What Was The REAL Impact Of The P-51 Mustang On The Luftwaffe? | My JG 26 Case Study

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Have you ever stopped to question the true impact of the P-51 Mustang on the defeat of Germany in WW2? I have.

I'm starting to double-check a lot of the things I've blindly believed for years, starting with the P-51. I want to know if it really had that big of an impact on grounding the Luftwaffe and if it was the only long-range fighter capable of doing the job.

Join me in this video for lots of stats and a nice little JG 26 case study to see if all we've ever heard about the P-51 Mustang is really true.

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📕 Welcome to my channel where I share my love of history and aviation. I first fell in love with military aviation when reading Biggles books as a boy, then I studied history at university. I like finding interesting stories and sharing them with others.

I also followed this passion into the real world and managed to get a Private Pilot's Licence on 10th May 2014.

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0:00 intro

#aviationhistory#history#warthunder

[althesmith]

50 years ago I had the opportunity as a plane-crazy preteen of talking to Gunther Rall at an airshow. I asked him what he thought of the Spitfire (My all-time favourite!). With a twinkle in his eye he said "Young man, I didn't like them very much. They shot me down 3 times!"

[larry]

My dad was a Lancaster rear gunner and towards the end of the war did a few daylight ops were they were escorted by allied fighters, according to the Squadron ORB's
P51's got the better of ME262's on the only op he ever mentioned but Spitfires were there too.
To him the Mustang was the boss.

[cfzippo]

Few flew the P-38, P-47 and P-51 in combat against the Luftwaffe. Hub Zemke did. From his book “Zemke’s Wolfpack” with Roger Freeman: ““Ten of the victims had fallen to the guns of the twelve P-51s and my enthusiasm for this fighter increased. While not having the firepower of the P-38 or P-47, IT WAS SUPERIOR ON NEARLY EVERY OTHER COUNT. The P-51 probably couldn’t outclimb a ‘109 or ‘190 but it could outdive and outrun them at any altitude. It could usually out-turn these opponents too. The all-round view was of all, with the large built in tankage and moderate appetite we did not have to sweat over fuel gauges as had been the case with the P-47 and, to a certain degree with the P-38..” -Hub Zemke, CO 56th FG, CO 479th FG.

[paxwallace]

Walter Wolfrum German Ace with 137kills. "The P47 wasn't so bad because we could out turn and outclimb it. The P51 was something else. It could do everything we could do and much better. Also it was very hard to recognize from most angles it looked like Me109. We'd see them, think they were ours' and then the damned things would shoot us full of holes ! No, we didn't like them at all.

[Alien]

I tend to think that the strength of the P-51, compared to, say, the P-47, was its lower production cost (in dollars and resources), as well as its smaller logistic footprint.

[waynevanhardeveld]

Anyone else here watching this after watching the P-47 Thunderbolt series from Greg's Airplanes and Automobiles?

[KanJonathan]

JG26 was deployed at Flanders (Channel Front rather than Homeland Defense in Luftwaffe jargon) throughout most of the War, hence they met Spitfire more often.

[PilotMcbride]

Respectfully, I’m getting on in years now and during my earlier years i had the chances to talk to many pilots who flew in WWII and the European theatre. I have seen both the Spit and the P51 in flight and torn down. My personal opinion is that they are both beautiful, purpose built aircraft, absolutely stunning. The opinions of the pilot was that they were magnificent and a joy to fly.
My dear friend, now passed, flew the Typhoon, Hurricane and Spitfire. His opinion of those was, the Hurricane would allow you to show your stuff, fly by the numbers, get the job done. The Spitfire however was a totally different aircraft. I wanted to go, it gave you an unwarranted superior feeling like you had to break the rules, but it would bite you on the *rse very quickly. The Typhoon was every drag racers dream of an aircraft. Terrible in a dogfight, but uncatchable in a straight line. Takeoff was at 80% throttle max, ease it on otherwise, if the wheel were on the ground at any speed and full throttle used, ground loop a surety. Killed many pilots on take off..
Another. Friend who flew a P51 in New Guinea told me they were great. Easy to fly, forgiving but he preferred Spits because you had to fly them.
And the last fellow actually owned both. His opinion was that flying them both was an honour and a privilege, but to get somewhere in comfort, P51. To show off and act like a lunatic, the Spit. Landings, P51 any day, lazy and a gift. The Spit would always bounce, regardless, always 3 point, no wheelers, bounce every time. I was a joy to watch him in the sky, but especially landing, a great pilot.

To work on them was an honour, I could feel the heart, their character. Didn’t do much, hold a scanner here, grease that, get out of the way, lol.
With my frame I wouldn’t get a look in as a pilot, way too big, but I did get to sit in them. The Spit was cramped for me, well so was the P51, but not “shoe horn” tight like the Spit.

So, in my most humble opinion, I think it is like comparing oranges to mandarins. They were both aircraft of a pilot’s dream. They were both built for a job and they performed beautifully and with distinction.

Respect.

P.S. Flying at 5500ft at about 100knots (give or take) and either a Spit or P51 flies underneath you, lifts his nose, aileron rolls, with an old fella on the radio telling you to use the slow lane……. Ah man, flying is great (too old and too crippled to fly now and miss it as much as i miss my old mates. To have mates like that, ain’t life grand.

