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Description
| Manufacturer: | North American |
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| Base model: | P-51 | ||
| Designation: | P-51 | ||
| Version: | H | ||
| Nickname: | Mustang | ||
| Designation System: | U.S. Air Force | ||
| Designation Period: | 1925-1947 | ||
| Basic role: | Pursuit | ||
| Crew: | Pilot | ||
| See Also: |
Specifications
| Length: | 33' 4" | 10.1 m | |
| Height: | 13' 8" | 4.1 m | |
| Wingspan: | 37' | 11.3 m | |
| Wingarea: | 233.0 sq ft | 21.6 sq m | |
| Empty Weight: | 6,585 lb | 2,986 kg | |
| Gross Weight: | 11,054 lb | 5,013 kg | |
Propulsion
| No. of Engines: | 1 | ||
| Powerplant: | Rolls-Royce (Parkard) V-1650-9 Merlin | ||
| Horsepower (each): | 1380 | ||
Performance
| Range: | 850 miles | 1,368 km | |
| Cruise Speed: | 380 mph | 611 km/h | 330 kt |
| Max Speed: | 487 mph | 784 km/h | 423 kt |
| Ceiling: | 41,600 ft | 12,679 m | |
Known serial numbers
Examples of this type may be found at
| Museum | City | State |
| Chanute Display Center | Chanute AFB | Illinois |
| USAF History and Traditions Museum | San Antonio | Texas |
P-51H on display
Chanute Display Center |
Recent comments by our visitors
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| g p milanetti Roma, OTH | I dont have all you technical data, but it is a fact that in 1944 the Germans came in Italy and tested for a long time the italian Fiat G.55 fighter, a machine developed by the sicilian genius ingeneer Gabrielli. This plane performed so well against Me 109 and Fw 190 (that in many dogfight had shot down P 51) in every situation that was reported to Goering: "The italian Fiat G. 55 is the best Axis fighter." The Germans wanted to stop the production of 109 and 190 and to produce the Fiat!!!! This tell you something!!! Why they did not do it? Because the italian plane, hand-crafted for many parts, needed double the time to be producted! Anyway, in 1944 and 1945, the Fiat G. 55 faced P. 51 escorting bombers in the skies of northern Italy, and, against all odds (few Fiat against hundreds of american planes), they shoot down Mustangs too. And it was slower than Mustangs! So, you see that pure speed it is not all in dogfights! The P 51 H, anyway, should be compared to the outstanding, probably the most beautiful fighter of Ww2 (please, see pictures on web!)Fiat G. 56, another creature of Gabrielli that outperformed again the Me 109 an Fw 190 of the last generation (Ta 152 too), and that would have been a fierce opponents for every type of P. 51. Now I know that you will write many tecnichal data to show that I am wrong and that usa fighter were more modern, but I think we should not fall in love with the numbers (just numbers are not enough to win a dogfight, if more times the italian biplane Fiat Cr. 42 shot down the much faster Hurricane), even if you won the war exactly for that: numbers! And it is not little, I know! With regards! 08/24/2007 @ 22:36 [ref: 17744] |
| Doug Stenning London, OTH | I know this has'nt been commented on in a while but i figure i'll add my two cents! Im a die hard Spitfire fan but thats irrelavent here, im currently researching a P51H that was based at Ladd AFB in Alaska by all accounts these aircraft were incredibly troublesome (in cold conditions at least) they all suffered from stress fractures on there wings and fusalage which meant that pilots were restricted to making 2.5G turns and the engines weren't all that! in one case all of the aircraft based at Ladd AFB had a compression test on their engines and 7 of them were suffering from low compression apparently without reason which meant that they had to be removed and sent away for further investigation. The thing is i think with more work the plane could of been phenomenal in all aspects the engine needed particular attention. even after all its faults i'd still love to fly one!! 05/14/2007 @ 02:57 [ref: 16482] |
| Dan Fahey Germantown, MD | The Mustang was prefered in Korea was because it could use the short Japanese airfields, especially at Pusan. The P47 was too heavy plus costly to operate. The P51 cost far less to operate and maintain. Replacement parts were easily available from Australia.
