History My ride in a P-51 Mustang June 8,2014

What a fantastic ride!
25 minutes, 60 gals av gas=$400.00
My bucket list came true!

 

You lucky duck!! Fantastic!!!!! Totally on my bucket list. Every time I get to travel near where flights are offered it's hard to resist the urge to drop the family (and the budget) and go hop on one. One of these days…..

 

great--on my want list for sure--just went up in a 17

 

Bitch'n.

 

sick!

 

Awesome

 

Definitely a bucket list item. There is a P51 hangared at our local county airport. The owner isn't what you would call friendly, but he does bring it out for display when the airport authority has its annual open house. I've seen it in the air a few times and its always a treat. I told my seventeen year old daughter that it was a flying piece of everything that makes America great, but I doubt she gets it. At least not yet. I asked the owner at the most recent open house what it cost him per flight hour and he said $3000. I would guess that is total cost, fuel, insurance, maintenance, etc. He did say it burns three gallons per minute at take off and can burn as much as five to eight gallons per minute depending upon how happy he wants to get. I would dribble a basketball in a mine field to get a ride in it.

 

WOW! How cool is that?
You lucky dog, glad you could do it!
Rolls Royce horsepower at it's finest!

 

Dave Zeuschel was a friend of mine, I came close to getting a ride in a Rolls-Merlin P51 he was finishing up for Reno...but when he finished the prep, he took off (Van Nuys) and pulled the gear up, and the 'fire went out'!
Pancaked it in the schoolyard next door. Dave chuckled, and said as much as he liked taking off 'clean', that 'early gear-up habit' was a bad 'un.
We lost him at Bakersfield. (F86 Sabre Jet)
Miss him every day.

 

Been waiting for this news Don, glad it went well. Very cool. I have a flight in a P-40 on my list. JW

 

My Father was a P-51 pilot, flew 62 missions, last one right before D-Day
Kids today DONOT understand, he was flying the fastest plane in the World at the time and had his 21st birthday in England

 

Deuce Daddy, I am so jealous of you!! Last year I went up in the B-17, the 9-0-9, and two years ago I went up in the Miss Barbie, B-25, both bombers. Both were amazing flights and I can't wait to go up again in a B-24. The P-51 Mustang is my fantasy though. Was that "Docs" P-51? The kids that flew these thing had balls as big as grapefruits, we owe them a lot!!!

 

Only way they can fly is on thier computer!

 

I had the honor last summer of meeting a gentleman that flew P-51s in WWII and some in Korea. He was shot down in Korea and spent some time as a P.O.W.. He would joke about how he had better soup in the prison camp than at the retirement community in which he lived.

 

not an airplane guy, not even a little, but I know cool when I see it. what years were those used?

 

The P-51 was the airplane that most agree, won the war. Once they were fitted with "drop tanks" they could escort the B-17s to Germany. The prototype flew in 1940 and believe it or not some countries used them until the late '80s. It will go down in history as one of the most beautiful aircraft ever built!!

 

Way to go Don,
Always wanted to climb in that little back seat but at 6'2" it's a very tight fit.
Maybe someday.

 

The P-51 is the holy grail of aircraft in my book. It would simply be impossible for me to be more envious of you now. Only way to top that is to pilot it yourself for a flight up the coast.

 

My little airplane ( in the picture, made in 1946 ) has a 100 HP and does 95 mph !
Real pilots fly tail draggers !
Taking my Grandson to Oshkosh and will probably get him a EAA B-17 ride at Appleton .

 

I would liked to have met Dave and would like learn more about him. It seems like he tried to make everything fly!

 

The 51 is one bad, bad ass airplane!
Try YouTube, search for P-51 whistle to hear the distinctive whistle of the '51 diving at speed! Better yet, go see one fly when you get the chance!
My Dad was a B-24 nose gunner with the 15th USAAF in Italy, they flew many missions with the famed "Red Tails", every bomber guy was VERY glad to see the '51's!

 

You lived my dream! Fantastic plane.

 

great ride for you, I fly RC airplanes, that's a thrill too

 

Well, I'm also 6'2"---No problem sitting a bit lower than Bill the pilot, he said just don't touch the stick OR push the pedals!
Used a "Go Pro" camera hand held for the 25 min flight, had my digital camera hanging from my wrist, & still managed to enjoy the whole adventure!!

 

I was in the Explorers as a kid and we were at the airport. There was one there and when it fired up and took off, everyone would stop and watch. He sold it to Hollywood, it was a sad day for us at the airport. There are not that many left so that is very very cool.

 

Bill, the pilot said on takeoff, "I'll run about 50mph, lift the tail, then go to 190mph, pull up to 10 ft. off the runway & pull the gear up, then increase speed to 450 at that level full length of runway & zoom straight up"!!!
A thrill indeed!!!

 

Just imagine what a hot rod that was to the kids flying them during WWII.

 

I asked Bill, the pilot how many P-51's were still flying worldwide, he said about 106.