A-36 Apache

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diopter

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Sole RAF A-36A EW998, showing the slatted dive brakes and carrying American 500lb (226kg) bombs on the racks beneath the wings
 
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The 'Apache' IS a Mustang, just an earlier version before the bubble canopy and the Merlin engine.

Best looking of the breed, but was often mistaken for a Me109 with a similar profile.
 
The A-36s Achilles heels were the liquid cooling system which made it vulnerable to ground fire and the non-turbocharged Allison engine which lacked high performance at altitude. The Mustang really became a champ when it got the RR Merlin engine.
 
purple said:
The A-36s Achilles heels were the liquid cooling system which made it vulnerable to ground fire and the non-turbocharged Allison engine which lacked high performance at altitude. The Mustang really became a champ when it got the RR Merlin engine.
Click to expand...

Please correct me if I'm wrong but the Brits were the first to install the Merlin RR engines on the A36s. I've heard a couple of versions as to why they did it. The main reason was they felt the air frame was capable of far more performance than the original engines could give, both at low and high level, so they attached RR engines which I believe were also liquid cooled and turned a good plane into a very decent all purpose combat aircraft. The US manufacturers were impressed enough with the upgrade that they built RR engines under license and installed them on all of the planes coming off the assembly lines when they were ready.

The second reason the Brits installed the RR engines was they had planes with worn out or broken engines that were perfectly serviceable and not enough spare parts or engines to put them in the air.

I also believe the A36 was designed as a ground attack aircraft that could be pressed into the air to air combat role if needed. I also believe it was the Brits that gave the plane the moniker "Mustang."
 
There is a video of Jay Leno firing up a Merlin engine mounted on a test bed. What a beast!

Was the A36 also known as the P-51 or was that a version intended for aerial combat rather than ground attack?
 
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