Maybe you have to be a pilot to understand part of this, maybe you have to be an old pilot to understand the magic of the P-51. Maybe not because it's not really about the airplane anyway. Old Aviators and Old Airplanes..... This is a good little story about a vivid memory of a P-51 and its pilot by a fellow who was 12 years old in Canada in 1967. You may know a few others who would appreciate it. It was noon on a Sunday as I recall, the day a Mustang P-51 was to take to the air. They said it had flown in during the night from some U.S. airport, the pilot had been tired. I marveled at the size of the plane dwarfing the Pipers and Canucks tied down by her. It was much larger than in the movies. She glistened in the sun like a bulwark of security from days gone by. The pilot arrived by cab, paid the driver, and then stepped into the flight lounge. He was an older man; his wavy hair was gray and tossed. Looked like it might have been combed, say, around the turn of the century. His flight jacket was checked, creased and worn - it smelled old and genuine. Old Glory was prominently sewn to its shoulders. He projected a quiet air of proficiency and pride devoid of arrogance. He filed a quick flight plan to Montreal (Expo-67, Air Show) then walked across the tarmac. After taking several minutes to perform his walk-around check the pilot returned to the flight lounge to ask if anyone would be available to stand by with fire extinguishers while he "flashed the old bird up. Just to be safe." Though only 12 at the time I was allowed to stand by with an extinguisher after brief instruction on its use -- "If you see a fire, point, then pull this lever!" I later became a firefighter, but that's another story. The air around the exhaust manifolds shimmered like a mirror from fuel fumes as the huge prop started to rotate. One manifold, then another, and yet another barked -- I stepped back with the others. In moments the Packard-built Merlin engine came to life with a thunderous roar, blue flames knifed from her manifolds. I looked at the others' faces, there was no concern. I lowered the bell of my extinguisher. One of the guys signaled to walk back to the lounge. We did. Several minutes later we could hear the pilot doing his pre flight run-up. He'd taxied to the end of runway 19, out of sight. All went quiet for several seconds; we raced from the lounge to the second story deck to see if we could catch a glimpse of the P-51 as she started down the runway. We could not. There we stood, eyes fixed to a spot half way down 19. Then a roar ripped across the field, much louder than before, like a furious hell spawn set loose---something mighty this way was coming. "Listen to that thing!" said the controller. In seconds the Mustang burst into our line of sight. Its tail was already off and it was moving faster than anything I'd ever seen by that point on 19. Two-thirds the way down 19 the Mustang was airborne with her gear going up. The prop tips were supersonic; we clasped our ears as the Mustang climbed hellish fast into the circuit to be eaten up by the dog-day haze. We stood for a few moments in stunned silence trying to digest what we'd just seen. The radio controller rushed by me to the radio. " Kingston tower calling Mustang?" He looked back to us as he waited for an acknowledgment. The radio crackled, "Go ahead Kingston." "Roger Mustang. Kingston tower would like to advise the circuit is clear for a low level pass." I stood in shock because the controller had, more or less, just asked the pilot to return for an impromptu air show! The controller looked at us. "What?" He asked. "I can't let that guy go without asking. I couldn't forgive myself!" The radio crackled once again, "Kingston, do I have permission for a low level pass, east to west, across the field?" "Roger Mustang, the circuit is clear for an east to west pass." "Roger, Kingston, I'm coming out of 3000 feet, stand by." We rushed back onto the second-story deck, eyes fixed toward the eastern haze. The sound was subtle at first, a high-pitched whine, a muffled screech, a distant scream. Moments later the P-51 burst through the haze. Her airframe straining against positive Gs and gravity, wing tips spilling contrails of condensed air, prop-tips again supersonic as the burnished bird blasted across the eastern margin of the field shredding and tearing the air. At about 400 mph and 150 yards from where we stood she passed with the old American pilot saluting. Imagine. A salute! I felt like laughing, I felt like crying, she glistened, she screamed, the building shook, my heart pounded. Then the old pilot pulled her up and rolled, and rolled, and rolled out of sight into the broken clouds and indelibly into my memory. I've never wanted to be an American more than on that day. It was a time when many nations in the world looked to America as their big brother, a steady and even-handed beacon of security who navigated difficult political water with grace and style; not unlike the pilot who'd just flown into my memory. He was proud, not arrogant, humble, not a braggart, old and honest, projecting an aura of America at its best. That America will return one day, I know it will. Until that time, I'll just send off this story; call it a reciprocal salute, to the old American pilot who wove a memory for a young Canadian that's lasted a lifetime. ( Forward to your Pilot Friends)
Pretty cool! My grandfather was a pilot he owned a "Bonanza" underbody winged airplane. I will never forget goin up with him.
