Tamiya 60749 - 1/72 North American P-51D Mustang WWII  [60749]

Concerning the United States P-51 Mustang

The us Aviation P-51 Mustang ended up being an United states long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber utilized during World War II, the Korean War and lots of other conflicts. During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed 4,950 enemy aircraft shot down, second only to the carrier borne Grumman F6F Hellcat among Allied aircraft.
It absolutely was conceived, designed and built by us Aviation (NAA), under the way of lead engineer Edgar Schmued, in reaction to a specification issued directly to NAA by the British Purchasing Commission; the prototype NA-73X airframe had been rolled from 9 September 1940, albeit without an engine, 102 times following the contract was finalized and first travelled on 26 October.
The Mustang was initially designed to make use of the Allison V-1710 engine, which had restricted high-altitude performance. It was first flown operationally by the Royal Air Force (RAF) as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber. The addition of the Rolls-Royce Merlin to your P-51B/C model transformed the Mustang's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft, offering it a performance that matched or bettered most of the Luftwaffe's fighters at altitude.The definitive version, the P-51D, had been powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the Rolls-Royce Merlin 60 series two-stage two-speed supercharged engine, and armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M2 Browning device guns.
From belated 1943, P-51Bs (supplemented by P-51Ds from mid-1944) had been utilized by the USAAF's Eighth Air Force to escort bombers in raids over Germany, while the RAF's 2 TAF while the USAAF's Ninth Air Force utilized the Merlin-powered Mustangs as fighter-bombers, functions where the Mustang aided make sure Allied atmosphere superiority in 1944. The P-51 had been additionally in service with Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean and Italian theatres, and saw limited solution contrary to the Japanese into the Pacific War.
In the beginning of Korean War, the Mustang had been the key fighter of the United Nations until jet fighters like the F-86 took over this role; the Mustang then became a specialized fighter-bomber. Inspite of the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang stayed operating with some air forces before the early 1980s. After World War II while the Korean War, numerous Mustangs were converted for civilian use, especially atmosphere racing.