The P-51 Mustang was an American single-seat fighter aircraft which began service in the middle years of Second World War. The P-51 was flown during the war as a bomber escort in raids over Germany. It gave the Allied forces air superiority over the Germans from early 1944, but it saw limited action in the Pacific Theater. The P-51 Mustang was also used in the Korean War for ground attacks until it was superseded by jet fighters early in the conflict. The Mustang was a fast, well-made, and highly durable aircraft.
The P-51 Mustang was designed and manufactured by North American Aviation. Its first flight took place in October 1940 and was introduced in 1942. The British government ordered 300 units of these aircraft. The first P-51 fighters were powered by an Allison V-1710 engine, but their performance was not good enough at high altitudes with this engine. So, upon suggestion of British pilot Ronald Harker, the Allison V-1710 engine was replaced by a Rolls Royce Merlin 60-series engine. Soon the Americans also began replacing the Allison engines. The first P-51 Mustang equipped with the Rolls Royce Merlin engine was flown in November 1942 and was designated P-51B. The British engine considerable improved the performance of the Mustang, specially at high altitudes. At 30,000 feet, the new Mustang reached 440 MPH, many times faster than the Allison-equipped Mustang at the same altitude.
The American improved P-51 Mustang could reach a maximum speed of 440 mph at 30,000 ft. It had a range of 1,650 miles (2,755 km). It was powered by a V-1650 Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, which was built in the USA under license by Packard. The P-51 had a wingspan of 37 ft (11.28 m). It was armed with 6 12.7mm machine guns (tree on each wing), 10 127mm rockets, and could carry up to 907 kg of bombs.
In the winter of 1943-44, the 8th and 9th Air Forces were provided with the P-51 Mustangs. When the Pointblank offensive resumed in early 1944, the P-51 proved perfect for the task of escorting bombers all the way to the deepest targets, thus complementing the more numerous P-47 Thunderbolts until sufficient Mustangs became available. The Eighth Air Force immediately began to switch its fighter groups to the Mustang, first exchanging arriving P-47 groups for those of the 9th Air Force using P-51s, then gradually converted its Thunderbolt and Lightning groups until, by the end of the year, 14 of its 15 groups flew the Mustang.
The P-47 Thunderbolt was a US fighter aircraft. Introduced in 1941, it was extensively flown in the European Theater of operations during World War II, specially as bombers scorts. The P-47 was known as the "Jug" and was the biggest and heaviest fighter in history to be powered by a single piston engine. Although the P-47 was effective in air combat, it was specially used for ground attack.
The P-47 Thunderbolt was designed by Alexander de Seversky and manufactured by Republic Aviation Company. It was the successor of a line of airplanes which derived from the Seversky P-35 aircraft. The P-47 was powered by a Pratt & Whitney R-2800-59 twin-row radial engine of 2,535 hp. It had a maximum speed of 433 mph at 30,000 ft, a range of 800 miles, and a rate of climb 3,120 ft/min. It was armed eight .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns (four on each wing) and could carry up to 2,500 lb (1,134 kg) of bombs. The cockpit had an armor plating to protect the pilot.
In late 1942, the P-47 was sent to England for combat operations. The 56th Fighter Group was sent overseas to join the 8th Air Force, whose 4th and 78th Fighter Groups were soon to be equipped with the Thunderbolts. The first P-47 combat mission took place 10 March 1943 when the 4th FG took their aircraft on a fighter sweep over France. After the war the P-47 Thunderbolt remained in service until 1955.
The P-43 Lancer was a World War II single-engine fighter aircraft built by Republic Aviation Company. It was first delivered to the United States Army Air Corps in 1940. When the Republic Aviation Co finished the production series of the P-35A, it began to develop a more advanced version of that fighter. As a result two different projects arose from this, which were the XP-41, and the P-43. Both had more powerful engines than the P-35A, and a redesigned airframe that was far more aerodynamic than its predecessor.
