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The Mustang justifiably was the greatest fighter in history in that it enabled the defeat of the Luftwaffe and the establishment of total allied air superiority. It combined range enough to escort bombers to Berlin with a performance edge over most German fighters.
It required 3 features to achieve this the Laminar flow wing, the Merlin inline supercharged engine and the disposable papier mache droptank. Ironically the merlin was not that fuel efficient in bhp per weight but its small inline profile was the difference.
End 1943 the USAAF was in deep trouble having been through Schweinfurt et al with unescorted bombers taking unacceptable losses and it was the introduction of the P51 that turned things round.
But WI no P51? Would the USAAF have joined the RAF in a night war as LeMay who flew on a couple of British missions might have been considering (no one can say he didn't lead from the front). Or would they have confined themselves to tactical bombing.
What about the twin engined P38 Lightening - why did that never take off as an escort fighter - surely those twin booms would have contained sufficient fuel.
There are many questions and I am looking forward to hearing your answers.