Country of origin:

United States of America

Description:

Single-seat fighter

Power Plant:

[Mks 20, 21 and 22]

One 1,231 kw (1,650 hp) Packard Merlin V-1650-3 or –7 twelve-cylinder VEE liquid-cooled engine

[Mk 23]

One 1,231 kw (1,650 hp) Rolls Royce Merlin 66 or 70 VEE twelve-cylinder liquid-cooled engine

Specifications:

History:

The history of the design and development of the Mustang is well known and well documented and is too long to deal with here. Perhaps the most successful piston engine single-seat fighter produced during World War II, the Mustang owed its origin to the request by the British Air Purchasing Commission in 1940 for North American to manufacture the Curtiss Hawk for the RAF.  North American’s president, J H Kindelberger, countered with a suggestion that his company would design a completely new fighter around the Allison V-1710-39 engine and it would be superior in all respects to the Curtiss aircraft. The proposal was agreed to and the NA-73X, the prototype of the new fighter, was designed and built in 117 days, but a delay in the delivery of the power plant prevented the first flight until 26 October 1940.

An order was placed for 320 NA-73 fighters for the RAF, two machines from the initial production batch being transferred to the US Army Air Corps for evaluation as the XP-51.  One of the few fighters to employ a laminar flow wing, the Mustang I, as it became known in RAF service, was not particularly successful with the Allison engine as it was handicapped by the low-rated altitude of the engine which prevented its use in the fighter role; but its high speed and excellent manoeuvrability at low altitude made it ideal for tactical reconnaissance where it basically operated until four Mustang Is were delivered to Rolls Royce at Hucknall, UK where they were fitted with Merlin 61 or 65 engines and four-blade propellers.

These aircraft, known as the XP-51B, began flight tests in September 1942 and, with the Merlin engine, the aircraft was developed through a series of models, the P-51B, P-51C, P-51D, P-51H, P-51K etc. In the European Theatre alone the type was credited with the destruction of 4,950 enemy aircraft in combat, a further 4,131 on the ground, and a total of 213,873 sorties in USAAF service.

During World War II No 3 Squadron became the first RAAF unit equipped with the Mustang, operating Lend-Lease aircraft as part of No 239 Fighter Bomber Wing of the Desert Air Force.  Mustangs commenced to be delivered to the unit in November 1944 and operations commenced over north-eastern Italian cities. Some attacks were made on Yugoslavian road and rail networks. The unit operated in the Mediterranean until the German surrender.

The type was licence-built in Australia. In 1942 the Australian Government began looking for a replacement for the Curtiss P-40 Kittyhawk which then formed the equipment of a number of the RAAF’s fighter and fighter-bomber squadrons. After evaluation, it was decided that 690 Mustang fighters should be built at the Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation plant at Fishermens Bend, VIC.

The first production aircraft, known as the CA-17 Mustang Mk 20 (serial A68-1), was delivered to the RAAF on 4 June 1945.  Production of the CA-17 continued until 30 July 1946 when A68-80 was delivered. At the end of World War II the order was reduced to 350 aircraft. In late 1946 a contract was let for 170 Mustangs. This was later reduced to 120, and these were completed as the Mk 21 (A68-95 to A68-120), Mk 22 (A68-81 to A68-94 and A68-187 to A68-200), and Mk 23 (A68-121 to A68-186).

Whereas the CA-17 aircraft were built with American components, the CA-18 was totally Australian built.  One CA-21 was converted to two-seat configuration in 1948.  A proposal was drawn up that CAC build 50 two-seat Mustangs as advanced trainers. ARDU modified A68-657, the radios and fuselage tank being removed. A test flight was made on 17 March 1948 from Point Cook, VIC to Richmond, NSWreturning on 20 March. After its return to Point Cook A68-657 was returned to single-seat form and no further examples were converted.  However, most of the civil-registered Mustangs in Australia, and a number overseas, have been converted to two-seat configuration for warbird flights, a couple being just a jump seat, whereas others have a fully equipped second cockpit.

