 Flight tests showed ground handling was good, and the Mustang could take off and land in a field length of ; the maximum speed was lower, although it was thought that fairings over the retracted skis would compensate.Concern over the USAAF's inability to escort B-29s all the way to mainland Japan resulted in the highly classified "Seahorse" project (NAA-133), an effort to "navalize" the P-51.On 15 November 1944, naval aviator (and later test pilot) Lieutenant Bob Elder, in a P-51D-5-NA "44-14017", started flight tests from the deck of the carrier .