I recently flew a World War II Curtiss P-40 Warhawk (with three kills). It was a beautiful experience in a beautiful plane, but it pales in comparison with the P-51 Mustang. Watch and enjoy this amazing classic aeroplane porn.
There’s something about this plane that goes beyond the sum of its parts. Its combination of sublime design and power made it the most beautiful lethal weapon ever created and the most beautiful prop plane ever. It’s a pleasure to see it photographed in this way, with perfect camera work.
Obviously, it’s an ad for watch manufacturer Breitling. I don’t care about the watch, but I want to spend the rest of my life going to dates with girls on my shiny P-51. [Thanks Jorge!]
Shane
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 8:03 AMOookay…sexy girl, sexy plane. I see the dilema…
Noddy
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 9:12 AMThe guy must be gay to knock back that bike, er, I mean girl!
The mustang was one of the reasons bombers were able to get there long range missions done with a bit more security. They were more fuel efficient (even though they used the same Merlin engine as the Spitfire) faster and could climb higher. Also, yes, absolutely stunning looking plane!
EMH
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 10:45 AMThe aeroplanes you mention herein were designed as fighters. As a fighter the P40 was just awful. Aussie pilots in the Pacific theatre of WWII figured out that the only way to be successful with them against the Zero and other Japanese fighters was to start out above them, shoot as you flew through the Japanese formation, and continue down and away before they could catch you. When ordered to resume standard operations the RAAF P40s became easy prey again.
The beautiful P51 Mustang was designed by a German engineer in Britain to an RAF requirement for a long range bomber escort. Straight and level it was faster than the legendary Spitfire but in a dive the Spitfire was faster and in any case the Spitfire was far more manoeverable. The P51 was built in the US because Britain did not have the industrial capacity to build it, so it was an American product.
The fact that the Spitfire was faster in a dive demonstrates that the Mustang could not have been more (aerodynamically) efficient. It did have more fuel tankage however although with full tanks, including drop tanks, it had some handling problems, which is why whenever engaged by enemy fighters P51 pilots were instructed to immediately drop those tanks.
EMH
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 10:52 AMInitially the Mustang flew with a Packard engine in the US, it was never any good. They changed to the RR Merlin, built under license by Packard and the aeroplane was much improved.
There were many versions of the Merlin, which started out generating 1200BHP and before the end of the war the later versions were generating more than 2500BHP. Each aeroplane type that was eqipped with Merlins used only one or a few different marks of the Merlin except for the Spitfire which, as it was developed during the war used virtually all models. It is therefore difficult to compare the efficiency of a particular airframe/Merlin combination against another airframe.Merlin combinations. Saying that the Spitfire and Mustang had the same engine is just not accurate.
MotorMouth
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 1:03 PMAs much as I like the look of the P51, especially once they went with the tear-drop canopy in the “D” version, I still think the Spitfire is a far more beautiful aircraft that just kept getting better and better looking with each new version. I quite like the aggressive yet classic look of a Mosquito, too.
AAron
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 3:18 PM+1 for the Spitfire
red t-rex
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 4:38 PM+1 for the Spitfire also. P51 is a close second though and maybe the F4U Corsair third (probably mostly due to the TV series “Baa Baa Blacksheep”). Must admit I also have a soft spot for the Mosquito.
Avro Lancaster comes in #1 in my book though for all WWII aircraft.
Sally
Wednesday, January 11, 2012 at 12:17 AMI want to fly both planes one day, but the Spitfire is the one I want to fly more.
craeg
Tuesday, January 10, 2012 at 9:02 PM+1 Mosquito
built by cabinet makers and assorted woodworkers, yet kicked everyone’s arse… and a second engine to help make sure you got home at the end of the day, not to mention being super multi-role, capable of dogfights one day, bombing the next, high alt recon the next… (albeit with a fair bit of loadout changes)
TSH
Thursday, January 12, 2012 at 9:03 PMSR-71 > F-16 > Spitfire > Mustang