North American P-51 Mustang United States | Bell P-39 | Bell
P-59 | Bell P-63 | Brewster F2A | P-36 Hawk | P-40 Warhawk | F4F
Wildcat | F6F Hellcat | F7F Tigercat | F8F Bearcat | P-38
Lightning | Lockheed P-80 | P-51 Mustang | P-61 Black Widow |
P-47 Thunderbolt | F4U Corsair The P-51 Mustang was, with little
argument, the single greatest fighter of World War 2. Its career
began when the British Air Purchasing Commission requested the
North American compaly to build them a fighter. At first, a
Curtiss design was considered to be built under contract by
North American, but they decided to build an entirely new
fighter instead. The result was the P-51 Mustang, known to the
British as the A-36. It was designed, built, and flown in only
117 days, the unpainted prototype to be the start of the most
successfil fighter program in all of aviation history. It flew
on October 26th 1940. Exceedingly pleased with the fighter, the
British ordered hundreds of the machines and this atracted
American attention. At once it wa