The P-51 / Mustang
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SPEEDY MUSTANG PLANES, TERRORS OF DIEPPE, BRING THRILLS TO GREAT CROWDS
LOS ANGELES, CAL., SEPTEMBER 9, 1942 (AP) – A camouflaged streak of light flashed down from the east, whipped across the Los Angeles airport at 40 feet or less, then zoomed up into the haze to the west today.
It was a North American fighter plane, the type our army air forces prosaically call the P-51 and the RAF has more romantically labeled the Mustang. “You may say,” said the AAF representative at this first public showing of the terrors of Dieppe, “that it is very fast. You may. in fact, tell anything you can see while the plane is in flight.”
That is a severe limitation, because the Mustang in flight is little more than a blur. You can say it has engine – Allison, 1150 horsepower, liquid cooled – because you can hear it roar. You can say it has wings – square-cut, not unlike the nazi’s Messerschmidtt 109 – because you can see it fly.
You can say it has armament – because it was the first United States fighter plane to bring down a German Focke-Wulf 190 over Dieppe, (in) one of the many dogfights that accompanied the Commando raid of Aug. 19 (1942). It also has been chosen by the RAF for army co-operational work in reconnaissance and ground strafing.
You can say it has defensive armor – because the AAF sees to it that our pilots have the maximum protection possible.
You can say it is fast – in what the army calls the”400 mph class.” You can say it is being produced in quantity – because that is what it was designed for.
When you have said that, you have said virtually all that security considerations will permit.
Four Mustangs took part in today’s show, with three of their big-brother B-25s – similar to Doolittle’s Tokyo Raiders and fresh off the production line this morning – as background accompaniment.
The B-25 Bomber
On the ground as spectators were press and photographers, army and plant officials, and several thousand workers who got a bigger belt than anyone out of seeing their handiwork in action.
Mustang acrobatics were executed with commendable smoothness by Bob Chilton of Boise, Idaho, one of North American’s engineering test pilots. The other three planes, which made a tight V-run over the field at well under 300 feet, were flown by Capts. B.R. Eckstein of Los Angeles, C.R. Douglass of Winchester, Va., and L.W. Harris of San Diego, of the AAF.
~ Associated Press, Galveston Daily News, Thursday, September 10, 1942, Page 14
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Tags: The B-25, The P 51 / Mustang
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