[Milsurplus] P-51 Mustangs

[Schreiber, Patrick]

The P-51 was a beautiful and exhilarating plane. I had the privilege
several years ago to bum a ride in the jump seat of one, where all the
ARC-5 radios, armor plate and tail radar resided.  They are hot, smelly,
and loud to the point of pain without ear protection, but so exciting!

But, one of its shortcomings was it had smallish control surfaces,
(ailerons, & rudder).  At low speeds the "P" factor or engine torque
through that large four bladed prop could actually cause the fuselage to
quickly torque to the left (opposite of engine rotation) causing you to
go inverted, if you advanced the throttle too far at a low airspeed.
The gut reaction in that situation would be to input more right aileron
to counteract that torque, which would be of little help at low air
speeds.  If you were taking off and hot dogging a little, as in showing
off the new toy you could end up inverted, pulling back on the stick and
into the tarmac in less than a heart beat.  That is a mistake that you
only make once.  I think I read some where that in the first few years
after the war about 60% of civilian owners were killed by their
Mustangs. I'm sure that tired engines and lack of proper maintenance
also contributed to the situation.  

Thanks for the bandwidth for a non-boatanchor comment.

 

 

Patrick Schreiber

Edwardsville Illinois