P51 Mustangs are pure sex with wings ( Yanking and Banking photos and video)

Busy Little Shop

Busy Little Shop

Man behaving bikely...
My Pilot Log book entries:

5/31/14 P51C Intro Flight. Ground Taxi. Take Off. Climbs. Steep Turns.
Rolls. 4 Point Roll. Loops. 1.0 hour

6/2/14 P51C Move to Minden. B25 B24 Formation. Stall. Pattern. 1.2
hours

It all started with a $2,200 donation to the Collings Foundation which
affords you 30 minutes flight instruction in their dual control P51C
razor back Mustang named Betty Jane... sure that is pricy but it
actualy cost over $4,000 per hour to keep this one of a kind dual
control P51C flying... The 1450 hp Rolls Royce Merlin burns 65 gallons
per hour of 100LL at $6.32 per, mercy that's $410 per hour... Besides
I think Razor Back Mustangs are pure sex with wings and guided by
Chief pilot Jim Harley I lived my dream of yanking and banking my
brain loose like a WW2 Fighter Pilot... I logged maneuvers such as a
barrel roll and a 4 point hesitation roll... I dove to 375mph and then
pulled over 4Gs performing a loop... I pulled a tight turn to the left
and then rolled nimbly to right and pulled another tight turn... mercy
me, being in control of a 1450 HP North American gun platform is
terribly addictive and a true mind altering experience... yes sir,
flying a Mustang is everything they say it is and then some...

The originals screws were lost so in the spirit of keep'em flying I
machined a set of custom canopy screws out of Stainless Steel for the
Collins Foundation... they are small but important enough to
effectively ground Betty Jane...
P51CanopyScrews7_zps6e2ebd9a.jpg


Chief P51 pilot Jim Harley and his future wife Andrea... she is a
commercial pilot and flys co pilot in the B25...
P51BettyJane104_zps2492bce4.jpg


Andrea is looking to own a Ducati and confesses a growing love for
motorcycles... she has sport in her blood...
P51BettyJane110_zps5067c28a.jpg

P51BettyJane109_zps2bc48f71.jpg

P51BettyJane108_zps7e88c8b9.jpg


Chief pilot Jim Harley is a lucky guy with a one of a kind job... he's
logged 1100 hrs in Betty Jane... For me it was a mind altering
experience to just log 2.3 hours
P51BettyJane65_zpsc94b2dd5.jpg

P51BettyJane44_zpsd1fddc27.jpg

P51BettyJane91_zps4c1c73e8.jpg


You strap on a parachute and a 5 point harness flying back seat in Betty Jane..
P51BettyJane88_zps455aa30f.jpg


Hand on the stick and feet on the rudders I love flying Betty Jane...
P51BettyJane29_zps174796a3.jpg


I pulled over 4Gs in loop at 325 MPH...
P51BettyJane83_zps883961ba.jpg
 
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Busy Little Shop

Busy Little Shop

Man behaving bikely...
P51 Mustangs are pure sex with wings (Part 2)

Prop hug I'm in love with Betty Jane
P51BettyJane74_zps49a78e03.jpg

P51BettyJane076a_zps94a5c304.jpg


In appreciation for my custom machine work I was awarded back seat in gaggle of
Collins foundation warbirds departing McClellan AFB enroute to Minden Nevada...
P51BettyJane114_zpsf97c8992.jpg



B25 and P51C Betty Jame in formation heading towards Tahoe...
P51BettyJane101_zpsfa840446.jpg

P51BettyJane115_zpsbe6674c1.jpg


We flew so close to the B25 I could count the rivets
P51BettyJane13_zps06e3cdfe.jpg

P51BettyJane8_zpsa14b359f.jpg



Buzzing between the peeks of the Serra Nevada mountains
P51BettyJane25_zpsec403510.jpg

P51BettyJane26_zps10e8e1dd.jpg

P51BettyJane0101_zps765c81a3.jpg



Jim had to drop the flaps a notch to match the speed of the climbing B24...
P51BettyJane22_zps02a022f3.jpg


