long range required to escort
bombers during WWII was
achieved at relatively low
airspeed and with the addition
of huge papier mâché (yes) drop
tanks. 2,000 miles plus was
possible, but today we would be
looking for somewhere to land
after 750 miles.
When I’m enjoying myself the
clock seems to run faster, and
before I know it I’m running in
along the runway at 1,000ft and
pulling into a two-G break at
220kt, dropping two stages of
flap in the turn then waiting for
150kt to lower the gear... and
waiting, and waiting. Ah yes; if
I put the prop up to 2,700rpm at
26 inches of manifold, the speed
washes back faster. On late
downwind I lower the gear, set
four degrees right rudder in case
we have to go around, do the
checks and make a big, curving
approach to final, letting the
speed come back ten knots at a
time, and lowering the last three
stages of flap bit by bit. On final
I’m at 110kt, slowing to 100
over the hedge, bleeding the
power back and gently rotating
into tail-down ‘wheeler’
attitude−I don’t do anything
abrupt, but keep that nose dead
straight down the runway with
little jabs on the rudder. The
Mustang drops the last few
inches onto the runway and I
slowly lower the tail, again not
too fast because tilting the
propeller will precess the nose
to the right, and we’ll swing.
Gentle breaking now, and as
we slow to walking speed I exit
the runway and crank that
canopy open. We’ve used most
of the 5,000ft runway but could
have put it down on 3,000ft,
working the brakes. And again,
that impression returns; it really
does feel like flying a four-ton
Pitts Special.finding all the ways that a
Mustang can depart controlled
flight. That laminar-flow wing
isn’t at its best below about
120kt and the onset of light
buffet kicks in almost as soon as
I load it up. Drop two stages of
flap and the wing behaves like
one with a normal airfoil
again−the buffet disappears
and I can pull hard round a
turn. Limiting speed for the first
stage is an almost unbelievable
345 knots, and it’s 245 for stage
two. In a dogfight the P-51 pilot
would have his hand on the flap
lever as much as the throttle.
At high speed the controls
stiffen up, but it’s manageable.
A Spitfire remains light in pitch
at high speed but the ailerons
get heavy, to the detriment of
control harmony. In a Mustang
the forces stay balanced, and
long, slow aileron rolls, massive
loops and wide barrel rolls are
the best fun. At one stage during
the course I dived to 320kt then
pulled in to the vertical and
rolled on my back, ending up
3,000ft higher and pulling into a
spontaneous kind of ‘half-
Cubanesque’ manoeuvre. It felt
great! Engine-out, the Mustang
has a relatively good gide ratio
of 12:1, and its aerodynamic
slipperiness is noticeable−as
soon as the nose drops below
the horizon, the ASI starts
needle starts to move faster than
the altimeter, all the way up to
the Vne of 440kt (505mph or
Mach 0.7, if you prefer).
It’s easy to become a
performance snob in a Mustang.
Going from A to B is a
predictably high speed affair: at
5,000ft I set 37 inches manifold,
2,300rpm and drop the mixture
lever back into auto lean, which
saves ten per cent on fuel
consumption but shouldn’t be
used at high
power. This
setting gives 63
US gallons per
hour at 250kt.
Climb higher
and you can
run at 360kt if
you want, but
you’ll be
gulping down
the gas at
chuffing
nearly
100gph! TheI want another go! Bob with P-51 Crazy Horse28 | Pilot April 2015 http://www.pilotweb.aero