The North American Mustang / M. J. Hardy.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 124) and index.

The Mustang's combination of speed, range and manoeuvrability made it the best of all American fighters in World War 11 {u2014} 'the most aerodynamically perfect pursuit plane in existence', as the Truman Senate War Investigating Committee put it. Its origin is as interesting as its performance for it was built to a British specification and the first order came from the RAF. This enabled the North American Aviation Company to gear itself for the large-scale production that would soon be required to meet the needs of the mighty Eighth Air Force which eventually was to re-equip all but one of its P-47 Thunderbolt groups with this splendid plane. Like its famous contemporaries, the Focke Wulf Fw 190 and the Mosquito, the Mustang was also the product of a firm that had not hitherto attempted to design an advanced high-performance combat aircraft. Perhaps because of a freshness of approach in their design thinking, the producers set entirely new standards of excellence. As he did with The de Havilland Mosquito, M J Hardy tells the Mustang's complete story from its inception: matching Rolls-Royce engines to it, its exciting roles in Western and Eastern theatres during World War II (Group-Captain Leonard Cheshire VC flew it to lead a raid as Master Bomber), the various versions of the design and their service in the post-war world in combat and racing. Finally, the Twin Mustang is described in manufacture and service. Born of a British requirement, the Mustang was the creation of American flair and enthusiasm for new technology (such as the laminar flow wing) combined with British engineering in the shape of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. It is a unique plane to which M J Hardy has done full justice describing it in remarkable detail with over one hundred photographs and diagrams.