Over Rated P51D

[NachtPiloten]

"The F4U Corsair is a better airplane than the P-51 Mustang. This may seem like an odd topic to choose, but it is important to me. Even though the F4U was better, the Mustang is liked better because of its glamorous role in World War Two. The Corsair had better performance than the P-51. The Corsair had more roles than the Mustang. The Corsair could take off from a carrier, unlike the Mustang. The Mustang had the highly glamorous and romanticized duty of escorting the mighty B-17’s of the 8th Air force over Nazi Germany. It can be compared to the knights of Rohan charging down the hill into battle with the Urik-kai army, rescuing the heroes and saving the day. The Corsair, however, was more suited for the less important role of fighting Imperial Japan in the pacific. That can be compared to walking through a Georgian swamp to find crawdads for supper.
The Corsair had better performance than the Mustang. The Corsair could go 450 miles per hour to the Mustang’s 430. The Corsair could carry 4000 pounds of bombs to 2000. For every Corsair lost in combat, 11 enemy planes were destroyed, for an 11:1 combat ratio. The mustang only had a 6:1 combat ratio.
One of the simplest reasons for the common misconception of the Mustang’s superiority, however, is that, well, the Mustang is prettier.
That is a simple explanation for the superiority of the F4U over the P-51. Even though the mustang was more highly regarded, the corsair performed better, and could do more things." from http://www.ww2aircraft.net/forum/aviation/f4u-vs-p-51-essay-12111.html

and

http://www.kampfgruppe.us/showthread.php?t=5891

 

[HouseHobbit]

I have to agree that the F4U was a Great Bird..
I do keep the naval and Army aircraft in seperate classes..

And the F4u was truly a great bird among Great Birds..
As was the F8f and F6f iron works birds..

Of the naval aircraft I will have to agree the F4u was in a class of her own..

And those Gull wings look so Bloody Cool too..
We need a purple and pink pokka dotted one, that would look GREAT!!!
Would Make it truly a beautiful Bird then..

 

[loverboy1]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZThquH5t0ow

 

[lewis11777]

The P-51 was over glamorized specifically as a dog fighter when it was actually most notable for its versitility among the European Allied aircraft. Of all it's charachteristics the range probably made it the most valuable for long range escorts. The generalizations of "best fighter" are what provoke dog fighter enthusiast to arguments. The P-51D was a decent dog fighter but far from the best, accordingly it was decent at a few things hence the reputation. The misguided retorts of other fans would label the Mustang as a second rate fighter which was just as untrue (see WWII air combat history). The Spit XIV was nearly as fast as the Mustang up to 15,000ft and it was actually faster at 30,000ft. It would out climb the mustang at all altitudes although these were nearly tied around 5,000ft. The Spit will out accelerate the mustang, has a better turning radius and greater fire power. Additionally The performance parameters of the Spit XIV are significantly better than most of those for the 190's and 109's of the same era as well. If you are talking pure dog fighter the Spit XIV not only has the pure math to prove superiority it has a sweeping endorsement by Allied and Axis pilots as well.

http://www.gonzoville.com/ahcharts/index.php

 

[lewis11777]

Here is a good article on the Spit vs the P-51 and the notable thing here is how the Germans viewed the aircraft. They did respect the Mustang but wisely feared engagements with the Griffon Spits. Odds of survivability were clearly in favor of a Mustang encounter.

The P-51 was definitely the best fighter overall, the Spitfire the was best dogfighter. In their later marks of both aircraft (Spit 9s, 14s and 21s; the British Mustang 3 and the US designated P-51D), speed overall, including intial acceleration, generally favoured the Spit depending on the heights the combat took place, although it varied depending on altitude; the P51 could pull away easily in a dive at some heights, but could be caught in the climb; the Spit easily outclimbed it and could turn well inside it. The Spit also had better firepower. Both aircraft had similar rates of roll in later marks. Later Spits also had two 20mm hispano cannon and two 50.cal brownings or four 303.cal armed on the same belts with a combination of de wilde incendiary; tracer; regular bullets and explosive bullets, which provided decent hitting power, while the Mustangs had three hard-hitting 50s.

However, as has been pointed out many times on these threads, they were so close in most aspects of their performance (along with the FW 190, you could throw a postage stamp over them; In Spt v Mustang alone, the Spit's turn and power power gave it the edge given the closeness overall of the two types, a fact most (although not all) German pilots have acknowledged publicly.
However, the Spit was an interceptor, a role the Mustang could also fill but the Mustang really made its mark as a long-range escort fighter. The Mustang was superlative in terms of strategic force projection and as a force multiplier in the period between late 1943 and the liberation of the low countries in mid-late1944, which was only when the Spit had the range to hit Germany. The USAAF could not have ramped up its missions into Germany without the Mustang, and it therefore served a crucial purpose in helping the 8th air force in its mission to smash the German war effort.

The Spitfre could not do that, and that gives the Mustang the nod for overall usefulness. It was a war winner, without a doubt. None of that alters the truths of the argument, however, as has been pointed out in another thread.
A dogfighter supreme it wasn't, even if it was extremely good in that role and had the edge over the later 109s, if not the 190s. In short, it was good enough. German pilots, however, were quite fearful of engaging late Mark Spits and one JG54 ace said the RAF fighters were able "to play cat and mouse with us" and recommended the best course of action was to get away ASAP. They respected the Mustang, but experienced Luftwaffe pilots generally felt they had a chance against it. (Read JG54 and get it straight from the horse's mouth). USAAF pilots were generally veterans by then, and the Luftwaffe was relying more and more on inexperienced tyros, which meant most encounters resulted in American victories.