Malcolm Hood Installations for P-51B/C

[SteveB]

Hi
I think this is a question that is unlikely to generate a definite answer.

Firstly I think the USAAF structure you are referring to is a “Base Air Depot” - Burtonwood was BAD 1 and Warton was BAD 2 (Langford Loch in Ireland was BAD 3). Secondly in British terminology AG618 was a Mustang I; the Mustang IA was the P-51 with 4x20mm cannon. It is perhaps worth making the point that in the RAF Allison Mustangs were fitted with recce cameras that projected through the rear cockpit glazing it seems likely that a sliding hood would not have worked very well in those circumstances although some RAF Tac/R a/c were fitted with the hood later in 1944.

In my view there is no indication of a direct link between the sliding hood that was fitted to AG618 and described in the AFDU report and the modification known as the “Malcolm hood”. The AFDU report describes the modification on AG618 as a “lash up” which suggests it was not something that was intended to go into production. The hood that we see on Mustang IIIs (P-51B/C) was designed by Mr Lobelle at Malcolms and was fitted and tested on Mustang IA FD473 in September 1943.

I can't confirm your figures for the man hours involved in the installation but it is clear that it was a serious undertaking which included cutting into the top longeron in the cockpit area. In the RAF the hoods were initially fitted by civilian working parties from Malcolms during the preparation of Mustangs for squadron use. The first installation for the RAF was made in January 1944 on FZ140 (FE120 is not a Mustang serial). There is no evidence in the RAF that the modification was made at squadron level. Production of hood modification sets was very slow to build and correspondence critical of delays can still be found in files in June 1944. Supplies of modification sets had to be shared between the two airforces.

Steve