Impact of the P-51 Mustang
Not until the advent of the North American P-51 Mustang fighter, and all of the improvements, benefits, and side effects that it brought with it, that the Allies were able to achieve superiority over the Germans. The Allies knew that they would have to drive German industry to a brink of failure in order to win the war. The problem was that all the factories, refineries, and other industry-related structures were located inland. This problem called for the use of bombers. In order for the bombers to be successful they would have to drop bombs harassed by AAA and be able to return on new missions in the hours or days to come. The problem again was that the Allies did not have this type of superiority so they could not use bombers without the threat of being shot down by the Germans, who kept on moving in. The Allies realized they would have to start destroying more German fighters. So the invention and development of the North American P-51 Mustang began to take place. In April of 1940, the president of North American Aviation, " Dutch" Kindleberger, visited the head of the aircraft division of the British Purchasing Commission, Sir Henry Self, asking him if he would like to purchase some bomb
Before 1944, bombers had been alone as the approached The Impact of the P-51 Mustang 4their faraway targets. The development and completion of theP-51 changed this. As a result of the development of the P-51 Mustang, America and its Allies were able to cut off German supply lines, decimate their forces, and cripple their fighters and cause tremendous casualties among their men. The fighters used their high speed and maneuverability to fly low-level strafing missions that ranged over large expanses of territory and destroyed many Luftwaffe craft on the ground. " (Boyne 338) The German fighters that did take this "bait" quickly met their match and were easily repelled by the Mustangs. Using the long-range Mustangs, the Allies were able to make their bombing raids more effective and more deadly to Germany. The battle as a whole was insignificant but the advantage of the P-51 over the German counterpart was realized. Before the beginning of 1944, the bomber escort's primary function was to fly alongside the bombers, repel any attacks, and generally make sure the bombers stayed safe. This P-51 Mustang caused the course of history to take a different turn and forever have an impact on American history, especially in the Aviation field, both politically and economically. The prototype of the NA-73 however, was ready in October of 1940 and proved to be of excellent design. These "sweeps" caused cuts in German supply lines and therefore made them weak in yet another way. The bombers' targets were the cities of Oschersleben and Halberstadt, where many German planes were being constructed. One day Jimmy Dolittle, commander of the 8th Air Force, saw a plaque on the wall with this motto on it and said, "That is not so.
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