In addition to the Mustangs produced in Australia, 299 aircraft were procured direct from US production and these were shipped to Australia between April and September 1945. The first (A68-1001), a P-51D, was obtained as a production sample for the Mustang Mk 23 prototype. These aircraft were P-51K (A68-500 to A68-583); and P-51D (A68-600 to A68-813).  It was these aircraft which bore the brunt of RAAF overseas service in the Pacific, Japan, and later Korea when war broke out there, and they remained in service there until replaced by Gloster Meteors.  In all 15,576 Mustangs of all models were built in the USA and Australia, these being the only countries which manufactured the type.

In Australia the Mustang was operated by Citizen Air Force Squadrons, these being No 21 [City of Melbourne], No 22 [City of Sydney], No 23 [City of Brisbane], No 24 [City of Adelaide], and No 25 [City of Perth] Squadrons.  In addition Nos 75, 76 and 78 Fighter Squadrons, and Nos 3 and 4 Tactical Reconnaissance Squadrons, operated the type.  They remained in service until replaced by de Havilland Vampire F.30s. Many were delivered to Tocumwal, NSW, where they were eventually broken up.

A number of Mustangs have survived over the years in Australia and have become very popular warbirds. A few have been lost in accidents, and others have been used for record-setting. Two were used by British racing car driver Ron Flockhart. The first, G-ARKD (ex VH-BVM, A68-5), left Sydney on 28 February 1961 to fly to the United Kingdom but was delayed by weather problems and a cockpit fire. The aircraft became derelict at Athens, Greece. This same aircraft, named Johnny Zero, had been used by Flt Lt J L D Whiteman to set a Sydney – Auckland trans-Tasman record of 3 hours 31 minutes and 30 seconds on 16 July 1953.  He returned to Australia on 26 July and had submitted an entry to take part in the London – Christchurch race held in 1953.  However, he was refused a Certificate of Airworthiness for modifications to the aircraft which involved the installation of auxiliary jets to the wingtips and the entry was withdrawn.

Two Mustangs were obtained by Adastra Aerial Surveys of Mascot, NSW to be used in the Company’s survey work, these being A68-104 and A68-187.  The former was initially obtained by A J R ‘Titus’ Oates in 1960.  In March 1962 Sepal Pty Ltd (Adastra) sought registration VH-AGV be allotted, the aircraft to be used for high altitude photography from 7,620 m (25,000 ft) to 11,582 m (38,000 ft).  It seems conversion for survey work was not carried out, the Company having previously attempted to convert A68-187 for similar work as VH-AGJ but it was found there was insufficient accommodation in the fuselage for a camera operator. In the event both registrations were not taken up, A68-104 becoming VH-BOB, and A68-187, after attempts to become VH-FHT and VH-UFO, being exported to the United States as N919WJ, eventually being converted to two-seat TF-51D configuration.

Flockhart subsequently obtained another Mustang (VH-UWB – c/n 1438 – ex A68-113) for another attempt but on 12 April 1962, whilst on a test flight over the Dandenong Ranges, crashed and the aircraft was destroyed.  Two others (VH-IVI – c/n 1444 – ex A68-119; and VH-DBB – c/n 1518 – ex A68-193) were lost in accidents, the former near Windsor west of Sydney, NSW on 11 June 1973, and the latter near Bendigo, VIC on 15 February 1970.

Two (VH-BOY – c/n 1363 – ex A68-39; and VH-BOZ – ex A68-199) were operated by Fawcett Aviation for some years on target drogue towing and radar calibration contracts from Bankstown, NSW for the military services.  Other civil registrations allotted to the type have included VH-BOW [ex A68-100] which went to the US and became N51AB. VH-FCB [c/n 1517 – ex A68-192) was operated for some years from November 1959 but was eventually exported to the Philippines as PI-C-651 in October 1966.  It later went to Europe where it became VR-HIU, and G-HAEC, later D-FBBD, but was lost in an accident on 11 July 2011. VH-BOB [c/n 1429 – ex A68-104] has operated on warbird flights based in Melbourne,VIC.

