Hot!P-51D photos with 1000 LBS & rockets.

I am looking for photos of WWII era P-51D's shown fully loaded with thousand pound bombs & rockets.
If not photos some documents that show evidence of this load out being done.
 
Regards: Rodney.

Thought I a found it, but the annotations on the photo call it a P-51A.   I guess ....close but no cigar.  
http://www.fold3.com/image/#47649415
http://www.fold3.com/image/#47649445

Rod
1000lb bombs and 110 gal. tanks were "not recommended " for the P-51 due to stresses, this is the relevant page from the P-51D/K/Mustang IV manual; though both WERE in certain instances. Seventh FC flew Mustangs with 165 gal. tanks AND rockets from Iwo.
The outer face of P-51 wing pylons had stencilling ( almost always worn off) which read
"550 LB BOMB MAX LOAD ".
Rolland  I think the bombs on that P-51A are 500lb.
Nick

Nick,  
I think you are correct on the bomb size.  When you look at them carefully, they just do not look that big.   There might have been confusion at some point about carry a 1000 lb bomb load,  i.e. 2x500 and a 1000 lb bomb.  
 
Rolland  

Rolland,
 
They got the "bazookas" wrong, so why not the bomb size?

Korea, not WWII, and not US service, but ....
 

SAAF

Nick - IIRC the P-51B/C had same bomb rack as P-51A and was the 500 pound rated pylon - good for a 500 pound bomb or a 75 gallon fuel tank.  The P-51D/K/H all had 1000 pound racks (I think) to be able to carry the 110 (standard long range) and 165 (Ferry tanks)...

In post #5 I joked about the image(s) reference in Post #2 having text referring to the P-51 as having bazookas mounted... thinking someone misidentified rocket tubes.  Since then I have come across two mission report references to bazookas mounted on fighters accompanying B-25s from 11th and 491st Squadrons of 341st Bm Gp on low level sweeps of rivers and rail roads in China, circa 1944.  In one case it was 23rd Ftr Gp P-40s and in the other 51st Ftr Gp P-51s.
 
My error, and I am glad I learned of it.

Okay, looks like I found one.  In the book Mustang At War by Roger Freeman there is a picture on Page 146 of what is supposedly a 1000 lb bomb hung on the  wing of a 15th Ftr Gp P-51D. The bomb sure looks bigger than the 500 pounders.
 
In the book F-51 Mustang Units Over Korea there are many pictures of Mustangs with bombs, even good close ups, but none look like 1000 pounders.  One might be but I can't tell.  There are also a couple of pictures of 500 lb and 1000 lb bombs sitting on the ground so you can see the differences, and it says that 1000 lb bombs were used on the Mustangs, but  no definite pictures of them.
 
And thanks for the pictures of the 51A's with rocket tubes, Rswank!  If I ever get around to building the 14 Accurate Miniatures P-51A kits I have I will have to equip at least one like that.
 
By the way, a friend of mine who served in the CBI in WWII said that they found that the P-51A's could haul heavier loads out of the short jungle strips than could the P-47's. 
 
    

       I know the photo you mean. I think Bill would agree that they couldn't carry 1000 pounders AND rockets though they did fit the P-38 wing tanks ( 165gal) as in the photo above yours.
Attached is an RAF Mustang III (P-51C) FB241 in Italy 1944, with 1000 pounders ( note weight on the oleos) used on occasion for specific missions. Unit is 112 Sqn. possibly at Fano.
Also shows not all Lend-Lease Mustangs were in RAF camouflage, this is OD-NG .
In June 1943 an RAF Mustang I was experimentally fitted with 8 rocket rails, apparently not taken up.
Nick

Yep, that picture of the 165 gal drop tank on a P-51D is right above the picture of the one with the 1000 lb bomb.  And of course a full 165 gal drop tank weighs 1000 lb.  But of course we do not know if that tank was filled up all the way.  I guess the normal tanks used on the Mustangs in the Pacific were 110 gal - although they do not look like the 108 gal paper tanks used in Europe.  In fact on P.134 there is a picture of a 110 gal US style drop tank being used with an RAF Mustang in the Med.
 
On P.135 of the same book there is a picture of an RAF Merlin Mustang (III?) with the rocket rails and British rockets.  I was surprised at that; I had not seen it before.
 
As you may know, Druids's Circle is a fascinating book that describes the development of British and American HVAR rockets.
 
