It is fast, high-flying, good at vertical fight.

Let's go through this point by point.

The aircraft is not very agile.

When it comes to turning speed, the P-51A will only beat a few Corsair configurations.

As far general maneuverability goes, the fighter can also be a match for the German Friedrich.

P-51A is not heavily armed.

It usually carries 12mm or 7mm machine guns.

Because of this it is considerably outgunned by almost all of its rivals.

The only fighter with less firepower is the Yak-1M.

Let’s now talk about the strengths.

The Mustang is very durable.

Among similar machines, only a fully upgraded Corsair is tougher.

The German fighter can also compete with a non-upgraded P-51A in durability.

But this pales in comparison with the Mustangs main strength – its speed.

In this the aircraft outshines all other planes of the same tier.

That’s all for the characteristics. Let’s look at the upgrades.

Since speed is the main advantage of this airplane, you should get the top V-1650-3 engine as the first step.

However, after upgrading to the intermediate variant, V-1710-81, you should research the P-51A airframe.

This compensates for the agility loss from equipping the top armament, and will boost the plane’s speed.

Machine guns MG-53-2 have to be researched last.

They have a higher rate of fire and cause more damage.

You can also upgrade your armament by researching the M8 rockets.

However, installing the rockets will reduce your speed a lot, and hurt your already poor agility.

When equipped with heavy machine guns, the Mustang has an effective weapon range of approximately 500-600 meters.

As we are done with upgrades, let’s move on to flight levels.

As mentioned, the P-51A is a high-altitude fighter.

It has excellent speed, and a good rate of climb.

So vertical maneuvers will be our primary tactic.

On lower altitudes the Mustang doesn’t feel very comfortable.

Its optimal altitude starts from 950 meters. Lower down controls are sluggish and it crashes easily.

The optimal altitude for aerial combat is between 1 km and 1700 meters.

Top speed is reached at 1600 meters.

Major clashes with the enemy are best fought here.

But do not forget about higher altitudes either.

The optimal range extends to nearly three kilometers, and speed remains high even at that altitude.

You can climb this high to disengage from an enemy.

P-51A’s afterburner time doesn’t stand out among fighters of the same tier.

The engine does cool off pretty quickly, and afterburning can be used for climbing as well as in horizontal flight.

Now let’s move on to combat.

Early in the battle you want to climb to 2000 – 2200 meters.

It’s best to join a large group of allied fighters.

Since the armament is not very powerful, going head to head with a powerful enemy can end badly.

Slow fighters with low durability are priority targets.

You can also hunt down enemy heavy fighters.

Since the Mustang excels in vertical combat, you should make use of Boom and Zoom tactics.

The main thing is to always climb away, even if the attack was unsuccessful.

Second best is targeting agile enemy fighters.

You need to fight them on the vertical, and not get engaged in a turning fight.

When engaging light fighters you should primarily rely on speed.

You can always climb to escape from slow aircraft.

Warplanes with low altitude capacity should be lured to the highest altitude possible.

Their engines will be low on power here, and you’ll have the advantage.

When targeting attack aircraft or heavy fighters you need to adjust speed carefully in order to avoid missing the target in a dive.

You shouldn’t linger under the fire of crew gunners. Your engine may get damaged and you’ll lose the speed advantage.

The main thing to remember is not to engage attack aircraft or heavy fighters head-on.

Your high durability won’t save you from heavy armament.

As for ground targets, they should only be targeted when carrying rockets.

Otherwise you won’t be able to cause any serious damage.

Its best is to leave ground targets to the more suitable teammates, and to focus on your own job – destroying enemy planes.

Let’s now examine the team game battle scheme.

When picking warplanes for your team you should take differences in speed into account.

Slow aircrafts are not easy to escort.

The best option is to build a team from heavy fighters of the same tier.

Our plane is the perfect escort.

Let’s sum it up! P-51A is not an easy plane to master,

But it will definitely give you a real feeling of speed.