How a P-51 Mustang Works

Take an in-depth look inside a North American P-51D fighter plane from the World War II era.

PATREON
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MUSIC
I composed the background music especially for this video! Hear "Mustang Running" on my SoundCloud:

PRIVATE WORK
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WEBSITE
See more explanations of how things work:

SOFTWARE USED
I use Blender 3D to create these models. It's free and open source, and the community is amazing:

Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:34 Frame
1:54 Landing gear
2:36 Rear landing gear
3:24 Engine
5:23 Fuel
6:07 Propeller
6:55 Armaments
8:18 Cockpit
16:14 Gunsight
17:08 Pilot

Correction:
0:10 Before commenting, check the top pinned "VIDEO CORRECTIONS" thread, as your correction or criticism has likely already been mentioned many times.

[animagraffs]

VIDEO CORRECTIONS (compiled from viewer comments):

From Jason Majors:
2:25 The rudder pedals don't activate the brakes. There is a separate axis on each pedal to activate the brake on that side.

12:03 The two landing gear lights are not left and right. There's a green one to indicate gear down and a red one to indicate gear in transit. Off indicates gear up. Both lights also have a test mode.

12:10 The guns activation switch is to the left of the rocket knob. It enables the guns to fire and/or turns on the gun sight (which has further controls to the left of the sight near the compass).

12:19 The knob that you said activated the gun and selected between semi-auto and automatic actually control the rockets. The guns have no semi-auto or burst mode. They are full auto whenever activated.

12:26 The knob below that does not set the number of rounds to fire in a burst, it sets which specific rocket to fire in single fire mode. It auto advances after firing.

14:09 The manifold pressure indicator should not be green all the way up to 60 inHg, only to 36. Running it higher than that for sustained periods will cause the engine to seize.

14:39 You skipped the climb rate indicator below the artificial horizon. It indicates the climb (or descent) in 1000 feet per minute. You skipped the G force gauge to the right of the climb indicator. It shows the current G load on the aircraft and has two memory indicators for min and max values.

14:54 There are not separate left and right gun heaters. There's one gun heater for all six guns, and one pilot heater. The label in the video was correct, but the narration was not.


From David Franklin:
2:45 The animation of tailwheel and rudder steering 180 degrees out of sync and they are connect to the rudder pedals in the cockpit. This is the primary method of steering while taxiing. Differential braking is rarely used except for very tight turns on the ramp where one brake is locked and the same rudder pedal is pushed essentially allowing the airplane to yaw around the locked wheel.

[jonathanolsen]

Man did you do your homework... My Father was in WW2 and somehow, he ended up with a P-51 motor, Dad passed away about 6 years ago and I have his motor and prop set, I build a motor stand for the both of them and what a sight it is looking at them, when this motor is running the sound is unreal and I am so glad that I now am the caretaker of this small slice of history...

[xbvalkyriech]

Absolutely excellent. Many of those details, especially the cockpit controls and instruments, are something that is crucial to the aircraft that is often skipped. Kudos for going into such intricate detail.

[uawldct]

Whoa...I'm in the graphics industry and I can't imagine the time put into this video let alone the research. Well done.

[Insert-name-here]

Wonderful presentation!
My uncle (Bill Leslie) and childhood idol flew many aircraft in WW2 but he always said the P-51 D was his favorite. Apparently I was the only person in the entire family he ever told any war stories to including the time he got shot down, a pot shot got his radiator but he managed to get back over the channel before his engine seized. He told me how he flew in support of the ground troops so it wasn’t until I was an adult that I understood why he didn’t talk much about his war time experiences. He once told me in detail how he destroyed a truck convoy and literally blew Trucks, equipment and German soldiers away, including the ones trying to fight back against his six .50 cal’s. The look in his eyes I still remember, a far away look that started as pure concentration and excitement then a touch of sadness. I knew for a second he was back in that airplane in the excitement of combat. This was when I was probably 10 or 12 so about 1987. Dad told me that was the first time he had ever told any story about the war to anyone in the family. Bill was an extraordinary man and is missed by all who had the privilege of knowing him.

