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.

John England received his pilot wings and became a lieutenant in March 1943 and was assigned
to the 357th FG. It was one year before he scored his first victory. The 357th FG was based at
Leiston, near Yoxford so they became known as the “Yoxford Boys”. In August 1944 Lt. England
became the CO of the 362nd FS until April 1945. North American P-51 D 44-14789 arrived in
September 1944 and became Lt. England’s aircraft. At the end of WWII Lt. England was the
357th FG second highest scoring Ace with 17.5 victories, one less than Kit Carson. In 1954 John
England was killed in France when he avoided hitting a building during a dead-stick landing
attempt and England AFB, Louisiana was named in his honor.

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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