Later in WWII the Allied bombers were flying deep into Germany but suffered tremendous
losses because of the lack of range the fighter escorts had. German fighters would wait
beyond the range of the Allied fighters and then attack the vulnerable bombers. Once the P-
51 called Mustang by the British had the Allison engine replaced with a British Merlin it
possessed the high performance that had been lacking. With drop tanks the P-51 had the
range to escort bombers all the way to Berlin and back.

"Operation Musketeer" is perhaps better known in the West as "The Suez Crisis of 1956." It
is also known in Israel as "The Sinai War."
August 20th 1950 saw the creation of an operational training body within the “First Fighter”
Squadron. Within a few months the unit had expanded and became a separate squadron. It
began to operate their Spitfires from the Ramat David Air Base as the 105 Squadron “Barak”
(Scorpion). In the summer of 1956 the squadron traded their Spitfires for approximately 20
P-51D Mustangs. Because of blockades of the Suez Canal and the Sea of Aqaba as well as
repeated Fedayeen attacks and the statements being made by some Arab countries Israel
felt it necessary to carry out a pre-emptive strike against Egypt. The first mission took place
on October 29, 1956 when P-51d’s from the 105th Squadron attacked Egyptian
communication facilities. It was thought that if the telephone lines were destroyed this would
force the Egyptians to use radios and their transmissions could be intercepted and the
Israelis would know their intentions. Flying as low as 50 feet above the ground three flights
of four Barak Mustangs headed out to sever the telephone lines. Approaching the target a
100 foot cable was lowered from the tail to snag the lines and break them. It is said one pilot
used his propeller blades to do the job. It is reported that all but 1 aircraft returned and the
loss was attributed to anti-aircraft fire. On October 31, 1956 the Mustangs entered the actual
fighting. Because of their capability to fly long distances they were used on strike missions
against enemy forces, outposts, fortified points, roads, shipping and other targets. The
Mustangs flew 184 missions during the Suez Crisis campaign, losing 7 aircraft. With the
advances in jets and anti-aircraft weapons the P-51 was retired from the Israeli Air Force on
January 15th, 1961.

Specifications for the North American Aviation P-51D Mustang

Tasks – Dive-bomber, bomber-escort, ground-attack, interceptor, photo recon

Number Produced All Variants – 14,819

Dimensions
Wing Span – 37 ft   (11.27 m)
Length – 32 ft 3 in   (9.82 m)
Height – 13 ft 8 in   (4.16 m)

Weight
Empty – 7,125 lb   (3,232 kg)
Gross – 10,100 lb   (4,581 kg)
Maximum Take-off – 11,600 lb   (5,262 kg)

Performance
Engine – Packard Merlin two-staged supercharged V-1650-7, 12 cylinder V engine 1,695 hp.
Maximum Speed – 437 mph   (703 km/h)
Ceiling – 41,900 ft   (12,771 m)
Range – 950 miles   (1,529 km)
Maximum Range – 2,300 miles   (3,701 km)

Armament
6 x .50 caliber MG
Maximum External Bomb Load – 2,000 lb   (907 kg)
Or
4 x .5 inch rockets.

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