[rzerobzero]

I watched this on and off over a 10 hour day of working where I have downtime while processes, reports, or scripts are running. I am an instrument rated multi engine pilot with a commercial license, but I work in IT full time. Your aviation related descriptions and explainations were excellent. I never heard someone so clearly explain a constatnt speed propeller before with the car's automatic transmission example. Most of all, the details, just put me there. I imagined being a P-51 pilot. A ground crew member responsible for the oxygen. A dogfight. A safe landing after a mission. You triggered a days worth of fantasy and empathy for what it may have been like for a young pilot/ground crew during WW2. Thank you. Liked, Subscribed.

[josephiousbrosif]

I never knew the cockpit and electronics were that advanced. That's very impressive for 40's technology!

[shredead]

I had idea how incredibly sophisticated these machines were. Major appreciation for all of the pilots who needed to be intimately familiar with these instruments. Great content, thank you!

[LFPAnimations]

It is insane how many different systems these planes had considering how many had to be mass produced. The American industrial might during WW2 was incredible.

[JaredOwen]

Well done! I'm impressed with the amount of detail. Looking forward to more animations on your channel

[mustangtmg]

This is outstanding but there are just a few issues in addition to what's already been pointed out:
The right wing has insignia on bottom, not top.
The engine supercharger system doesn't clearly show the 2-stage/2-speed supercharger, and there's a "tube" between the outlet from the 2nd stage of the supercharger connecting to the intake runner, and the engines on all Merlin Mustangs had an aftercooler in that location.
The filter system connected to the carb air intake ducting is not illustrated nor explained.
They had one gun camera - in the left wing only.
They had one landing/taxi light - in the left wing only.
There doesn't seem to be a pitot probe - it should be on the underside of the right wing, about 4/5 the way out towards the wingtip.

I hate to be critical - the quality of the video IS excellent, and maybe the creator can go back and do some fine-tuning of it.

We warbird nuts are fanatics for accuracy...

[sfdanceron]

Much respect for the engineers who designed this aircraft.

[FoundAndExplained]

I seriously cannot believe the detail, the effort, the 3d and the love you put into this video. You are going to the moon!

[pasantehen]

Woooow!!! The creator of this video deserves an Oscar. "Best documentary" thanks for sharing it with us, friend.

[petemoore]

Just wanted to tell you I’m laying in a hospital bed right now I have to make a decision today about whether to cut my hand off. I’m a 26 year airline pilot Captain and I was building an airplane in my garage. Just trying to gather some information so I can make a good decision about moving forward with a prosthetic via Amputation go down this long road of reconstruction doesn’t have a very optimistic prognosis. Just wanted to say thanks for that video. Being ignorant about how the FAA interacts with disabled people wanting to fly your video give me a little bit of hope I can still continue to fly with one hand. Thanks 1 million brother

[versiable]

The most Detailed explanation of how a P-51 Mustang works! great job mate!

[seannotconnery]

My Grandad flew these during his service in the USAF. Loved going to airshows and museums with him and he always had the most inspiring smile whenever he saw the Mustang.

God bless!

[gurmeens]

What an amazing amount of information presented in a clean and descriptive manner. not a lot videos on YouTube focus on details but the fame, clickbait and fake titles. Thanks for a being good sport for your work and dedication!

[ContantContact]

My father, now deceased, was a mechanic on the P51, P38, B17, B25, and others. I wish he were here to see this and comment.
I do have some or all of his books, manuals, etc on his work in my library.

I did get him to an airport where a B25 was flown in for rides and to show. He loved it, but was too weak to go into the plane.

[Harut.V]

Amazing video. It’s surprising how advanced the technology of the cockpit was, especially the targeting system. I thought it was just point and shoot through the glass lol