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Long Nose Trouble by Stan Stokes. The Focke-Wulf 190 development project began in 1937. Conceived as a hedge against total dependence on the Messerchmitt 109, the 190 was designed by Kurt Tank utilizing a radial engine. This was against generally accepted design criteria in Germany, and many historians believe that the decision to produce a radial engine fighter was largely due to the limited manufacturing capacity for in-line, water-cooled engines which were widely used on all other Luftwaffe aircraft. Despite these concerns, Tanks design was brilliant, and the 190 would become one of the top fighter aircraft of WW II. The first prototype flew in mid-1939. The aircraft had excellent flying characteristics, a wonderful rate of acceleration, and was heavily armed. By late 1940 the new fighter was ordered into production. Nicknamed the butcher bird, by Luftwaffe pilots, early 190s were quite successful in the bomber interceptor role, but at this stage of the War many Allied bombing raids lacked fighter escort. As the War dragged on, Allied bombers were increasingly accompanied by fighters, including the very effective P-51 Mustang. The Allies learned from experience that the 190s performance fell off sharply at altitudes above 20,000 feet. As a result, most Allied bombing missions were shifted to higher altitudes when fighter opposition was likely. Kurt Tank had recognized this shortcoming and began working on a high-altitude version of the 190 utilizing an in-line, water-cooled engine. Utilizing a Jumo 12-cylinder engine rated at 1770-HP, and capable of 2,240-HP for short bursts with its methanol injection system, the 190D, or Long Nose or Dora as it was called, had a top speed of 426-MPH at 22,000 feet. Armament was improved with two fuselage and two wing mounted 20mm cannon. To accommodate the changes in power plants the Dora had a longer, more streamlined fuselage, with 24 inches added to the nose, and an additional 19 inches added aft of the cockpit to compensate for the altered center of gravity. By mid 1944 the Dora began to reach fighter squadrons in quantity. Although the aircraft had all the right attributes to serve admirably in the high altitude interceptor role, it was not generally focused on such missions. Instead many 190Ds were assigned to protect airfields where Me-262 jet fighters were based. This was due to the latter aircrafts extreme vulnerability to Allied attack during takeoff and landing. The 190Ds also played a major role in Operation Bodenplatte, the New Years Day raid in 1945 which destroyed approximately 500 Allied aircraft on the ground. The High Command was impressed with the 190Ds record on this raid, and ordered most future production of the Doras to be equipped as fighter-bombers. In retrospect this was a strategic error, and this capable aircraft was not fully utilized in the role for which it was intended. |
Red Tails by Ivan Berryman. Often described as the most effective fighter escorts in the US Army Air Force, the famous red-tailed Tuskegee airmen could proudly boast that they never lost a single bomber to enemy fighters in all the missions flown. Nearest aircraft here is the P51C of Lt. Lee A Archer Jr, who finished the war with four confirmed victories and one shared. His personal aircraft was named Ina the Macon Belle after his wife. |
Top Cover by Gerald Coulson. Big Brothers and Little Friends : the enduring bond between the bomber crews and fighter pilots of the USAAF Eighth Air Force in their prolonged and hotly contested air war against Hitlers Nazi Germany, 1942-1945. |
Tribute to Clarence 'Bud' Anderson by Ivan Berryman. Painted with the black and white markings of the D-Day invasion, P-51 Mustang 43-24823 B6-S 'Old Crow' is the personal aircraft of 'Bud' Anderson. He flew two tours with the 363rd Fighter Squadron and is credited with 16.25 victories in 116 missions from February to December 1944. After the war he became a test pilot, flying over 100 different aircraft types before retiring in 1972, often speaking at aviation history events ever since. As of the time of writing in 2023, he is 101 years old and has just been promoted to the honorary rank of Brigadier General. |
