The
Importance of the Mustang
The
Importance of the Mustang
While the Mustang was an extremely efficient machine of destruction, that is the least admirable part of its legacy. While a bit of a paradox, its superior capabilities shortened the war incomprehensibly, if they did not in fact turn what would have been a brutal stalemate into victory for the Allies. Without the Mustang, the bombing of Germany would have had to been halted, allowing the Axis to gain considerable advantage. With the Mustang, the tragic losses suffered by Eighth Air Force bomb crews were lessened greatly. Not only did the Mustang save the lives of many bomber crewmen, the advantages it had over enemy aircraft gave its pilots a better chance of coming home alive.
More than simply giving the U.S. and her allies a newfangled weapon to "beat back the Hun", the Mustang gave the Allies a new hope. Up until the last months of 1943, the bomber crews flying daylight raids over Germany had watched despondently as their so-called fighter escort turned back to base before the bombers had even crossed over the coast. They would then, sometimes immediately, be attacked by Luftwaffe fighters, who would decimate their ranks. Eighth Bomb Group losses were so heavy that only a quarter of its crewmembers completed their twenty-five mission tours-of-duty.
With the Mustangs' arrival, however, this was all changed. Fighter pilots had newfound confidence and a better sense of purpose now that they could take the fight to the enemy. For the bomber crews, though, the P-51 was a Godsend. Now, they watched the P-47s that had always turned back low on fuel turn back just like always, but now, the Mustangs pulled up to take over escort, all the way to Berlin. Now the Luftwaffe could not hold back and then attack unprotected bombers: they had to fight a losing fight with P-51s if they wanted to fight at all. After the hopelessness of the previous months, the bomber crews could suddenly have a great deal more hope that they would in fact live to return home.
Outside of its military importance, the Mustang was also vital to the scientific development of the jet age. The development of the revolutionary laminar flow wing, which decreased drag and provided for smooth airflow at high speeds, was essential to the development of supersonic flight. The other revolutionary design features of the Mustang, such as the scoop-style air intake and bubble canopy, have been indespensible to developing high speed aircraft.
One more way that the Mustang is important has nothing to do with its effectiveness as a weapon or its impact on aeronautics, but something more simple and perhaps more important. The Mustang is one of the few aircraft that is valued just as much for these things as it is for its graceful lines and elegance. It is one of the very few aircraft that just plain look good and hence inspire awe on grounds other than performance.
Perhaps that is its importance now, to be at airshows and inspire the dreams of children. What better role can a supposedly obsolete machine play than to provide something a father and his six-year-old son can marvel at together? It is an impressive experience, to see a Mustang fly by, at treetop level and full throttle. Its V-12 rumbles like thunder and its always ironic to watch the faces of the airshow crowd more alight in response to the P-51 than any of the modern, multi-million dollar jets. Its the kind of thing that will make a kid, who otherwise would have been perfectly content doing nothing, work like mad to learn to fly and dream incessantly of one day flying a Mustang. It is this intangable which I cannot logically define that makes the Mustang so great in my mind, not the number of planes it shot down or how fast it can fly or any of that.