Who Really Built The P-51 Mustang?

We all know that the P-51 Mustang was built by a company called North American Aviation. However, did you ever wonder where did North American come from? Also, how did they seemingly go from nothing to a company that managed to build one of the best fighters in the world in just a few years?

Origins

Brilliant Dutchman and engineer Anthony Fokker moved to the US and went on to own the world’s biggest aircraft manufacturer with bases in the Netherlands in the US. However, later on, the majority of the company’s shares were owned by the General Motors Company, as Fokker settled for a five year surrender contract along with a yearly salary of $ 50,000. Eventually, General Motors sold the company to North American Aviation in 1934.

What you didn’t know though is at this point, North American haven’t built a single airplane. In fact, they weren’t an aircraft manufacturer, or attempted to be one! North American was a holding company that mainly dealt with the field of aviation.

To avoid complications, General Motors went with the name North American during the merger. Hence, North American is really Fokker, just renamed by General Motors for. North American still had the core of old employees with them and the first aircraft they built was the O47 observation plane.

Initial Success

The real initial success for North American though was in training aircraft. The ultimate WWII-era trainer was the T-6 Texan, and over 15,000 of these planes were built. They also produced bomber prototypes.

In the late 1930s, North American tried to build a fighter and became the P-64, however only 13 were built. Their bread and butter planes before the P-51 were mainly the Texan, and in 1940, started with the B-25.

An Opportunity

North American still wanted to build a fighter and an opportunity arose when the Brits wanted more P-40s but production was maxed out with the manufacturer. Thus, in February 1940, they asked North American if they could build P-40s. However, James H. Kindelberger, the head of of the company during that time, said that he was a better fighter than the P-40. The end result is as we know, the now iconic P-51 Mustang.

How did North American go from a company that never tried to produce an airplane to an industry leader in just a few years? The simple answer is that North American was essentially Fokker. In 1940, North American was literally Fokker rebranded.

The Jet Age & Beyond

After the war, North American Aviation hit a rough patch and soon had to lay off employees within a matter of months. However, it was also during this time that the advent of the jet age started and the company hit a real home run with the F-86 Saber, one of the most produced Western jet fighters.

Today, after numerous merges, the company has now been absorbed into Boeing, which has proven to be a giant when it comes to the working of the military-industrial complex.