Top Cover by Stan Stokes. The painting depicts a P-51D Mustang (flown by William Bailey of the 353rd Fighter Group) flying escort for B-17 Flying Fortresses of the U.S. Armys Eighth Air Force. The scene is over the French countryside during late 1944, and several more hours of high altitude flying lies ahead of these pilots before the days work is over. Bombing played a major role in the Allies victory in Europe. The RAF relied primarily on night bombing which was also called strategic bombing. Day time bombing was a necessity for hitting specific targets such as munition plants, dams, and submarine pens. The Mighty Eighth took on responsibility for most of the day time bombing missions. The hazards and discomforts of high altitude flying, the perils of enemy flak batteries, and the threat of enemy fighters made these missions exceedingly dangerous until only very late in the war. Fighter escort was critically important in improving the odds of a successful mission, and the P-51 became arguably the premier aircraft for providing that cover. The P-51 is generally acknowledged as Americas top fighter plane of World War II. The first Mustangs were ordered by the British Government in 1940. The USAAF was initially reluctant to order the Mustang, having already committed itself to the P-38 Lightning, the P-47 Thunderbolt, the P-40 Warhawk, and the P-39 Airacobra. In 1944 an improved version of the Mustang, the D, came off North American Aviations assembly line in California. It was dramatically altered from earlier versions, as major changes in fuselage design were incorporated to improve pilot visibility. The P-51D was powered by a Packard-built, Rolls Royce-designed, liquid cooled V-12 engine which generated 1,612 HP. The Mustang had a top speed of 436 MPH, a range of 949 miles, and an operational ceiling in excess of 42,000 feet. Nearly 8,000 P-51Ds were produced. In service with the USAAF Mustangs flew in excess of 200,000 missions, and were credited with destroying nearly 5,000 enemy aircraft. The Mustang was unique in its ability to provide long range fighter escort, and this greatly enhanced the effectiveness of Allied bombing missions. On returning from their escort missions Mustangs would generally split into squadrons and take varying routes home looking for targets of opportunity. |
American Eagles by Robert Taylor. The 357th Fighter Group was thrown into action soon after arriving in England in February 1944. Being the first fighter group equipped with P-51 Mustangs, great things were expected of them, and they did not disappoint; in the final year of the war they achieved a faster rate of victories than any other group in the 8th Air Force, and the record for the highest number of enemy aircraft shot down in a single mission - in excess of 50 - during a great air battle on 14th January 1945. |
Clash of Eagles by Anthony Saunders. P-51 Mustangs of the 20th Fighter Group, flying out of Kings Cliffe to engage Me109s from JG77 in a furiously contested dogfight. Below them a formation of B-17s from the 379th Bomb Group fly through the chaos, doggedly maintaining their course, as they head on to attack the huge synthetic oil refinery at Meresburg, southern Germany, on 11 September 1944. So vital was this refinery to the Nazi war machine that it became one of the most heavily defended targets in Germany, the air defences even surpassing those of Berlin. |
P-51D Mustang 41-3926 by G Henderson. 335th Fighter Squadron, 361st Fighter Group USAAF. |
Detroit Miss by Brian Bateman. (P) Urban Ben Drew in his P-51 Mustang Detroit Miss claiming his fifth victory to become an Ace. The German Heinkel He111 was over the Baltic Sea on 18th September 1944 when it was spotted by Ben. Attempting to escape Ben and the two other Mustangs with him, the German aircraft made for the coast, but was shot down and plunged into the sea before making landfall. |
Mustang Mayhem by Nicolas Trudgian. As Red Dog Norleys P-51D screams across the field at hangar height with his squadrons Mustangs fanned out behind him, the 4th Fighter Group pilots jink through the intense groundfire wreaking havoc on the ground. In this, its final major mission of the war, the group destroyed no fewer than 105 enemy aircraft in two blishtering airfield attacks. |
Ace of Diamonds by Nicolas Trudgian. From the day they began their aerial campaign against Nazi Germany to the cessation of hostilities in 1945, the USAAF bomber crews plied their hazardous trade in broad daylight. This tactic may have enabled better sighting of targets, and possibly less danger of mid-air collisions, but the grievous penalty of flying daylight missions over enemy territory was the ever presence of enemy fighters. Though heavily armed, the heavy bombers of the American Eighth Air Force were no match against the fast, highly manoeuvrable Me109s, Fw190s and, late in the war, Me 262 jet fighters which the Luftwaffe sent up to intercept them. Without fighter escort they were sitting ducks, and inevitably paid a heavy price. Among others, one fighter group earned particular respect, gratitude, and praise from bomber crews for their escort tactics. The 356th FG stuck rigidly to the principle of tight bomber escort duty, their presence in tight formation with the bombers often being sufficient to deter enemy attack. Repeatedly passing up the opportunity to increase individual scores, the leadership determined it more important to bring the bombers home than claim another enemy fighter victory. As the air war progressed this philosophy brought about an unbreakable bond between heavy bomber crews and escort fighter pilots, and among those held in the highest esteem were the pilots of the 356th. Top scoring ace Donald J Strait, flying his P-51 D Mustang Jersey Jerk, together with pilots of the 356th Fighter Group, are seen in action against Luftwaffe Fw 190s while escorting B-17 bombers returning from a raid on German installations during the late winter of 1944. One minute all is orderly as the mighty bombers thunder their way homeward, the next minute enemy fighters are upon them and all hell breaks loose. Published 2003. Signed by three of the top pilots from the 356th Fighter group. |
