Now with improved uses of their and there! (Now i have to write like i am in high school again sigh...) The P-51 Mustang was Americas answer to the problem of escorting allied bombers. Early on in the war bombers would have to fend for themselves when they flew over occupied Europe because their were no fighter aircraft available that could make the journey into Germany and back. The P-51 allowed the allies to escort their bombers which increased crew survivability rates and get the bombers to their targets. The P-51 (B) was introduced into service in late 1942 in Britain, however it didn't see much action until late 1943-195 because of the way bomber command planned out its offensives on Europe. The P-51 (D model is the best one during the time period and as such i will use it to list specifics in its design) is powered by a Packard V-1650-7 liquid cooled and supercharged U.S. engine which allowed it to operate exceptionally at high altitude intercepting, which is exactly what it needed to excel at to defend bombers from the Luftwaffe. Its top speed could reach up to 430 MPH. It should be noted that the British version of the mustang used a Rolls Royce engine in there P-51 (C model)'s because they performed better in there fighter bomber role that the British allocated it to. The P-51 (D) could be armed with a variety of armaments, adapting to what role it needed to fill. In the aerial superiority role it was armed with 6 browning 50. caliber machine guns that could shred any German fighter to pieces. In a fighter bomber role it could be equipped with up to 2 1000 pound bombs or 10 HVAR multi purpose rockets for close air support. These armaments made the P-51 the quintessential allied fighter in the war. The P-51 while not the most agile, fastest or most heavily armed fighter on the battlefield could hold its own in the skies over Europe, infact the spitfire could out turn it and the German Fockewulf 190 and ME 109 fighters could outrun it. However the skills of its pilots and its outmatched flight range made the P-51 legendary and it earned respect from all sides during the war. Their were many famous squadrons that operated with the P-51 who have become infamous such as the Tuskegee airmen, which was an all black squadron that performed exceptionally well in their escort duties of bombers. Today the P-51 is still flown in air shows and there are many survivors in museums that can be seen. Those who still fly it today say that it is the greatest aircraft they have ever flown. Their is simply to much to cover on this single aircraft and i hope my words here have described it adequately and done it justice. Picture- P-51 Mustangs of the 375th Fighter Squadron, 361st Fighter Group, Eighth Air Force, mid-1944 fly in formation somewhere over Europe. As always thank you for reading and if you like this stuff feel free to follow me! If you have a piece of tech you would like featured on here please message me or comment in the thread!