# P51 **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 15, 2002, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p51/124064 "2002-08-15T18:17:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Border](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecae2f/32.png) [@Border](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Border)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p51/124064/1 "2002-08-15T18:17:11Z")
A smart arse question in our Pub Quiz (UK) was, " To an American serviceman if a P51 wasn’t the Mustang what was it?" The answer given was that it was a tin-opener. Is this so? And if so was it merely a slang expression or a quartermaster’s inventory reference number? ---
**Author:** ![Telemark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telemark/32/372_2.png) [@Telemark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telemark)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p51/124064/2 "2002-08-15T18:34:30Z")
It allegedly took 51 cuts to make it around a standard sized can. The P-51 (I always heard it called a P-38) is a small hinged metal device, I assume it was service issued. [http://www.campmor.com/webapp/commerce/command/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=226&prrfnbr=13528](http://www.campmor.com/webapp/commerce/command/ProductDisplay?prmenbr=226&prrfnbr=13528) ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p51/124064/3 "2002-08-15T18:55:38Z")
The P-51 is a larger version of the P-38 (which is also the number of the _Lightning_ fighter plane, as well as a pistol). Both are extremely simple little can openers which can be carried on a keychain. The only origin of “P-38” I’ve been able to find is that it’s supposed to take 38 punctures to open a C-ration; I suppose it would take 51 punctures to open the largercamp-size cans with a P-51. It sounds very unlikely to me. I’ve also heard that they were named after the planes, in admiration for the fast attacks by both. www.dtic.mil/soldiers/august94/p45.html However, since these numbers are actually used by the Army, I’m sure they were just assigned. ---
**Author:** ![VOW](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/vow/32/3043_2.png) [@VOW](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VOW)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p51/124064/4 "2002-08-15T21:39:27Z")
My husband has always called it a P-38. It was included in every box of C-rations, and most GIs put it on their keychain. These days, with the plastic-bagged MREs, there’s a little cutter to help nick the bags to get them opened. ~VOW ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 15, 2002, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p51/124064/5 "2002-08-15T22:44:14Z")
Never heard of a tin-opener called a P51, but I have a P-38 on my keychain. Yes, I have used it – both to open tins, and to perform an emergency field repair on my motorcycle. I think _most_ American servicemen would say, “A P-51 is the _Mustang_.” (IANA serviceman.) ---
**Author:** ![Horseflesh](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horseflesh/32/7502_2.png) [@Horseflesh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horseflesh)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p51/124064/6 "2002-08-16T00:47:10Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Johnny L.A. \* > \*\*I think _most_ American servicemen would say, “A P-51 is the _Mustang_.” > > (IANA serviceman.) \*\* Not this serviceman. I too have a P-38 on my keychain (15 years now) and have found it invaluable. My late father gave me a couple of P-51s (larger version of P-38) that he had scrounged up during his military career. The first I heard of the P-51 Mustang was from the movie _Empire of the Sun_ when the main character shouts at his rescuers “P-51 Mustang! Cadillac of the skies!” (Service Member since 1985.) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p51/124064/7 "2002-08-16T01:23:12Z")
_Empire of the Sun_? You’re a latecomer! My first model airplane was a P-15 _Mustang_. I was six. (My first model was the USS _Nautilus_.) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p51/124064/8 "2002-08-16T01:35:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Horseflesh \* > **… the main character shouts at his rescuers "P-51 Mustang! Cadillac of the skies!"** A Cadillac with a Rolls Royce engine no less (by way of Packard). Though early P-51As and A-36s had Allison engines which are a little closer to Cadillac’s heritage few saw service and they were not portrayed in the movie. For many of us “P-51” will have no connotation aside from possibly the finest airplane ever built. Trivia Q: Name a movie that features a P-51A dressed as a different airplaine. I gave the movie negative stars so count yourself lucky if you missed it. ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p51/124064/9 "2002-08-16T01:45:25Z")
> [@](#): > > The answer given was that it was a tin-opener. While it is, indeed, a tin opener, the overwhelming majority of Yanks would have called it a _can_ opener, of course. I’ve carried a P-38 with my camping gear for years. [P-38 Photo and info](http://www.georgia-outfitters.com/page52.shtml) [P-38 vs P-51 comparison photo](http://www.georgia-outfitters.com/page52.shtml#p51) ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p51/124064/10 "2002-08-16T01:45:39Z")
> [@](#): > > Trivia Q: Name a movie that features a P-51A dressed as a different airplaine. I gave the movie negative stars so count yourself lucky if you missed it. _ **Iron Eagle III** _, standing in for an ME-109. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p51/124064/11 "2002-08-16T01:52:43Z")
Re: My field repair. A few years ago I was riding my Yamaha at about 80mph on the 405 when the engine suddenly quit. No sputtering, no backfiring, no gradual loss of power – it just turned off. When I got to the right shoulder I quickly diagnosed the problem. My bike has a kickstand interlock that kills the engine if the transmission is taken out of neutral while the kickstand is down. One of the wires had broken. Just that day I had stopped carrying a pocket knife, as I almost never had a use for one. The only “sharp” thing I had was my trusty P-38 can opener. While the point is kind-of sharp, the “blade” is about as sharp as a dull rock. But by picking at the wire with the point and scraping with the edge, I was able to get some bare wire. I twisted the wire around a handy piece of bare metal and was soon on my way. Without my P-38, I would’ve been stuck. ---
**Author:** ![Padeye](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/a9a28c/32.png) [@Padeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Padeye)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p51/124064/12 "2002-08-16T01:57:32Z")
I probably should have disqualified you but give that man a cigar anyway. I got to be an extra in the air show sequence which was shot at Avra Valley Airport where Patty Wagstaff trains. It was much more entertaining than the movie. The mockup Spitfire used in the inverted, falling out of the straps bit sat on the corner of Grant Rd. & Tucson Boulevard for years until it succumbed to vandalism and weather. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [August 16, 2002, 2:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/p51/124064/13 "2002-08-16T02:06:13Z")
I got to be an extra in _The Right Stuff_, but I didn’t make it into the final cut. ☹