08-27-2013, 07:40 AM
(08-27-2013, 06:56 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: Oh yea, that'll do. Neatest plane on the planet, and you are right gorgeous from every angle. The stewardesses distracted me a bit though. Whoa.....
So Chip, you have flown a lot of planes and your credentials are beyond reproach. Answer this..is the P51 cool to fly?
Mickey,
You asked for a picture of "my" P-51 and I had those pictures on my desktop and decided to have a little fun. BooManChoo belongs to one of my best friends and fellow GT owner Ray Hofman. The day those pictures were taken I was supposed to fly it and the generator blew up and it was grounded for several weeks. I will get back to Midland, Texas soon to take it up and I'll post a "road test" then. I have flown a number of military aircraft from the Stearman to the supersonic T-38, bombers, transport, fighter, and trainer aircraft but I haven't flown a P-51. Ray's P-51D will be my first. It's performance is just slightly better at low altitude than my Glasair III's. So, truth be told, it's not my P-51 and I haven't flown it (yet).
An interesting aside. My friend Ray who owns it has not flown it either. At the time these photos were taken he did not have his pilots license. I did most of his aerobatic training in my airplane and he had another war bird instructor. Ray just recently got his license but can't get insurance for the 51 yet. He's got 11 airplanes and over 30 exotic cars including 12 Ford GT's. If you want someone else's life, Ray's is much better than mine!!!
Chip