We barrel rolled over Tahoe... I was just giggling in my flight suit like
a kid...
c2e22613-8816-407c-956c-34b3a2bd3ddf_zps439011fa.jpg

P51BettyJane103a_zpsdbeb9109.jpg



WW2 WarBirds Air Foils comparison... the Mustang's laminar flow wing
was a success and its performance in the air war is now history... In
cross section the wing is slightly thicker than its rivals but the
maximum thickness is further back from the leading edge, being near the
center of the cord, and the bottom trailing edge is cusped... The
shape of this NACA 66 series air foil permitted the transition from
laminar to turbulence flow to be generated further and thus reduce
the profile drag or air resistance by a great margin than previous air
foils available in 1939 by friend or foe...
WarBirdAirFoils_zps95c3edc0.jpeg


Video of the Collings Foundation P51C Betty Jane among a gaggle of B25 B24
B17 from McClellan AFB to Minden Nevada...


youtu.be/D23I4STvkRI
 
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Critter

Critter

A car in space...hmmmm.
WOW this is one of the best posts I've seen in here in a LONG time! :thumbup. How many of those two seaters (p-51C?) are still flying I wonder?
 
Ratters

Ratters

Is it summer yet?
That's awesome! :thumbup Pretty jealous! Been up in the family's P51 once but just as ballast. :D Gonna get my wife a ride in the P51DTC Lady Joe one of these years for Christmas.

BTW, the RC45 is my dream bike, so jealousy is weaning its way into hate right now. :teeth
 
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Busy Little Shop

Busy Little Shop

Man behaving bikely...
Critter said:
WOW this is one of the best posts I've seen in here in a LONG time! :thumbup. How many of those two seaters (p-51C?) are still flying I wonder?
Click to expand...

Good question... most Mustangs today are two seaters because there is
room behind the pilot for a small jump seat if you remove the
fuselage fuel tank and remove the armor plate but you're basically
"Spam in a Can" and have no way to take control... full dual control
Mustangs are very rare... During WW2 dual control Mustangs were
designated TP-51D... North American received a contract to convert 10
P-51D (bubble backs) to full dual control configuration... This was a
lengthy modification... these 10 TP-51 Mustangs were shuffled between
various stateside bases where they were used for indoctrination or
recurrence training... It was not until after the war that a more
satisfactory version was built by Temco in Dallas Texas... this was
called the TF-51D which is what Crazy Horse was modified too... The
only dual control Mustangs I know of are the razor back P51C Betty
Jane and the bubble backs TF-P51D Crazy Horse... Crazy Horse2 and
The Little Witch...

Dual Control Mustang http://www.stallion51.com/p51-flight-ops/p51-crazy-horse.shtml
186-a-1280.jpg


"Spam in a Can" no control Mustang
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frozenduc

frozenduc

Well-known member
Good on ya Larry!

I flew (or should say mashed it through the air) Crazy Horse about 10 years ago.
I designed and sold a big system to heat treat brake rotors for 757/767's for Goodrich Aerospace. We arranged machine runoff during the OSH convention and I took the Goodrich boys up there to knock around for a day. The ring leader always wanted to fly a 51 so I bought him some seat time as it was operating out of FLD for the duration.

He took his ride and when he landed he advised me once they fuel it it's mine.
I about shit and it was the best hour+ ever. Flips and flops, + - G's and going gray. As you found out once you get the speed up it's wonderful. Stalls are an eye opener huh.. Cut the power and that ton of metal ahead of the firewall points you down right NOW. Recover with a bit of power and not too much or the thing will torque flip in a heart beat.

It's a bit mushy in pattern and you gotta be well ahead of it when bringing it in on final or you're in biiiig trouble in a nano. That big prop is one helluva air brake so I had to use more power than I imagined with flaps.

Aah, what an experience.
 
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