The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James H. Kindelberger of North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The commission approached NAA to build Curtiss P-40 fighters and the newer P-46 under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, NAA proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on September 9th, 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on October 26th.

The Mustang was designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine without an export-sensitive turbosupercharger or a multi-stage supercharger, resulting in limited high-altitude performance. The aircraft was first flown operationally and very successfully by the RAF and as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). In mid 1942, Rolls Royce replaced the Allison with a Rolls-Royce Merlin 65, two-stage intercooled supercharged engine, resulting in a series of development aircraft known as the Mustang X. During testing at Hucknall, it quickly became clear that this dramatically improved the aircraft's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft (4,600 m) (without sacrificing range). Following receipt of the test results and after further flights by a number of USAAF pilots, the results were so positive that North American began work on converting several aircraft and these were developed into the P-51B/C (Mustang Mk III) model, which became the first long range fighter to be able to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 caliber (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.

Pictured here is a 1:48 scale replica of a North American Mustang Mk. IVA fighter that was flown by the RAF's No.112 Squadron, then deployed to Cervia, Italy during the Spring of 1945. Sold Out!

Dimensions:
Wingspan: 8-1/2-inches
Length: 7-1/2-inches

Release Date: July 2010

Historical Account: "The Shark Squadron" - No.112 Squadron was a squadron of the Royal Air Force. It served in both the First World War and Second World War and was active for three periods during the Cold War. It is nicknamed "The Shark Squadron", an allusion to the fact that it was the first unit from any air force to use the famous "shark mouth" logo on Curtiss P-40s,

As war loomed again, the squadron was re-formed on May 16th, 1939, on board the aircraft carrier HMS Argus for service in Egypt. It was based initially at RAF Helwan. On May 26th, "B" Flight was detached and sent to Sudan. The squadron did not receive its aircraft, obsolescent Gloster Gladiator biplane fighters, until June. After Italy entered the war, on June 10th, 1940, the squadron was almost immediately in action, defending Egypt from Italian bombers. "B" Flight became part of No.14 Squadron RAF on June 30th. In January 1941, the squadron joined Allied forces defending Greece, providing air cover and offensive support over Albania. It later took part in fierce dogfights as part of the air defence of the Athens area. With the collapse of the Allied campaign on the Greek mainland, 112 Squadron withdrew to Crete and then to Egypt, from where it rejoined the North African Campaign, supporting the Eighth Army.

For much of the remainder of the war, the squadron was part of No. 239 Wing, along with No.3 Squadron RAAF, No.250 Squadron RAF and/or No.450 Squadron RAAF. For the Allied invasion of Sicily (Operation Husky) on July 10th, 1943, No.239 Wing consisted of these four squadrons and No.260 Squadron as part of Air Vice Marshal Harry Broadhurst's Desert Air Force, an element of Air Marshal Sir Arthur Coningham's Northwest African Tactical Air Force in the Northwest African Air Forces of Lt. Gen. Carl Spaatz, one of the major sub-commands of the Mediterranean Air Command under Air Commander-in-Chief Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur Tedder.

During July 1941, the squadron was one of the first in the world to become operational with the P-40 Tomahawk, which it used in both the fighter and ground attack role, with the Air Headquarters, Western Desert. Inspired by the unusually large air inlet on the P-40, the squadron began to emulate the "shark mouth" logo used on some German Messerschmitt Bf 110s of Zerstorer Geschwader 76 earlier in the war. This practice was later followed by P-40 units in other parts of the world (including the Flying Tigers, American volunteers serving with the Chinese Air Force). In December, the Tomahawks were replaced by the updated P-40 Kittyhawk, which the squadron used for the remainder of its time in North Africa, often as a fighter bomber.

The squadron during this time included a significant number of personnel from the air forces of Poland, Australia, Canada and New Zealand. Another member was the English ace Neville Duke (later prominent as a test pilot). For most of 1942, it was commanded by the highest-scoring Australian ace of World War II, Clive Caldwell, the first Empire Air Training Scheme graduate to command a British unit. He was succeeded by Billy Drake, the highest-scoring RAF P-40 pilot and the second-highest-scoring British Commonwealth P-40 pilot, behind Caldwell.