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FDG2 P51B Tuskagee skins

alpha_1

Charter Member
Hi All;

I've just downloaded Kelti's "red Tail' skins for the FDG2 P51B's. I'd like to add them to my Tuskagee Arimen installs. I'm ever so slightly confused (nothing new there). Which actual originals are these skins meant for?

In my original FDG2 P51B Installer I have two, one called 'FDG2_P-51B' and another called 'FDG2_P-51B_Bullfrog'. I haven't got nor can I find a download for a P-51C.

As usual, any help with this would be greatly appreciated, thanks.

Cheers,
 
TopperIII skin may fit FDG Malcom hooded Mustang, yet.....

Hi Rami;

Thanks for the clarification. Ah'm on it!:running:

Just remember one thing Alpha_1:

if you like historical accuracy, no Malcom hooded P-51B/C ever fought in the Med theatre. The Malcom hood mod was applied by RAF first to their Mustangs MkIII's (P-51B/C) because front line RAF pilots, used to the Spitfire bulged canopy, did not like the "birdcage" canopy of the razorback Merlin-engined Mustangs.

Official technical reports issued by RAF listed "poor visibility" among the negative aspects of the airplane, so they developed the Malcom hood field modification independently from North American Aviation. The new canopy resembled closely the Spitfire canopy shape, albeit larger, to fit the wider Mustang cockpit.
When 8th USAAF fighter pilots saw the British Mustangs thus equipped, liked the idea and tried out Malcom canopied P-51s themselves, instantly liking the improved visibility Malcom hoods offered. The industry producing Malcom hoods was flooded with orders, but could not cope with the increased demand, consequently not all RAF and 8th or 9th USAAF Mustang units were able to get their aircrafts retrofitted with the new canopy.

It was very much like what happened with Chance Vought's F4U-1 "birdcage" Corsair that had improved visibility with a new bulged sliding canopy equipping the 1-A variant, other than in this case it became a Chance Vought's production standard, while NAA had already designed a new Mustang version, the ultimate bubbletop P-51D. This settled any visibility issue and became a standard for fighter planes that we can still see nowadays on the latest jet fighter generations.

This is why Malcom hooded P-51B/C's were only seen in England and in Northern European skies, they were never deployed anywhere else. To a wide number of Mustang pilots, the P-51B/C equipped with a Malcom hood was the best Mustang ever. Equipped with power ammunition belt feeders, which resolved definitely the jamming problem plaguing all razorback Mustangs, lighter therefore faster, with crispier handling than the heavier bubbletop D version, it was considered a true "hotrod" among fighter planes.

Some Malcom hoods were installed also on "razorback" P-47D-20's and -23's, improving their even poorer visibility. It was limited by the weird shape of the early Thunderbolt series cockpit canopy, with the windshield split in two halves and a piece of frame in the middle, instead of a single Perspex piece. The only native-CFS2 addon designer that covered Malcom hooded Jugs is Krzystof Malinowski, who designed a very nice "Malcom" P-47D-23 model included in the Thunderbolt 1 through 10 packs. If I am not mistaken, Alphasim made a FS9 Malcom hooded P-47D.

Please, note that I kept writing P-51B/C because, as Rami wrote already, there were no differences whatsoever between the two models. The designation was decided only to distinguish NAA Mustang "B" production line at Inglewood, CA, from the "C" production line at the Dallas, TX, NAA plant, with some aircrafts equipped with an Aeroproducts 4-blade propeller, other than the usual "cuffed" Hamilton Standard one. :wiggle:

Cheers!
KH
:ernaehrung004:
 
Hi Kelti;

You have done your homework, m'Man. Thanks for the terrific insight. As it turned out for me, I only skinned the standard 'B' model, not the 'MH' model. Thanks so much.

Cheers;:encouragement:
 
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