aircraft of ww2

[glenman]

Was the american p51 mustang aircraft of ww2 originally of british design and was in built in america on licence

[Clanad]

In attempting to construct an appropriate answer, I found it covered less information and more space than the following: (Requires 2 entries)

Following years of neglect and lethargy, the British Armed Forces were faced in the mid 30s with an increasingly unstable Europe and the distinct possibility of war. Despite having, in the Spitfire and Hurricane, some of the best fighter aircraft in the world, the RAF were unable to order sufficient numbers to face the increasingly threatening situation. The British Purchasing Commission (BPC) looked overseas in the late 30s for alternative sources of military aircraft. Despite the shortcomings of the type, the BPC began to order large numbers of the Curtis P-40. Curtis themselves were unable to meet the orders and timeframe required by the British and invited North American (NA) to undertake license production. NA were not happy with this situation and in April 1940 proposed an ambitious plan to produce an improved design, using the same Allison engine, but with a more streamlined and modern airframe. NA undertook to have a prototype available in double quick time and, using modern mass production techniques, deliver 320 of the new fighter by September 1941. The BPC ordered and the prototype duly flew in late October 1940, barely 6 months later! Over 600 were eventually ordered for the RAF as the Mustang 1. (The origin of the name "Mustang" is unknown).

 

[Clanad]

Page 2...

In April 1942, Ronald Harker, Rolls Royce senior Test Pilot was invited to fly in a Mustang 1. In part of a subsequent memo he wrote "....the point which strikes me is that with a powerful and a good engine like the Merlin 61, its performance could be outstanding....". This lead to a meeting between the Air Ministry and Roll Royce and ultimately to the decision to proceed with the RR Merlin engined Mustang. The installation was relatively easy, the cowlings even remaining largely unaltered. Meantime, the Americans also proceeded to install a licence built Packard Merlin engine in the Mustang. First flight of a Merlin powered Mustang was on 13 October 1942 and despite a few teething problems and directional stability problems, the Merlin Mustang was a huge success. The Packard Merlin installation proved a little more troublesome, the license built engines being less reliable and prone to leakage. Both the RAF, as the Mustang III, and the USAAF, as the P-51B, ordered large numbers of the "new" fighter. The Americans, having found that unescorted daylight bomber raids over Germany proved too costly, found in the Mustang a fighter with the performance and range to cover the bombers deep into the Reich. (Thanks to www.airshots.com  )

[rutineli]

I am no expert but I believe that the original mustang was from a British proto/design.

We could not afford to build it or run it so we swopped it for something in the playground

Sorry if I'm wrong

rutineli

[KebabMeister]

No, it was an American design but built to British specification (under British order).  It originally was developed as the A-36A and eventually turned into the P-51.  Britain, as with all aircraft, gave a name rather than a number and called it the 'Mustang'.

Britain's involvement with the Mustang was the use of the Rolls Royce Merlin engine to be fitted to the Mustang instead of the poor performing Allison engine (was very poor at medium/high altitude).  The Rolls Royce Merlin was built in North American, under licence, as the Packard Merlin.

[Clanad]

For a side by side photo of A36A and P51, check here:

http://futurshox.net/viewer.php3?id=899

[Octavius]

According to my source:

It all started in 1939, when the British needed more fighter aircraft. They showed interest in the Curtiss P-40 Warhark and the Bell P-39 Aircobra amoung others. Neither were their first choice, but that was the best that the Americans had and the British could not wait for any new designs. They decided the P-40 would be the one. James H. "Dutch" Kindelberger, president of North American Aviation, was approached by the British to build the P-40 at the North American production facility because Curtiss Aircraft was at full capacity. Kindelberger told the British that it would take 120 days to tool up for the P-40.

North American Aviation was under contract to produce training aircraft for the British. Then Kindelberger somehow, with no real evidence that it could be done, convinced the British that North American Aviation could design and build a new fighter that was better than the P-40. The new fighter would fly faster, higher, farther, be more maneuverable and pack more firepower. The British took NAA at their word.

On 9 December 1940 the British Purchasing Comission sent a letter to North American Aviation stating that the NA-73 airplanes have been given the official designation of "Mustang" and the newly designed P-40 became the P-51.