Regarding the Herald article on D-Day, “Mustangs’ flight Friday commemorates D-Day landings”: As a World War II combat pilot, and having flown all models of the P-51 (A, B, C, D, K and H — plus the Tac Recon version F-6) — I can assure you the statement “The plane at first was underpowered and unimpressive” is totally wrong.
In fact, the A and B models with the Allison engine could whip the pants off anything “under 12,000 feet.” But the military needed bomber escort planes that could fly effectively over twice as high. That’s when the British started modifying their Mustangs with Rolls Royce Merlin engines that were equipped with superchargers that solved the problem — and the Americans followed in short order.
Otherwise, I really appreciated the D-Day coverage.
Elden Williams
Major USAF (Retired)
Lynnwood
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.