P-51 Mustang

A list of variants of the P-51

The P-51 Mustang was an American aircraft primarily used by the Allies as a long-ranged fighter during World War II. They serve as escort fighters for the Allied Condor transport aircraft during the raid on Deathshead's Compound. They are shown to be significantly inferior to the German Horten Ho 229 jet fighters.

Overview

As the allied bombings over Germany intensified, losses amongst bombers grew as well. Owing to its lack of escorts, the allied bombers were forced to rely upon boxed formations to prevent heavier losses. With most of its available escort aircraft unable to make the journey to Germany and back, and lacking closer airbases on the continent, the P-51 Mustang was developed and its ability to escort the bombers to and from Germany proved revolutionary, vastly preventing further losses amongst bomber crews. However, as the war progressed, its technological advantage was significantly reduced as the Luftwaffe developed the Horten Ho 229 jet fighters, that proved significantly more powerful than its rotor based counterpart. Unable to compete with the new aircraft, P-51 Mustangs often suffered extreme casualties during dogfights.

Appearance

Wolfenstein: The Old Blood

As the war progressed into 1946, nearly all Allied fronts were on the verge of collapse as the Nazi technological superiority overwhelmed its numerical superiority. In response, the United States Army and the British Armed Forces decided to launch one last desperate gambit, to eliminate General Wilhelm Strasse in an effort to cripple the Nazi war machine. With this, the Western Allies decided to mobilize all its remaining reserve aircraft to invade the island in the Baltic Sea.

As Fergus Reid and his special forces unit recovered Captain B.J. Blazkowicz from the town of Wulfburg, the team arrived just as the invasion force departed from RAF Kinloss.

Wolfenstein: The New Order

Serving as escort fighters to the Allied bombers, P-51 Mustangs served to dogfight the Luftwaffe's Ho 229s in an effort to prevent heavy losses amongst the invasion force. Despite their best efforts, the allied invasion force suffered extreme casualties, as Mustang fighters were unable to keep up with their Luftwaffe counterparts. Owing to the tight airspace that the Mustangs and Bombers had to share, many were often shot down as a result of collateral damage, with a notable example including when Wing Commander Fergus Reid and Captain Blazkowciz's risky transfer from Vulture One to Condor Nine, a Mustang that was flying too close to Vulture One was hit by the enemy Flak-88 cannon, which lost control and crashed into Vulture One's cockpit, narrowly missing the army captain. USAF P-51s can be seen dog fighting with Ho 229s fighters in the skies Deathshead's Compound.

Wolfenstein: The New Colossus

By the events of 1961, most if not all P-51 Mustangs in the inventory were either destroyed or scrapped, with many wrecks found in the Allied military vehicle graveyard near Mesquite Texas. Additionally, during his exploration of New York, Captain Blazkowicz discovered the remains of one such fighter in the city, having presumably been destroyed when the atomic bomb dropped.

Gallery

Mustangs and other Allied aircraft taking off from RAF Kinloss.

P-51B Mustang with drop tanks under wings.

Mustangs as seen in New Colossus.

Mustang wreckage seen in New Colossus.

Trivia

• In The New Order, P-51 Mustangs are modeled after the Rolls-Royce Mustang Mk. X, a British prototype version of the fighter.
  • In the raid on Deathshead's Compound, the Allied escort fighters were originally meant to be Supermarine Spitfires instead of Mustang.

• The P-51 that crashed into "Condor-9" was named "Lightning God" as seen on it's fuselage.
• The P-51 Mustangs in the year 1946 during the raid on the Compound appear slightly different than modern day historical counterparts. the exhaust underneath the propellers are bigger, and the guns seem to be larger and packing more firepower. this was likely an Allied attempt to reinforce their firepower by improving their current technology, like the Condor Allied bomber or their Thompson submachine gun.