P-51D Ordnance

[beau32]

Chalenge, I sent ya the reply with the manual, hopefully you got it.

[Chalenge]

Yes I did but unfortunately there is not even a date on any of it I could find. There is definitely a P-51D with ten rockets on it though.

[Guppy35]

Aussie Mustangs were produced late in the game. Again, much like the USAAF Mustangs latewar, the ability was there to install the rocket rail stubs.  But there is nothing to show this being done operationally.  The Aussie 51s flown in Korea used the same ord as the USAF Mustangs which means 6 rockets and 2 bombs or 2 napalm tanks.

[Guppy35]

I think it comes down to one simple reason why we don't see ten rocket Mustangs, even in Korea.  To do so means removing the wing pylons.  With the Iwo birds the added weight and drag of the rockets meant having to carry the 165 gallon P38 tanks to allow them to even reach Japan.

In Korea it was a better option to have a variety of ord.  A batch of rockets and bombs or rockets and napalm was a better option for ground support then just ten rockets.

Taking off the pylons to add the 4 extra rockets took away the other options.  And again, with the need for DTs the pylons had to stay

[Guppy35]

For what it's worth, the Iwo Mustangs first carried the rockets on May 25, 1945.  Again they had to take the 165 gallon tanks to make up for the weight and drag of the rockets so they could make Japan

THere is no evidence of those rocket rails being used by USAAF Mustangs in the ETO and MTO.  The May 1945 timing of the first use in the PTO tends to support this as VE Day was prior to this

[Krusty]

Am I correct in remembering you (or somebody else) also stated they never carried bombs AND rockets during WW2?

[Guppy35]

Am I correct in remembering you (or somebody else) also stated they never carried bombs AND rockets during WW2?

For the reasons mentioned.  The only way to lug bombs is on the wing hardpoints, so it means no DTs.   As the rockets were used over Japan, they needed the DTs to get there to shoot em.

They did carry both in Korea.  Interesting to note that they carried 6 when they had DTs and 4 when they carried 500 pounders.  Apparently this was standard practice.

And in the interest of 51 rocket fairness I dug through all the 51 books I have, and there are many.  There was this shot of a CBI P51D with the rocket tubes and DTS.


And the RAF ground attack Mustang IIIs in the MTO carried up to 8 Tiffie style rockets, although this meant no bombs or DTs. 

[Stoney]

With the Iwo birds the added weight and drag of the rockets meant having to carry the 165 gallon P38 tanks to allow them to even reach Japan.

For whatever its worth, they couldn't have made it to Japan and back without the drop tanks, regardless of whether or not they carried rockets.  Don't know if that has any impact at all...

[Guppy35]

For whatever its worth, they couldn't have made it to Japan and back without the drop tanks, regardless of whether or not they carried rockets.  Don't know if that has any impact at all...

Yeah, that too

They could make it with the 110 gallon tanks without the rockets was what I meant.  They needed the 165 gallon DTs to cover the extra weight and drag when they took the rockets.

[Guppy35]

Found a couple more shots of the RAF Mustang III 4 rocket set up that was used in the MTO operationally.  The pylon was different and obviously no DT.