Looking for Trouble by Robert Taylor. When Hitler invaded Poland the British found themselves at war - and isolated. Desperate for new fighters and with production at full capacity they turned to the US aircraft manufacturer North American Aviation who were convinced they had the answer for Britain's needs - but it was still on the drawing board. They were, however, sure they could meet the deadline and incredibly, within the space of just four months the company had their brand new machine in the air. The Mustang was a triumph - conceived and born in a shorter period than any other significant aircraft in history and testament to its designer Edgar Schmued, and the people who built it. Delivered to the RAF in October 1941, it was fast, manoeuvrable, hard-hitting and, by the time it was combined with the legendary Rolls-Royce Merlin engine, was capable of outperforming anything the enemy could throw at it. With the arrival of the long-range fighter the heavy bombers of the USAAF could now be escorted all the way to the German capital and back so whilst the RAF pounded Berlin at night, the Mighty Eighth would do the same by day. When P-51s first appeared in the skies over Berlin, Hermann Goering was reported to have announced that he knew then the war was lost. Like the Spitfire, a special new breed of men flew the Mustang as the Allies pushed for victory in Europe. Tough, supremely confident, determined, and gloriously brave; it was an era that belonged to them and the P-51 helped produce some of the greatest aces of the war. Such iconic pilots as George Preddy, John Meyer, Don Blakeslee, Kit Carson and Bud Anderson scored all or most of their victories in this thoroughbred fighter. In fact, the Mustang was responsible for more US victories than any other fighter of the war. In this painting, P-51Ds of the 352nd Fighter Group with full long-range tanks slung under their wings, head out from their forward base in Belgium on an extended sweep east of the Rhine crossing on the lookout for enemy aircraft, in the spring of 1945. |
Mustang by Geoff Lea. No text for this item |
Air Superiority by Robert Taylor. It had taken almost six years of continual air fighting for the Allied forces to attain complete and total air superiority over the Luftwaffe. At the outbreak of World War II the mighty German Air Force had appeared invincible but the ensuing Battle of Britain gave the Luftwaffe its first taste of what was to come. When America joined the war, bringing with her to Europe new types of fighters and bombers, the writing must have been clearly chalked on the wall of Hitler's bunker. Unleashing the full power of the Eighth Air Force against the Third Reich by day, and with the RAF Bomber Command's constant attacks by night, production in Germany's aircraft and munitions factories became fatally depleted. In the air the Allied fighter pilots were beginning to dominate the skies, and by the spring of 1945, had achieved complete air superiority. It had been a long and bitter struggle, fought with great courage and sacrifice. |
Big Beautiful Doll by Stan Stokes. Col. John D. Landers, the pilot of the Big Beautiful Doll, was born in 1920 in Wilson, Oklahoma. He attended Texas A & M and Arkansas State University before joining the Army Air Corp. In March of 1941 Landers graduated from aviation cadet training and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. With America thrust into WWII following the attack on Pearl Harbor, Landers was assigned to the 49th Fighter Group and set forth to Australia. Flying a Curtis P-40 out of bases in Darwin and Port Moresby, Landers became an ace by downing two Betty bombers and four Mitsubishi Zeros. When his first combat tour ended, Landers returned to the States as a P-38 Lightning instructor. During a second combat tour Landers was assigned to the European Theatre as Commander of the 38th Fighter Squadron of the 55th Fighter Group. On June 25th 1944 Landers downed his first German aircraft, an Fw190. Several days later he would bag three Me110s on a single day. Later in 1944 Landers was made acting Commander of the 357th Fighter Group. Flying a P-51 Mustang for the first time he obtained an aerial victory on November 18th. Landers returned to America for a brief rest following completion of his second combat tour. However, by January of 1945 he was back in action as C.O. of the 