The P-51 was designed (as the NA-73) in 1940 at Britain's request. An in-line engine, the British preference, was specified as well as the British standard of eight machine guns. The prototype was constructed within a 120-day limit. It was one of the few aircraft types that were conceived after the start of World War II yet saw large-scale service in the war. In permitting North American to design a fighter for a foreign buyer, the US Army Air Corps stipulated that two examples of the production model should be supplied free of charge for evaluation. It was the Royal Air Force that bestowed the nickname "Mustang" on the type. The first version for the US was the A-36 Apache dive bomber that first flew in 1942. About 500 of these "near-Mustangs" were built and saw action in the Italian campaign and in India. In December 1943, P-51Bs first entered combat over Europe, powered by Packard-built Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. They provided high-altitude escort to B-17s and B-24s, and by war's end, P-51 pilots had destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft in the air (nearly half of the US total destroyed) and an additional 4,131 on the ground, more than any other US fighter in Europe. Despite this showing, none of the top four Army Air Forces aces flew Mustangs. P-51s saw service in nearly every combat zone in the war; in the Pacific, they escorted B-29s to Japan from Iwo Jima. At war's end, 5,541 Mustangs were on hand. Surplus machines were sold or given to Australia, Canada, China, Cuba, Denmark, the Dominican Republic, France, Indonesia, Israel, Sweden, Korea, Switzerland, and Italy. During the Korean War, F-51Ds (as they were redesignated in 1948) were used primarily for close support of ground forces until the type was withdrawn from combat in 1953. Mustangs have been popular for many years on the unlimited racing circuit. In 1984, the Piper Enforcer, a turboprop design based on the P-51, was marketed to smaller air forces as a light attack aircraft although none was bought.
| Contractors: | North American Aviation, Inc. |
| Locations Built: | Inglewood, Calif. |
| Dallas, Tex. | |
| Number Built: (USAF) | 15,621, incl 500 A-36As (13,722) |
| First Flight: | October 26, 1940 |
| First Flight Model: | NA-73 (also referred to as NA-73X) |
| First Flight Location: | Inglewood, Calif. |
| First Flight Pilot: | Vance Breese |
| Models/Variants: | P-51, P-51A, B, C, D, H, K. F-6A, B, C, D, K. A- 36A Apache |
| Powerplant: | One Packard V-1650-7 (license-built Rolls-Royce Merlin) liquid-cooled V- 12 of 1,490 hp |
| Wingspan: | 37 ft 0 in. |
| Length: | 32 ft 3 in. |
| Height: | 13 ft 8 in. |
| Weight: | 11,600 lb gross |
| Armament: | Six .50-cal. machine guns and up to 2,000 lb of bombs or 10 5-in. High- Velocity Aerial Rockets (HVARs) |
| Accommodation: | Pilot only |
| Cost: | $50,985 |
| Max. Speed: | 437 mph |
| Range: | 950 mi. |
| Ceiling: | 41,900 ft. |
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