Warbird Information Exchange

The Photo of "Margie" is a black and white version of a Post Card the Air Force Museum sells in thier gift shop. If memory serves the lower inlet scoop on NA-73X could be opened and closed. The photo shows the scoop in the full open position. Here is a link to a photo showing the scoop open. http://dw.squawk1200.net/img/P51_prototype.jpg

jim

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www.spiritof44.com

I think what you are seeing is the undamaged, untouched radiator of NA-73 in it's extended, position.

I'm looking at the pictures in the book:

"Mustang Designer: Edgar Schmued and the P-51"

On page 65, there are two photos. One of the '73 on it's back, but taken from a quartering view and not an almost straight on shot. The caption reads: "A close-up after the crash showing the original radiator intake."

Just below that picture is another of a rear quartering shot with Vance Breese in the cockpit. You can clearly see the structure of the "alligator jaw" intake and if you compare the two photos you can see that nothing happened to the radiator after the crash. In the '73, the front end of the radiator housing could be lowered (rotated actually) like the jaw of an alligator dropping. For low speed operations I would think. Anyway that's how the '73 radiator worked.

And there's a side shot of the second XP-51 in flight at Wright Field, on page 79. It, too, seems to have the alligator jaw intake, though I'm a little less sure about that given that it's not a close up.


Subsequent production models - like the RAF versions and USAAF P-51A's had a more rounded scoop with a fixed intake. And the structure was changed again for the B model to the familiar angled intake (reduced rumbling I believe).

Was just looking through the May 89 Sport Aviation with an article on the XP-51 and it says that rather than fuel starvation as previously speculated, was not the cause but rather too short a carb. scoop as the cause of the crash. Apparently not letting the engine breath! It also mentioned they lengthened the scoop and it fixed it!
Anyone have anything else to this story? I have the issue if anyone wants it, I'll mail it to ya.