P-51D

History:
It is one of the great ironies of the war, that the plane most identified with U.S. air superiority was designed and built in response to a British request, and the USAAF had little interest in it at first. Regardless of it's origins, the P-51's is commonly considered the finest prop driven plane of WW2, and the prominent role it played in the allied victory is undisputed.

The story of the Mustang began in 1940 when the British Purchasing Commission (BPC) contacted North American Aviation about license building the P-40 for the RAF. North American, instead, convinced the BPC to allow them to build an entirely new fighter of their own design. The BPC reluctantly agreed to view the proposal, which was submitted to them in late Jan. 1940. The proposal was finally accepted in April, and the future of the Pony was set solidly in in motion.

The design team was lead by Ray Rice and Edgar Schmuod. They used ideas gleaned from a trip made by North American's President to Heinkel and Messerschmitt in 1938, details of P-40 research purchased from Curtiss, and NACA studies on laminar flow wings. The prototype had its first flight on Oct. 26 , 1940.

In the end, the success of their design lay in 4 main features:

An overall aerodynamic cleanliness of design.
Laminar flow wings, which significantly reduced drag by delaying the onset of boundary layer turbulence.
The locations (low and as far aft of wings as possible) and design (exit behind radiator) of the radiator air scoop which created a ramjet effect and yield a performance increase.
The late adoption of the Packard-Merlin engine.

Variants:

P-51/Mustang I and IA

Early modifications to increase size of radiator air scoop and to extend carburator air scoop forward

Booster tabs added to aileron controls

Original windscreen replaced with a 3 piece unit, with center piece being bulled proof

Rejected as a true fighter due to lack of a service ceiling above 30,000 ft.

Used as a ground attack plane and recon plane with great success

First fighter to fly from England to Germany for ground attack missions

First Mustang to score a kill on May 10, 1942 against an FW 190

A-36 Apache

Designation and name adopted by USAAF for their dedicated ground attack/recon mustangs.

Put in service as a response to the JU 87 Stuka, and did very well in this role

Dive Brakes added to improve dive bombing accuracy

Armament increased to 6, .50 caliber guns

First US combat mission, June 6, 1943 as part of the aerial assault on the island of Pantelleria

P-51A/Mustang II

Switched armament to 4 .50's
Changed powerplant to the Allison V-1710-81 with super charger
Added drop tanks and extended ferry range to 2,700 miles
Still assigned to ground attack/recon duty due to low service ceiling

P-51B/Mustang III

Powerplant changed to the Rolls Royce Merlin V-1650-3 engine with 2 speed/ 2 stage supercharger
Top carburator scoop deleted and a larger underscoop added
Prop changed to a 4 blade type
First to be considered a true fighter and assigned to the 345th Fighter Group who were reassigned from ground attack to escort duty (NOTE: the 345th recorded 700+ air to air victories during the war, the greatest of any allied unit)
Brits added a bubble canopy to their Mustang IIIs

P-51C

Identical to P-51B except it was produced in Dallas, TX

P-51D/Mustang IV

The ultimate mustang (AW variant)
Finest fighter of war
Powerplant changed to the Packard-Merlin V-1650-7 with a supercharged with lowered gear ratio for increased low alt performance
Armed with 6, .50s and ammo increased to 400 rounds/gun
Underwing pylons strengthened to accommodate 110 or 165 gallon drop tanks or 1000 lb bombs
Canopy changed to the bubble style, and razor back trimmed back to accommodate this
Over 9,000 produced, more than all other types combined

P-51K

Produced in Dallas, TX
Different prop due to shortage of standard type
Most went to Great Britain or Australia

F-6D/K

Dedicated photo recon plane

P-51H

Variant was an attempt to increase climb rate to match the spitfire and 109
1,300 lbs were dropped from the aircraft's weight
Used same engine as P-51B
Achieved highest speed (466mph at 29,000ft) and climb rate (4000 ft/min) of any other mustang
Never saw combat

P-82 Twin Mustang

Developed to fulfill the perceived need for an ultra long range escort to accompany bombers from Saipan to Japan, however the capture of Iwo Jima made it unneccessary

Basically the joining of 2 XP-51F fuselages and used Allison engines again

Both cockpits had full controls, but only the left had full instrumentation

Saw no combat in WWII, however was used in Korea (night interceptor and day ground support)

Last prop driven fighter in USAF

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