As an aside, the elevator assembly 73-22001 was originally fabric covered and the 73-22001-100 superseded it for production breaks in the P-51D-25-NA (73827), P-51D-20-NT (12853), P-51K-15 (12753) per NA-8419.
That said, the origin of the design change was notable fabric failures noted by Chilton during high speed dive tests of both P-51B-1-NA 43-12102 and P-51D 42-106539 in mid November, 1943.
Not likely any current Mustang save the Racers will experience M=0.80 velocity range requiring the metal elevator.
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