My "Mustang" Encounter
(Part 2)
By Brad Otts
(If you missed Part 1, you can find it on the President's Page.)
Before I left the airport, during the evening of the "landing," I walked over to the P-51 and just
stared at the beautiful aircraft. I can now actually touch a piece of history without fear of the
pilot's watchful eye, to get a tactile experience of the machine that helped win the war in Europe.
Compared to the other (civilian) planes parked on the tarmac, the Mustang looked streamlined and
brutally powerful.
A miracle of design and function for a time when, early in the war, American and British airpower
were up against the formidable German "Luftwaffe" with their own fine machines flown by experienced
and determined pilots.
The Mustang was a step-up in performance compared to the rugged P-47 "Thunderbolt" and the P-38 "Lightning."
The Army Air Force finally received a fighter that could outperform the ME-109's and FW-190's, and provide
escort protection for the "Big Friendlies" to and from targets deep inside Germany. Without fighter escort, the
bombers and crews were being shot down at an almost unsustainable rate. But when the head of the Luftwaffe
Herman Goring began seeing the Mustangs with the bombers over Berlin, he said: "the "jig" is up!"
The early '51 was
not spectacular until the "Allison" engine was replaced by the Rolls-Royce/Packard "Merlin"
which had more power and better high-altitude performance. This engine change made a difference, but even with
the Merlin not all pilots favored the liquid cooling system that made this plane relatively vulnerable to enemy
fire, (the Thunderbolt's engine was a reliable air-cooled radial).
One fighter pilot said that a kid with a 22 rifle could bring down a low flying Mustang. The skeptical pilots,
however, came to love the new Rolls powered P-51D with it's superior performance and bubble canopy.
Before I left the airport, during the evening of the "landing," I walked over to the P-51 and just
stared at the beautiful aircraft. I can now actually touch a piece of history without fear of the
pilot's watchful eye, to get a tactile experience of the machine that helped win the war in Europe.
Compared to the other (civilian) planes parked on the tarmac, the Mustang looked streamlined and
brutally powerful.
A miracle of design and function for a time when, early in the war, American and British airpower were up against the formidable German "Luftwaffe" with their own fine machines flown by experienced and determined pilots.
The Mustang was a step-up in performance compared to the rugged P-47 "Thunderbolt" and the P-38 "Lightning."
The Army Air Force finally received a fighter that could outperform the ME-109's and FW-190's, and provide
escort protection for the "Big Friendlies" to and from targets deep inside Germany. Without fighter escort, the
bombers and crews were being shot down at an almost unsustainable rate. But when the head of the Luftwaffe
Herman Goring began seeing the Mustangs with the bombers over Berlin, he said: "the "jig" is up!"
The early '51 was
not spectacular until the "Allison" engine was replaced by the Rolls-Royce/Packard "Merlin"
which had more power and better high-altitude performance. This engine change made a difference, but even with
the Merlin not all pilots favored the liquid cooling system that made this plane relatively vulnerable to enemy
fire, (the Thunderbolt's engine was a reliable air-cooled radial).
One fighter pilot said that a kid with a 22 rifle could bring down a low flying Mustang. The skeptical pilots, however, came to love the new Rolls powered P-51D with it's superior performance and bubble canopy.