 

Robert    the HS coded Mustang III in Italy is from 260 Sqn. I think the only one to use rockets.
The usual wing tanks for P-51s especially Eighth AF were metal 75 gal. , painted silver though a few similar 110 were used ( more tear-drop shaped). When they were depleted the normal ones were the British-made paper composition 108 gal ones , doped silver. P-47s in Europe used various types.
The 165 gal. ones were also  fitted on P-47s in the Pacific.
Nick

Yes, the book says the rocket armed Mustang was with 260 Squadron.  And I note that the book even says that "RAF Mustangs on ground support missions in the Med often carried 1000 lb bombs."  And when they did the fuselage tank was restricted to 40 gallons to avoid stability problems. 
 
I read that the 75 gal metal tanks were not much used in Europe and the 108 gal British made paper drop tank was the main one used.  There are a number of well-used photos of USAAF Mustangs flying with 75 gal tanks and one of the pilots later said that was a pure photo-op mission, flying around the British Isles next to a B-17 to get publicity photos.  They were not in real combat configuration.  I guess the drop tanks probably even were empty.
 
It is interesting that on P134, below a photo of 134 Srdn armorers assembling rockets, the book shows  two fitters carrying a US made 110 gal metal tank to a 213 Srdn Mustang, AK:E.  For some reason the Brits in the Med used US drop tanks - apparently the same ones used by Pacific US Mustangs, rather that Birtish paper tanks. 

Robert     the 75 gal metal tank was standard for ETO Mustangs until early in 1944 when the paper tanks were available ; these were made by Bowater Lloyd in England hence their use in Europe only, the US-made 110 gal. ones being shipped overseas ( only a few to UK) .
There was another 108 gal. tank, steel and British-made , they can be distinguished from the paper ones by being painted grey rather than doped silver.
Did you note the paragraph on p. 134 about the Americans visiting a British base and laying bets on whether the Mustangs would get off the ground with 2 1000 pounders ?
Nick

Lol Nick. Yes I Would agree that the -25 and -30 did Not carry either 165 Gallon ferry tanks or 1000 pound bombs Plus rockets..
 
I have not found reference to any 355th or 4th or 357th FG histories referring to anything larger than 500 pound bombs - although one fighter bomber mission near Brunswick in 45 loaded out a 75 gallon fuel tank on one rack and a 500 pounder on the other.
 
On the 108 gallon paper tank. AFAIK all were made in UK and first latched onto the P-51B in mid May 1944.  The 355th used one of the very first on the Posnan round trip - May 13, 1944 - nearly 1430 miles round trip which was the longest round trip in the 8th (I think).  Even the 355th Shuttle may have been farthest because of the peculiar location of Steeple Morden relative to the other Mustang Groups that made the trip.

I wish dad was still around (or Irv Ethell) to talk about 35th FBW loadout when the NK armor was moving past Seoul in July 1950.
 

Greg    do you mean the P-51A in Rolland's photo ?  these Allison-engined versions had 3-blade props , the later Merlin engines had 4 blades for the extra power ( Packard-built Merlin 65s , superceding the 61s as on the current Spitfire IXs).
Nick

Gregg        the early Spitfires in the Battle of Britain had a float in the carburettor which caused the engine to cut out in a sudden dive ; later Merlins had floatless ones, Mustangs had Bendix-Stromberg pressure-injected carburettors .
Comparative trials were carried out on 9 Feb. 1943 between a Spitfire IX ( Merlin 66) and the first Mustang X ( Merlin 65) , the only difference being the propeller reduction gear. The AFDU report added...." A Bendix carburettor which prevents cutting out under negative "G" is fitted in both cases and the full throttle boost allowable for combat has been increased to +18 lb."
A major advantage of the FW190 was it's rate of roll, a later AFDU report ( March 1944) concluding..." (rate of roll)...Not even a Mustang III approaches the FW190". The Mustang III was found to be faster than the Me109G at all heights and especially below 16,000 and above 25,000 ft.
Nick

Well I found a picture of a WWII era aircraft fully loaded. At this point in time I don't have much other information about it though.
 

 
 

Rod    that's certainly a 1,000 lb. ; I wonder if it's a trial installation though as active 5" rockets usually had solid black bands round the noses with silver tips ?
Thanks
Nick

No actually.... I found the picture on a website it was dated  November 44.  Not much more was said about it.
 
Cheers Lyric,
 
Megalodon

Thank you.