[Graham Boak]

P-51H would have been a good candidate for that.

However, a better solution would have been to move the escort fighters into France so that they didn't have such long distances to fly.

Another option would have been to hasten the development of in-Flight Refuelling, which was being studied for Tiger Force operations, so that the Meteor, F-80 and Vampire could have done the job. Remember that jet fuel consumption was not crippling at altitude.

Yet a third would have been to use the Airborne Early Warning radar, as developed for anti-kamikaze use, to better position the escorts before the German jets got close.