78th Fighter Group which flew out of Duxford, England. Landers attained 3 ½ additional confirmed aerial victories and destroyed many additional enemy aircraft on the ground. In fact the 78th Fighter Group destroyed 125 German aircraft on the ground on April 16th 1945, which is a record for one day. After V.E. Day Landers was given command of the 361st Fighter Group which he was preparing to take to the Pacific when the war ended. Officially credited with 14 ½ aerial victories, Landers decorations include the Silver Star with two Oak Leaf Clusters, the Distinguished Flying Cross with three OLCs, the Purple Heart, the Croix de Guerre, and the Air Medal with twenty-one OLCs. The ace returned to civilian life after the war where he was active in the pipeline business in the Southwest. He retired in 1975, and passed away in 1989 from complications during surgery. The P-51 Mustang played a major role in the Allied victory in WWII. The P-51 was the first fighter with the range to accompany bombers into Germany, and tangle with the best of the Luftwaffes fighters on an equal basis. Many Mustangs carried unique personalized paint schemes. The Big Beautiful Doll is considered by many to be one of the classics with its checker board cowling, black rudder, and red accents. |
The First Mustang Ace by Stan Stokes. The ubiquitous North American P-51 Mustang, which many consider to be the best all-around fighter of WW II, owes its origins to the British Air Ministry. Following Britains entry into WW II in 1939, the RAF was interested in purchasing additional fighter aircraft from American sources, particularly the Curtiss P-40. Curtiss, which was busy, was unable to guarantee timely delivery so the British approached North American Aviation as a possible second source for the P-40. North American chose to propose its own fighter design which would use the same Allison engine as the P-40. Utilizing new laminar flow wings, the North American fighter was expected to have performance better than the P-40. Developed in record time the new aircraft was designated as a Mustang I by the Brits, whereas the USAAF ordered two for evaluation which were designated XP-51 Apaches. Intrigued with the possibility of using this aircraft also as a dive bomber, North American proposed this to the USAAF which decided to order 500 of the P-51 aircraft to be modified for dive bombing use. Designated as the A-36 Invader, this version of the Mustang utilized dive flaps, and bomb racks under each wing. Some reinforcing of the structural members was also required because of the G-forces to be encountered in dive bombing. A-36s entered combat service with the USAAF prior to any P-51s. In early 1943 the 86th and 27th Fighter Bomber Groups of the 12th Air Force began flying A-36s out of Northern Africa. Despite some early problems with instability caused by the dive flaps, the A-36 was effective in light bombing and strafing roles. It was not, however, capable of dog fighting with German fighters, especially at higher altitudes. Despite these drawbacks one USAAF pilot, Captain Michael T. Russo, who served with the 16th Bomb Squadron of the 27th Fighter Bomber Group, was credited with five confirmed aerial victories in the A-36, thereby becoming the first mustang ace. In Stan Stokes painting, Russos third victory is depicted over a JU-52 at the Aversano Airfield in Italy. The early USAAF fighter versions of the Mustang were designated as P-51As. About 650 were delivered to the RAF and 350 to the USAAF. With its Allison engine the early P-51s were no match for German Bf-109s or FW-190s. The performance drawbacks of the Mustang were especially apparent at higher altitudes. The RAF equipped some Mustangs with the more powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. This dramatically enhanced the Mustangs high altitude performance. This new engine was utilized in the P-51B, the first effective fighter version of this aircraft. Also developed were inexpensive wing mounted drop tanks which extended the Mustangs range into the heart of Germany, so it could accompany American bombers on daylight raids. Late in 1943, North American redesigned the top of the rear fuselage of the Mustang, and added a bubble canopy. This variant became the P-51D and proved to be an effective dog fighting aircraft against any of the Luftwaffes propeller driven fighters. |
D-Day Armada by Nicolas Trudgian. There was never a greater concentration of air power deployed in an active theater of war as over the English Channel in May and June 1944. As D-Day approached, the USAAFs Ninth Air Force had assembled over 3500 aircraft a day, they were pounding enemy positions all the way from Pas de Calais to the coast of Normandy. 6 June 1944, arguably the most decisive single day in modern military history, saw the sky filled with waves of troop carrying aircraft towing gliders, dropping over 20,000 highly trained men in support of the massed sea-borne landings on the beaches below. Grabbing all the airspace they could find, the combat wings of the Ninth Air Force were creating havoc among the German ground forces as they scrambled to get troops and armor to the battlefront. |
