XP-51 photo(s)

[Steve Pace]

As you all know NAA built two NA-73 XP-51 Mustang prototypes (41-038 and 41-039). I need beg, borrow, steal and/or pay for good XP-51 images - especially the one shown here. Thanks so much, Steve Pace

 

[Johnbr]

This all that I have.

 

[Johnbr]

 

[Arjen]

From Norm Avery's 'North American Aircraft 1934-1998, volume 1', Narkiewicz//Thompson 1998: 41-039.
Check your PM.

 

[overscan (PaulMM)]

Presume you have this one from NASA GRIN:

 

[rousseau]

King of propeller fighter......

 

[toura]

Hi xp 70 guy.
For you, the two protos

 

[toura]

one other

 

[toura]

the last

 

[toura]

Hi xp 70 guy
XP 51at the EAA Museum Oshkosh WI
But the 1st or the 2d ! I don't know !!

 

[toura]

The XP 51. serial 41-038 as at Wright Field on 10.16.1941

 

[gral_rj]

But this is a Martin-Baker MB.5, not a Mustang!!!

I thought that was a Supermarine Seafang?

What version is this? Certainly not an XP-51. Perhaps the XP-51J? The P-51M?

Looks like a XP-40Q

 

[Stargazer]

But this is a Martin-Baker MB.5, not a Mustang!!!

I thought that was a Supermarine Seafang?

What version is this? Certainly not an XP-51. Perhaps the XP-51J? The P-51M?

Looks like a XP-40Q

Yes, sorry for the mistake on the Seafang! I realized only after posting that the tail wasn't square as on the MB.5, and also the ventral intake wasn't as prominent. As for the second aircraft, you are right too. It is the XP-40Q. I was confused because it was supposed to depict a P-51 so I looked for a specific version thereof. But of course the tail shows it to be a Curtiss, not a North American. This being said, the XP-51 was the logical evolution of the XP-40Q as demanded by the USAAF.

 

[Justo Miranda]

Mustang NA-73

 

[Artie Bob]

"This being said, the XP-51 was the logical evolution of the XP-40Q as demanded by the USAAF." Sorry, Wrong and wrong! XP-51 was chronologically well before the XP-40Q (the main clue is it being equipped with a very late version of the Allison). Also, the Mustang design originated from a request by a British purchasing mission, not the USAAF (which by the way was not in existence when the NA-73 was designed and built, it was the USAAC until June 1941).

Best regards,

Artie Bob

 

[Justo Miranda]

2nd production Mustang

 

[Justo Miranda]

1st production british Mustang

 

[Justo Miranda]

1st US Army Air Corps Mustang

 

[Steve Pace]

Thanks so much everyone - I appreciate all of your inputs. Steve Pace

 

[Steve Pace]

Here's the photo I needed which I have now acquired. -SP

 

[Steve Pace]

Has anyone seen a good photo of XP-51 number one (41-038)? -SP

 

[Steve Pace]

I don't know if this is XP-51 No. 1 or not...

 

[Stargazer]

According to Toura in the previous page this is definitely the first XP-51 (41-038)
http://www.secretprojects.co.uk/forum/index.php/topic,14165.msg139694.html#msg139694

The identification of these prototypes is not an easy thing, if only because they carry no markings. There was one NA-73X (definitely NOT this one) and two NA-73 prototypes (XP-51-NA) which were similar to the first batch of RAF Mustang I aircraft (also NA-73). (see two posts below)

If I refer to this set of profiles from the German Flugzeug Profile #37 it could also be an A-36A-NA Invader (NA-97) or a P-51A Mustang (NA-99) but of course the absence of markings makes this unlikely.

I have noticed one detail that could help differentiate between "1038" and "1039". In wartime pictures the latter's vertical stabilizer has the top hinge in metal finish. The "1038" could therefore be the one that appears in several photos with that same hinge painted blue like the vertical stripe of the flag. And so, from that point of view, the one in the picture could very well be it.

 

[Stargazer]

Here are photos of the very first XP-51, which is currently exhibited at the EAA Museum in Oshkosh.

 

[Stargazer]

Investigating the matter further... Here is what I have in terms of numbers and serials... (see attachment).

Contrary to what is said in adjoining scans (from Detail & Scale #50), the first XP-51 was not the second production Mustang I aircraft built, but the fourth (AG348 > 41-038).
The second XP-51 was the tenth production aircraft (AG354 > 41-039).

 

[Stargazer]

More surprising still, it was apparently the selfsame first XP-51 (which started off as the fourth RAF Mustang I, and has survived to this day under the auspices of the EAA) that was loaned to the Soviet Union in 1942 for testing, if we are to believe Squadron Signal (see attachment).

 

[Stargazer]

More evidence still that identifying these aircraft is far from easy, here is AG345, which was the first ever Mustang built after the NA-73X prototype and therefore much more of a prototype, in a sense, than the XP-51s. In factory finish it had a short carburetor intake scoop that was typical of the NA-73X, but when painted in RAF colors, it had the long one that was applied to all other NA-73s after that. (Source: Squadron Signal #1045 P-51 Mustang In Action).

 

[Steve Pace]

This is all very interesting and I'm appreciative. -SP