Reviews 
Book Description 
Paperback - 128 pages (September 1997) 

• ISBN-10: 1855327147

• ISBN-13: 978-1855327146

A book for WWII aircraft and modeling enthusiasts. Great little soft cover which starts with the circumstances and  people leading into the design, development and prototype testing of the P-51, arguably the most successful  allied fighter plane of that war. Not a page without a top quality black and white photograph or funky color prints of war propaganda posters. Lots of close up shots of technical details as well as factory layouts, assembly line  photographs, wind tunnel testing info, and gossip on the people involved in this machine's inception. Well balanced  writing, mixing engineering info, historical snaps and human anecdote, ending in a short chapter featuring a number  of fighter aces who flew the Mustang. Made for three satisfying evenings of reading. Give us more Michael O'Leary! 
There can be few aviation enthusiasts who do not appreciate the fine lines and historic exploits of North American Aviation's classic propeller-driven fighter: the Mustang. This book captures the beauty and power of the aircraft in a series of stunning color photographs.

From the Publisher
The Osprey Color Classics series was born out of an overwhelming demand for top-class aviation photography. These superbly illustrated books will appeal to aviation enthusiasts everywhere.

  Click Here for an Entire List
of Osprey Colour Classics Books

Arguably one of the best P-51 Mustang photo books around at this moment, this 128-page book is crammed with good to very good color photographs of surviving P-51 Mustangs. You will find most variants depicted here, such as an P-51A, an A-36, a P-51B (The look-a-like of the famous 'Shangri La' of Don Gentile), P-51Ds, a P-51H to the Cavalier Mk2s. Even the Piper Enforcer gets its share.
The only things missing for me, comparing this book to 'Spitfire, Flying Legend' or 'Hurricane, a Fighter Legend' from the same publisher, were some more background information and WW2 color photographs of the Mustang and photographs of Mustangs operating in the Korean War.

The P-51 mustang is probably the most famous of all of the Warbirds. 

This airplane was manufactured by North American Aviation during WW2.  The plane took only 90 days to design and became the worlds fastest propeller airplane, ever, setting all of the low altitude speed records for propeller driven airplanes even today. 0009305
0009305ALT="Pre Built P-51 Mustang Mahogany Model" HSPACE=10 VSPACE=10 BORDER=2 height=352 width=250 align=RIGHT>There are many of these airplanes still flying today at air shows everywhere.  This plane is also a favorite at the Reno Air Races at Stead Field just north of Reno Nevada.  Many Warbirds race at Reno every September.  The P-51 is 32' 3" long, 13' 8" high, and a wingspan of 37'.  The mustang weighs 7000 lbs empty and has a max weight of 12100 lbs.  It used two different types of engines, the Allison and the Rolls Royce Merlin which produced 1650 lbs.  The racing planes, by contrast, pump out over 4500 hp.  The P-51 mustang had a max speed of 437 mph and a cruise speed of 275 mph.  The P-82 was a twin fuselage version of the P-51, with two engines.

 .Please Note:  The specifications on this page are only for a single model of this airplane.