While the P-51 was more maneuverable than the P-47. The P-51 was not th greatest thing since bread and butter. Was it a great plane? Absolutely yes, one of the best ever built. But what really was the only thing that it had in advantage over other aircraft. Its range. There were other American, British, and German aircraft were faster and more manueverable.
Once the P-51 got over the target, you can take its range out of the equation because now it is just fighter vs. fighter over Germany and the P-51 no longer has to get to the target, it is there.
Why did the P-51 do so well in my honest opinion, because of its large number. It had numerical superiority. 5 Bf-109G's or Fw-190A's getting jumped by 25 to 30 P-51s is a pretty one sided fight.
The P-51s lay to fame was that it had the range to take the fight to the enemy. Take that away and it was no differnent than any other fighter over the skies of Europe.
The reason that I like the P-47 over the P-51 is because of its ruggedness. It was also better adapted to the close air support role than the P-51.
Okay, I know that this is the designated "bash the P-51 Website", but I have to defend the P-51 here. While I do not believe it is the greatest fighter of WWII (I do not believe there is any aircraft that could claim this title, I liked the best nine plane air force thread), if one could be crowned, I think that it has a legitimate claim. This is my argument for the P-51.
The P-51 is probably the cleanest propeller driven aircraft used (reasonably) in the war. As for rationale, the P-51B, in 1944, had a top speed of 386 mph (tested) using somewhat around 1650 hp. This is faster than any other aircraft in my data base (except the P-51H) which includes the P-47M and N, Bf-109K-4, Fw-190D-9, Ta-152H-1, Spitfire Mk XIV, and Spitfire Mk 21. The Fw-190D-9 is very close with roughly the same top speed but with a 100 more hp (1750 hp). The P-51D is slower by 10 mph at about the same hp as the B (probably in the same drag class as the Dora). While this in itself is not a requirement for a great fighter, it does mean that it is fast. And speed is a big factor.
When the P-51B entered into combat at the end of 1943 till basically the end of 1944, Germany did not have an effective answer for the P-51 over the skies of Germany, from ground level to 35,000 feet. Not until the end of 1944 did Germany start to introduce aircraft that could threaten the P-51s flying overhead, the Fw-190D, Bf-109K, and the Ta-152H. Of these, the Fw-190D could only dominate below 25,000 ft, and the Ta-152 easily dominated over 25,000 ft. but only the Bf-109K was superior from sea level to 35,000 ft (although the P-51B could give it a run for the money).
Of course, most of the data is airspeed and climbing ability so roll rate (I don't think is a P-51 strong point) and turn rates aren't included (although I think the P-51 had a pretty good turn rate). Neither is dive speed, which the P-51 also probably did well in. Also, fire power and armor in not included (too many variables). Here are some comparisons to the contemporary German aircraft of 1944. The data below reflects the best I could find in flight test and/or engineering analysis and some from this site's participants. My objective always is to have the best data. So, if these are wrong, please let me know, including if I have not included a significant aircraft or model. Also, Russian and Italian aircraft are not included because I don't know anything about them and have no data. I am sure there are a lot of limited use aircraft that performed better during this period but I wanted to keep it to the most participating aircraft.
Speed
SL: P-51D(B)-
375(386) mph, Bf-109G-
326 mph, Fw-190A-8
351 mph
10k ft: P-51D(B)-
416(420) mph, Bf-109G-
362 mph, Fw-190A-8
360 mph
20k ft: P-51D(B)-
420(442) mph, Bf-109G-
399 mph, Fw-190A-8
405 mph
30k ft: P-51D(B)-
440(434) mph, Bf-109G-
400 mph, Fw-190A-8
386 mph
Max speed: P-51D(B)-
442(445), Bf-109G-
420, Fw-190A-8
416
Climb
SL: P-51D(B)-
3600(4320) ft/sec, Bf-109G-
4113 ft/sec, Fw-190A-8
3300 ft/sec
10k ft: P-51D(B)-
2800(3750) ft/sec, Bf-109G-
3780 ft/sec, Fw-190A-8
2400 ft/sec
20k ft: P-51D(B)-
3000(3350) ft/sec, Bf-109G-
3097 ft/sec, Fw-190A-8
2400 ft/sec
30k ft: P-51D(B)-
1700(1600) ft/sec, Bf-109G-
1625 ft/sec, Fw-190A-8
1080 ft/sec
Here are some allied aircraft of the same period. Question marks indicate that I do not have data.
Speed mph
SL: F4U-1-
365, P-47D-25-
333, Spit Mk IX-
329, Spit Mk XIV-
363
10k: F4U-1-
377, P-47D-25-
376, Spit Mk IX-
374, Spit Mk XIV-
387
20k: F4U-1-
430, P-47D-25-
406, Spit Mk IX-
390, Spit Mk XIV-
423
30k: F4U-1-
?, P-47D-25-
433, Spit Mk IX-
413, Spit Mk XIV-
443
Climb in ft/min
SL: F4U-1-
3200, P-47D-25-
2870, Spit Mk IX-
?, Spit Mk XIV-
4580
10k: F4U-1-
3020, P-47D-25-
?, Spit Mk IX-
3820, Spit Mk XIV-
3600
20k: F4U-1-
2200, P-47D-25-
2180, Spit Mk IX-
2930, Spit Mk XIV-
3600
30k: F4U-1-
1150, P-47D-25-
1400, Spit Mk IX-
2280, Spit Mk XIV-
2390
Some comments on aircraft.
Sorry about not including the P-38, but all the data I had was for the F, which didn't stack up too well to the P-51.
The Bf-109G was comparable in climb, but was significantly slower at all altitudes.
The Fw-190A-8 was slower than the P-51B/D at all altitudes and had slower climb at all altitudes to the P-51B. The P-51D also had better climb performance at all altitudes than the Fw-190 except at 25k ft.
The F4U-1 had some speed and climb advantage over the P-51D only between 15 and 20k ft. The P-51B was superior in speed and climb to the F4U-1 over all altitudes.
The P-47D-25 was faster than the P-51B/D above 30k. It appears that the P-51B/D had a better climb except at very high altitudes (the P-47D had a higher ceiling)
The Spitfire IX was significantly slower than the P-51B/D at all altitudes. The Spitfire IX could climb significantly better than the P-51D at almost all altitudes. The P-51B climb was better than, and less than, the Spitfire over various altitudes, the Spitfire was consistently better in climb above 20k.
The Spitfire XIV was significantly slower than the P-51B/D below 20k ft, The D was equal at 20k. The Spitfire was faster than the P-51B/D above 30k ft. The Spitfire and P-51B were roughly equivalent in climb up to 20k ft. The P-51 did not perform as well. Above 20k ft, the Spitfire was significantly better than the P-51B/D in climb. Overall, the Spitfire Mk XIV was superior to the P-51B/D above 20k ft.
As seen above, in 1944, the P-51B/D had performance advantages in speed and/or climb over enemy and allied aircraft over a majority of the airspace. Only the Spitfire Mk XIV had a significant advantage over a significant amount of airspace.
As far as air-to-ground, the P-51 does not come close to the P-47, F4U, and I am sure several German and British designs in capability.
By itself, this performance is impressive but tied with the real greatness of the P-51, and the part that the Spitfire Mk XIV could not do, was that it could fly from England to Germany, deal with the enemy with the above advantages, and then fly home to England.
1944 was the year of the Mustang. So was 1945, but only because of quantity. Other planes participated in earlier years and some dominated for a period (Fw-190A comes to mind), but, I think none did it as long as the P-51B/D. I could be wrong, make an argument.
This should stimulate some people.
