P51 Mustang

[Mad Mardigan]

I have a chance for 750 USD to fly in a P51 Mustang for a half hour. Its one of my favorite planes from history, and there will be a restored one here in the area. What do you all think, is it worth it, would you do it?

[Skye]

Depends alot on whether you have that much cash lying around.

 

It's something that you'd remember forever though.

[Mad Mardigan]

Here is the one I should be flying in, P51D Mustang "Red Nose"

 

 

Red Nose's History

 

"Old Red Nose" has had a long and colorful history, dating back to the closing days of World War II. It was produced at the North American Aviation plant in Inglewood, California, and rolled out on 11 April, 1945 and was to accepted by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) as serial number 44-73843. It was shipped to Page Army Air Force Base in Florida later that month and assigned to the 388th AAF Base Unit of the Third Air Force. Little is known of its service there, but it was probably used for training purposes. In September of 1945 the aircraft was transferred to the 336th Base Unit stationed at Sarasota, Florida. In November of that year, it was shipped to Hobbs AAFB in Texas and placed in storage. Its only other journey in the next six years was a transfer to the San Antonio Air Material Center at Kelly Air Force Base in 1947.

 

Though in storage for six years, this aircraft, now known as USAF F-51D-25NA s/n 42-73843, had not yet finished its tour of duty. In January of 1951, this aircraft was dropped from the USAF inventory and transferred to Canada under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program. It was officially accepted by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) on 11 January 1951, and was placed in stored reserve in Trenton, Ontario. A month later, on 26 February, this aircraft was once again flying, now with the No. 416 "Lynx" Squadron (regular) of the RCAF, based in Uplands, Ontario.

 

It served with this regular unit for little more than a year before transfer to the No. 10 Technical Services Unit in Winnipeg, Manitoba, on 28 March 1952. Here it stayed until assigned to the No. 420 "Snowy Owls" squadron (auxiliary) of the RCAF in London, Ontario. Its tenure with this unit lasted until 19 July 1956, when the aircraft was listed as awaiting disposal and placed into storage. It was then bought by a private company in the United States, and ended back in San Antonio, Texas, now as the property of Stinson Field Aircraft.

 

What followed was a fateful day in the history of the CAF. On 17 October 1957, Mr. Lloyd P. Nolen, then of "Mustang and Company," bought the aircraft with three friends for $2,500. This signified the unofficial start of the CAF; indeed, later that year, someone painted "Confederate Air Force" on its tail and the name stuck. In December of that year she was repainted with invasion stripes and coded VF*G, and at this time the members referred to the aircraft as "Old Red Nose." She was officially donated to the CAF in 1977 and became part of the collection of the American Airpower Heritage Flying Museum in 1991. The airplane was restored in 1993 and is in excellent shape. "Old Red Nose" was assigned to the Dixie Wing of the CAF in November of 2002 and took to the air for the first time in 4 years in September of 2003.

 

Early pic of the plane.

 

 

Specifications:

 

Dimensions:

Wing Span: 37 feet. 1 inch

Length: 32 feet. 3 inches

Height: 13 feet 8 inches

Weight: Empty: 7,125 lb, Max. Takeoff: 11,600 lb

Wing Area: 235 sq. ft.

 

Power Plant : Packard Built Rolls-Royce Merlin V-1650-7 liquid cooled 12 cylinder vee piston engine

Propeller: Four-Blade Hamilton Standard

 

Performance:

Top Speed: 448 mph (Clean), 360 mph at 5,000 ft.

Range: 950 miles without auxiliary fuel cells, w/Large Droptanks: 2,100 miles

Ceiling: 41,900 feet

Initial Climb Rate: 3,745 ft. per minute (fpm)

Sustained Rate of Climb: 3,475 fpm

 

Armament: 6 X 0.5 (12.7mm) Browning machine guns, 2 X 500 LB bombs, 8 X 5-in (127mm) HVAR rockets

 

More info at http://www.dixiewing.org/dixiewing.htm

 

Plus video at the bottom

[pfrimmdog]

I would defindently restore it. Those planes are awesome. you could make the money up by charging people to fly in it.

[Glider]

You can't put a price on experience. An experience like that is worth only what you say it is. If, to you, that's more than $750, then you should go for it.

 

You can get another $750 sooner or later and a dollar is pretty much the same as any other. Experience is unique, and once you have it, it's yours forever.