High Spirited Mustang Volume I

This first volume, out of a total of four, of the history of the North American Aviation P-51 Mustang and P-82 Twin Mustang takes you from the first steps of North American Aviation Corporation to the end of the the evolution of those two aircraft, through the British decision to award the development of this exceptional fighter to NAA. It also provides the production history with links between military serials and model blocks. Richly illustrated, this volume gives the background and overview required to enjoy the operational history detailed in Volumes II and III.

By the mid-1930s the obstacles to high speed that aircraft designers faced included the question of cooling the engine. This was a big challenge that those working on the new fast aeroplanes entering service as the war clouds gathered over Europe had to consider, as the drag from the system increased as a square of the speed. Ducted systems were designed which lowered drag, but these were based on the assumption that the system was cold. This ignored the potential energy from the air, heated by the radiator, for liquid-cooled aircraft, and from the discharged engine exhaust gases. It took a profoundly lateral thinker to harness the possibilities of the paradox that heat could cut the cost of cooling. That thinker was the British engineer Frederick William Meredith. A researcher at the Royal Aircraft Establishment at Farnborough until 1938, F.W. Meredith a key player in the UK’s development of the autopilot and remote-controlled aircraft. His contribution to Allied success in the Second World War was enormous – but, incredibly, he was also a known a Soviet agent. Few would doubt that the Supermarine Spitfire was a pioneering aeroplane – not because it was an all metal, monoplane with retractable undercarriage and enclosed cockpit as these were not unique – but because it was the first to incorporate a Meredith designed ducted cooling system. This was intended from the beginning to use heat to create ‘negative drag’. In practice the Spitfire’s design was flawed, as Meredith himself pointed out, and did not fully use what became known as the ‘Meredith Effect’. Meredith also made entirely overlooked but extremely important contributions to resolving the problem of how to induce air smoothly into cooling ducts at high speeds without which, as the Spitfire demonstrated, ducted cooling systems worked sub-optimally. The first aeroplane properly to exploit the ‘Meredith Effect’ was the North American P-51 Mustang, this being a very significant factor as to why it was 30mph faster than the Spitfire when both had the same Rolls-Royce Merlin engine. This book by Peters Spring examines the life of the remarkable, and controversial, F.W. Meredith, an individual who has largely been forgotten by history despite the brilliant advances he made – advances which helped the Allies win the war against Hitler’s Third Reich.

The Complete Book of Ford Mustang, 4th Edition details the development, technical specifications, and history of America’s original pony car, now updated to cover cars through the 2021 model year.

These pilots called themselves the 'Tokyo Club'. It was a simple task to become a member. All you had to do was strap yourself into a heavily loaded P-51 Mustang, take off from Iwo Jima, fly 650 miles north over the sea – often through monsoon storms – in your single-engined aircraft to Japan, attack a heavily defended target and then turn around and fly home despite a shrinking fuel supply and perhaps battle damage as well. Do it once and you earned membership in the club. Do it 15 times and you earned a trip home. But make one mistake or have one touch of bad luck, and you had a very good chance of ending up dead. This book tells the little-known story of these brave men and their efforts to defeat the aerial forces defending Japan.

It's exciting enough that Lisa and Paul Cooke, two American stunt riders, have moved their team of mustangs to Yorkshire, England, and asked that Mandy and James help out at their ranch. When Mandy's favorite band, the Cowboys, show up there to film a rock video, the two friends know they're about to have the spring break of their lives! But the day before the shoot, Cougar, the lead mustang, develops a life-threatening illness which worries his owners and infuriates the video producer. Will Mandy be able to help the sick horse back to health, despite the odds against him?