North American P-51 Mustang vs Supermarine Spitfire Comparison

Aviation | Utilities | Side-by-Side Comparison

Direct side-by-side comparison of two aircraft.

Your selected aircraft are compared in side-by-side arrangement below. You can always go back and Compare any two aircraft in our database. Some entries contain '0', 'not available', or an 'NA' value. This is more common with conceptual, experimental, and x-plane designs. Rotary-wing system (i.e. helicopters) values include main rotor diameter as part of width/wingspan measurement. UAV entries may display crew values as '0', not taking into account ground-based controllers.

Subjects

North American P-51D Mustang
Single-Seat, Single-Engine Fighter / Fighter-Bomber Aircraft

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Va
Fighter / Fighter-Bomber / Reconnaissance Aircraft

Basics

ORIGIN
United States

ORIGIN
United Kingdom

YEAR
1942 [Diff.+4 yrs]

YEAR
1938 [Diff.-4 yrs]

CREW
1

PRODUCTION
15,586 units [Diff.-4,765]

PRODUCTION
20,351 units [Diff.+4,765]

Dimensions

LENGTH
32.3 ft (9.9 m) [Diff.+2.4 ft]

LENGTH
29.9 ft (9.1 m) [Diff.-2.4 ft]

WIDTH/SPAN
37.0 ft (11.3 m) [Diff.+0.2 ft]

WIDTH/SPAN
36.8 ft (11.2 m) [Diff.-0.2 ft]

HEIGHT
13.6 ft (4.2 m) [Diff.+3.7 ft]

HEIGHT
9.9 ft (3.0 m) [Diff.-3.7 ft]

Relative Size Comparison

Shapes below depict aircraft from wingtip-to-wingtip / nose-to-tail assuming aircraft are being viewed from overhead perspective (the nose pointing towards the top of the screen). Helicopter widths include main rotor diameter. If any dimensional values are "NA" in the database then the presented shapes may appear skewed.

North American P-51D Mustang

Supermarine Spitfire Mk.Va

Weights

EMPTY WT.
7,121 lb (3,230 kg) [Diff.+2,123 lb]

EMPTY WT.
4,998 lb (2,267 kg) [Diff.-2,123 lb]

M.T.O.W.
11,601 lb (5,262 kg) [Diff.+5,183 lb]

M.T.O.W.
6,418 lb (2,911 kg) [Diff.-5,183 lb]

Installed Power

1 x Packard V-1650-7 Merlin liquid-cooled inline piston engine developing 1,590 horsepower driving four-bladed propeller unit at the nose.

1 x Rolls-Royce Merlin 45 liquid-cooled V-12 inline piston engine developing 1,478 horsepower driving a three- or four-bladed propeller unit at the nose.

Performance

SPEED
437 mph (703 kph) [Diff.+68 mph]

SPEED
369 mph (594 kph) [Diff.-68 mph]

RANGE
951 miles (1,530 km) [Diff.+528 miles]

RANGE
423 miles (680 km) [Diff.-528 miles]

CEILING
41,900 ft (12,771 m) [Diff.+5,400 feet]

CEILING
36,499 ft (11,125 m) [Diff.-5,400 feet]

RATE-OF-CLIMB
3,475 ft/min [Diff.+809 feet]

RATE-OF-CLIMB
2,666 ft/min [Diff.-809 feet]

Armament

Dependent upon model, includes any of the following:

4 x 20mm long-barrel Hispano-Suiza cannons in wings (two guns to a wing).
2 x 0.50 caliber Browning M2 heavy machine guns in nose (A-36).
4 x 0.50 caliber Browning M2 heavy machine guns in wings (two guns to a wing).

P-51D:
6 x 0.50 cal Browning M2 Heavy Machine Guns (HMGs) in wings (three guns to a wing).

OPTIONAL:
Up to 1,000 lb (454kg) of conventional drop bombs, rockets, or fuel drop tanks carried under wing.

VARIABLE - dependent on production model:

(A) 8 x 7.7mm Browning machine guns in wings.
(B) 2 x 20mm Hispano cannons and 4 x 7.7mm Browning machine guns in wings.
(C) 4 x 20mm Hispano cannons in wings
(E) 2 x 20mm Hispano cannons and 2 x 12.7mm Browning heavy machine guns OR 4 x 7.7mm Browning machine guns in wings.

Fighter-Bomber forms introduced provision for 1 x 500lb drop bomb under centerline fuselage and 2 x 250lb drop bombs under the wings (one to a wing). Support for high-explosive aerial rockets was added later. Fuel drop tanks were also available on specific production marks.

Going Further

View Entry
(North American P-51 Mustang)

View Entry
(Supermarine Spitfire)

Similar

North American P-51 Mustang

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