Re: Cadillac Of The Skies..... memories...(sigh)
A saying came about in WWII that describes the Mustang well: "The Mustang won't do what a Spitfire does, but it does it over Berlin". P51s had a staggering amount of fuel capacity, and with the addition of disposable external fuel tanks could range upwards of 2,000 miles - full operational distance for most bombers. They weren't the best turning planes in the air, but by the time they were widely in use, pilots understood that turning was a very limited performance characteristic in combat - what was required of newer fighters was speed. And the P51 had it in droves; it was faster than almost everything in the air, climbed reasonably well, and suffered much less high speed maneuverability loss than most of its opponents, due to the wing design. When it came to high speed fights the P51 was very much in its element - it had flaps specifically designed to deploy at almost any speed, an airframe with tolerances that reached into high G range, good dive acceleration, and steady horsepower even at very high altitude. I guess they both have their strong points.
.<br /><br />Here's your Caddy<br /><br />
