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"The Stars Look Down" may have overflown the D-Day beaches, but on the famous flight where Maj. General Quesada (the pilot), with Four Star General Eisenhower (the passenger) were in the aircraft, the flight was AFTER the Normandy Invasion.I went up to American Aero in New Smyrna Beach today and was startled to see this OD and gray P-51B, modified to two seats and I believe marked as the one that carried Gen Eisenhower over the D-Day beaches. You see so few OD Mustangs and this one is spectacular!View attachment 684557View attachment 684558
Could you explain how the passenger was "trapped" in the back seat? Since this 2-seater was/is the conventional B type canopy with the side and top opening and not the Malcolm hood, I can't figure out how one would be trapped."The Stars Look Down" may have overflown the D-Day beaches, but on the famous flight where Maj. General Quesada (the pilot), with Four Star General Eisenhower (the passenger) were in the aircraft, the flight was AFTER the Normandy Invasion.
They overflew the Saint-Lô on a recon mission, over the area of France, a month AFTER D-Day.
The name came from the fact that there were Generals with a total of Six Stars on board.
FYI, in the actual aircraft, there was NO way for the passenger to get out of the plane once he plunked down in the seat. Gen Eisenhower did not even have a parachute, because of the fact that he was effectively "trapped" behind the pilot's seat.
What do you think?Could you explain how the passenger was "trapped" in the back seat? Since this 2-seater was/is the conventional B type canopy with the side and top opening and not the Malcolm hood, I can't figure out how one would be trapped.
The restored P-51 has a better designed rear cockpit, the top portion of the canopy flips up and seems to have more room aft. Seeing the way Ike had to get out of the aircraft, he might as well have been "trapped" and there seems to be no room for him to wear a parachute (at least one of that era).My post No.5 shows the aft cockpit with the same top-folding design as the front seat. But that shot that FlyboyJ posted shows that the top appears to be fixed and only the Left side opens. He may not have been "trapped" in the rear seat but getting out in flight would have been a challenge.
Yep - after looking closer I can see that, I still wouldn't want to try to egress out of that back seat!In the "Ike" aircraft, that looks like a parachute left in place on the rear seat, possibly a B-4 type, back-pack parachute. The harness and back-pad or pack can be seen, looking more substantial than the shoulder straps of the seat harness.
If you look at the video @1:36, it looks like Ike opened the panel from the insideAlthough I can't quote source, most likely somewhere here in the forum, once in and seated, the rear panel was fastened from the outside with no way to open it from inside
Hi Jim -Betty Jane/Stars Look Down, my old ride. I've got close to 1500 hours in her. She started life as P-51C 42-103293 and was lost May 1st 1944 with 359th FG pilot Carey Brown while on a training flight in England. Around 2000 Pacific Fighters started the rebuild of a P-51B/C for Max Chapman and incorporated the DNA of 293 in her restoration. She was built up with two cockpits ala the 4th FG 2 seat hack but with the addition of a full second cockpit rather than just a jump seat. Collings purchased her from Max in 2008 and we immediately put her on the Wings of Freedom Tour. Over the 8 years she was out it accumulated around 5,000 hours of flying. Around 2014 a decision was made to acquire a replacement Mustang and a D model was purchased from Mark Timken. The restoration became TF-51D Toulouse Nuts and replaced Betty in 2016 so she could get a much needed refurbishment. The initial plan was to send her to England as part of their expanding ride program once she was completed. Delays in the rebuild changed that and they elected to send the P-40 instead. Hope this helps
Jim