Dove of Peace by David Pentland. P51D of Colonel Glenn Duncan C.O. of the 353rd Fighter Group, along with Betty-E flown by Lt. Colonel Wayne Blickenstaff, taking off on one of their last missions of the war, April 1945. |
Major Urban 'Ben' Drew - First Victory by Brian Bateman. (P) Urban Ben Drew claims his first victory in his Mustang as he makes a strafing run of a Luftwaffe JU-52 transport at Toussus-Le-Noble in France in mid 1944. |
Mustangs over the Reich by Stephen Brown. P51 Mustangs of the 336th Fighter Squadron, 4th Fighter Group range deep into the Reich in search for targets of opportunity. |
Mustang Recce by Robert Taylor. Russ Berg flies his 10th Recce Group P51s in low and fast, dodging flak and enemy fighters, to get vital photographs for General Patons advancing forces. A superb study of World War IIs most outstanding tactical fighter in action, in the hands of one of the USAAFs most distinguished and highly decorated pilots. |
Mustang The ubiquitous North American P-51 Mustang, which many consider to be the best all-around fighter of WW II, owes its origins to the British Air Ministry. Following Britains entry into WW II in 1939, the RAF was interested in purchasing additional fighter aircraft from American sources, particularly the Curtiss P-40. Curtiss, which was busy, was unable to guarantee timely delivery so the British approached North American Aviation as a possible second source for the P-40. North American chose to propose its own fighter design which would use the same Allison engine as the P-40. Utilizing new laminar flow wings, the North American fighter was expected to have performance better than the P-40. Developed in record time the new aircraft was designated as a Mustang I by the Brits, whereas the USAAF ordered two for evaluation which were designated XP-51 Apaches. Intrigued with the possibility of using this aircraft also as a dive bomber, North American proposed this to the USAAF which decided to order 500 of the P-51 aircraft to be modified for dive bombing use. Designated as the A-36 Invader, this version of the Mustang utilized dive flaps, and bomb racks under each wing. Some reinforcing of the structural members was also required because of the G-forces to be encountered in dive bombing. A-36s entered combat service with the USAAF prior to any P-51s. In early 1943 the 86th and 27th Fighter Bomber Groups of the 12th Air Force began flying A-36s out of Northern Africa. Despite some early problems with instability caused by the dive flaps, the A-36 was effective in light bombing and strafing roles. It was not, however, capable of dog fighting with German fighters, especially at higher altitudes. Despite these drawbacks one USAAF pilot, Captain Michael T. Russo, who served with the 16th Bomb Squadron of the 27th Fighter Bomber Group, was credited with five confirmed aerial victories in the A-36, thereby becoming the first mustang ace. |
| Top Aces for : Mustang | |
| A list of all Aces from our database who are known to have flown this aircraft. | |
| Name | Victories |
| Bob Doe | 15.00 |
| James Lindsay | 7.00 |
| Werner Christie | 11.00 |
| Eugeniusz Horbaczewski | 16.50 |
| Walker Mahurin | 20.75 |
| Charles Older | 18.50 |
| Leonard Carson | 18.50 |
| Herschel Green | 18.00 |
| Robert Foy | 17.00 |
| Clarence Anderson | 16.25 |
| Richard Peterson | 15.50 |
| James Goodson | 15.00 |
| Donald Bochkay | 14.83 |
| John Landers | 14.50 |
| Arthur Jeffrey | 14.00 |
| Robert Curtis | 14.00 |
| Donald Strait | 13.50 |
| Donald Bryan | 13.33 |
| James Brooks | 13.00 |
| Robin Olds | 13.00 |
| Clyde East | 12.00 |
| Charles Yeager | 11.50 |
| Robert Goebel | 11.00 |
| George Ceuleers | 10.50 |
| Raymond Littge | 10.50 |
| Robert Anderson | 10.00 |
| Spiros Pisanos | 10.00 |
| Wayne Blickenstaff | 10.00 |
| Ernest Fiebelkorn | 9.50 |
| Robert Smith | 8.67 |
| Thomas Hayes | 8.50 |
| Arthur Fiedler | 8.00 |
| Charles Weaver | 8.00 |
| Dale Karger | 7.50 |
| Donald Cummings | 6.50 |
| Arval Roberson | 6.00 |
| Clayton Gross | 6.00 |
| Fred Ohr | 6.00 |
| Robert Karr | 6.00 |
| Robert Schimanski | 6.00 |
| Urban Drew | 6.00 |
| Wilbur Scheible | 6.00 |
| William Dillard | 6.00 |
| Clinton Burdick | 5.50 |
| Dudley Amoss | 5.50 |
| Gordon Compton | 5.50 |
| Maurice Long | 5.50 |
| Robert Winks | 5.50 |
| William OBrien | 5.50 |
| Duerr Schuh | 5.00 |
| Gerald Brown | 5.00 |
| Harrison Tordoff | 5.00 |
| James Empey | 5.00 |
| Niven Cranfill | 5.00 |
| Robert Barkey | 5.00 |
| Robert Abernathy | 5.00 |
| Royce Priest | 5.00 |
| William Daniel | 5.00 |
| William Allen | 5.00 |
| Agorastos Plagis | 16.00 |
| Tom Neil | 14.00 |
| Paul Farnes | 8.00 |
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