Mustangtmg
Airman
- 58
- Mar 8, 2014
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Excuse me, but has NO ONE corrected the info on this aircraft all this time. It's an NA-91 aircraft, 92 of which went to the RAF under Lend Lease and 58 to the US ( 1 to USN and 57 to USAAF) as "P-51" (no letter suffix --- already mentioned) "Apaches." They officially became Mustangs in the USAAF in July, 1942.Tengu, this was the first batch of P-51s to enter service with the USAAF. These had no letter after the P-51, hence they were just known as P-51s. The first batch was sent to England and were known as Mustang Is and were armed with four 50 caliber Brownings and four 30 caliber Brownings. Two 50s under the chin, which had a bulged faring, and one in each wing and two 30s in each wing. The Apache had six 50 caliber, two under the chin, with no farings, and two in each wing. Another easy way to tell an Apache is the landing lights, both of which are mounted in a double fixture on the left wing. Hope this helps. And if I have goofed here, someone please correct me.
I think he's been run off every site he posted on. I know of two othersI wonder what ever happened to Pampa14.
That's HMS Argus, commssioned in 1918.Was it off this carrier?
View attachment 782691
I was thinking the same, does it have to be just black and white? Sometimes it is hard to tell the colours, they could be dark blues and reds? On an imaginary post war war bird.I see a P-51A in my future!!!!!!!
Well me and the Odd, or even ridiculous, searching the web, This link came up.
Wouldn't you know it would be on WW2! What a wonderful place this is..........
So in looking around the web, even more. A couple of things I have noticed.
1, The second photo in post #5 the top ridge, tail to nose looks a bit lighter in color than the darker Dazzle.
2, Likewise it appears if the wing tops are the same shade and is depicted as that in illustrations and builds on the www.
So I am wondering if the example was merely pulled off the assembly line in 1942 O.D. with the vertical and undersides
painted white and the actual dazzle dark was in fact black?
There are some Paper 1/33 scale models in these colors. Another 1/72 plastic kit was painted Grey, with the black and white camo.
I'm leaning more to the O.D. base as the first lots of A's were, if I am not mistaken, destined for the RAF in O.D.?
Just to be clear, the aircraft in the photos and that was the subject of the camouflage trials was a North American NA-91 P-51 (no suffix) Mustang, which was the Mustang IA in RAF service. 150 built as first Lend Lease order for RAF, only variant with the 4 x 20mm cannon armament ex the factory, all others had either 'mixed' MG and HMG or all HMG armament. The NA-91 was effectively an evolutionary development of the earlier NA-83 Mustang I built for the RAF, with the principle change being the armament change to the all cannon armament and some detail changes in terms of the sub-variant of the Allison V-1710 initially fitted, engine controls, and a few other refinements identified from the earlier NA-73 and NA-83 Mustang I production batches as a result of testing and operational use.I see a P-51A in my future!!!!!!!
Well me and the Odd, or even ridiculous, searching the web, This link came up.
Wouldn't you know it would be on WW2! What a wonderful place this is..........
So in looking around the web, even more. A couple of things I have noticed.
1, The second photo in post #5 the top ridge, tail to nose looks a bit lighter in color than the darker Dazzle.
2, Likewise it appears if the wing tops are the same shade and is depicted as that in illustrations and builds on the www.
So I am wondering if the example was merely pulled off the assembly line in 1942 O.D. with the vertical and undersides
painted white and the actual dazzle dark was in fact black?
There are some Paper 1/33 scale models in these colors. Another 1/72 plastic kit was painted Grey, with the black and white camo.
I'm leaning more to the O.D. base as the first lots of A's were, if I am not mistaken, destined for the RAF in O.D.?
I'll have to go back and check my records, but.........some P-51s were lost during shipping to the UK, so technically they were torpedoed. But either crated or cocooned as cargo on ships that were sunk by U-Boats, normally wearing standard factory applied C&M. So begs the question, if they had worn the special camouflage, would the ship they were on still have been torpedoed?Well, no P-51 was ever torpedoed so it worked.
Early NA-91 F-6 photo recon platform.What is the story on the camera in the canopy blister on the dazzle bird?
The early NAA initial designed, USAAF modified and adopted for service, early oblique camera installation. Attached page from the NA-91 P-51 US Pilot's Manual, section on photographic equipment, shows both the oblique and 2-position vertical installation in the P-51. A slightly revised and simplified version was adopted for use in P-51As modified for tactical reconnaissance use.What is the story on the camera in the canopy blister on the dazzle bird?
Think that writer and memberExcuse me, but has NO ONE corrected the info on this aircraft all this time.