Gareth Van Kets, 11 October 2021
There’s a New deep breathing beast lying low, eagerly waiting to fire up! Before revealing what’s to come, I would like to share a quick intro into the heart of this project and where it all began. History 101.
P-51 INTRODUCTION
The North American P-51 Mustang is the gold standard for WWII fighters. While the Mustang was in Europe and the Pacific, its impact on the strategic situation in Europe cannot be understated. One of the most important operations of the war, the strategic bombing campaign against Germany, can be broken down into two phases: pre-P-51 and post-P-51. Pre-P-51, the Allies were losing—and losing badly. Post-P-51, the Allies established complete control of the air, and drove the Germans from the skies of Europe.
The P-51 prototype was ready on September 9, 1940, and it first flew October 26, 1940. It was an astonishing accomplishment for North American: they had delivered a brand new, prototype aircraft in a mere 102 days and flew it weeks later. The British accepted the plane into service, and gave it its famous “Mustang” nickname.
In the fall of 1942, the Americans and British experimented with Mustangs by adding British Rolls-Royce Merlin engines to the air-frame. The results were unbelievable. The Mustang’s top speed leapt to well over 400 miles per hour, and it no longer suffered from performance drop-off at higher altitudes. Production of the Mustang was thrown into high gear and the first American P-51 units arrived in Europe towards the end of 1943.
The P-51 dominated air combat in Europe, destroying nearly 5,000 enemy aircraft. It was also a very capable fighter-bomber and could carry 1,000 pounds of bombs and rockets. In the Pacific, P-51s flying off of Iwo Jima escorted Boeing B-29 Superfortresses on their way to bomb Japan. At the close of its production run, 15,000 Mustangs had been built. The end of World War II was not the end of combat for the P-51, as it saw service in the Korean War in 1950 because it was the only US fighter with the range to hit Korean targets from Japan. The P-51 remains the iconic fighter of World War II, and it is a popular plane among Veterans and enthusiasts alike.
Amongst the bombers throughout WWII and to this day the P-51 was given the nickname: A “Little Friend” with a BIG IMPACT
The BUG BIT, I researched viable and affordable options which lead me to the: T-51D Mustang, a 75% scale of the P-51D
The Journey so far
- Visited Titan Aircraft Supply 5th February 2020
- Sold… March 2020 preparation began
- Shipped October 2020 (damn Covid)
- Arrived RSA January 2021
- Build number application (waited 5 months)
- Time to share the build/ enthusiasm
A Big question I asked myself – Whose hands can I put this in, knowing this will be The Best T-51D Mustang around???
- 12-18 months of back and forth communication
- There was NO DOUBT in my mind
- Thank You @ROBIN COSS AVIATION
So WHERE ARE WE? Then…
More to follow – she no longer looks like a porcupine.