Britain was on the edge of defeat, her back against the wall. The once-proud British Expeditionary Force had been battered and nearly annihilated at Dunkirk. Above London, the skies thundered with the relentless onslaught of German bombers.
In a desperate bid for survival, Britain reached across the Atlantic, requesting aid in the form of any modern aircraft. The United States, with its dormant aircraft industry, could only offer a trickle of aid. The British Royal Air Force got their hands on P-40 Warhawks, but it was a drop in the ocean. The world-spanning conflict demanded more, much more.
When the Curtiss Corporation could not meet the demand for P-40s. Britain’s desperate gaze turned to James H. Kindleberger, the leader of a newly born aircraft manufacturer.
Kindleberger came up with a wild pitch – he couldn’t just deliver those P-40s Britain desperately needed, but he could do one better. He swore he could design a brand-new fighter that would knock anything out of the sky and have it ready in no more than 120 days.
Kindleberger was on the edge of birthing the most aerodynamically sleek pursuit plane ever conceived – the P-51 Mustang. Fast, nimble, and tough, this bird was set to turn the tide of war.
But the Mustang’s first flights uncovered a crippling Achilles’ heel – a defect so severe the United States Army Air Corps washed its hands of it. Relegated to the sidelines, the Mustang was doomed to obscurity, performing escort and recon missions.
Yet, the saga of the Mustang was far from over; as destiny still had one hell of a card to play…
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The Brits invented the Mustang but America improved upon it with Brit ingenuity. Fact!
Preddy was a talented pilot. RIP
This is a great video. Thank you for sharing.
Correction the P-51 was America not British the British improved the engine
I'm an American and without that Rolls-Royce British engine the Mustang wouldn't be what it was. Give the joint effort the credit it deserved
just shows what you can do when people and countries work together
The P-51 Mustang & F4U Corsair were my favorite aircraft of WW II.
The Mustangs were also flown by the Tuskegee Airmen the famous"Red Tails"!
Thank God for the innovative minds during WWII, the tenacity of British military and civilians to hang on. And Churchill determined to defeat Hitler. Otherwise we would be all speaking German today instead of fighting about drag queens and Muslim interjecting into our country
George Preddy was from my hometown of Greensboro, North Carolina; there is a prominent street here named after him. RIP, GP.
When they put the Maryland in the P-51 they also had to strengthen the airframe because they did this they made that warbird shine. But despite the fact that the first P-51 had the Allison engine it still did pretty good for a plane built in 120 days should I say built and designed in such a short period of time. Both the British and the Americans were involved in the building of this successful aircraft.
The Spitfire had better performance as an all-purpose fighter. The all-important climb rate for a Mustang P51D sat at 3200ft per minute, whilst the Spitfire could climb at an impressive 3650ft per minute. The maximum speed of a Mustang was 437mph. The Spitfire was slightly faster at 448mph, and could outmaneuver the Mustang in terms of diving, rolling, and overall agility. However the Mustang had a much greater range, Spitfires couldn't do the role of long range bomber escorts, which was vital.