P51 Mustangs are pure sex with wings (pics & video

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Stunning!

Those are some great pics, nice and clear, and the background is just perfect.

Thank you!!!!!!!!

I get to fly all sorts of relatively interesting modern equipment. However, I've never had a flying experience like that. Awesome.

I'm not jealous of much, but I think you've achieved a bit of envy in me.
 
A neat airplane, no doubt and you were very fortunate to have been able to fly her.
There are other really cool piston fighters of the same era, of course.
It's nice that there are those out there willing to devote their resources to maintaining these aircraft in flying condition.
It's hard to believe that this is now a very old aircraft and almost all of those who would have used any P51 in millitary operations are now gone.
 
Originally Posted By: Doktor_Bert
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
A neat airplane, no doubt and you were very fortunate to have been able to fly her.


Taxiing sucks beyond description...


Are you talking about visibility over the nose, which would clearly suck, ground handling, or both?
 
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
Originally Posted By: Doktor_Bert
Originally Posted By: fdcg27
A neat airplane, no doubt and you were very fortunate to have been able to fly her.


Taxiing sucks beyond description...


Are you talking about visibility over the nose, which would clearly suck, ground handling, or both?


Both...

The early variants had only a swiveling tailwheel, so at low speed your only 'steering' was through differential braking/power and once you got power up, you had to keep it straight with rudder compensation. Also, you have to ease into the power slowly so you have enough prop wash over the rudder to counteract the torque generation.

They are a real handful to fly...
 
Originally Posted By: Doktor_Bert

Both...

The early variants had only a swiveling tailwheel


Negative... The NA-73X prototype contract was signed on May 23rd 1940 and thus the design
team at NAA started the task at hand. One of the many design specifications called for
was for a "fully retractable and steerable tail wheel."

Rudder Forces
Starting with the 1943 Rolls Merlin P51B the rudder forces became deceptively light in a
dive and a pilot new to the Mustang might push to far and get more rudder that he needed
and end up in trouble... The Army Air Forces was concerned because several Mustangs had
recently lost their tails so with the help of the NACA Ames Lab they began a
comprehensive study of the Mustang to find a cure that interfered as little as possible
with the production... after all there was a War on!!! what they came up with was a
connection between the pedal and the balancing tab of the rudder, a change which reversed
the usual order of its action and made the balance a de-boost tab. The new linkage
increased the resistance of the rudder, mad the pedal action heavier which afforded the
pilot greater directional control...

NA_73X.jpg
 
great thread with great pics! even got a hotty on a bike!! thanks for letting us ride along...
Well... we've chatted about the mustang and the warthog... Could a Mustang with updated weapons and avionics be a cost effective ISIS buster in the middle east??
 
Originally Posted By: Tuffy1760
great thread with great pics! even got a hotty on a bike!! thanks for letting us ride along...
Well... we've chatted about the mustang and the warthog... Could a Mustang with updated weapons and avionics be a cost effective ISIS buster in the middle east??


You're welcome... Mustangs are done being a cost effective ground buster whereas the A-67 Dragon would be a better candidate...
masthead_plane07.jpg
 
Originally Posted By: BusyLittleShop
Originally Posted By: Doktor_Bert

Both...

The early variants had only a swiveling tailwheel


Negative... The NA-73X prototype contract was signed on May 23rd 1940 and thus the design
team at NAA started the task at hand. One of the many design specifications called for
was for a "fully retractable and steerable tail wheel."

NA_73X.jpg



I stand corrected. I was sure I had read somewhere about the NA-73x prototype having only a swiveling tailwheel, as opposed to the later variants, where pushing stick forward of neutral allows full swiveling action and pulling slightly rearward of neutral locks the wheel and allows some rudder pedal action over the tailwheel...
 
Originally Posted By: Nickdfresh
Originally Posted By: mattwithcats
Try this...

P51H model, only one in North America...

When Chanute AFB in Illinois closed in 1992, most of the static display planes were transferred to the new on base museum.

The P51 that was there was discovered to be an extremely rare "H" model, not a "D".

P51H


Interesting. The P-51H was more or less highly tweaked improvement over the D's, and was almost a new airplane when it came to design and parts. The near complete defeat of the Luftwaffe by 1945 and the advent of the Jet Age made it moot and rendered unnecessary. But it was quite a performance boost over the P-51D's...


The H's most notable performance improvements over the D model were in speed and climb...the H was 50 MPH faster than the D...climb rate for the D model was about 3400 FPM, while the H was good for 5200 FPM...the D model was the prettier of the two though...
 
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