P-51D-20 (China)

␗P-51D-20

␗P-47D-30

␗P-51K

␗P-51D-20

␗P-47D-30

␗P-51K

China

III Rank

Battle rating:

AB	RB	SB
4.0	4.0	5.0

Class:

Fighter

Research:26 000

Purchase:76 000

Show in game

This page is about the Chinese fighter P-51D-20 (China). For other versions, see P-51 (Family).

Description

The ␗P-51D-20 Mustang is a rank III Chinese fighter with a battle rating of 4.0 (AB/RB) and 5.0 (SB). It was introduced in Update 1.91 "Night Vision".

General info

Flight performance

Max speed

at 7 620 m710 km/h

Turn time22 s

Max altitude12 700 m

EnginePackard V-1650-7

TypeInline

Cooling systemWater

Take-off weight5 t

Characteristics	Max Speed (km/h at 7,620 m)		Max altitude (metres)	Turn time (seconds)		Rate of climb (metres/second)		Take-off run (metres)
	AB	RB		AB	RB	AB	RB
Stock	686	668	12700	23.0	23.8	15.7	15.7	396
Upgraded	735	710		21.0	22.0	22.8	18.9

Details

Features
Combat flaps	Take-off flaps	Landing flaps	Air brakes	Arrestor gear
✓	✓	✓	X	X

Limits
Wings (km/h)	Gear (km/h)	Flaps (km/h)			Max Static G
		Combat	Take-off	Landing	+	-
901	281	644	442	265	~10	~4

Optimal velocities (km/h)
Ailerons	Rudder	Elevators	Radiator
< 500	< 300	< 500	> 400

Compressor (RB/SB)
Setting 1
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
2,400 m	1,580 hp	1,728 hp
Setting 2
Optimal altitude	100% Engine power	WEP Engine power
6,400 m	1,320 hp	1,444 hp

Survivability and armour

Crew1 person

Speed of destruction

Structural901 km/h

Gear281 km/h

• 8 mm steel - in front of engine
• 6.35 mm steel - behind engine
• 38 mm bulletproof glass - windscreen
• 8 mm steel - behind pilot
• 11 mm steel - pilot headrest

Modifications and economy

Repair costBasic → Reference

AB983 → 1 297

RB2 198 → 2 901

SB3 558 → 4 696

Total cost of modifications24 800

45 000

Talisman cost1 100

Crew training22 000

Experts76 000

Aces500

Research Aces320 000

Reward for battleAB / RB / SB

60 / 150 / 300 %

142 / 142 / 142 %

Modifications

Flight performance	Survivability	Weaponry
Fuselage repair Research: 1 700 Cost: 3 100 160 Radiator Research: 1 700 Cost: 3 100 160 Airframe Research: 1 900 Cost: 3 500 180 Compressor Research: 1 900 Cost: 3 500 180 Wings repair Research: 1 500 Cost: 2 700 140 Engine Research: 1 500 Cost: 2 700 140 Cover Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 600 190 Engine injection Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 600 190 G-suit Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 600 190		bmg50_belt_pack Research: 1 700 Cost: 3 100 160 Rocket Launcher M10 Research: 1 900 Cost: 3 500 180 bmg50_new_gun Research: 1 500 Cost: 2 700 140 FRC mk.2 Research: 1 500 Cost: 2 700 140 FLBC mk.1 Research: 2 000 Cost: 3 600 190

Armaments

Offensive armament

The P-51D-20 (China) is armed with:

• 6 x 12.7 mm M2 Browning machine guns, wing-mounted (270 rpg outer + 270 rpg mid + 400 rpg inner = 1,880 total)

Suspended armament

The P-51D-20 (China) can be outfitted with the following ordnance:

• Without load
• 6 x HVAR rockets
• 2 x 1,000 lb AN-M65A1 bombs (2,000 lb total)
• 6 x M8 rockets

