The fuel inside an F-35 weighs more than a fully loaded P-51 Mustang. Eighty years apart, same job, completely different machines.
Go inside both fighters: the Mustang’s Rolls-Royce Merlin V-12 firing in slow motion, its two-stage supercharger and belly radiator, then the F-35’s F135 engine, lift fan, fly-by-wire, stealth and radar.
In this video:
– How a Merlin cylinder works: intake, compression, two spark plugs, power, exhaust
– Why the Mustang needed a two-stage supercharger
– How the belly scoop cut cooling drag to about 3% of the total
– Inside the F135: 3-stage fan, 28:1 pressure, turbine gas hotter than the blades’ melting point
– The F-35B’s 29,000 hp lift-fan shaft and 95° swivel nozzle
– Cables vs fly-by-wire, 6 machine guns vs a 25 mm cannon
– Speed, cost, numbers built, and which one has the wider wings
Sources:
– Pilot’s Flight Operating Instructions, P-51D (AN 01-60JE-1, 1944): engine ratings, fuel flow, fuel system
– NACA RM E7E02 (1947): V-1650-7 supercharger impellers, gear ratios, dual ignition
– Wikipedia: “North American P-51 Mustang”, “Packard V-1650 Merlin”, “P-51 variants”, “M2 Browning”
– National Museum of the U.S. Air Force and Smithsonian NASM P-51D fact sheets (437 mph, radiator vulnerability)
– Peter Garrison, “In the Mustang’s Wake” (Air & Space / HistoryNet, 2015): radiator duct and cooling drag
– AAF Statistical Digest, WWII (P-51 unit cost); BLS CPI (inflation)
– Lockheed Martin F-35A product card and F-35 Fast Facts (Oct 2026): dimensions, fuel, deliveries
– Pratt & Whitney F135 page; Wikipedia “Pratt & Whitney F135” (stages, 28:1, 1,980 °C, thrust)
– Rolls-Royce LiftSystem page (29,000 shp shaft, 95° in 2.5 s)
– Wikipedia: “Lockheed Martin F-35 Lightning II”, “AN/APG-81” (1,676 T/R modules)
– General Dynamics GAU-22/A data sheet (3,300 rounds/min); The War Zone (180 rounds)
– Washington Post (2015): $400,000 helmet
– Air & Space Forces Magazine (Sept 2026): F-35A lot 18–19 cost, $92.0M
3D models (CC BY 4.0, creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0; textures, materials and cutaways modified for this video):
– “P51 D MUSTANG_MAX” by max.carloni1: sketchfab.com/models/82a73889277f4a408b099ff42df7e8db
– “F-35A Lightning II” by shangus930: sketchfab.com/models/a06d6113cfb44a0aa7b8f17106aca9c4
– “Rolls-Royce Merlin (RM 3SM)” by davidmarton1987: sketchfab.com/models/6cfd7db5a2ef4f5882e0428a5dee7e2b
– “M2 Browning .50 Cal Machine Gun” by haoliu95: sketchfab.com/models/5006cff7b57249fbb2ac7cc64cb9af72
Mach 1.6 is at the F-35’s operating altitude (about 1,056 mph). Mustang cost: $50,985 in 1945, about $950,000 in today’s dollars. P-51 build total 15,686; F-35 deliveries 1,375+ as of Sept 2026.
Subscribe and watch history happen.
Educational animation. Internal parts are simplified, and slow-motion timing is illustrative. Figures are from the sources listed above.
#Shorts #P51Mustang #F35 #Histolapse
—————————————————————————————————
History, minute by minute.
Every Histolapse episode rebuilds a moment from the past in 3D, so you can watch it unfold the way it really happened: who stood where, when it turned, and why it still matters. Pause on any frame and you’ll find something happening.
Built on real historical sources, with real dates and numbers. Where historians disagree, we tell you. No myths dressed up as facts.
You decide where we go next. Which battle, city or turning point should we bring to life? Tell us in the comments.
Subscribe and watch history happen.
#HowItWorks #MilitaryTechnology
source
One was flown by a generation of brave heroes, the other flown by cowards who would never face an enemy head-on. One was the symbol of hope, the other – tyranny.
Obviously the 35
Both planes don't have the same job. The P-51 was purpose built as a long range escort, to fly from England to Germany and return, unrefueled, while escorting and protecting the heavy bombers. The F-35 is a stealth, multi role fighter, that serves best as a light bomber.
Dude I don’t care how much more technology is in the 35, how fast it is, how much more awesome it is than the 51! I’d still give my left testicle and 1st born just to fly the pattern in a 51 once!!
Fun fact the P51 was delivered to the British but they had to supply their own engine. But the ones used by America had the HEMI V-16!
F-35 for me.
Mustang
Wow I never knew they used v12s….
I’m in love with v12s forever now they were used in planes?!!!
Let’s put it in a Miata🙂…
🥹
P-51. And probably listen to "Hold My Hand" by lady gaga. After top gun maverick, that sounds soooo good.
F 35 lightning
While the F-35 is faster and more powerful than the mustang it’s also easier to disable because of all the computers and software.
I’d rather stick with the Mustang harder to disable and will keep flying even after severe damage
I'd rather fly the mustang. It was actually flying where as the f35 is more or less flying the pilot. The P-51 was necessary, the latter is for show.
Mustang! 🛩️❤
AI slop … so many errors … not worth correcting.
AI slop
Tom Cruise owns a P51. I wonder how often he gets to fly it? 🤔
YES !!
P-51D Mustang.
The only propeller-driven aircraft to shoot down a jet.
Greatest fighter ever.
The P-51 D mustang
Mustang
Mustang!!
And yet we keep losing…
The 51
Dang, I wasn't expecting this video to break down the tire pressure of each but here we are. I'm only about a minute in too. 😒
Mustang!!!!!!
Mustang! All day long! Given the choice I would definitely take the P 51. Somehow it just seems more like pure flying.
I would love to pilot a P-51 but the one I’ve always dreamed of is the F4U Corsair
Cool nostalgia. It's the F-35 for me, F-22 if I could.
Jesus loves you
neither I'd rather be in a A-10 Warhog
P-51 Mustang
I would love to fly a p-51 Mustang.
Are we deadass right now?
P-40 Warhawk
F35
P51 All day
But you can’t make ice cream on a F 35