Another Mustang Thread?

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NL1051S went through more owners, bouncing around Texas. In 1985 it went to another Texas character named Jimmie McMillan. Jimmy did a a very nice restoration of the tired airplane, and it turned up at Reno 1986 in this unusual paint scheme, which I guess is authentic. Jimmy cruised around at cruise power and had a great time. Sunny VIII was quickly sold and ended up in England for quite a while. Jimmy then restored a Skyraider, and was the first to race one at Reno.
 

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During qualifying at Reno 1986 I got a chance to briefly visit a pylon that Press are generally not allowed to go to. It's on a bit of a hill and late in the day gets amazing full shadowless sunlght. A cool place if you could get there...
 

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One more.

These really show the limitations of slow film and manual focus cameras. Digital photography and high speed autofocus lenses later really changed things.
 

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SaparotRob said:
As much as I dislike seeing these beautiful machines flying as advertising, at least it keeps them flying.
Click to expand...


Then you will really like this one, Rob!

On one level I certainly agree with you. But on the other hand the family who owned and operated Sparkie at the time were pretty regular folks, and certainly not rich. They rebuilt this thing years ago on a tight budget, and have operated it for 30 years. They love to race, and take their airplane to air shows and such. If they had to cover their airplane with silly and irrelevant decals to get a few thousand bucks a year to help operate a nice Mustang, then so be it. Otherwise it'll be in a hangar.

I love Mustangs that are actually flying, and I loved Racing. If I have to put up with race numbers and sponsor stickers, so be it. It's better than no Mustangs flying and no racing. This is still part of the lifetime of these machines, and to my mind an integral part of their history. Plus, I had a great time photographing them, sponsor stickers and all.
 

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Sparkie may have been way overdecorated, but she is all Mustang.

The pilot in this 2008 shot is the young Steve Hinton Jr. He got to fly Sparkie for a year of racing, in preparation for strapping on Strega the next year.
 

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In the 2020s Sparky has lost the jellybeans, been repainted and renamed "Blondie". I have not seen her like this, but in photos she seems pretty generic warbird Mustang now. I actually liked her best back in the late 1990s before the jellybeans, Bare metal, with very simple markings. I like Mustangs with simple paint schemes.
 

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If I had way too much money, the warbirds I would have restored would be in their factory finish. Unless that particular plane has a history other than factory to storage, like the Piccadilly Lily II.
 
SaparotRob said:
If I had way too much money, the warbirds I would have restored would be in their factory finish. Unless that particular plane has a history other than factory to storage, like the Piccadilly Lily II.
Click to expand...

That would kind of ruin my fun, though. If all your airplanes look alike, 1 or 2 cell phone pics would cover their history nicely...

I like paint, but tasteful.
 

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Now some authentic WWII paint schemes look overdecorated and cluttered even without race numbers or sponsor names.



"The Jacky C." at Reno 1993...

 
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