The Fight in the Clouds: The Extraordinary Combat Experience of P-51 Mustang Pilots During World War II
World War II American P-51 Mustang pilots share their spellbinding, real-life tales from the cockpit in this collection.

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang first started appearing in real numbers in 1943, at the climax of the Allied campaign in World War II. Able to fly long ranges, it was the perfect escort, keeping bombers protected all the way from Allied bases in Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific to a variety of Axis industrial targets and military installations and back. The Mustang would go on to provide pivotal air support on D-Day, and by the end of the war, the P-51 would be responsible for nearly half of all enemy aircraft shot down.

In The Fight in the Clouds, aviation writer and EAA Warbirds of America editor James P. Busha draws on interviews conducted with dozens of veteran P-51 pilots to trace the progress of war through the men’s exciting, chronologically organized experiences. You’ll encounter:
  • Mustangs tangling with Soviet-built Yaks
  • A Mustang ace shooting down an Me 262 Stormbird
  • An epic long-range battle over the Pacific Ocean
  • And a score of other riveting accounts underscoring the P-51’s versatility and its vital importance to the Allied victory


Bolstered by Busha’s own commentary and historical analysis, along with a gallery of rare black-and-white period photographs, The Fight in the Clouds offers a cockpit-seat view of one of WWII’s most celebrated aircraft and the men who bravely flew it into harm’s way.
1116912599
The Fight in the Clouds: The Extraordinary Combat Experience of P-51 Mustang Pilots During World War II
World War II American P-51 Mustang pilots share their spellbinding, real-life tales from the cockpit in this collection.

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang first started appearing in real numbers in 1943, at the climax of the Allied campaign in World War II. Able to fly long ranges, it was the perfect escort, keeping bombers protected all the way from Allied bases in Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific to a variety of Axis industrial targets and military installations and back. The Mustang would go on to provide pivotal air support on D-Day, and by the end of the war, the P-51 would be responsible for nearly half of all enemy aircraft shot down.

In The Fight in the Clouds, aviation writer and EAA Warbirds of America editor James P. Busha draws on interviews conducted with dozens of veteran P-51 pilots to trace the progress of war through the men’s exciting, chronologically organized experiences. You’ll encounter:
  • Mustangs tangling with Soviet-built Yaks
  • A Mustang ace shooting down an Me 262 Stormbird
  • An epic long-range battle over the Pacific Ocean
  • And a score of other riveting accounts underscoring the P-51’s versatility and its vital importance to the Allied victory


Bolstered by Busha’s own commentary and historical analysis, along with a gallery of rare black-and-white period photographs, The Fight in the Clouds offers a cockpit-seat view of one of WWII’s most celebrated aircraft and the men who bravely flew it into harm’s way.
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The Fight in the Clouds: The Extraordinary Combat Experience of P-51 Mustang Pilots During World War II

The Fight in the Clouds: The Extraordinary Combat Experience of P-51 Mustang Pilots During World War II

by James P. Busha
The Fight in the Clouds: The Extraordinary Combat Experience of P-51 Mustang Pilots During World War II

The Fight in the Clouds: The Extraordinary Combat Experience of P-51 Mustang Pilots During World War II

by James P. Busha

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Overview

World War II American P-51 Mustang pilots share their spellbinding, real-life tales from the cockpit in this collection.

The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang first started appearing in real numbers in 1943, at the climax of the Allied campaign in World War II. Able to fly long ranges, it was the perfect escort, keeping bombers protected all the way from Allied bases in Europe, the Mediterranean, and the Pacific to a variety of Axis industrial targets and military installations and back. The Mustang would go on to provide pivotal air support on D-Day, and by the end of the war, the P-51 would be responsible for nearly half of all enemy aircraft shot down.

In The Fight in the Clouds, aviation writer and EAA Warbirds of America editor James P. Busha draws on interviews conducted with dozens of veteran P-51 pilots to trace the progress of war through the men’s exciting, chronologically organized experiences. You’ll encounter:
  • Mustangs tangling with Soviet-built Yaks
  • A Mustang ace shooting down an Me 262 Stormbird
  • An epic long-range battle over the Pacific Ocean
  • And a score of other riveting accounts underscoring the P-51’s versatility and its vital importance to the Allied victory


Bolstered by Busha’s own commentary and historical analysis, along with a gallery of rare black-and-white period photographs, The Fight in the Clouds offers a cockpit-seat view of one of WWII’s most celebrated aircraft and the men who bravely flew it into harm’s way.

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9781627881418
Publisher: Quarto Publishing Group USA
Publication date: 08/17/2023
Sold by: Barnes & Noble
Format: eBook
Pages: 256
File size: 7 MB

About the Author

Jim P. Busha is the director of publications at EAA and the editor-in-chief of Sport Aviation, Warbirds, and Vintage magazines. Jim is also a contributing editor of Flight Journal and has had numerous articles published in FlyPast, Aircraft Illustrated, Classic Aircraft, and Air &Space/Smithsonian. Jim is the author of The Fight in the Clouds (Zenith Press, 2014) and Wings of War (Zenith Press, 2015). An avid pilot and aviation historian, Jim owns and flies a 1943 Aeronca L-3 and Stinson L-5.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments ix

Foreword Maj. Gen. Donald J. Strait, USAF (Ret.) xi

Telling Stories Lee Lauderback xv

Introduction: Creation of a Thoroughbred 1

1 Have Guns, Will Travel: Early Mustang Combat Memories 15

2 Killer Bs: P-51B/C Mustangs over Europe 35

3 Prelude to Overlord 53

4 Aloft over the Mediterranean 87

5 Deeper into Germany 103

6 A Christmas Story 137

7 New Year's Resolution 151

8 Double-Nickel Killers: Late-War Aerial Combat with the 55th Fighter Group 173

9 Yak Attack 185

10 Wonder Weapon Assassins: Rocket and Jet Killers of the Eto 197

11 Courage, Combat, and Legacies 209

12 Mustangs vs. Japan 219

Epilogue 229

About the Author 232

Index 233

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