Thank you for posting.

[SoloRenegade]

In all my years of research, watching videos such as this one, Greg's and others', as well as reading pilot first hand accounts from around the world in WW2 (German, Japanese, US ETO, US PTO, modern warbird pilots, etc.), as well as being a professional pilot and mechanical/aerospace engineer myself, I have found the P-51s reputation overall to be well deserved and justified. It was not necessary to win the war, but it made a difference that was noticed for sure and it far outlived the P-47 post-WW2 as well (as did the F4U).

[philiphumphrey]

I think Greg (of Greg's Airplanes) was right that the main advantage of the P-51 over the P-47 was rather mundane. It was cheaper to build and cheaper to operate. Otherwise both were excellent fighters. The P-47 also excelled as a fighter bomber.

[washingtonradio]

The more I learn about Doolittle changing the tactics I think is was that the really broke the back of the Luftwaffe. He made destruction of the Luftwaffe fighters a priority. And the Allied fighters he had were capable birds able to do the job if allowed to.

[kennethquinnies]

The fact that it cost HALF what any other US fighter took to build and its abilities makes it the outstanding fighter of WW2

[GregsAirplanesandAutomobiles]

Thanks for your kind words. I do appreciate it. You're doing excellent work here. I do want to mention that the P-47D models with the bubble tops usually had 370 gallons of internal fuel. Most razor backs had 305. In the big picture the 51D still has more range than the 47D but it's closer than most people think.

[darrellid]

This is a nerd's/pencil pusher's debate. And a pointless one, to boot.

All three were distinctly different planes with distinctly different roles. The Spit was a pure interceptor that could turn, climb and dive with the best of them as long as it didn't have to go anywhere; the P-47 was primarily a high-altitude interceptor that also later proved itself as a ground-attack specialist; and the P-51 was an all-around, long-range escort that was fast and effective at all altitudes.

Answering which was better ultimately boils down to role and situation. Generally speaking, the pilot with the initiative, energy and experience advantage is going to win, regardless of what he is flying.

[elzarcho]

Good video. I enjoyed the opinions and appreciate the legwork.

As a long-time Thunderbolt stan and a contrarian in general, I think the P-51 is the young man's favorite plane, in a "top trumps" kind of way. Doesn't hurt that it's a beautiful plane (like the Spitfire.) And it was an excellent airplane too, no denying it. But I think it means that some other planes that were significant in killing lots of Axis pilots and winning the war get overlooked. I'd like to call out the P-40 and the Hurricane especially, with honorable mention to the P-39 on the Eastern Front. P-40s of all varieties held the line in the early days in every theater of the war. Their impact over Europe was quite a bit less, but that was mostly because by the time the fighting was actually over Europe, better planes were available. But over Africa? P-40s did great work. And the Hurricanes shot down 55% of Luftwaffe planes in the Battle of Britain. My point being that as you learn more and more, you start to see the appeal of "worse" planes and understand the context they worked in. Plus the razorback P-47 is just a mean-looking airplane.

A similar idea plays out in the Pacific. You get the meme that Wildcats were completely outclassed by A6Ms and Ki-43s, and in some metrics, sure. But the Wildcats held the line and killed a LOT of Japanese pilots. Midway? Coral Sea? Wildcats fought to draw. Guadalcanal? Even with most of the pilots sick with malaria, it was never worse than even with the Japanese. Hellcats and Corsairs are monsters, improving in every way on the Wildcat. But until they were available, the Wildcat did just fine in a very tough situation. The F4F was reasonably fast, not terrible range, rugged, and put out a lot of fire compared to its opponents.

You could even find nice things to say about the Brewster Buffalo; look what the Finns did to the Russians with them.

[RichMansci]

My father was an F86 pilot and would often tell the story of how they would land and the Air national guard guys with the p-51s would look longingly at their f-86s and all the f-86 pilots would look longingly at the p-51s. He always wanted one. He would point out that even bomber pilots came home from the war lusting for the P-51. Jimmy Stewart was an example he would use all the time. It was great to see Tom Cruise fly his personal P-51 in Maverick. Beautiful airplanes.

[richardmontana]

And in the book JG 26 by Adolf Galland on page 214 he stated, "in the P-47D the Americans had an airplane capable of driving the Luftwaffe from the skies" And these were razorback "D's".

[HeyBigChriss]

I believe the F4U Corsair was the best allied aircraft of WW2.
However, I think the P47D’s were the best USAAF aircraft.

[bigbrowntau]

16:57 I think you meant miles/gallon, not gallons/mile. This actually shows one factor not mentioned that made the P-51 preferable. The lower amount of fuel needed to operate it. When every gallon of fuel has to cross the Atlantic to air bases in the UK, an aircraft that uses 35% of the fuel to operate compared to its alternative is a very attractive aircraft.

[cfzippo]

The lion share of the rise in 8th AF victories over the Luftwaffe, noted briefly here, was Doolittles’s January 44 decision to “Pursue and Destroy.” And now by February with 3 P-38 groups, 3 Mustang Groups and 8 P-47 groups. How effective was the P-51? In March 44 3 P-51 groups score 251, 8 P-47 groups 175, and 3 P-38 groups just 26. From Dec 43 to DDay, P-51s score 1157, P-47s 911, and P-38s 170.