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.

The 479th FG was formed in October 1943 and flew Lockheed P-38 Lightnings. In 1944 the
group was sent to England and consisted of the 434th (L2), 435th (J2) and 436th (9B) Fighter
Squadrons. By October 1st 1944 the group had converted to the P-51 and on October 7th Arthur
Jeffrey of the 434th FS became an Ace. On December 5th and 23rd 1944 Arthur Jeffrey scored 3
victories each day. He was the first pilot to shoot down an ME-163 rocket powered aircraft. He
flew 82 combat missions and accumulated 14 victories. Jeffrey had named his P-38 “Boomerang”
and because the P-51 was smaller than the Lightning he added “Jr” to the name. Jeffrey carried
the name “Boomerang Jr” over to his next aircraft a P-51K.

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

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