Well, I've been out of it for quite a while, and I'm certainly willing to take your word for it Chris, but when I was a lot younger the several folks I knew that had P51's were all high time pilots. I guess it's pretty scary to think of some guy with a hundred or so hours on the stick turned loose on a high performance machine like that. They can be pretty unforgiving of mistakes.
Randy Cuberly
It's always been the same, Randy. In the mid sixties a Dr. Dick Snyder wrote a thesis based on the problems low time pilots had with high performance fighters surplussed at the time. He specified the P-51 for his paper. There were some sad and humorous stories in those case files. The rock and roll roadie flying his in just a bathing suit was very funny and understandable! I think it's online as a file for download, just google something like "Low time pilots and high performance fighters, P-51, Dr. Richard Snyder",or something like that and it'll come up.
There was a guy in southern Cal just 5 years or so ago that torque rolled one in inverted after a go around attempt during his first Mustang solo. Bad scene but a classic review of the old problem, which is allowing the airplane to fly itself in an untrimmed condition (landing trim for low power quickly adding high power resulting in a mistrimmed condition) into an inverted attitude close to the ground. The problem wasn't the airplane, the pilot didn't add enough control input (rudder is the primary control because the roll doesn't start until the airplane is some 45 degrees off heading usually, aileron usually makes the problem worse by the time the roll develops) to stop the roll moment. The rudder has high control pressures at high power and one must really push to get the input necessary, 100 pounds or more.
The guy that crashed at Stellar Air Park in Phoenix a couple of years back did a similar thing but had some experience in the airplane. My friends with knowledge of the pilots technique considered him too extreme in his 3-point landing style and didn't consider the crosswind when operating during the crash flight. A few more MPH on approach and he would've been fine. He stalled the downwind wing, which was the left wing, and added high power which rolls the left wing down and yaws the airplane left. Once the wing stalls on a Mustang it really goes down in a hurry and wing up aileron input just exacerbates the wing drop too.
But those are just a few of the ways to get killed in it. The low speed, high power accidents are usually from mishandling, just as is most every other. There are many accidents from people not appreciating the medical nuances of high altitude flight without oxygen, and many high speed impacts with the ground during aerobatics.
For the most part it's easy to fly and has a nice wide landing gear and steerable tailwheel. It doesn't accelerate very quickly compared to a jet, has a nice, slow, long takeoff run and if one has it trimmed correctly and pushes hard enough on the rudder pedal it can handle a heck of a left crosswind on take off just fine. It weighs 8,000 lbs and only has 1500 hp and an 11 foot prop so it's kind of between a T-6 and a Corsair (which I only wish I could fly, or Bearcat too) so it doesn't really have great take off and climb, the performance is once the nose is down and the cruise power set where it's speed shows up. It just keep accelerating to a high indicated speed. Typical is 2450 rpm and 36 inches gets 270 mph for 70 gallons per hour fuel burn.
Great light plane, when I win the lotto I'll have mine with leather interior, dual freon air conditioners (it needs them) and a super snazzy 60's civilian paint job!
Topic: Off Topic, But Did You See This?! (Read 2808 times)