[SLASHGEAR] The "D" variant of the North American P-51 Mustang has long been considered one of the greatest aircraft ever to fly. It is considered by many to be one of the leading technological reasons why the United States won the air war over Europe against the forces of the Third Reich. Mustangs have even been credited with defeating the first ever fighter jet, the German-engineered Messerschmitt Me 262, in air-to-air combat. Similarly, the Royal Air Force's iconic Spitfire was instrumental in defending the United Kingdom against the Luftwaffe's onslaught of fighter planes and bombers. A Spitfire defending Britain is also the subject of Iron Maiden's song "Aces High."
Both planes served their respective countries valiantly in battle, and aside from the Mustang and Spitfire both belonging to Allied forces, variants of the Spitfire and the Mustang share an engine, the Rolls-Royce Merlin (the P-51 used a licensed copy of the Merlin built by Packard). The Merlin was produced in several variants in the years leading up to and during World War II and served within the engine bays of numerous aircraft that helped turn the tide of the war.
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