Other registrations allotted included: VH-WAS, later VH-AGJ [c/n 1443 – ex A68-118]; VH-PPV [ c/n 1462 – ex A68-137], restored at Townsville and now held by the RAAF Museum; VH-AUB [c/n 1432 – ex A68-107]; VH-JUC [c/n 1430 – ex A68-105] painted as KH677 of No 3 Squadron RAAF in the Middle East; VH-MFT [c/n 1435 – ex A68-110] operated in Queensland; VH-SVU [c/n 1495 – ex A68-170], operated by the RAAF Museum and painted as A68-750 etc for a period. Others are known to be under restoration.  A68-175 [c/n 1500] was privately owned at Narromine, NSW for some years but was exported as N5464V.  A68-71 [c/n 1396] was to become VH-SID, and later VH-VID, but was not completed and in mid 2016 was acquired by the Australian National Aviation Museum at Moorabbin, VIC, where it will be completed for display.

An ex-RAAF P-51D-20NT (A68-674) was partly rebuilt for display by Warbirds Aviation Museum at Mildura, VIC using parts from two other Mustang wrecks. It was sold, was to become VH-CVA after restoration, and was shipped to the US for restoration.  It was restored and flown but did not return to Australia, having a number of owners and registrations in the US before being sold to New Zealand, where it has operated from Wanaka since 2004 as ZK-SAS.

VH-EMQ [c/n 1326] was one of six Mustangs used for the 1953 Atomic Tests at Emu, SA, being used as static targets. This aircraft, formerly A68-1 [c/n 1326] was, with A68-30 [c/n 1355], A68-35 [c/n 1360], A68-72 [c/n 1397] and A68-87 [c/n 1412] , sold to a consortium which planned to restore them for civilian ownership. VH-EMQ was partly restored and flown out of the desert, the others being shipped, and all eventually went to the United States.

One (VH-UFO – c/n 1512 – ex A68-187) was fitted with a Rolls Royce Dart 510 turboprop at Canberra, ACT but was never flown in this guise. Whereas most of the civil aircraft are Australian built, one civil Mustang is VH-FST (c/n NA124-48279 – ex 45-11526) imported from the United States. A68-648 is on display at the Australian War Memorial.  Quite a number of ex-Australian Mustangs, both Australian and US-built aircraft, are flying in civil ownership in the USA and over 150 Mustangs are known to be airworthy around the world.  In April 2014 former Fawcett Aviation Mustang VH-BOZ (c/n 1524) was registered as VH-URZ after a rebuild in Melbourne, making its first post-restoration flight at Tyabb, VIC on 16 December 2016.

The Mustang also saw service with the RNZAF [serials NZ2401 to NZ2430], these all being American-built aircraft by the North American Dallas, Texas facility. They came from the production batch 45-11451 to 45-11542.  On arrival in August and September 1945 they were placed in storage at Hobsonville, NZ as they, due to the conclusion of the war, were surplus to requirements.

The RNZAF subsequently underwent a modernisation programme and four Territorial Air Force Squadrons were formed, being Nos 1 [Auckland], No 2 [Wellington], No 3 [Canterbury] and No 4 [Otago] Squadrons. These units suffered a high attrition rate and ten of the 30 aircraft available in 1951 were lost in accidents by August 1955 when the type was withdrawn from service.  They were delivered to Woodbourne and Gisborne for disposal.  Three were sold privately, NZ2423 which survives at Mapua; NZ2417 which became ZK-CCG in 1964 but which was later exported; and NZ2427 which survived until 1973 when it was scrapped.  Worldwide more than 280 Mustangs are known to survive, and in the United States it is mooted a company is to produce ‘new-build’ Mustangs for the warbird market.

In more recent years examples have been imported from the USA. These have included: ZK-TAF [ex 44-74829] owned by a syndicate in Auckland and painted as NZ2415;  ZK-PLI [ex 44-73420] owned for a period by the Alpine Deer Group at Wanaka and exported to the US in 2005; 44-74827 with the RNZAF Museum and on display at Wigram; and ZK-SAS [ex A68-674] Dove of Peace imported in 2004 and based at Wanaka.