Originally Posted by
RCKen
That's a good guess, but not the plane I am going for here.
What warbird am I?
1. At first glance I am often mistaken for a more famous warbird from the same time frame.
2. First introduced in 1942, but had a relatively short military lifespan
3. This plane also had 2 guns mounted in the nose
How about the early Mustangs; which were often mistaken for Bf 109's? Specifically, the A-36 Apache; which had twin .50's mounted in the nose and was introduced in 1942? Thanks; Ernie P.
The North American A-36 Apache (listed in some sources as "Invader", but also called Mustang) was the ground-attack/
dive bomber version of the
North American P-51 Mustang, from which it could be distinguished by the presence of rectangular, slatted
dive brakes above and below the wings. A total of 500 A-36 dive bombers served in North Africa, the Mediterranean, Italy and the
China-Burma-India theater during
World War II before being withdrawn from operational use in 1944.
With the introduction of the North American Mustang I with the
RAF Army Co-operation Squadrons in February 1942, the new fighter began combat missions as a low-altitude reconnaissance and ground-support aircraft. Supplementing the
Curtiss P-40 Tomahawks already in service, Mustang Is were first supplied to
No. 26 Squadron RAF, then rapidly deployed to 10 additional squadrons by June 1942. First used in combat over the
Dieppe Raid on 19 August 1942, a Mustang of
No. 414 (RCAF) Squadron downed one of the formidable
Focke-Wulf Fw 190, the first victory for a Mustang.
[2] Despite the limited high-altitude performance of the
Allison V-1710 engine, the RAF was enthusiastic about its new mount which "performed magnificently."
[3]
During the Mustang I's successful combat initiation,
North American's president
Howard "Dutch" Kindelberger pressed the newly redesignated
U.S. Army Air Forces (USAAF) for a fighter contract for the essentially similar P-51, 93 of which had passed into the USAAF when the
Lend-Lease contract with
Britain ran out of funds. The Mustang IA/P-51 used four
20 mm Hispano wing cannon in place of the original four .30 in (7.62 mm)
M1919 Browning machine guns and two .50 in (12.7 mm)
M2 Browning machine guns mounted in the wings and two .50 in (12.7 mm) "chin" machine guns. No funds were available for new fighter contracts in fiscal year 1942, but General
Oliver P. Echols and Fighter Project Officer
Benjamin S. Kelsey[4] wanted to ensure the P-51 remained in production.