Thank you. That about made me cry. I still have pride in the hope of America. It's gonna be a long road back. Mac
There's nothing quite like the sound of a piston aircraft, either in the radial configuration like the B-17's, B-24's and B-29's had, or the big-ass V blocks such as the P-51's had. I've been working on Aircraft for 20 years now, and after being stationed at Nellis AFB for 3 years, everyday was like an airshow. However I'd always perk up just a little bit when I heard the rumblings of a piston engine in the air. Great story, brings back memories of my own. Thanks for posting it!!!
In America, old men with canes and walkers play with war planes as a hobby. And other countries have the huevos to play games with us? Every weekend some cool old bird flys over the house, P-51s, B-17, B-24, OV-10 Bronco's, even a few Migs. Where else can private CITIZENS have these cool toys.
You are absolutely correct. At present there are 21 MiG's in the USA (or more correctly, there are 21 with assigned "N" numbers). In fact there are three Mig-29's privately owned in the USA. The only catch to owning cool toys is money. Somehow I don't think a MiG-29 would be quite as fuel efficient as a VFR, but wooo-HOOOOO what a rush! The FAA has a cool web site that allows searching fro registered aircraft by make, model, tail number, etc. It's at this page: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/ Mac and Doug, you are welcome. Glad you enjoyed it. Believe me in that I can relate to the feelings. There is a guy here in Nashville that owns a P-51D and I've seen it fly a number of times. I can hear it coming from miles away and it is an unmistakeable sound. I haven't seen it in a couple of years though, he may have sold it. Dan, I've got a few hours in a Bonanza but not many. They are cool planes and were the chioce of the "Doctor / Lawyer" clan when I was flying. I flew one up to somewhere in Kentucky once, can't remember where now, but it was a fun plane to fly.
I fly for a living as a medical crew member. I get to land at several smaller airports in two states. I have seen a large number of Freedom machines from days gone by. I was not alive when they ruled the air, but am very impressed with their size and power and beauty. I also have had the priveledge to meet some of the men who manned those machines during their glory days. We owe them our freedom, and our thanks.
I got to work at air museum in calgary and the when the ottowa Lancaster came in we got to welcome them(there's flew, ours did not. but we helped them with parts and such) But wow, 4 merlin engines. Nothing will ever, ever match that. Nothing will even come close. And during the air show the Lancaster looked more like a fighter they way it flew..blew me away.
Goose bumps, great read, thanks... yes I know just what that is all about there's a 51D here at our local airport sounds like no other, damn what a plane. Yes those dudes had more balls than I ever will, even thou I'm a pilot, it would have been a lot of fun growing up in that time line when aviation was going berserk..
As I recall reading about the P-51, you couldn't just shove the throttle to max during take-off- the engine had so much power the torque would cause the nose to swing around regardless of rudder input. You had to advance the throttles carefully until airborne. I'm in the Navy and get to go play on a carrier in a couple of weeks for a short det. A lot of the people I work with hate going to the "boat" but I love it. Where else can you kneel down on floating airport that "steams" faster than any other military ship , less then three feet from a Super Hornet in tension (read: AFTERBURNER!) waiting for that plane to go 0-200 Knots in less than 3 seconds? I have the qualification to perform low power engine run ups (80% N2) and that's a blast too. If I didn't have other qualifications to work on high power Qual (burners!) would be next. Marshmallows anyone
It's at this page: http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/ Page works. My N-700RV is listed! It's not a P-51, but it's pretty cool anyway.
