Imperialist007

Inspiration:
Original idea by RipSteakface of Shipbucket forums when he posted a pen-and-paper sketch of a "Super Mustang". So I took inspiration and drew it for him.

Background from www.deviantart.com/the-roast :
High-altitude fighter escort / bomber interceptor. (yes, l’il words near the cockpit is named after the Twi’lek ace pilot/mother because ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

Conceived by North American Aviation in response to the alleged development of the Nakajima Ki-87 and later the Kawanishi J6K1 fighters in 1943-1944, it was later expanded into the bomber hunting realm after reports circulated of the Nakajima G8N / G10N strategic bombers and the Army’s Kawasaki Ki-91 heavy bomber entering service. These three bombers were capable of bombing the Marianas, where the majority of the B-29s based in the Pacific was located at, or in the case of the G10N, where it was capable of bombing the United States.

Powered by a Pratt & Whitney H-3130 24-cylinder H-type engine rated at almost 3000hp driven by two contra-rotating propellers with four blades each, it was renowned for it’s rate of climb, armour, and speed.

Due to it’s role, armament was heavy; it consisted of a 37mm M10 cannon firing through the propeller hub, alongside with 4x 20mm AN/M3 cannons in the wing panels, but the 20mm cannons were dropped for 8x 12.7mm AN/M2 machine guns. While it shared the range of a B-24M heavy bomber, it could be outfitted with drop tanks to further extend it’s range; thus why P-74s were used from Iwo Jima, not Okinawa like most fighters of the USAAF in the Pacific.

07/08/2018: Updated with more detailing

Something fun I did based off of my E-25 and Panther drawings