01.12.2007, 09:48
I suppose it all depends whet you want out of it. If you want all the P-51's to have mirrors like your screen shots in the 1st post, I'd say NO every time. Go fly Lomac if you want mirrors like this, it's a modern jet thing just as HPD says.
If your looking to add mirrors to the P-51's in a historical sense, then it's a harder question as they did and did not have them. They certainly did NOT fit them in the factory!
There is a fair bit of photographic and written evidence to show that a small number of USAAF P-51 pilots added mirrors to their aircraft. Sometimes Spitfire mirrors, sometimes motorcycle mirrors. There's even a photo of a well known P-51D "Ridge Runner" with 2 mirrors, looking like Spitfire units, fitted to it.
RAF Mustangs were a totally different deal, after all the RAF boys didn't stop at just adding the mirror from their Spitfires or even the Malcolm hoods. They swapped out the Allison motor for the Rolls Royce Merlin. And most importantly, they had access to the parts.
All up I'd still say NO, as they were never a factory item and they were never fitted in the field in any significant or co-ordinated way. If the huge majority of USAAF P-51 jockeys never had mirrors why should we?
BUT if someone's gonna do it, and no doubt someone will, do us all a favour and make a decent job of it. No modern jet jobs or star wars crap please.
I've since updated the post with better photographic evidence.
viewtopic.php?p=4512#4512
If your looking to add mirrors to the P-51's in a historical sense, then it's a harder question as they did and did not have them. They certainly did NOT fit them in the factory!
There is a fair bit of photographic and written evidence to show that a small number of USAAF P-51 pilots added mirrors to their aircraft. Sometimes Spitfire mirrors, sometimes motorcycle mirrors. There's even a photo of a well known P-51D "Ridge Runner" with 2 mirrors, looking like Spitfire units, fitted to it.
RAF Mustangs were a totally different deal, after all the RAF boys didn't stop at just adding the mirror from their Spitfires or even the Malcolm hoods. They swapped out the Allison motor for the Rolls Royce Merlin. And most importantly, they had access to the parts.
All up I'd still say NO, as they were never a factory item and they were never fitted in the field in any significant or co-ordinated way. If the huge majority of USAAF P-51 jockeys never had mirrors why should we?
BUT if someone's gonna do it, and no doubt someone will, do us all a favour and make a decent job of it. No modern jet jobs or star wars crap please.
fly_zo Wrote:.... while at it F6F desperately needs one too....I think that is far more necessary and would constitute a fix for something that is missing and should always have been there. I posted a thing about this about 3 weeks ago and had 85 views and zero responses! Obviously not many Hellcat drivers in the audience.
Z
I've since updated the post with better photographic evidence.
viewtopic.php?p=4512#4512