The P47N was designed for high altitude and used large fuel tanks for range. Later on in the war when the Koreans and Chinese were pushed back. Jet bases were being built. The P47 could have been added. But many were being sent to Chennault in Formosa and Chaing Kai Shek. As for the comment the Thunderbolt could survive better in CAS or Ground Attack Roles. This was not true. Each plane had a sweet spot. The P47 and F4U were no different. The US Navy and Marines lost more Corsairs then the US and UN lost Mustangs. Plus the Navy/Marines lost many AU1, AD1/4's, Tigercats and USAF/UN A26's, AT-6s (Bearcat was not used). Everything fell against the Communist AA. See KORWALD statistics collected and prepared by Stephen Sewell. Later in the Korean War the F80C and F84E/G replaced the props for ground support roles. They did fare a little better then the props. Jets were faster, harder to hit, accurate, more stable and could dogfight the Yaks and Migs when attacked especially down low. As for the P51H, Bearcat, Tigercat, P72, and other late model varients. The US was winning WW2 and began making higher Power to Weight aircraft. Better materials were available so light weight became more important and range became secondary. In the ETO US aircraft succeeded because we could hit Germany better then then they could hit England. Russia just used lots of flesh to move the Germans back. The range and performance of the P51 sealed the fate of the German War machine. IMHO had the German used the Zero the Brits would be speaking a different language. IMHO the two best Allied aircraft in production during WW2 were the P51 and P63. This was because England and Russia added their inputs directly into the designs. FWIW they were the only 2 US prop aircaft able to shoot down "off course" V-1 Rocket experiments preformed in the US. As the Korean Conflict was starting the US was concerned about the Soviet Lend Lease King Korbas sitting on airfields just North of Korea in 1950. AS for all late model props aircraft. All were at the end of their flight performance development. P51H was best in class and its sister the F-82 performed admirably in Korea. 04/20/2007 @ 13:04 [ref: 16246] |
| J.M. , CA | The ki-84 was never, at anytime, the equal of the P-51H. If the war had gone on a little longer, and these planes saw action against one another, the Mustang pilot would control nearly every aspect of an engagment. He's faster at all altitudes, he dives much better, he can climb higher, and can easily out zoom a Ki-84 once up to speed. In short he can do whatever he likes and either choose to fight or not to fight at his discretion. The Ki-84's only clear advantage was in the turn, but agility is meaningless if you can't control the fight, you just delay the inveitable. Which is a dead Ki-84.
As for the Italian 205, while a very good airplane for 1943, it could never hope to compete with late war Allied fighters of any type, especially a P-51H. It simply just doesn't perform as well. It's more than 80 mph slower than the H, can't fly as high, and it's climb and dive performance are both inferior to the Mustang H. The 205 can not even compete with the P-51D in many areas, let alone the pinnacle of Mustang design. Sorry to say it, but prideful Italian Airforce pilots (or ANY pilot from ANY airforce)are hardly objective when they talk about their beloved rides. Looking purely at the hard numbers and assuming both pilots are of equal skill, the Mustang pilot has the clear advantage. 03/07/2007 @ 11:06 [ref: 15806] |
| Steve Tisdale Elizabeth City, NC | When a P-51H used its V-1690-9 with 87hg at 3000rpm it could reach 30k about 3min20sec faster than a P-51D plus it could do 444mph at 5k,463mph at 15k and 487mph at 25k.It was also fairly agile and a much faster accelerator than a P-51D.The Ki-84 must have bee compared to a P-51H-1 w/out water-injection or not going above 67hg.The P-51H was an all round incredible performer in 1945. 11/23/2006 @ 09:51 [ref: 14824] |
| gian piero milanetti rome, OTH | My father was with the Regia Aeronautica in WW2. He told me that no british or american plane was better (at least al lower heights) than the italian Macchi 205 Veltro, with german engine. It is known that the american pilots feared the Macchi 205 more than the Me 109. But there were other planes (sorry!) better than the P 51 mustang: I am talking about the japanese Nakajima ki 84 "hayate". It is known that when the Allied had the chance to test it, they find ou that it was much better than P 51 H and P 47 N (chech Harpercollins "Aircraft of ww2"). Sorry!! 10/17/2006 @ 12:36 [ref: 14483] |
| Bill Larkins , CA | The two flight photos here are P-51Ds, not P-51Hs. 10/09/2006 @ 20:34 [ref: 14410] |
| Tom Hildreth , VT | It would be interesting to see why so many active duty as well as ANG fighter units exchanged their F-51Hs for F-51Ds in the early 1950s. The 82nd FG did this in 1948 and the NH ANG did it around 1952, just to name a couple. I think it was a rationalization of the F-51H fleet, which at least by 1952 was likely to be pretty thin on parts.
I believe the landing gear strength on the H was a problem, with main gear collapse ocurring at a significant rate. Also a nagging tail gear door retraction problem existed for a while also. I'm looking at this month's (02/06) photo in the MASS Aviation Historical Society's calendar. It shows an F-51H from the ANG's 131 FS from Westield on the ground in front of two FG-1D Corsairs from NAS Squantum taken at the August 30, 1953 "Beverly Air Fair" at Beverly, Mass. This gives you an idea of the delightful mixups and dogfights that took place in those days. 02/15/2006 @ 08:59 [ref: 12505] |
| Roy Downing Hesperia, CA | Being a "Die Hard Thunderbolt Fan" my self, it is hard to give any comments of note on the '51 "Spam Can." However I will say this due to there not being any Air Guard Wings operating and maintaining "Thunderbolts" close to my home at Dayton, Ohio, in 1954, since most of those that had the "T-Bolt" had already phased them out, with the exception of one or two on the East coast, and Hawaii. But my week-end travel was well over 600 miles and I couldn't join up due to not being a resident of any of those states.
So my only choice was to join up with the 162nd Ftr Bmr Sqdrn to be around their Fighters and start my aviation career. This squadron had the Fifty-one H in operations. I learned a lot and did enjoy my time on the "Spam Can 'Stang H models," still, as they all do some things must end and the "Hs" were phased out in favor for newer jet equipment, these were Republic F-84Es and later F-84Fs. 01/21/2006 @ 05:09 [ref: 12221] |
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