Book Review of
Single No. 35
NAA Mustang III (P-51B-5-NA)
W/Cdr. Stanislaw Skalski
MMB Books
ISBN: 978-83-66549-51-7
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $11.99
ISBN: 978-83-66549-51-7
By Ray Mehlberger
Copyright: 2021
MSRP: $11.99
HISTORY:
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James Kindelberger of North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission.
The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October.
The Mustang was designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which had limited high-altitude performance in its earlier variants. The aircraft was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). Replacing the Allison with a Rolls-Royce Merlin resulted in the P-51B/C (Mustang Mk III) model, and transformed the aircraft's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft (4,600 m) (without sacrificing range),[8] allowing it to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters.
The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.
From late 1943, P-51Bs and P-51Cs (supplemented by P-51Ds from mid-1944) were used by the USAAF Eighth Air Force to escort bombers in raids over Germany, while the RAF Second Tactical Air Force and the USAAF Ninth Air Force used the Merlin-powered Mustangs as fighter-bombers, roles in which the Mustang helped ensure Allied air superiority in 1944. The P-51 was also used by Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean, Italian, and Pacific theaters.
During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed to have destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft. At the start of the Korean War, the Mustang, by then redesignated F-51, was the main fighter of the United States until jet fighters, including North Americans' F-86, took over this role; the Mustang then became a specialized fighter-bomber. Despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After the Korean War, Mustangs became popular civilian warbirds and air racing aircraft.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Fighter
National origin: United States
Manufacturer: North American Aviation
First flight: 26 October 1940
Introduction to service: January 1942 (RAF)[2]
Status: Retired from military service 1984 (Dominican Air Force)
Primary users: United States Army Air Forces, Royal Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force
Number built: More than 15,000
Variants: North American A-36, Rolls-Royce Mustang Mk.X CAC Mustang, Cavalier Mustang
Developed into: North American F-82 Twin Mustang, Piper PA-48 Enforcer
THE BOOK:
MMP (Mushroom Model Publications) Books is located in the UK.
This book is soft-cover in 24 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover is bright orange, with a top view color illustration of a P-51B-5-NA profile that wraps around the spine of the book with half of it on the back cover.
This aircraft is shown again in a 4-view color illustration at the end of the book
It is a standard RAF camouflage of dark-green, dark-grey above a medium-sea-grey bottom. It has a white spinner and D-Day Invasion white bands around the aft of the fuselage, wings and elevators. It ha a vertical red, white and blue flash on the rudder. There is a small Polish Air Force checkerboard insignia on the sides of its nose, RAF roundels in the normal 6 positions and a beige SS on the fuselage sides.
It was Mustang, III FZ152, SS, (P-51B-5-NA. S/N 43-6533), personal aircraft of Wing Commander Stanislaw Skalski of no. 133 Polish Fighter Wing, June 1944. Polish pilots that fled Poland after its capture by Germany flew with the RAF.
No scale is given for these profiles, but they entirely fit the width of the pages.
The book begins with 6 view line-drawing profiles in 1/72nd and 1/48 scale and illustrations of the fuselage interior bulkhead shapes and their locations shown.
There are 21 black and white photos. Fourteen are the walk-around type. Including photos of the joy stick, the noses of P-51s with nicknames “TICKET HOME”, “SAMMY'S DAD” & “THE STARS LOOK DOWN” on the sides of their noses, the cockpit interior, air intake, landing gear door, the engine and a bomb.
There are 2 large black and white illustrations of the dashboard with one just showing the dial openings with numbers that go with a listing of the dial names.
More line drawings show all the bracing inside the fuselage and wings.
There are 2 color photos that show looking into the cockpit and its glass roof.
This is a neat, inexpensive book about the P-51. It will be of great interest to modelers planning on building one and to aviation historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of MMP Books and all MMP titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James Kindelberger of North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission.
The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October.
The Mustang was designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which had limited high-altitude performance in its earlier variants. The aircraft was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). Replacing the Allison with a Rolls-Royce Merlin resulted in the P-51B/C (Mustang Mk III) model, and transformed the aircraft's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft (4,600 m) (without sacrificing range),[8] allowing it to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters.
The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.
From late 1943, P-51Bs and P-51Cs (supplemented by P-51Ds from mid-1944) were used by the USAAF Eighth Air Force to escort bombers in raids over Germany, while the RAF Second Tactical Air Force and the USAAF Ninth Air Force used the Merlin-powered Mustangs as fighter-bombers, roles in which the Mustang helped ensure Allied air superiority in 1944. The P-51 was also used by Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean, Italian, and Pacific theaters.
During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed to have destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft. At the start of the Korean War, the Mustang, by then redesignated F-51, was the main fighter of the United States until jet fighters, including North Americans' F-86, took over this role; the Mustang then became a specialized fighter-bomber. Despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After the Korean War, Mustangs became popular civilian warbirds and air racing aircraft.
SPECIFICATIONS:
Role: Fighter
National origin: United States
Manufacturer: North American Aviation
First flight: 26 October 1940
Introduction to service: January 1942 (RAF)[2]
Status: Retired from military service 1984 (Dominican Air Force)
Primary users: United States Army Air Forces, Royal Air Force, Royal New Zealand Air Force, Royal Canadian Air Force
Number built: More than 15,000
Variants: North American A-36, Rolls-Royce Mustang Mk.X CAC Mustang, Cavalier Mustang
Developed into: North American F-82 Twin Mustang, Piper PA-48 Enforcer
THE BOOK:
MMP (Mushroom Model Publications) Books is located in the UK.
This book is soft-cover in 24 pages in 8 ¼” x 11 ¾” page format.
The cover is bright orange, with a top view color illustration of a P-51B-5-NA profile that wraps around the spine of the book with half of it on the back cover.
This aircraft is shown again in a 4-view color illustration at the end of the book
It is a standard RAF camouflage of dark-green, dark-grey above a medium-sea-grey bottom. It has a white spinner and D-Day Invasion white bands around the aft of the fuselage, wings and elevators. It ha a vertical red, white and blue flash on the rudder. There is a small Polish Air Force checkerboard insignia on the sides of its nose, RAF roundels in the normal 6 positions and a beige SS on the fuselage sides.
It was Mustang, III FZ152, SS, (P-51B-5-NA. S/N 43-6533), personal aircraft of Wing Commander Stanislaw Skalski of no. 133 Polish Fighter Wing, June 1944. Polish pilots that fled Poland after its capture by Germany flew with the RAF.
No scale is given for these profiles, but they entirely fit the width of the pages.
The book begins with 6 view line-drawing profiles in 1/72nd and 1/48 scale and illustrations of the fuselage interior bulkhead shapes and their locations shown.
There are 21 black and white photos. Fourteen are the walk-around type. Including photos of the joy stick, the noses of P-51s with nicknames “TICKET HOME”, “SAMMY'S DAD” & “THE STARS LOOK DOWN” on the sides of their noses, the cockpit interior, air intake, landing gear door, the engine and a bomb.
There are 2 large black and white illustrations of the dashboard with one just showing the dial openings with numbers that go with a listing of the dial names.
More line drawings show all the bracing inside the fuselage and wings.
There are 2 color photos that show looking into the cockpit and its glass roof.
This is a neat, inexpensive book about the P-51. It will be of great interest to modelers planning on building one and to aviation historians alike.
I sincerely wish to thank Casemate Publishers for this review sample. Casemate is the North American distributor of MMP Books and all MMP titles can be viewed on Casemate’s website at:
Highly recommended.