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Aviation History
1946
1946 - 1195.PDF
JUNE 20TH, 1946 FLIGHT 613 Always a compact aircraft, this mark ofMustang, the P-51F, has a sleek cleaned-up appearance. P-51F Lightweight Mustang Ingenious Redesign Saves 1,500 Ib Weight : New Undercarriage, Oil Cooler and Airscrew By JOHN W. R. TAYLOR THE advent of jet-propulsion, with its promise ofsuper-sonic speeds and high power/weight ratio, hasnaturally had greater immediate effect on the design of fighter aircraft than any other types. In fact the day ofthe airscrew-driven warplane is now drawing rapidly to a close, although there are still several jobs that can becarried out very effectively by '' attack'' fighters such as the Fury or Hornet. The man-in-the-street judges a fighter aircraft on twoqualities—the number of guns that it carries and the speed at which it carries them. The designer, on the other hand,whilst striving for increased speed and armament, is in- variably horrified by the consequent increase in weight.The little Sopwith Piip, weighing 1,225 Nb fully loaded, carried one machine-gun, flew at 106 m.p.h. and has neverbeen excelled for ease of control. By 1929 armament and speed had doubled, but the Furies and Bulldogs weighednearly three times as much as the Pup. Ten years later the Hurricanes and Spitfires were carrying eight guns atspeeds of between 300 and 400 m.p.h., but again the weight had risen, this time to around 6,000 lbs. Finally, the.Americans announced with questionable pride that the P.47N Thunderbolt could carry eight guns, ten rockets andtwo 500 lb. bombs, all at the same time, adding that it weighed around ten tons. Jet-propulsion has done much to solve the problem.For instance, the Rolls-Royce Nene turbine-jet gives the equivalent of some 12,000 h.p. for a weight of only 1,550Ib. But even before jet-fighters became a practical pro- position, many designers were trying hard to devise waysof reducing the size of their aircraft without impairing their efficiency. The P-51F Lightweight Mustang, details ofwhich may now be given, is proof of the great strides made by at least one company in this direction. Most of the recognition features of the earlier versionsof the Mustang are still there and the P-51F has the same Packard-built Rolls-Royce Merlin engine that made theP-51D the finest escort fighter of its day. It is not until the machine is inspected closely that the amazing ingenuityof its design becomes apparent, ingenuity that has reduced its loaded weight by some 1,500 lb., with little reductionin operational equipment. On first impression the P-51F may appear to be a cock-pit hood with an aircraft attached, but aerodynamically and structurally there are a lot of useful lessons to belearned from it. The whole aircraft has been extensively re-designed, the weight saving being effected chiefly inthree ways: (1) Simplification of structure. (2) Deletion of certain equipment. (3) Use of new materials. Simplification of Structure By far the most ingenious ideas are found in this cate-gory. Anybody can reduce the weight of a fighter aircraft by removing guns or operational equipment, but it takes a good man to devise waysand means of lightening a fighter like the Mustang, Recognition featuresapparent in this photo- graph of the P-51F. arethe slim tail portion of fuselage, elongatedappearance of cockpit bubble and radiator duct,and the treatment of ex- haust stubs and cowling.
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