Usage in battles

Offence

Probably the best asset P-51D has is its speed and its ability to achieve it and maintain it. Like with all planes, higher attitude should be achieved. Although its climb rate is nice, there are enough planes with better and therefore pilots of P-51D should plan ahead and not wait for the last second to climb. Best way to climb at the start is to climb towards the corner of the map, so the enemy will be encountered later when P-51D is already high enough. When an enemy is spotted, heading in another direction than P-51D, this aircraft can enter mild dive and go for strafe run. After that, it is important to continue heading in the same direction, so the speed is maintained. Even the most agile fighters won't be able to turn quickly enough to fire just one shot at you. If feeling confident or sure about the kill, P-51D should get at least 2 km away from the enemy and then start to turn towards him, depending on its speed. If speed is under 500 km/h, a bigger distance should be achieved before attempting a turn. This ensures that turn will be completed before the enemy gets to 1 km distance, so you won't give your enemy opportunity for the first shot. However, head-on assault should be done only against weaker opponents, since .50 cal does not have the punch of 20 mm or 30 mm that similarly-tiered planes carry. A salvo of .50 cal rounds from tracer belt can easily and often does ignite enemy engines upon impact, but few hits from 30 mm will tear wings of P-51D, while fire can be taken out.

When engaging enemy bombers, aim for their engines. When engine catches on fire, focus on another engine until it also burns and so on. It is likely that fire will be taken out, but the damage done by 2 to 4 burning engines will be so severe that enemy bomber will either crash within next minute even without one more hit or he will lose altitude so much that it will be an easy target for lower flying teammates. Bigger bombers like B-17 should not be followed for more than few seconds, as an engine of P-51D is too fragile and often will turn red upon first few hits, which gives you about 1 to 2 minutes before its engine dies completely. It is especially important to engage B-17 from relative higher altitude, gain little more speed and aim for engines. A well-aimed burst of tracer belt rounds should be enough to ignite 1 or 2 engines during this. Keep in mind that B17 can fly even with just one single engine and maintain its attitude and speed. Do not attempt to cut off wings of bomber like with bigger guns, as it is quite hard to do so with .50 cal. When engaging bomber with huge glass cockpit like on He 111, front assault with a salvo of .50 cal rounds has high chance to kill its pilot with the number of rounds that will be fired.

Defence

It may seem that agility of P-51D is lacking at first sight, but it is not that bad when used correctly. P-51D has a good turn rate at higher speeds and its pilots should try to keep well above 400 km/h. When at a speed around 500 km/h, even Spitfires will have troubles getting behind you. However, P-51D should avoid these encounters as this will bleed its speed to the point that P-51D will be no longer able to turn with the enemy. If a window of opportunity arises, for example when an opponent starts his turn into the wrong direction after attempting to outmanoeuvre P-51D, P-51D can enter mild dive and go for a run. P-51D can get to its top speed quite fast, especially when in mild dive. Top speed of P-51D is one of the best on its tier. These three-speed factors will help you run away from many opponents, giving you a chance to set your own rules of engagement with them. When running away with the enemy closing in, try to avoid climb at all. If a climb is desired, it is best to wait until it is safe. If climb cannot wait, try to climb below 10 degrees. When an enemy with much higher speed is catching up with you at higher attitude, mild dive may not get you fast enough to your top speed. In these situations, deep dive can be done. During this, the enemy will get even closer to P-51D. As the top speed of P-51D is quite high, after the enemy loses his initial speed advantage, P-51D will probably already start to get away. After this deep dive runaway, start to climb around 10 degrees. P-51D is good at maintaining its speed, so it is likely that while P-51D will continue to move around 800-850 km/h after deep dive for a couple of seconds, many opponents will quickly slow down to their listed top speed. This should be enough to provide a safe escape. If running away is not an option, high-speed turn fight can be done for a short while. P-51D shouldn't prolong these encounters and should as soon as possible try to get away as already described in turn fights.

