Old Wizard
2nd Lieutenant
eBay: North American P-51 Mustang
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Crimea_River
Marshal
Thanks for flipping it Wojtek Bugged me as well.
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Snautzer01
Honourably banned
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- Mar 26, 2007
78th Fighter Group P-51 Fighter Planes Lined Up; England 1943
Like that shot...
fubar57
General
Soooooooooooo many Mustangs. This is what I've found about that shot........."P-51D Mustangs, mostly from the 78th Fighter Group, in storage at Duxford Aerodrome, England, Summer 1945. Most of these aircraft were returned to the United States or used by USAFE units in Germany."
Old Wizard
2nd Lieutenant
johnbr
2nd Lieutenant
he flight-test program was progressing nicely when Vance Breese, who was a civilian freelance test pilot, handed the NA-73X over to NAA test pilot Paul Balfour. Breese made no secret of his low opinion of Balfour's abilities, even going as far as to make a bet that he would crash the NA-73X on his first flight. Unfortunately his prophecy proved correct. While on his first familiarization flight, Balfour crashed on approach to Mines Field on November 20, 1940. Part of the flight was to make a high-speed pass over Mines Field to test the NA-73X's speed between two timing points. After making the first high-speed pass, Balfour forgot to switch fuel tanks. After only being airborne for 12 minutes, the aircraft ran out of fuel and suddenly became a glider. Attempting to turn towards the active runway, Balfour lost height too quickly. With its undercarriage down, the NA-73X landed in a cultivated field and, on touching the soft ground, turned over on its back trapping Balfour in the cockpit. Luckily, the machine did not catchfire, giving his rescuers time to dig him out. With just 3 hours and 20 minutes flying time under its belt, the aircraft was seriously damaged and would not be back in the air until January 1941. Schmued attempted to brief Balfour on the takeoff and flight-test procedure before Balfour flew, but he refused to listen, saying that "one airplane was like another."
By the time the NA-73X returned to the air, the flight-test program had been handed over to Robert C. "Bob" Chilton, who would continue to test all variants of the P-51 during World War II. Chilton flew the fighter for the first time on April 3, 1941 and would fly the NA-73X on another 12 occasions. Only one other NAA test pilot is recorded as flying the NA-73X before the aircraft was grounded, namely Louis Wait.
While the NA-73X was being repaired, the RAF had come up with a name for the aircraft that would be adopted universally. Having considered the name "Apache" suggested by NAA, the RAF chose "Mustang." After the US entered World War II, many pilots flying the A-36 dive-bomber version of the airplane wanted to adopt the name "Apache" to set it apart from the fighter model, which was then known as the P-51. The name was unofficially adopted, but as US forces in western Europe progressed towards Italy the name "Invader" was also suggested for the A-36 when a 27th FBG (Fighter Bomber Group) pilot said "it keeps invading places." However, despite these unofficial names associated with the A-36, the aircraft was always officially known as a "Mustang."
The NA-73X continued to operate as part of the NAA's development program until July 15, 1941, when it was grounded indefinitely. It was destined to be the only prototype of the Mustang. The only other pre-production aircraft was a static-test airframe that is occasionally referred to as the XX-73. This served its purpose by being tested to destruction in January 1941 after the wing structure failed at a point 5 percent higher than the design load.
The ground-breaking prototype spent the remainder of its days at Inglewood before allegedly being donated to a school located near the NAA factory. Whatever the aircraft's fate, this innovative and beautiful machine eventually met an undignified end as scrap.
By the time the NA-73X returned to the air, the flight-test program had been handed over to Robert C. "Bob" Chilton, who would continue to test all variants of the P-51 during World War II. Chilton flew the fighter for the first time on April 3, 1941 and would fly the NA-73X on another 12 occasions. Only one other NAA test pilot is recorded as flying the NA-73X before the aircraft was grounded, namely Louis Wait.
While the NA-73X was being repaired, the RAF had come up with a name for the aircraft that would be adopted universally. Having considered the name "Apache" suggested by NAA, the RAF chose "Mustang." After the US entered World War II, many pilots flying the A-36 dive-bomber version of the airplane wanted to adopt the name "Apache" to set it apart from the fighter model, which was then known as the P-51. The name was unofficially adopted, but as US forces in western Europe progressed towards Italy the name "Invader" was also suggested for the A-36 when a 27th FBG (Fighter Bomber Group) pilot said "it keeps invading places." However, despite these unofficial names associated with the A-36, the aircraft was always officially known as a "Mustang."
The NA-73X continued to operate as part of the NAA's development program until July 15, 1941, when it was grounded indefinitely. It was destined to be the only prototype of the Mustang. The only other pre-production aircraft was a static-test airframe that is occasionally referred to as the XX-73. This served its purpose by being tested to destruction in January 1941 after the wing structure failed at a point 5 percent higher than the design load.
The ground-breaking prototype spent the remainder of its days at Inglewood before allegedly being donated to a school located near the NAA factory. Whatever the aircraft's fate, this innovative and beautiful machine eventually met an undignified end as scrap.
johnbr
2nd Lieutenant
Test pilot Robert C. Chilton with the North American Aviation prototype NA- 73X
Old Wizard
2nd Lieutenant
johnbr
2nd Lieutenant
One-half right front close-up view from slightly below of North American P-51B (F-51B) Mustang (s/n 43-12246; c/n 24694) in flight. Aircraft has markings of the Flight Test Squadron at Eglin Field, Florida, painted on the nose.
Old Wizard
2nd Lieutenant
Nice shot, John, but your source misidentified the aircraft - it's P-51A-10 43-6246. (Note the carb intake atop the cowl.)
Cheers,
Dana
fubar57
General
Good shots and catch. Did a reverse image search and 2 sites say the picture is from the Smithsonian Inst. collection and one says National Air and Space Museum
Indeed, Fubar,
The photographer was Hans Groenhoff, which sort of invalidates the Pete Bowers copyright that the Aerofiles site put on his copy photo.
Cheers,
Dana
johnbr
2nd Lieutenant
North American XP-51G Mustang
