![]() ![]() While these versions were being delivered, the XP-51Bs were demonstrating a top speed of 441 mph at 30,000 ft, and a major production effort began. They were armed with four 0-50-in and four 0-30-in machine-guns and were faster than any fighter then in service with the RAF. The first order was for 320 Mustang Is, two later contracts - increasing the initial P51s total to 620 the first of these arrived in Britain in November 1941. British contracts established the Mustang (the name bestowed by the RAF) in production at the North American plant in Los Angeles, the US Army Air Corps sanctioning export of the new type in return for an opportunity to evaluate two early production models, which were designated XP-51 for this purpose. Striking features of the NA-73 were seen to include its angular lines -simplifying production - and its wide-track inward-retracting landing gear. North American bettered the target by three days when the prototype of their NA-73 was rolled out in the late summer of 1940, but delays in delivery of the 1,100-hp Allison V-1710-F3R engine kept the aircraft on the ground for another six weeks. ![]() The Mustang was built, tested, and placed in production in record time A prototype was to be completed within 120 days of go-ahead. Right: US Pilots of 380th Fighter Squadron, 363rd Fighter Group with P-51D Mustang 'Fools Paradise IV' at Maupertus Airfield, Cherbourg, France, Jul-Aug 1944.
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