The United States is the hometown of airplanes, but before the end of World War I, American aviation technology was far behind Britain, France and Germany. During World War I, only the imitation DH-4 was put into the battlefield in the United States. By 1924, the Army Air Force had 754 aircraft and only 136 combat aircraft. Judging from the number of combat aircraft, this is an army that cannot fight. In 1930s, Major General Patrick, commander of the Army Air Force, realized that the establishment of the Air Force should be expanded, but the government could not allocate more funds. It was not until the mid-1930s that the newly appointed President Roosevelt finally made aviation the focus of development. After 1935, aviation funds began to increase year by year.
The 1920s was a long transition period for the development of American military aircraft. The characteristics of this period are: the imitation of foreign aircraft began to turn to domestic design, the types of combat aircraft were further differentiated and defined, biplane still dominated, there were many aircraft companies, the competition was fierce due to the small number of aircraft orders, many models were put into development, and few models were mass-produced. Unlike Britain, Germany and other countries, the United States attached great importance to the development of attack aircraft in the 1920s. In the early 1930s, Martin developed the famous B- 10 bomber with a speed of 333 kilometers per hour, which was faster than any fighter plane in the United States at that time. Fighters like P- 12E and P-6E cannot intercept B- 10 bombers. So the army asked for the development of high-speed fighters. This project has attracted many competitors. The aircraft that appeared was Lockheed XP-24; YP-25 and P-30 of United Company; Boeing's P-26 and XP-29, XP-32 and Curtis' XP-3 1 "Brown Swift". During the competition of new generation fighters, United Aircraft Corporation, Walter Aircraft Corporation, Curtis Corporation and Sevsky Corporation jointly established the basic models of all-metal and lower monoplane fighters, which have been used until the jet era. 1936, the us army conducted the third tender for fighter planes. The fighters bidding mainly include 75 aircraft of Curtis Company, PB-2A of United Aircraft Company, V- 14 1 of Walter Company and Sev- 1 of Sevisky Company. After various comparisons, the Army ordered Sev- 1 from Sevsky Company on June 16, 936, and changed its name to P-35. P-35 is a sign that American fighter planes have begun to catch up with Britain and Germany.
In the late 1930s and early 1940s, the field of fighter development in the United States showed a prosperous situation, and a number of excellent fighters came out one after another, which made the technical performance of American fighters begin to catch up with or even surpass Germany and Britain. The new generation fighters include P-38, P-39, P-40, P-44 and P-47, and their maximum speed has reached more than 600 kilometers per hour. In addition, the design features of American fighter planes are heavy takeoff weight and powerful weapon system. Due to the large number of manufacturers involved in R&D in the United States, strong production capacity and excellent logistics support, the output and equipment of American fighters are extremely huge. Many models have reached tens of thousands. These planes were widely used in European and Asian battlefields and made great contributions to the final victory of the Allied Forces. These soldiers played a great role in the Second World War. In addition, during World War II, the United States also developed two excellent fighter planes. One of them is the P-5 1 Mustang of North American Airlines, which is praised by many experts as the best fighter during World War II and the pinnacle of piston aircraft.
The development of P-5 1 is legendary. 1in April, 940, the British Military Procurement Committee prepared to buy the P-40 fighter developed by Curtis Company. But at that time, the company's production task was very busy and it was impossible to increase production. So the British asked North American Airlines to mass-produce P-40 aircraft for them. North American Airlines thinks that this kind of aircraft is relatively backward and unwilling to produce, so it is suggested to design a better aircraft with the same engine. Britain is skeptical about the ability of North American Airlines, but the company promises to take out the test machine for Britain to choose within 120 days. Only in this way did Britain reluctantly agree. This new aircraft was later known as the P-5 1 Mustang. It was designed by engineers Reginald Rees and Edgar Schmidt who had worked in Messerschmitt. The first prototype was completed within the specified time. Due to the engine, the maiden voyage was postponed to1940 65438+1October 26th.
There is nothing special about the layout of P-5 1 fighter, but it perfectly combines new aviation technology, adopts advanced laminar airfoil, highly concise fuselage design and reasonable internal equipment layout, and greatly reduces its aerodynamic resistance and increases its fuel load by three times under the condition of the same size and weight as similar aircraft. This makes its range reach 1370 km, which is enough to cover the longest attack distance of B- 17 bomber.
After Britain ordered a large number of P-5/KLOC-0 fighters, the pilots reported that it was the best fighter in the United States. Knowing this situation, the US Army studied the prototype data of North American Airlines and ordered a large number of such aircraft. Its excellent performance and easy driving make British and American officials aware of its potential for improvement. 1942, North American Airlines cooperated with Rolls-Royce of England to change the engine of P-5 1 to Rolls-Royce's Moline engine. After this mixing, the performance of P-5 1 Mustang fighter has been greatly improved, and the maximum altitude speed has been increased from 6 14 km of the prototype to 709 km. During the war years, North American Airlines made a series of improvements to P-5 1, including adopting light fuselage, new propeller, full-view plastic canopy and new wing. , further improving the performance and maneuverability, with a top speed of 788 kilometers per hour. The technical performance indexes of P-5/KOOC-0/are: captain/KOOC-0/0.2m, wingspan/KOOC-0/.3m, wing area 2/KOOC-0/.7m2, empty weight 2.99t, take-off weight 5.02t, single engine power/KOOC-. The weapons carried include six machine guns, and 900 kilograms of bombs can be hung outside.
P-5 1 Mustang fighters are widely used in Asia-Europe battlefields, not only for air combat, but also for escort, interception and ground attack. It was also converted into a reconnaissance plane, which was purchased and used by more than 10 countries. It is the largest fighter produced in the United States, reaching 15686, and it was still flying until the 1970s. P-5 1 fighter was rated as the best fighter in World War II by many aviation history experts and authorities.