Who here has ridden in a P-51?
- Thread starter grampi
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Not the same as a fighter, but, if the thought of flying in a WW2 plane thrills you they offer rides in a B-17 or B-25 out of Willow Run airport in Michigan. Yankee Air Museum offers the flights. http://yankeeairmuseum.org/fly/
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I rode in a P40E back seat (Spam in a Can) during Oshkosh and of course it was great but I didn't get
the controls to yank and bank my brains loose...
Thanks to the Collins Foundation I've logged 2.2 hours in P51C Betty Jane which is
pure sex with wings Razor Back... I'll anted up my Photos and a video...
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 pricey but it
actually 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...
Chief P51 pilot Jim Harley and his future wife Andrea... she is a
commercial pilot and flys co pilot in the B25...
Andrea has sport in her blood... she confesses to a growing love for
race bikes... she liked the way my Honda RC45 fit her...
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 2.2 hours
You strap on a parachute and back seat with a 5 point harness flying Betty Jane..
Hand on the stick and feet on the rudders I love flying Betty Jane...
I pulled over 4Gs in loop at 325 MPH...
Prop hug I'm in love with Betty Jane
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...
B25 and P51C Betty Jame in formation heading towards Tahoe...
We flew so close to the B25 I could count the rivets
Buzzing between the peaks of the Serra Nevada mountains
Jim decided to drop the flaps a notch to match the speed of the climbing B24...
We barrel rolled over Tahoe... I was just giggling in my flight suit like
a kid...
Jim wanted a custom Go Pro mount to fit the tail of Betty Jane so I designed
and machine an example out of black Delrin and currently seeking a US Patent ...
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 cupped... 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...
My video of the Collings Foundation P51C Betty Jane among a gaggle of B25 B24
B17 from McClellan AFB to Minden Nevada...
the controls to yank and bank my brains loose...
Thanks to the Collins Foundation I've logged 2.2 hours in P51C Betty Jane which is
pure sex with wings Razor Back... I'll anted up my Photos and a video...
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 pricey but it
actually 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...
Chief P51 pilot Jim Harley and his future wife Andrea... she is a
commercial pilot and flys co pilot in the B25...
Andrea has sport in her blood... she confesses to a growing love for
race bikes... she liked the way my Honda RC45 fit her...
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 2.2 hours
You strap on a parachute and back seat with a 5 point harness flying Betty Jane..
Hand on the stick and feet on the rudders I love flying Betty Jane...
I pulled over 4Gs in loop at 325 MPH...
Prop hug I'm in love with Betty Jane
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...
B25 and P51C Betty Jame in formation heading towards Tahoe...
We flew so close to the B25 I could count the rivets
Buzzing between the peaks of the Serra Nevada mountains
Jim decided to drop the flaps a notch to match the speed of the climbing B24...
We barrel rolled over Tahoe... I was just giggling in my flight suit like
a kid...
Jim wanted a custom Go Pro mount to fit the tail of Betty Jane so I designed
and machine an example out of black Delrin and currently seeking a US Patent ...
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 cupped... 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...
My video of the Collings Foundation P51C Betty Jane among a gaggle of B25 B24
B17 from McClellan AFB to Minden Nevada...
Thanks for posting. What a dream, in the back seat with your own set of controls.
Was the C faster than the D?
Was the C faster than the D?
Don't know what part of Ohio you're in but the MAPS museum at Akron/Canton airport has a little get together a week or 2 after Oshkosh that offered rides in a P51, B25, & B29. I think rides in the P51 were around $2500.
http://mapsairmuseum.org/
http://mapsairmuseum.org/
Originally Posted By: OneEyeJack
Thanks for posting. What a dream, in the back seat with your own set of controls.
Was the C faster than the D?
You're welcome Jack...
In performance tests during the war, the P-51B reached 441 mph at
30,000 ft whereas the P51D reached 437 mph... However at the Reno Air
Races there is no debate between the "Bubble Backs" and the "Razor
Backs" in the quest for top speed... On Sept. 2017 the absolute
propeller driven piston powered speed record was broke by Steve Hinton
in a P51D highly modified into a Razor Back and achieved an average
speed of 531.53 mph with the fastest of 4 laps reaching 554.69 mph...
technically speaking you need to ditch the Bubble and develop a more
stream line Razor Back because in racing it doesn't matter whats
behind you...
P51D VooDoo Bubble Back
P51D VooDoo Razor Back
Thanks for posting. What a dream, in the back seat with your own set of controls.
Was the C faster than the D?
You're welcome Jack...
In performance tests during the war, the P-51B reached 441 mph at
30,000 ft whereas the P51D reached 437 mph... However at the Reno Air
Races there is no debate between the "Bubble Backs" and the "Razor
Backs" in the quest for top speed... On Sept. 2017 the absolute
propeller driven piston powered speed record was broke by Steve Hinton
in a P51D highly modified into a Razor Back and achieved an average
speed of 531.53 mph with the fastest of 4 laps reaching 554.69 mph...
technically speaking you need to ditch the Bubble and develop a more
stream line Razor Back because in racing it doesn't matter whats
behind you...
P51D VooDoo Bubble Back
P51D VooDoo Razor Back
Larry, nice pics and nice post! I just found out some bad news yesterday. After doing some research, I was able to find out who the pilot was who owned the Mustang near my office. His name was Vlad Lenoch, and unfortunately he was killed in a P-51 crash in Kansas earlier this year.
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/bu...0717-story.html
He apparently sold the blue nose P-51 he kept at the Lewis University Airport (which is the one he had when I met him), and was flying this one when the crash occurred. He was well known and considered to be a very experienced pilot. I haven't been able to find the NTSB report, which probably means they haven't finished the investigation yet. I'd be shocked if the accident was caused by pilot error. News like this just makes me sick...
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/bu...0717-story.html
He apparently sold the blue nose P-51 he kept at the Lewis University Airport (which is the one he had when I met him), and was flying this one when the crash occurred. He was well known and considered to be a very experienced pilot. I haven't been able to find the NTSB report, which probably means they haven't finished the investigation yet. I'd be shocked if the accident was caused by pilot error. News like this just makes me sick...
The news of fellow aviation enthusiast lives lost is nauseating to me
too... it also bitingly bitter to see the remains of a P51 that rolled
and dug a big hole never to fly again... however I would have not
hesitated to join Vlad's back seat because here was a pilot that ticks
all the right boxes for me, high time military pilot, cleared to fly
in close formation, Pitts Special, aeronautical engineering degree,
instructor pilot, and so on... but I would not be shocked if cause
was judged pilot error because the NTSB classifies nearly every
accident as pilot error when the cause can not be otherwise attributed
to provable and confirmable physical cause such as engine failure or
broken control components that can be documented or photographed
beyond rebuttal...
too... it also bitingly bitter to see the remains of a P51 that rolled
and dug a big hole never to fly again... however I would have not
hesitated to join Vlad's back seat because here was a pilot that ticks
all the right boxes for me, high time military pilot, cleared to fly
in close formation, Pitts Special, aeronautical engineering degree,
instructor pilot, and so on... but I would not be shocked if cause
was judged pilot error because the NTSB classifies nearly every
accident as pilot error when the cause can not be otherwise attributed
to provable and confirmable physical cause such as engine failure or
broken control components that can be documented or photographed
beyond rebuttal...
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