I spent the day volunteering at the Military Aviation Museum. Each Saturday during the summer we have a program called 'Summer of Flight' where one of our planes is showcased with a brief lecture and a flight demonstration. It's super cool and very popular.
Today's flight was the last of the year (SOF restarts in April). The plane chosen was the North American P-51 Mustang. While it wasn't the best US fighter of WWII, it was a game changer. It was a very good fighter, but more importantly it had phenomenal range. It could escort heavy bombers from their bases in England deep into Germany and back again.
In this picture the Mustang is climbing out from its takeoff run. The planes in the foreground are the Chance-Vought Corsair (left), and the Grumman Wildcat (right). Both are Navy fighters designed to fly off of aircraft carriers. The Wildcat was the frontline Navy fighter at the start of the WWII, while the Corsair came later in the game.
