The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James H. Kindelberger of North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The commission approached NAA to build Curtiss P-40 fighters and the newer P-46 under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, NAA proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on September 9th, 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on October 26th.

The Mustang was designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine without an export-sensitive turbosupercharger or a multi-stage supercharger, resulting in limited high-altitude performance. The aircraft was first flown operationally and very successfully by the RAF and as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). In mid 1942, Rolls Royce replaced the Allison with a Rolls-Royce Merlin 65, two-stage intercooled supercharged engine, resulting in a series of development aircraft known as the Mustang X. During testing at Hucknall, it quickly became clear that this dramatically improved the aircraft's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft (4,600 m) (without sacrificing range). Following receipt of the test results and after further flights by a number of USAAF pilots, the results were so positive that North American began work on converting several aircraft and these were developed into the P-51B/C (Mustang Mk III) model, which became the first long range fighter to be able to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.

Pictured here is a 1:48 scale replica of a North American Mustang Mk. III fighter that was flown by Squadron Leader Eugeniusz Horbaczewski, then attached to No.315 "City of Deblin" Squadron, and deployed to southwest England during 1944. Now in stock!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 8-1/2-inches
Length: 7-1/2-inches

Release Date: February 2023

Historical Account: "City of Deblin" - The squadron was formed at RAF Acklington, England, on January 21st, 1941. The squadron, equipped with Hurricanes, was moved in March to RAF Speke, Liverpool, where it made frequent patrols over naval convoys as part of No.9 Group RAF. Before July, when it came under Polish command. No 315 was commanded by Squadron Leader H. D. Cooke.

In July it was moved to RAF Northolt, West London, re-equipped with Spitfires and began to conduct offensive fighter sweeps over occupied Europe. During two operations over France, on August 9th, the squadron achieved its first aircraft claims - two Bf 109s destroyed, three probables and three damaged. The squadron returned to Lancashire in April 1942, located at RAF Woodvale, Sefton. The squadron returned to Northolt in September and resumed operations over France. In June 1943, the squadron was withdrawn to Yorkshire, then to County Down, Northern Ireland in July.

Having returned to England in November, the squadron moved to the south west in April 1944, where it joined No. 133 Wing RAF of the 2nd Tactical Air Force. The squadron was re-equipped with the Mustang Mk III, which the squadron used for the remainder of the war. The squadron formed part of southern England's defense against the V-1 flying bombs and served in the Battle of Normandy.

During a sweep over France on August 18th, 12 Mustangs of No.315 engaged 60 German fighters of JG2 and JG26, which was in the process of taking off and landing near Beauvais, France. In the ensuing battle, the squadron was credited with 16 victories, one probable and three damaged for the loss of one pilot, Squadron Leader Eugeniusz Horbaczewski. Conversely, German claims were that 12 aircraft had been lost and that they had themselves shot down six aircraft (one of which was claimed to be a Lockheed P-38 Lightning).

The squadron later carried out operations over Germany, Norway and the Netherlands, where the squadron carried out sorties until the end of the war. The squadron claimed 86.33 confirmed victories, 18 probable and 26 damaged. After the war, 315 Squadron remained part of RAF Fighter Command until it was disbanded on January 14th, 1947.