Air Power Series>1:48 die-cast display model>P-51>HA7735

General Background

Later in WWII the Allied bombers were flying deep into Germany but suffered tremendous losses because of the lack of range the fighter escorts had. German fighters would wait beyond the range of the Allied fighters and then attack the vulnerable bombers. Once the P-51 called Mustang by the British had the Allison engine replaced with a British Merlin it possessed the high performance that had been lacking. With drop tanks the P-51 had the range to escort bombers all the way to Berlin and back.

The Aircraft

Charles “Chuck” Yeager was assigned to the 363rd FS, 357th FG “The Yoxford Boys”. During WWII he is credited with 11.5 victories, most of which came in P-51D 44-14888 "Glamorous Glenn III". On October 12, 1944 Yeager became an Ace In A Day downing 5 Me-109’s. On November 6, 1944 Yeager used 1,083 .50 cal MG rounds to damage 2 Me-262’s and destroy a third. On November 27, 1944 he destroyed 3 Bf-109’s. When Chuck Yeager returned to the U.S.A. 44-14888 became “Melody’s Answer” and was destroyed on March 2, 1945.

Specifications :

Tasks:	Dive-bomber, bomber-escort, ground-attack, interceptor, photo recon
Number Produced All Variants:	14,819
Dimensions
Height:	13 ft 8 in (4.16 m)
Wingspan:	37 ft (11.27 m)
Length:	32 ft 3 in (9.82 m)
Weight
Empty:	7,125 lb (3,232 kg)
Gross:	10,100 lb (4,581 kg)
Maximum Take-off:	11,600 lb (5,262 kg)
Performance
Engine:	Packard Merlin two-staged supercharged V-1650-7, 12 cylinder V engine 1,695 hp.
Maximum Speed:	437 mph (703 km/h)
Ceiling:	41,900 ft (12,771 m)
Range:	950 miles (1,529 km)
Maximum Range:	2,300 miles (3,701 km)
Armament	(6) .50 caliber MG
	Maximum External Bomb Load – 2,000 lb (907 kg)
	Or (4) .5 inch rockets