fighter that could escort the bombers to the target zone and back. (Picture above: Painting of P-51D Mustang taking down an Focke-Wulf Fw 190)

Information (from Wikipedia):

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter bomber used during WW2 and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in 1940 by North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commision. The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build 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- V1710 engine which, in its earlier variants, had limited high-altitude performance. 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 15,000 ft (4,600 m) (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 caliber (12.7 mm)M2/AN Browning machine guns.

From late 1943, P-51Bs and Cs (supplemented by P-51Ds from mid-1944) were used by the USAAF's Eighth Air Force to escort bombers in raids over Germany, while the RAF's Second Tactical Air Force and the USAAF's Ninth Air Force used the Merlin-powered Mustangs as fighter-bombers, roles in which the Mustang helped ensure Allied air superiority in 1944. The P-51 was also used by Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean, Italian, and Pacific theaters. During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed to have destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft.

At the start of the Korean War, the Mustang, by then re-designated F-51, was the main fighter of the United Nations until jet fighters , including North American's F-86 , took over this role; the Mustang then became a specialized fighter-bomber. Despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After the Korean War, Mustangs became popular civilian warbirds and air racing aircraft.

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON THE P-51 MUSTANG GO TO THIS WEBSITE ADDRESS:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/North_American_P-51_Mustang