Malpasowildlifer
Member
"P-51: Cadillac of the sky!"
Anyone remember that line?
Anyone remember that line?
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On my bucket list: The P-51 Mustang
- Thread starter PALADIN85020
- Start date
Only the most experienced pilots liked flying it. By the end of the war most of the Luftwaffe aces were dead or captured. A lesser skilled pilot would probably be scared to death of all it's power. Adolf Galland flew one of the first saying that it felt like he was being pushed by angels. Perhaps the Germans that hated it most were the flight mechanics. The jet engines only had a life of between 15 to 20 hours.
Yet with all of it's faults it still is given credit for being the plane that ended the development of the propeller driven fighter.
Edmo
US Veteran
I spent a year attending USAF Pilot Training at Williams AFB in 1989. We flew T-37s and T-38s when I went through.
It was a busy year, but I really enjoyed the local area. OBTW, I would also love a "Pony" ride.
Edmo
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goldenlight
Member
Time to rebuild on a Me 262 engines was 12 HOURS.
WhitleyStu
Member
In 1985 a Catholic high school in Fort Wayne, Indiana was having a fund raiser and one of the items up for bid was a ride in Fort Wayne Air Service's P-51. I asked a couple who was going to the banquet/fundraiser to bid on the ride in the P-51 for me. The ride ended up being auctioned for over $350, but Fort Wayne Air Service said anyone who would donate $280 to the high school could have a ride in their P-51. I took a check to Fort Wayne Air Service the next day and waited till they called to set up a time to get a ride in the Mustang. Finally the day arrived and I showed up ready with a baggie in my jacket pocket in case my stomach couldn't take the rigors of flying in the war bird. Once I was seated in the small rear seat, which was the radio compartment back when the plane was new, I began to understand what those pilots in WWII were feeling. When the pilot started the engine the wing tips were flexing up and down as the engine missed and sputtered. When the engine was up to temp the pilot moved the throttle up to where the engine was idling smooth and the plane lunged forward. All you can see from the rear seat is a huge black circle as the prop is at idle. He taxied across the airport and put the nose into the wind and slightly throttled up the engine till the tail was slightly bouncing off the runway. Then all of a sudden he nailed it and off we went. About a minute into the flight I asked him how fast we were going and a crackling voice came back through my headset "About 375." He asked me if I wanted to experience some aerobatics, but I told him I was just fine cursing to the next town and back. He did do a quick and sharp wing tip turn and I was looking right down my shoulder at the town below. He then brought the nose up and put the plane into a steep climb and I couldn't even get my chin up as it was planted tight to my chest. When we reached the top of the climb I was weightless and caught myself trying to hold my body in the seat with both hands. We circled back toward Fort Wayne and soon I was back on the ground. When we were getting out of the cockpit the pilot asked what we paid for the ride and I told him. He said for that kind of money that my wife deserved a ride, too. He strapped her in the rear seat and taxied out to the where the runways crossed and hit the throttle. They were off and up in a steep climb instantly. He asked her if she wanted to do something that her husband didn't want to do and she accepted the offer. He did a couple snap rolls for her then it was back to the airport. It is something we still talk about. The plane was sold several times and sadly it was totally destroyed in a crash in Colorado in 2007. Here is a link to the plane and its history:
North American Aviation P-51 Mustang Registry - A Warbirds Resource Group Site
North American Aviation P-51 Mustang Registry - A Warbirds Resource Group Site
Texas Star
US Veteran
Brown was a Royal Navy test pilot, not RAF. I have his book, Duels in the Sky. Fascinating.
Rick_A
Member
A few more airshow pics from 2012:
This one is in a hanger near where I work. They do sell rides for a fee.
WARBIRDS | Mark Huffstutler | SIERRA INDUSTRIES
WARBIRDS | Mark Huffstutler | SIERRA INDUSTRIES
Have you been up next to a Spad? They're enormous beasts, something like a 13 ton max takeoff weight.
Rusty Shacklford
Member
a second for Crazy Horse
Hello, I would have to also recommend a visit, or even ride, to/on crazy horse. I lived in the Kissimmee area some years ago and visited the plane. There was/is? a museum/business that builds and maintains aircraft of this era, and were at the beginning stages of an F4U Corsair. My father had worked for Republic before working for Grumman building the F6F, -3 model I think, so I share your interest in aircraft.
