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Originally Posted by HealzDevo  That was based on what I was being told about the hostility towards it by the Americans. I had always thought it was substandard performance that had condemned it to the dive bomber role, and then when the engine was upgraded by the British voila a new fighter that was good in the escort role. |
Well who ever told you that is either dreaming or lying (maybe both) or perhaps mixed up in some anti-American delusional paranoia. The introduction of the Mustang with the Merlin lit up the production lines at Inglewood and Dallas and was also a boom for Packard - NA had a Merlin Powered Mustang in mind since mid 1942...
"In the summer of 1942, Packard Motors was negotiating with Rolls Royce to license-build the Merlin engine at its Detroit plant. Learning of Rolls Royce' Merlin-Mustang plans, Major Thomas Hitchcock, the American military attache in London, and others, pushed for the development of a Mustang powered by the Packard-built Merlin. Authorized in July, 1942, North American began its Merlin Mustang development in August."
Bottom line, NA welcomed it with open arms - look at the dates. If there was real resistance to putting a Merlin in a P-51 NA could of really dragged it's feet. By November 1942 the XP-51B was flying...
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