Tail_Gunner
CRJ & ERJ A&P Mech.
tg....you know why the allison engines where doggies?
The Allisons lost a lot of their power at higher altitudes. The Merlins kept a lot more power at altitude, maybe they had a better turbo/super charger??

Because of their high altiude handicap, early P-51A's with the Allisons were givien more ground attack missions. They were flown by the British and were sold as a replacement & improvement to the older P-40. Because of their liquid cooling system, P-51's were vulnerable in the ground attack role. One small bullet hole in the cooling system and the airplane was in big trouble.
But once they British tried the Merlin in the P-51, it vastly surpassed it's performance estimates. While it was still used in ground attack roles, it really shined in the high altitude bomber escort role.
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