Crazy Horse is a converted D model that allows two in the cockpit, has a souped up 2000 hp engine, and makes a distinctive sound. I would be sitting in my "cage" in traffic at the end of the day and this beauty would regularly come swooping over. Plan a trip to Disney and add this "little" trip to the agenda.
Hello, I would have to also recommend a visit, or even ride, to/on crazy horse. I lived in the Kissimmee area some years ago and visited the plane. There was/is? a museum/business that builds and maintains aircraft of this era, and were at the beginning stages of an F4U Corsair. My father had worked for Republic before working for Grumman building the F6F, -3 model I think, so I share your interest in aircraft.
Crazy Horse is a converted D model that allows two in the cockpit, has a souped up 2000 hp engine, and makes a distinctive sound. I would be sitting in my "cage" in traffic at the end of the day and this beauty would regularly come swooping over. Plan a trip to Disney and add this "little" trip to the agenda.
zzzippper
Member
Every time I walk past Butch O'Hare's Wildcat in O'Hare Airport I am shocked at how small it is.
By Spad do you mean the AD-1? Surely you don't mean the WWI Spad?
Yep, the AD. I think the one in WWI would be a "SPAD", since that was an acronym for Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés, the company which produced the SPAD. But then again, everything that they made was a "SPAD".
Count me in as a fan. Any propeller driven warbird. Although some of those Italians and Russians look pretty funky.
zzzippper
Member
Yep, the AD. I think the one in WWI would be a "SPAD", since that was an acronym for Société Pour L'Aviation et ses Dérivés, the company which produced the SPAD. But then again, everything that they made was a "SPAD".
Makes sense. But then, the Spad was nicknamed after the SPAD so I guess it might be a chicken or the egg thing.
zzzippper
Member
The P-51 is a good choice. But I think I would have to go with Fokker DrI Triplane, Me-262, and F-15. Maybe a Spitfire.
reddogge
Member
Last year my wife and I were walking toward the boardwalk in Bethany Beach, DE and I heard an unmistakable sound of a Merlin V12 engine. I said "Hold it, that's a Mustang." She said "How do you know?" I replied "Nothing else sounds like that." And then the P51 flashed across the town and beach like a silver streak with the top profile shown. I don't know where it was going or coming from, one quick flash.
Fantastic.
Fantastic.
fideau
Member
Always loved the Mustangs, and most all WW2 planes. Saw one at a Blue Angels show once. What a great sound. I have had a CD for years that features an ME 109 from start up thru taxi, run up all the way to landing and taxi back. It was the only operational Bf109 in the world at the time. Might still be. Also on the CD are P-38s,P-47s, Spits, P-40s, and P51s.
It's called Checkflight Gustav, I first heard it on G.Gordon Liddy's radio show. I love the flywheel windup of the ME, and engine kickover.
If you like hearing the sounds, look for it. It was put out by Aircraft Records.
It's called Checkflight Gustav, I first heard it on G.Gordon Liddy's radio show. I love the flywheel windup of the ME, and engine kickover.
If you like hearing the sounds, look for it. It was put out by Aircraft Records.
Texas Star
US Veteran
Do you mean the original WW I Spad or the wry nickname for the Skyraider? I can see the latter being that heavy, especially with full ordnance installed. It was a wonderful close support aircraft in Vietnam. I think I read that one even shot down a MiG in Korea, as did a Royal Navy Sea Fury.
ADDED: Oops: I see that this question was answered above. I should have read more before posting. Can someone post a photo of the AD-1 Skyraider "Spad"? I'd prefer one in USAF colors, although the Navy used it well, too.
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dcxplant
Member
I had the privilege of flying a Boeing Stearman while in my early pilot days.
The owner always brought a tag-a-long to operate that insane inertial starter!! That starter was pure evil I tell 'ya, pure evil!
But it was worth every strained back, every bulged artery cranking that inertial starter to hear the wires sing diving down gaining energy for another barrel roll.
