P-51 Mustang Fighter

P51 Mustang Patch 6 x 2.24 Inch 152 x 58 mm with ready to patch hook backing P-51 MUSTANG NORTH AMERICAN AVIATION

Type: Fighter

Country of Origin: United States

First Flight: 26 October 1940

Introduced: January 1942 (RAF)

The P-51 Mustang was a single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber designed by North American Aviation in the early 1940s. The Mustang was originally conceived to meet a British request for fighter aircraft from North American. Although the British had proposed North American produce P-40 Kittyhawks under license from Curtiss-Wright, North American came back with a completely new design in 1940.

It would not be until 1 943 when the U.S. Eighth Air Force realized the need for long-range fighter escorts for its bomber formations did the P-51 enter into its famous role as an escort fighter for American bombers. The P-51 was armed with six AN/M2 Browning .50 caliber heavy machine guns mounted in its wings.

Additional provisions could be made for bombs mounted on two wing-mounted hardpoints, or up to 10 HVAR rockets. The Mustang served through World War II and into Korea, acting as the UN forces' primary fighter before the widespread adoption of jet fighters. Use of the Mustang was widespread, including such operators as Australia, Indonesia, and both sides of the Chinese Civil War.

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