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.

3 Squadron RAAF began converting from the P-40 to the P-51 Mk.III on November 13, 1944 while
in Italy, the first RAAF squadron to use Mustangs. The first P-51K/Mustang IVa KH677 CV-P
arrived on November 26, 1944 and assigned to S/Ldr Murray Nash who flew it on December 2,
1944 against a rail yard in Yugoslavia. On December 12, 1944 KH716 arrived becoming S/Ldr
Murray Nash’s new aircraft it now wearing CV-P. Nash left for a Fighter Leader course in March
1945 and KH-716 was lost the following month.

Specifications for the North American Aviation P-51D Mustang

The P-51K was built in Dallas as a variant of the P-51D and equipped with an Aeroproducts
propeller instead of the Hamilton Standard propeller. Combat crews routinely replaced the
Aeroproducts propeller with the Hamilton Standard propeller.

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

Number Produced– 1,500 with RAF receiving 594 they named Mustang Mk. IVa

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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