The test flights of these prototypes resulted in a US Army Air Corps contract for 13 P-43 Lancers in March 1939. But it had become obvious that the latest improvements were still not up to par with the new aircraft developed in Europe. Although Republic had already developed a more advanced version known as the P-44, all types that had been ordered were cancelled in September 1940 in favor of a more advanced design which was to become the Republic P-47 Thunderbolt. While the P-47 was being developed, the USAAC ordered 54 P-43s and 80 P-44s, and 107 more examples were delivered to China. The P-43s and P-44s in USAAC service were considered unsuitable for combat operations, and all were converted for use as photo-reconnaissance aircraft.
P-43 Lancer was powered by Pratt & Whitney R-1830-49 14-cylinder air-cooled radial piston engine of 1,200 hp. It could reach a maximum speed of 356 mph, had a range of 655 miles and a rate of climb of 2,500 ft/min. The P-43 was equipped with four 0.50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns.
The Curtiss P-40 was a World War II US fighter and ground attack aircraft which flew for the first time in 1938. The P-40 was called the "Warhawk" by the United States Army Air Corps. It was flown by the air forces of 28 nations during the Second World War. Prior to September 1943, the P-39 and P-40 comprised more than half the USAAF fighters committed overseas. Nevertheless, by July 1945 only one P-40 group remained operational. By November 1944, production of the P-40 ceased. The P-40′s lack of a two-stage supercharger made it inferior to Luftwaffe fighters such as the Messerschmitt Bf 109 or the Focke-Wulf Fw 190 in high-altitude combat.
The Curtiss P-40 was designed by Donovan Berlin and manufactured by Curtiss-Wright Corporation at their production facility at Buffalo, New York. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36. It had a wingspan of 37.33 ft and a length of 31.67 ft. The Curtiss P-40 was single-seat and all metal, and was powered by an Allison V-1710-39, liquid-cooled V12, 1,150hp engine. It could reach a maximum speed of 360 mph and had a range of 650 miles. It was armed with six .50 in (12.7 mm) M2 Browning machine guns and could carry three 250 lb bombs (one under each wing and a third under the fuselage), or two 1,000 lb bombs.
The P-40 was used by the Flying Tigers, which were a unit of the Republic of China Air Force, recruited from U.S. aviators, known officially as the American Volunteer Group. Compared to opposing Japanese fighters, the P-40B’s strengths were that it was very sturdy, well armed, generally faster in a dive and possessed a good rate of roll. While the P-40s could not match the maneuverability of Japanese Nakajima Ki-27s and Ki-43s they were facing, AVG leader Claire Chennault trained his pilots to use the P-40′s particular performance advantages. The P-40 had a higher dive speed than the Japanese fighters, for example, and could be used to exploit so-called "boom-and-zoom" tactics. The AVG was highly successful, and its feats were widely-published, for propaganda purposes. According to their own count, the Flying Tigers shot down 286 aircraft for the loss of up to 19 pilots. The lowest count of AVG victories from other sources is 115 kills.
The P-39 Airacobra was a World War II US fighter aircraft which was in service in large numbers since the beginning of the war. The P-39 Airacobra was the first American Army fighter to be fitted with a tricyle type landing gear. Although it did not have a supercharger, making it ineffective above 12,000 feet, it was free of mechanical defects and breakdowns. The Bell P-39 was a sturdy fighter that could take a lot of enemy gunfire and still return its pilot back to base.
The P-39 Airacobra was designed and manufactured by Bell in 1937, but its first flight took place on April 6, 1938. It was powered by an Allison V-1710 engine mounted in the middle of the fuselage behind the cockpit; the propeller was driven by a shaft which went through beneath the pilot’s feet. The mid-engine arrangement gave the P-39 a streamlined nose profile. It could fly at the maximum speed of 376 mph and had a range of 650 miles.
The P39 was equipped with a 37 mm T9 cannon, whose projectile could pierce 2 cm of armor at 500 yards, using armor-piercing rounds. It was mounted in the forward fuselage. The P-39 Airacobra saw action throughout the entire war in the Pacific, Russian, and Mediterranean theaters of operations, as it was flown by the American Army, the Royal Air Force, and the Soviet Army. A total of 9,500 P-39 were built.