When he started checking me out in his SNJ (he was WWII Navy, F4U Corsairs) I thought it was pure luxury, a real Cadillac!!
The owner always brought a tag-a-long to operate that insane inertial starter!! That starter was pure evil I tell 'ya, pure evil!
But it was worth every strained back, every bulged artery cranking that inertial starter to hear the wires sing diving down gaining energy for another barrel roll.
When he started checking me out in his SNJ (he was WWII Navy, F4U Corsairs) I thought it was pure luxury, a real Cadillac!!
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Texas Star
US Veteran
Col. Gabreski didn't write, "Thunderbolt", which I've read. It was by the second highest scoring US pilot in the Euro theater, who had 28 kills in the P-47. Robert S. Johnson... he said that the poor climb rate was altered when they got the wider prop. He was then able to outclimb a Spitfire MK IX flown by a friend in the RAF. But he took awhile to get up the speed to do that. My guess is that the Spit was better for quick bursts of power in a climb.
BTW, Gabreski was shot down and became a POW. The Germans said they had been eager to meet him.
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How times change. A good condition Mustang sells for over one million dollars according to a friend in the aviation world. A close friend ran the Boulder Airport in the 1950's and said you could buy a brand new Mustang still in the crate for $1050.00. He couldn't even image what you do with such a thing.
jag312
Member
cobra357
Member
There is a place in Kissimmee, Fl that flys a pair of two-seaters. I love the sound of those engines when they fly over. It is unmistakable. Check out thier website Fly the dual control P51 Mustang, Stallion 51 offers orientation flights, checkout training, flight training, pilot training, air shows, aircraft management.
Cowden Ward out of Burnet, Tx came up to Warbirds and Legends Airshow in Topeka, KS last year in his P-51, Pecos Bill. I took my dad to the show, an 88 year old WWII and Korea vet. As we were admiring his plane, a member of his group asked me if my father was a vet. I told her yes, and they had me fill out dates of service and branch, then told him he had a free ride coming. They took him up in the P-51 for a fairly long ride. On landing he decided he'd joined the wrong branch of service (infantry). Couldn't stop grinning for a week.
These great folks then told us to head over to a C-47, Skyking, a plane that actually was involved in every airborne drop in the ETO. They then took my 13 year old son, father and me up for fantastic flight, again free. A really great group of folks. I understand they do this at all the airshows they attend.
These great folks then told us to head over to a C-47, Skyking, a plane that actually was involved in every airborne drop in the ETO. They then took my 13 year old son, father and me up for fantastic flight, again free. A really great group of folks. I understand they do this at all the airshows they attend.
OP
My very first flight was in a C-47. In 1957, high school senior cadet ROTC officers in Phoenix were offered at trip in C-47s to Fort Ord in California to view basic training there. At the time, I was the cadet regimental operations officer for all the Phoenix area JROTC battalions, so I was particularly interested to see what was being done in with respect to training in the Army. The C-47 was equipped primarily for jump operations, with sling seats arrayed along each side of the interior. It enabled me to visualize what the inside of the aircraft must have looked like for the D-Day jumps. That trip was fun - with our uniforms, which closely resembled the Army officers' uniforms at that time, we were getting salutes from yardbirds, which we of course returned - !!!
John
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686_was_my_first
Member
From the movie Empire of the Sun
The line was from Empire of the Sun, spoken by a very young Christian Bale.
Did I win a free ride in a P-51?
The line was from Empire of the Sun, spoken by a very young Christian Bale.
Did I win a free ride in a P-51?
Sid V.
Member
How about a Hawker Seafury,very powerfull and fast,(five bladed prop.)
jtcarm
Member
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One of my favorite photos involves a P51.
The Corsair is none too shabby. ..
As much as I like them, small planes are a bit too excitable to enjoy as a passenger. I'd love to get a flight aboard a a big radial engined bomber or transport myself.
Cool pic.
I could dig busting some tanks in a Warthog with that 30mm.
feralmerril
Absent Comrade
When I worked at Lockheed I knew a engineer that had flown them during the war. He told me he was used to the P-38 but the first time he flew the P-51 he almost broke his arm in the first turn! It was that much more responsive. It took him by surprise.
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