The North American P-51 D was truly a "fighter pilot's dream." It is perhaps the best known fighter aircraft of all time. Designed in record time at the request of the British in 1940, the Mustang possessed a deadly combination of speed, endurance, maneuverability and firepower. By the end of the Mustang's production run more than 15,000 P-51s had been built and the aircraft had seen service around the world as an escort fighter, fighter/ bomber, dive bomber, reconnaissance aircraft, and finally, a race plane.