http://www.pilotweb.aero Pilot April 2015 | 23
Beyond the PPL | Mustang Conversion
effect
rewards me
with a further
twitch to the left as the
tail rises, but I catch it with firmer
pressure still on the right pedal. The
Mustang now feels like a four-ton Pitts
special with acceleration to match, as we
tear along the tarmac. We’re at 100
knots as I ease the column a little farther
back to unstick.
Make sure the
throttle stays where
it is−did I remember
the friction?−and
then lean forward to
reach down for the
undercarriage lever,
bottom left of the cockpit:
pull it across and then up about
twenty degrees to raise the gear.
Greens go away, and the red light
extinguishing tells me gear is up and
doors closed. Throttle back to 42 inches,
prop back to 2700rpm, make a go/no go
decision with Ts and Ps as we arc into
the pattern around the airport at 150kt
and climbing hard. Yep; it’s a go, and I
am flying a Mustang.It all started with a novel
The story of why I took a type-rating
course on a Mustang began when I
completed a novel back in 2008. The
title, In Case of War Break Glass, was the
strap line applied to legendary Second
World War ace Robin Olds. He was said
to be half-man, half-horse (half-Mustang
if you like) and his legendary antics on
the ground as well as in the air
prompted some to say he should be
housed in a case in the Pentagon with
‘In Case of War Break Glass’ written
across it. My fictional character in the
book starts out flying a Spitfire, and as
part of the research I did two flights in a
two-seater. I wanted to put the reader
firmly at the controls of this aircraft:
how to start it, how to taxi it, how to fly