Massachusetts and the ultimate pony.

[dodgy-alan 1,587]

P-51H of the Mass ANG on patrol. Aircraft is a new freeware model and is really superb, great VC and 2d cockpits. , Excellent handling and well seen by the author. The P51H was the ultimate version of the famous Mustang and was lighter than previous versions, Although it was essentially a Mustang , in fact the H was a completely new aircraft and few parts were interchangeable with earlier models. The reduced weight gave them a top speed of around 470mph and were one of the fastest piston engined fighters ever built.  They arrived just too late to see service in WW2 but were used for many years afterwards, especially by various ANG units. Today very few H models survive. If you fancy this one, here is the link;  mustang_p51h_v3.zip 

Thanks for viewing.

[rosariomanzo 545]

Nice aircraft Al. I have the Aicraft Factory model which I liked a lot but can't use it in P3D4.

[brett 2,316]

Thanks for the history and shots Alan, very cool, but I think I'll stick with my heavier "D" model.  

 

Comparing them to cars I like to think of my Spitfire as a E-Type Jaguar and my Mustang like a Dodge Challenger w/ a Hemi in it.

[Captain Coffee 2,030]

5 minutes ago, brett said:

Thanks for the history and shots Alan, very cool, but I think I'll stick with my heavier "D" model.  

 

Comparing them to cars I like to think of my Spitfire as a E-Type Jaguar and my Mustang like a Dodge Challenger w/ a Hemi in it.

 

And my P-40 is like a '69 Chevy SS 396 Chevelle, Love that model with what I call the shark nose front end. (or when I use it in Airhauler...the '69 SS El Camino...  ).

 

Edited December 29, 2017 by Captain Coffee

[brett 2,316]

2 minutes ago, Captain Coffee said:

 

And my P-40 is like a '69 Chevy SS 396 Chevelle, Love that model with what I call the shark nose front end. 

 

And my P-47 is like a Dodge Ramchager with a couple hundred pounds of sand slug under it.  

 

Big fan of all those cars from the Muscle Car era, they look and sound soooo good.

[Captain Coffee 2,030]

BTW...a P-51 imo should be compared to a Shelby Mustang, probably a 68 Fastback model.

[dodgy-alan 1,587]

Reading an article about the P-51H, it seems that the guys at NA came over to Supermarines to see how they could make the Mustang lighter as at the time it was considerably heavier than the Spitfire. They went back after lots of investigation and shaved a heck of a lot of weight off the Mustang to get the H version, that coupled with a more powerful Rolls Royce Merlin sealed the deal. This article is well worth reading.; http://www.mustangsmustangs.net/p-51/variants/p51h

[brett 2,316]

600 pounds is quite a bit to shave off but with people firing at me I think I would want as much metal around me as possible. Probably not the reason why they used the "D" models in Korea and kept the "H" variant back in the US, maybe more available parts could have been the reason(?).