Malcolm Hood Installations for P-51B/C

[Graham Boak]

There's an implication there that the original design had the same external lines as the original, with a small allowance for sliding, in which case there'd be no need to involve Malcolm above any other canopy manufacturer. Whereas Malcolm was responsible for the production "blown hood".

It is best to be a little careful here, as Edgar Brooks has pointed out with regards to the Spitfire that the so-called "blown hood" on that fighter was not actually expanded by air pressure along modern lines but was moulded over a fixed bulged mould and removed vertically. Was this also true of the Mustang? I presume that your description above does apply the bulged variety. In which case the question is whether the current shapes match the wartime ones, or are they just "near enough"?