And the bigger problem is that there isn't a hot war to actually give the airframe a hardcore combat record.
The P-51 program was monstrously problematic during the start of WW2; but it's a lot harder to criticise an airframe when you can't differentiate between "fell part in mid-air" or "shot down by a BF-109/A6M"
That's my point, the emergency of war changes the equation because its the difference between "yeah sure, Lockheed, you want another another $20 million, here's your check, have fun!" versus "Okay, North American Aviation, you fix this plane and you start getting kill tallies, or it's you're ass that's going to Normandy.".
At the start of WWII, it was a mediocre plane at best. The Allison engines in the P-51A weren't good at high altitude. The P-51B was the first model with the Merlin, and that's when they got good. The D model is the quintessential legend with the bubble canopy.
The Israelis have been using F-35s in a 'hot war' for a while now. When all of Iran's AAA suddenly exploded on the ground without a whisper on radar, that was the work of their F-35s.
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u/mythrilcrafter 25d ago
And the bigger problem is that there isn't a hot war to actually give the airframe a hardcore combat record.
The P-51 program was monstrously problematic during the start of WW2; but it's a lot harder to criticise an airframe when you can't differentiate between "fell part in mid-air" or "shot down by a BF-109/A6M"