Talk:North American A-36

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I came redirected from A-36 Apache, but this page names the plane "Invader" and says everybody called it a "Mustang" anyway. What about this name "Apache"? seems there should be a mention. [[217.132.5.41]]

Apache was the initial semi-official US name for the XP-51 but it was quickly overtaken in use by the original RAF name of Mustang. Some sources confuse the Apache (Mustang) name with the A-36 and although the A-36 was allocated a name by the RAF, which was Invader, the British didn't subsequently order any. The A-36s used by the US in the Mediterranean were actually referred-to by the pilots themselves as 'Mustangs', although this would possibly have been technically incorrect.

At the time the US didn't give its aircraft offical names - they were just referred-to by the designation, e.g., B-17, P-39 etc. Names like Flying Fortress and Airacobra were actually manufacturer's publicity names and these were often looked upon with some derision within the services themselves. It was only later that the US adopted the practice of giving aircraft 'official' names. In many cases, these names were just carried over from the British ones, e.g., Lightning, (P-38), Liberator (B-24) etc.

This naming practice also applied to tanks and is the reason that so many US WW II tank types also have names originally applied by the British, e.g., Lee/Grant, Sherman, Stuart, etc.

Ian Dunster 12:08, 22 August 2006 (UTC)

[edit] "No Credits"?

The other reason is that the Mustang was still ill-considered by the USAAF and that no credits could be obtained for it. In the second paragraph of the article, the foregoing sentence appears. What does the statement "...no credits could be obtained for it" mean? Does this mean production allocation credit, priority or what? --TGC55 12:47, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

I just noticed that myself. I have no idea what it's supposed to mean, but I'll try to ask around. - BillCJ 18:09, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Attempted to add specs (dims only) based on the NMUSAF page for this a/c but I don't know how to make it look "right" and to cite NMUSAF as the source. Help would be much appreciated•Now done. Nigel Ish 18:00, 13 January 2007 (UTC)

Hi TGC55 and BillCJ: There are two possible interpretations for the "credits" mentioned. In the prewar and lead up to war (1939-1941) period, North American Aviation was not considered a fighter manufacturer and had found it difficult to obtain USAAC support for their NA-73X project. The British Purchasing Authority pushed for the acceptance of the nascent Mustang and were able to fund the program through the use of Lend-Lease arrangements, which amounted to "credits." However, I believe that the original Wikipedia editor actually referred to the period in which the first US contract for a Mustang was obtained. NAA President, "Dutch" Kindelberger, had attempted to sell the project to no avail, mainly because all available funding for "new" fighter projects had run out in 1941. In a "nudge-nudge-wink-wink" deal, the USAAC did make him aware that there were still "credits" eligible for development and procurement of a dive bomber. With P-51 (Mustang I) preliminary trials using bomb shackles to carry long-range tanks already completed, it was a matter of turning the data from the "long range" ferry program into a new configuration- voila, the A-36 "Apache" (BTW the original name for the USAAC variant of the Mustang). Bzuk 02:00 14 January 2007 (UTC)- and Nigel Ish just go ahead and submit your work, other editors will go over it and make the necessary adjustments for proper citations.