P-51 Design Analysis

[MIflyer]

From the July 1944 Aviation Magazine, the nuts and bolts of everybody's favorite airplane.

I have direct scans of these that are higher resolution as well, but the files are too big to post here.

Happy New Year, y'all!

 

[Razgriz1]

Nice! May you post a design analysis of the Corsair next?

 

[MIflyer]

Ah, I don't have the F4U. I do have the P-38 and the C-82 and the B-24 and the Republic Seabee yet to post.

 

[henkypenky]

Thanks a lot flyer, very very nice info, just love those drawings!

 

[Jimbob]

P-51A. The best looking of all the Mustangs.

 

[MIflyer]

I tend to agree about the Allison Mustangs. I don't have a separate design analysis for the Allison version but I do have the P-51A maintenance manual.

 

[MIflyer]

Here is a little more on the early models. I don't think I have posted this before.

 

[Jimbob]

Please do upload the P-5A maintenance manual. I would like to see it. As you can tell by my ID photo I am a fan of the A model Mustang. That is me running the Planes of Fame P-51A back in the 1980s when it was painted as the second aircraft sent to Britain. Fortunately it is painted in 1st Air commando markings now, which I like much better. Everyone going through the museum thought that it was a Spitfire with the old scheme. That is the first WW2 aircraft I ran.

 

[MIflyer]

Well, the P-51A maintenance manual is way too big to upload here, I believe. It is 56 MB. I also have a Mustang Mk1 pilot's manual and it is about 40MB.

 

[tomo pauk]

There is several file hosting services around, for free. I use the mediafire.com.

 

[Jimbob]

Hello,
I have signed up for mediafire. I would like to get both the maintenance and pilot's manuals if you don't mind uploading them. I am not sure how this works, so you will have to walk me through it. I am retarded when it comes to computers. If there are any manuals you are looking for, aircraft or otherwise. I have a fair amount of WW2 manuals on PDF.
Jim

 

[tomo pauk]

Once you are logged in the mediafire, you will note the 'Upload' button on the top of the screen, as well as two buttos that allow you to create foldres and text files. Click the 'Create folders' button to create a folder, leave the 'Make this folder a FileDrop' unchecked. Click 'Create'. So there it is - your 1st folder at the mediafire.
Now click the 'U' key on your keyboard, that activates the uploader. Once the window opens, click the 'Add files' button (or just click the big +), that opens Windows explorer window. Navigate to your file, select it and click 'Open', then click 'Begin upload'. Once the file is uploaded, click on the link (new window opens). Copy the URL from your browser, paste it here so other people can download.

 

[Peter Gunn]

P-51A. The best looking of all the Mustangs.

Eh, your mileage may vary, I'm partial to the B/C with the tail fillet but have no issue with your statement either.

MIflyer, thanks for all the cool Mustang stuff!

 

[Jimbob]

It is funny. When I worked at Fighter Rebuilders I worked on the Planes of Fame P-51A ( Hence the hero picture of me running it as my profile pic). Steve Hinton used to tease me by saying real Mustangs have Merlins. One early morning at Chino before the tower opened (the best time to fly) Steve took the A model out for a test flight after a repair. He did a great low altitude high speed, I mean perfectly legal, pass and climbed out of the cockpit when he landed with a large smile on his face and said I forgot how fast this thing was down low. Of course I had to remind him of that fact that real Mustangs have Merlins! Yes, the razor back Mustangs A,B,C are the best looking and performing.

 

[MIflyer]

Interestingly enough the tail fillet - or forward fin extension - on the B/C was not added for greater fin area but as a means of solving a problem with weakness in the horizontal stabilizer, presumably by tying into the aft fuselage more firmly. I suppose that the added fin area did not hurt anything, but of course the first D models built had no fin extension either, although they lacked the additional side area of the rear fuselage of the early models.

It seems that in postwar racing the bubble canopy models could not seem to beat the B/C racers. That additional fuselage fairing behind the cockpit must have been worth something.

 

[Jimbob]

North American later changed the incidence of the horizontal and vertical fins on the D when they metalized the elevators. I actually worked on a D that did not have this mod.

 

[pbehn]

It is funny. When I worked at Fighter Rebuilders I worked on the Planes of Fame P-51A ( Hence the hero picture of me running it as my profile pic). Steve Hinton used to tease me by saying real Mustangs have Merlins. One early morning at Chino before the tower opened (the best time to fly) Steve took the A model out for a test flight after a repair. He did a great low altitude high speed, I mean perfectly legal, pass and climbed out of the cockpit when he landed with a large smile on his face and said I forgot how fast this thing was down low. Of course I had to remind him of that fact that real Mustangs have Merlins! Yes, the razor back Mustangs A,B,C are the best looking and performing.

I just read recently that the B/C with Malcolm hood had better visibility than the D series. Is that BS or was there some merit?

 

[Jimbob]

I am not sure. I am sure side to side would be good but not to rear .I wouldn't think so because of the turtle deck on the B model as compared to the bubble canopy on the D.

 

[Peter Gunn]

I just read recently that the B/C with Malcolm hood had better visibility than the D series. Is that BS or was there some merit?

I remember reading that back in the 70's but I can't remember the book, which was written by an ETO Mustang pilot. He said with the Malcom hood on his B, he could kind of lean over the edge of the cockpit and look under ( or close to under ) the tail. With the bubble D he could not. I'll try to remember which book/pilot that was.

 

[MIflyer]

I read that later in the war they came out with side bubble windows to replace the flat side windows on the B-24. Probably a real good idea for ASW missions but for formation flight they caused so much distortion that it was horrible, and the bomber units replaced them with flat windows.

I wonder how much distortion the Malcom hoods caused. There probably was some at certain angles but perhaps it did not matter. You are not flying formation by looking under your tail.

I also read that when the RAF got the Tomahawk I it was equipped with HF radios that used long wire antennas that extended from just behind to the cockpit to the tips of the horizontal stabilizers. They soon found that the insulator eggs for the antennas were perfectly positioned to induce momentary heart failure when pilots caught sight of them out of the corner of their eye and thought it was an enemy aircraft in their six.