Why American Mustangs replaced British Spitfires

[iskandartaib]

Late in the war they started putting bubble canopies on Spitfires, too. And Thunderbolts and Typhoons. Also note that the P-51D only started arriving in late 1944 - by VE Day half of the Mustangs in the theater were still B and C models.

[michaelreifenstein]

my dad was a teenager in germany during the war. He never saw a spitfire, but saw plenty of mustangs. the range was the biggest factor.

[operator]

Range was always the Achilles Heel of the Spitfire and the BF-109. They were fantastic point defense interceptors, but they didn't have the range to do much else.

[jimmiller]

I've seen articles that indicate that approximately 80% of engagements never saw their adversary.

[EugeneMurray-zb]

'P51D CADILLAC OF THE SKIES!!!'
Empire of The Sun
Goosebumps and a tear guaranteed

[goodguyben]

they were just built for different needs, the spitfire was a interception plane made for intercepting air raids over the channel whereas the mustang was made with japan and the pacific in mind with large ocean in mind.

[Saxondog]

Call it like it is ...A teardrop canopy 😢

[BrettLloyd-zx]

My grandpa worked on p51 mustangs as crew chief when he was in us air force during 1950s

[Lemev]

Best era of aviation... 40's, 50's and 60's!!!!

[nathanward]

As much as I love the Spitfire and other British masterpieces, I have always had the bigger fascintation with our American brother's creations. The P51 and F4 corsair has always captured my interest. ❤

[andrezkamotu]

Nos 306, 309, 315, 316 Polish fighter Squadrons converted to P-51Bs in 1944 and the famous 303 Squadron received P-51D&Ks in 1945.

[richtomlinson]

A friend of mine, his father was an Ace pilot, in Europe, and he flew a Mustang.
Now I'll ask maybe which model, or if they have a picture of the plane.
He flew one, in the Battle of the Bulge.

[thomasmaloney]

actually a lot of the Mustangs operational life in WW2 was with the Allison powered A model.

[Bo_Nidle]

The only real advantage the Mustang had over the Spitfire was range. The Spitfire Mk8 & 9 were its contemporaries, comparing it to the Mk1a’s and Vb’s is not really a valid comparison. The Spitfire was designed as a “point defence” fighter making a good rate of climb essential to intercept an incoming enemy. Long endurance was never intended and increases in that area came later, but it was never going to match the Mustang due to the basic design having insufficient space for the fuel required.
In terms of agility the Spitfire had the edge. Firepower? Cannons trump machine guns, yes, even .50bmg.
Visibility? As cramped as the Spifire was, its blown Perspex Malcolm canopy gave it better visibility that the razorback P-51B/C with their heavily framed “birdcage canopies. This was recognised by the USAAF and many Razorbacks had the “Malcolm hood” retro fitted in the field. (Some razorback P-47’s too).
Late model Griffon engined Spitfires were substantially more powerful than either the Mustang or the Merlin powered Spitfires at over 2000hp. (But they don’t look as nice or sound as cool)
Turn rate went to the Spitfire. Roll rate became comparable when they clipped the Spitfires wingtips…but it doesn’t look very elegant.
The famous test pilot Eric “Winkle” Brown assessed both types and essentially said it really just came down to the talents of the pilot as there was so little to choose between them.
So yes the Mustang was a good fighter (I have 35 minutes recorded on it) but the Spitfire was also first class….we Brits don’t tend to shout about it quite as much.

[georgeyarbrough]

The same people forget to mention is that by the time the mustang d came out most of the really good German pilots were dead. But the mustang did have the range then no other American fighter had.

[KendalCBlack]

My father was 8th Air Force. I will not say his recollection of history was unembroidered, but as he recounted it, the Mustang as we remember it was invented when some Brit mechanic said, "This kite would be all right if you put a Merlin in it."

[farmerned]

Most RAF Mustang's had their canopy sawn off to be replaced with the Spitfires "malcolm hood"
which offered BETTER visibility, and was lighter than the teardrop/Dallas canopy

[timmeinschein]

The Mustangs in the B&W part were the P-51A variant with the Allison range with the round air intake above the engine and two .50's under the engine.
The issue with high altitude performance was not truly the Allison Engine, but with a Mil-Spec by a "Desk Jockey" engineer (not a pilot) which meant that Allison engines could only have a Single Stage Supercharger! This is when it was well known that both the Brits and Germans were using two stage superchargers.
The Packard built Merlins had two stage superchargers, and I image that the engineer was told to keep his mouth shut when the USAAF (US Army Air Force) adopted the Merlin powered P-51s!

[Red_]

The British engine made the Mustang special.

[tomriley]

Kind of, the Spitfires did the combat air patrols, escorting and delousing closer in which freed up the p51s for the longer ranged part of the missions. Interestingly everyone praises the range of the P51, not many people realise it wa the same as the Japanese Zero...