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 PLAAF (People’s Liberation Army Air Force) P-51D #3032 of the 1st Squadron was captured
from the Chinese Nationalist Air Force in 1949 when the Nationalist government was forced to
flee to Formosa, now Taiwan. The Nationalist Air Force had received 3 squadrons of P-51s in
1946 but left 39 behind during their retreat and the PLAAF made good use of them. The PLAAF
was officially established November 11th, 1949. A P-51 with PRC national markings and #3032
was placed on display in the China Aviation Museum, Xiaotanzhanzen, Beijing.

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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