When an enemy is going head-on, he should be avoided. As already said, .50 cal cannot match 20 mm and bigger guns head-on. Additionally, such an encounter will probably damage the engine, which will at the start take away the most important asset of P-51D and after a few minutes will lead to its failure. The vitality of pilot is average, so he may survive and so is the durability of its wings. However, control surfaces of P-51D are quite fragile. Head-on should be done only with a weaker opponent, who has either much weaker armament or is already critically damaged. If the engine turns red, airfield should be sought as fast as possible. With red engine try to climb as much as possible in a way that speed will be at least slowly increasing. When the engine dies, glide towards airfield in a way little to none speed is lost to avoid a stall. If speed reaches 200 km/h and dive is not possible if the airfield is to be reached, use flaps as they will keep you in the air for little longer even at a lower speed. If combat flaps are not enough and even then P-51D starts to stall, raise flaps, open gear, use landing flaps and retract gear. Landing flaps will keep you in the air for even longer than combat flaps, but if they are deployed too soon, they will serve as air brake, which is not desired during glide.

Manual Engine Control

MEC elements
Mixer	Pitch	Radiator			Supercharger	Turbocharger
		Oil	Water	Type
Not controllable	Controllable Not auto controlled	Controllable Auto control available	Controllable Auto control available	Separate	Not controllable 2 gears	Not controllable

Modules

Tier	Flight performance		Survivability	Weaponry
I	Fuselage repair	Radiator		Offensive 12 mm
II		Compressor	Airframe		FRC mk.2
III	Wings repair	Engine		New 12 mm MGs	Rocket Launcher M10
IV	G-suit	Engine injection	Cover		FLBC mk.1

Pros and cons

Pros:

• Outstanding Boom & Zoom capability
• Great performance at altitude
• Excellent .50 calibre machine guns with good damage and plenty of ammo
• Very fast at all altitudes
• Very agile at high speeds
• Good turn radius at high speeds
• Good all-round cockpit visibility in Simulator
• Has a gyro gunsight, guiding the player's aim in Simulator which is nice for boosting burst accuracy
• Decent over-the-nose visibility
• Quite decent climb rate
• Useful close-support capability (ground attack) thanks to its bombs/rockets

Cons:

• Can't sustain much damage
• Catches fire easily
• Sluggish at low speeds
• High stall speed (166 km/h)
• Minimum fuel load is rather big
• Front canopy frames are somewhat obstructive in Simulator

History

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Media

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See also

Links to the articles on the War Thunder Wiki that you think will be useful for the reader, for example:

• reference to the series of the aircraft;
• links to approximate analogues of other nations and research trees.

External links

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• topic on the official game forum;
• encyclopedia page on the aircraft;
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North American Aviation
Fighters
P-51A	P-51
P-51C	P-51C-10
P-51D	P-51D-5 · P-51D-10 · P-51D-20-NA · P-51D-30
P-51H	P-51H-5-NA
Twin-engine fighters	F-82E
Jet fighters	F-86A-5 · F-86F-2 · F-86F-25 · F-86F-35 · F-100D
Strike aircraft	A-36 · PBJ-1H · PBJ-1J
	FJ-4B · FJ-4B VMF-232
Bombers	B-25J-1 · B-25J-20
Export/Licence	▂B-25J-30 · ␗B-25J-30
	▄Mustang Mk IA · F-6C-10-NA · ␗P-51D-20 · J26 David · J26 · P-51D-20-NA · ␗P-51K
	F-86F-30 ▅ · ␗F-86F-30 · F-86F-40 ▅ · F-86F-40 JASDF▅ · ␗F-86F-40
	◄F-86K · ▄F-86K (Italy) · ▄F-86K (France)
	␗F-100A · ▄F-100D · ␗F-100F
Captured	▅P-51C-11-NT
	Canadair Limited license-built the F-86 as the CL-13 for use in Canada and export to Europe.
	Fiat license-built the F-86K for the Italian Air Force though another 120 NAA built F-86Ks were also sold to the Italians.
See Also	Mitsubishi Heavy Industries · Canadair Limited · Fiat Aviation