2007-08-04, Dogfights: P-51 Mustang P-51野马战斗机（在线收听） |
| In 1940, North American Aviation designed the legendary P-51 Mustang in response to the British need for a high-performance fighter aircraft. The Mustang featured the most advanced laminar flow wing and a ducted cooling radiator positioned under the rear fuselage that greatly reduced drag. It was considered by the Royal Air Force to be an outstanding aircraft despite its lack of high-altitude performance due to the limitations of the Allison Engine. Eventually the Mustang was fitted with the more powerful Rolls-Royce Merlin Engine that could do about 440 miles per hour in level flight. And so they ended up with a very remarkable airplane. Rolls-Royce's Merlin had a two-stage, two-speed super charger and that gave the Mustang outstanding speed at low altitude, high altitude. It was quite maneuverable and had a lot of fuel. It carried six 50-caliber machine guns in the wings and was capable of carrying rockets or 2000 pounds of ordnance for ground attack missions. When fitted with under-wing fuel tanks, the Mustang could escort bombers all the way to their targets and back, a feat no other single-engine fighter could perform. The longest mission I ever flew was six hours and 35 minutes on D-Day. And, but that was all patrolling at a, you know cruising speed, never using very much power. P-51 Mustang, it was a great airplane. The Mustang had a successful career as a fighter bomber and a tactical reconnaissance aircraft and served in every theater of World War II. The Mustang figured importantly in the Korean War and continued to serve in the Air Forces of several Central American countries into the 1970s. Over 15,000 P-51s were delivered. It remains an icon of World War II aerial combat. |
| 原文地址：http://www.tingroom.com/lesson/guojiadili/57576.html |