The principal long range fighters used by the 8th Air Force over europe were the P-51 "Mustang", P-47 "Thunderbolt" and the P-38 "Lightning". The P-51 was the aircraft which turned the tide in favor of the 8th Air Force bomber groups. This "Little Friend", possessed the range to accompany the bomber formations to any point in Germany, and was superior in performance over its German adversaries,an ascendency which was maintained, for the remainder of the war. With the advent of the P-51, and longer range versions of the P-47 and P-38, the Luftwaffe lost air superiority over its own territory, and was shot out of the sky, and destroyed on the ground by attacks on its airfields. The table below shows total sorties flown,bomb tonnage dropped, aircraft lost and enemy aircraft destroyed from 1942-1945.
| TYPE | SORTIES | TONNAGE | LOSSES | KILLS(AIR/GROUND) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| P-47 | 423,435 | 113,963 | 3077 | 3,082/3,202 |
| P-51 | 213,873 | 5,668 | 2520 | 4,950/4,131 |
| P-38 | 129,849 | 20,139 | 1,758 | 1,771/749 |