Mustang at 484mph!...

[Midnight Special]

...P-51 Mustang, that is.
This is a small taste of what we see out at the Reno pylons. Notice the reverberation of the camera when some 2,000 horsepower rips by! Awesome!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eNU8XDxF4BE

 

[Ruppstang]

That gets the old hart pumping on a lazy Sunday! Thanks

 

[Midnight Special]

...Thanks Marty. 'Still too cold & wet to work on my other Mustangs here, so wanted to share some "noise" somehow ;-) Here's the plane in that video...

 

[p51]

Frijoles fria! ( ~"cool beans" ). Best plane built - ever!... :teleport:

And just to keep the "P51 Horsepower" theme of this thread going... my favorite scene in one of my favorite movies...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ouJ_WyS9v8

Extra points if you know who the kid in "Empire of the Sun" is.
(Hint) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n4qgTk8Vfyc

 

[Midnight Special]

..."Empire of the Sun" really moved me too (in the theater) with the awesome Merlin sound. The closing scenes of "Saving Private Ryan" did the same Gawd help you all in "off topic" land if I ever figure out video editing on this new computer! 'Spent many years filming & recording Unlimiteds from the course at Reno! I blast it at my house instead of music CDs. I'm a little crazy that way... ;-)

 

[cnassif]

Christian Bale

 

[p51]

For those who are interested, here is a documentary on the P51 - a blend of a US airframe based on RAF input/requirements (given that they were the only ones fighting the Germans at the time they knew the most about what was needed) with a British Rolls-Royce engine. A true allied effort. Interesting tidbit - the mustang was named by the Brits.

For comic relief there is a guy that keeps defending the Spitfire throughout the movie - as if the Spitfire needed defending...

"The Legacy of the P-51 Mustang"
Part1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vKNl7OJsLMc
Part2-3: Follow links at end of part1, etc


"The story of P-51 Mustang" Another doc (but with rather irritating background music)
Part1: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MluFgIFD_5A
Part2-6: Follow links at end of part1, etc

 

[Midnight Special]

...Great links! Thanks!
And if anyone in NorCal wants to get a close look at a '51, we're planning to have several in Grass Valley in July

 

[Midnight Special]

...More P-51s at speed. (okay, I promise to get back to FORD Mustangs soon ;-)

 

[p51]

What always amazes me is that the average age for these fighter pilots in WWII was ~21yrs old. The age range for bomber crews was ~18 to 28yrs old. Its hard to imagine today's 21yr olds (certainly with some notable exceptions) coming anywhere close to having the maturity, poise, and courage to be able to take on something like that.

Add to that the fact that during WWII even the "upper crust elite" in the US *volunteered* to fight - Joe and John Kennedy, James Stewart (led a bomber group on 20 missions over Europe), George Bush Sr (shot down over the island of Chichi Jima), Clark Gable, etc and you start to understand why they will likely always remain America's Greatest generation.

Another thing that always amazes me about the WWII generation is they seem, without exception, to have a common sense, an equanimity, a sense of humor, and a level perspective that I don't see in other generations.

James

 

[Midnight Special]

...So true and for so many reasons. It's also true that a sizeable "common sense" generation still exists, but is not glorified as trendy in today's "sensory bombardment" media.

Hopefully, should we get to a place where we must act as in WWII, we'll have sufficient people willing to cast all political correctness aside and do what needs to be done. Provided they are informed correctly...>

 

[Midnight Special]

...Merlin operators have their "days" as we sometimes do...

 

[p51]

...Merlin operators have their "days" as we sometimes do...

Wow! That's one major owie. Guess that P51 is no longer numbers matching :wink:

I was wondering if there was such a thing as a "resto-mod" P51 Mustang. A little googling and I found the following...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cavalier_Mustang

One version was modified w/a turbo prop.

 

[Midnight Special]

...Yes, there were the Cavalier executive conversions and the Piper Enforcer with the turbo-prop. Many of the Cavaliers were re-militarized and sold to foreign countries before coming back to the U.S. Piper Enforcer was a proposal to hop-up the proven Mustang airframe into a cheap light-attack aircraft. I believe only three were built.

Now here's some more Mustang "resto-mods" ;-)