What's the best inexpensive way to get a ride in a P-51?

My dream ever since I was a kid was, and still is to get a ride in a Mustang. I know there is always the option of paying 2 or 3 grand to ride in one, but unless a person has a lot of disposable income, that's a lot to pay for a ride. I was thinking of maybe contacting someone who owns one and offering to do some plane related work for him, and then, sometime when he plans on flying the plane anyway and will have an empty back seat, seeing if he could just take me along. Doesn't matter where he's going, I'd just be along for the ride. Do you know of anyone who has done something similar?

The sad truth is that 2 to 3 grand is about what it costs to take off and land a Mustang.

Good luck! If you crack the code on that please let me know before the masses!


Cheers,
Biff

On a related but not identical issue I often had people wanting to use my bike on a race practice day. Some were even generous enough to offer to pay for the petrol, as if petrol was the biggest expense. All of them had their own bikes which they could have ridden any time and a race practice day (actually two hours) cost £15 or about $20. What they were actually saying is "I want to ride on a race track, but I would like to crash your bike instead of mine, for the price of a few gallons of petrol".

I actually did let the guy who did our driving take my bike out as me on my last race that year, he did a few laps in practice and then raced. I watched him and from what I saw he did well but when he came back to the pits he was devastated when he found out he was eighteenth. I finished third then second in the first two races and he was convinced he was going so fast he must have been seventh or eighth at worst.

Grampi, if that is your dream you must save up and do it or you will regret it.

Inexpensive way to get a ride in a P-51? Maybe this?

https://www.pinterest.com/pin// View: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/289145238556947904/visual-search/?x=16&y=16&w=530&h=530

That's funny and cruel at the same time. I don't know whether to laugh or cry.....

pbehn said:

The sad truth is that 2 to 3 grand is about what it costs to take off and land a Mustang.

Click to expand...

True, but if the pilot is going to be flying the plane anyway, why not let someone tag along in the back seat? I'm sure even the guys that charge for rides fly their planes other than just to give rides.

I just found out some bad news today, but in order for it to make sense, I'll need to go back to about 5 years ago.

Lewis University Airport is located right next to my office. For several years, me and some other people at worked always enjoyed the occasional flight of a locally owned P-51. His hanger was visible from our parking lot and one day I saw him and his Mustang out in front of the hanger. I drove over in my car and parked near the hanger next to his. I approached the pilot who was doing a preflight inspection. I introduced myself and told him I worked next door, and that my top bucket list item was riding in a P-51. He asked for my phone number and said he'd call me the next time he was going to fly and I could along with him. About 2 weeks later, he called and said he was flying in about 2 hours. Unfortunately, I was doing maintenance at another airport and couldn't get away at the time. I never heard from him again, and we hadn't seen his Mustang flying in and out of the airport for about the last 3 years.

I couldn't remember his last name, but I remember his first name was Vlado, so I did some research. Sadly, what I found was this;

Burr Ridge pilot killed in Kansas plane crash

He apparently sold the blue nose Mustang he had when I met him, and was flying this other one when the crash occurred. It sounds like he was very well known, and had a lot of stick time in the Mustang. News like this just makes me sick...

I've exchanged paintwork on a Cessna, for dual instruction.

In a Piper Cherokee .

Blackmail?

I'm sorry to say that the list of people waiting for that 'inexpensive ride' is long, and likely includes a number of close personal friends of the owner higher on the list than you will ever be.

I've only got the Tiger Moth and Nanchang, but I have a list of people who I want to take flying that I'll likely never get through, and most of these people have offered to cost share. There just isn't enough time (or money) to take everyone.

The lowest cost way I can think of is to buy a P-51 in flying condition, take a ride in it, and then sell it for more than you paid for it.

I recall an advertisement in Flying magazine in 1969: "P-51D in flying condition for sale. Includes spare Merlin engine. Asking $18,000."

Shucks, I bought my Ercoupe in 1989 and it was $8000 then. Today it'd cost about as much as that P-51D in 1969.

One day 20 years go or so I flew over to Kissimmee airport and visited with friends. I cranked up and taxied down to the end of the runway for takeoff. The TF-51 Crazy Horse was sitting there, doing a run-up. I did a run-up, too. There we were, two natural aluminum airplanes, one made I guess in 1945 and one made in Feb 1946, canopies open, engines ticking over. Pretty cool. I guess that's my "ride in a Mustang."