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The North American P-51 Mustang
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P-51 Mustang at Chino 2005
The Royal Air Force
story and photography by Curtis Fowles

RAF in the USA? You got it, WWII RAF. Four types on hand and all flew. The Battle of Brittan heros, the Supermarine Spitfire and the Hawker Hurricane. Also the Fairey Firefly and the Hawker Sea Fury. The Firefly is a large warbird powered by the Rolls-Royce Griffon V-12. The Firefly was not fast with a top speed of only 312 mph but was pushed to perform many rolls for the RAF.

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The Sea Fury, like the USAAF Bearcat came late in WWII and did not see service. The Sea Fury was developed with a land base model and a carrier based model including folding wings.

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The Hurricane was designed in the 30's and is not very fast for a WWII fighter but saved Brittan in WWII. The Spitfire was favored with the pilots because of its speed and handling.

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