You might want to rethink your assessment of how frequent rocket attacks on Japan occurred. According to the 506th FGs website the number of attacks was quite frequent in the months of July and August with rockets even though less than 25% of the Commands P-51s were able to carry them (the burden falling upon the 506th).
They also frequently carried 500lb bombs on sorties into Japan. The majority of the missions flown into Japan (according to the 506th) were Fighter Strikes (not escort) and by your own logic if that is true (and it comes from the horses mouth as it were) then the Mustangs most certainly had the larger drop tanks.
http://506thfightergroup.org
So the last two months of the war, one group, the 506th carried rockets, which as you say was less then 25% of the command. That was the 15th, 21st and 506th.
How do I need to rethink things when the use was so minimal on the Mustang in the course of the war? I never said it didn't happen, just that it happened rarely, and you proved my point. As for the bombs. They didn't take them to Japan, but on short range stuff.
The issue still is those DTs for you I know. That's not up to me. No one said they didn't carry them, just that it was rare, and again you prove the point.
You see those Mustang profiles on the site? I did those long time ago for the 506th guys. You want to talk 506th I can go for a long time
Since you point to that site, you should read more.
Operational Difficulties in Connection with Ordnance Functional
The major difficulty occurred when the only available .50 cal. Ammunition proved to be defective and had to be classed Grade 3. The lack of missions and the location of a surplus in an Anti-Aircraft battery, prevented us from being completely out. Another situation in supply held up the rocket firing.
Because of the small number of 5.0” HVAR and 5.0” AR reaching this island, we were unable to train and fire rockets to any great affect. The lack of Rocket Launcher Kits also restricted our number of rocket carrying aircraft to no more than six (6) at any time. Difficulties Encountered by Armament on VLR Operations
The principal difficulty encountered by the Armament Sections was the K14A Gun Sight. The sight, being a delicate gyroscopic instrument, could easily become inoperative between the base and the target, or over the target, without any prior warning. This necessitated use of the fixed portion of the sight which is equipped with a 70 mil reticle and this was particularly bad due to the fact that all our pilots had been trained to fight on a 100 mil reticle. A very definite supply problem was also encountered with the sight in our first two months of operation. No replacement parts of new sights were available, and no facilities for the repair of this sight were at hand.
A limited number of K-14 sight installation kits were available and were tried with unsuccessful results. Another problem which fell to the Armament Sections was
"wing tank trouble". This means simply that when the planes reached the point of release for the tanks, some of them almost invariably failed to drop. This put the pilot at a disadvantage in several ways such as the possibility of ground fire hitting the tank, reducing speed of the plane somewhat, as well as increasing consumption of gasoline which was all important. This problem was finally licked by cleaning the bomb shackles prior to such VLR, using metal sway braces which could not bind on the tanks, or if wooden sway braced were used, exercising extreme care to make certain the tanks were properly adjusted and aligned.
Pilots, too, were instructed on the best methods of release to be employed where possible such as diving and then pull out sharply while firing a burst from machine guns, or slowly up and lowering the flaps and landing gear, etc.Wanna give up your K-14 and include 'wing tank trouble' in the name of realism too?
