Cutaway Design Mug - P-51D Mustang "Glamorous Glen III"

Cutaway Design Mug - North American P-51D Mustang "Glamorous Glen III" Flown by Chuck Yeager, 357th Fighter group 1944

This World War II Fighter Cutaway Mug is made in the U.S.A. by the same fine company that produces the beautiful museum quality wood cutaways. On one side, a detailed full color rendering of the aircraft. On the other side, a detailed, extremely accurate cutaway drawing. This beautiful 11 ounce mug is dishwasher and microwave safe.

The P-51 Mustang is regarded by many to be the premier long-range fighter of World War II. When paired with Rolls-Royce's Merlin engine, the P-51 Mustang had an outstanding speed and service ceiling. The Mustang was designed by North American Aviation's, Edgar Schmued, a self-taught German Immigrant. Between 1941-45, the AAF ordered 14,855 Mustangs (including A-36 dive bomber and F-6 photo recon versions), of which 7,956 were P-51Ds.

The interior view of the Mustang reveals the engineering that helped win the air war in Europe. The topmost layer is a cross section of the laminar-flow, low-drag airfoil whose curves made the wings the most efficient of the war. The next layer contains the landing gear whose design minimized the landing accidents that the ME 109 and Spitfire were so prone to. The Mustang's landing gear opened out rather than opening in, giving the Mustang a much wider wheel base for landing by tired pilots. The simplicity of the fuselage frame allowed the Mustang to be mass produced in large numbers. The integrated design of the water cooler and oil cooler minimized parasitic drag and actually produced forward thrust at high speeds due to the Meredith effect . The large fuselage fuel tank behind the pilot gave the Mustang the range to reach Berlin. The Rolls-Royce Merlin minimizes the frontal area of the Mustang while generating high horsepower at altitude by placing the intercooler and supercharger behind the engine.

The exterior view depicts Chuck Yeager's "Glamorous Glenn III", a P-51D Mustang, as it was in 1944. Chuck Yeager was assigned to the 357th Fighter Group in which he flew combat missions over Europe from February of 1944 until the end of WWII. On his eighth mission he was shot down over German-occupied France. He was able to escape capture and made his way back home through Spain. While in combat Chuck downed thirteen enemy aircraft including five ME-109's on a single day and one of Germany's first jet fighters. After the war, Yeager became an experimental test pilot and was the first man to break the sound barrier.