another cool Mustang

skyhawka4m

skyhawka4m

Charter Member
284df8d1n51mr.JPG
 
Very nice! I have had a long interest in those civilian-era schemes - some far better in looks than others. Most civlian schemes from the period of the 60's/70's, had a very similar kayout to this one, with variations to the chosen colors.

Despite being an Inglewood-manufactured P-51D-25-NA, it looks to have been fitted with a Dallas canopy in its civilian life. Also, you can spot a grey-circle on the aircraft's rear fuselage. This was a handle to open the cargo-hold - a common modification on Mustangs to fit with their civilian role in the 60's and 70's. You can still find these civilian modifications today on a few Mustangs, despite being painted in military schemes.

Unfortunately this aircraft hasn't seen much action since the 80's, and has been under long-term storage/restoration for about the past two decades, having crashed on takeoff in 1989.
 
I doubt A2A will be releasing theirs in the near future. Granted I hope they do as well (been waiting on that one myself for awhile!). They certaintly have a full plate over there that is for sure, and been waiting for Scott to release his all around update. Either way I like that paint scheme, and have been trying to think of a private paint job to put on her when she comes out. That one may be the new base for what I wind up doing now. All we can do is wait. As a side note with the luggage compartment; wouldn't that interfere with the flight control cables for the elevator/rudder? On the H-60 are cables just free float in the tail cone. I wouldn't imagine the P-51 being much different, so I would think that is a pretty small compartment.
 
With the interest in a paint scheme like this, would there be any interest in the proper models to display these schemes? (Tuck n' roll upholstery interiors matching the exterior paint, retro avionics/cockpit mods, baggage compartment that could be accessed, and of course all within the most accurate P-51D visual model.) This has been something I have been wanting to do for a while now, but figured there wouldn't be much of a market for it.

The baggage compartment in the fuselage, if seperate, was also complemented by the extra space behind the rear-seat, which could be tilted forward to throw extra supplies/baggage behind it. In some cases however, the exterior baggage door hatch simply opened to this space behind the back-seat. I seem to recall hearing of a few Mustang pilots carrying a spare tailwheel in that area. With the 85-gal fuselage tank gone, there is quite a lot of space behind the pilot, as those who have purchased any of the Warbirdsim P-51D warbird products would know first-hand.
 
Interesting about that compartment. Didn't know in civilian versions they removed the 85 gallon tank. Does make sense though. I really doubt we will see any kind of modern avionics packages in A2A aircraft, and I do not blame them for not including them. I really like the experience I get when flying their planes. Granted it would be cool to have a decked out leather seat, well done interior, and maybe even a radio to listen to tunes while flying (yes I know illegal in RL, but still cool none the less!). I do like the chromed out exhaust pipes as well.
 
Another cool retro scheme that I thought I would share. This is one of a number of old Mustang photos I have hanging on the walls of my 'office'. The photo was taken at Oshkosh, 1970, and despite the civilian nature of the aircraft, it still had the military-stock relief tube installed at the time (note the tube extending from the bottom of the fuselage, just in front of the rudder - a detail I expect Warbirdsim P-51D owners to recognize :) ).

Today, this airframe flies as "Little Horse". The colors were dark and mid-shades of burgundy on white, with chromed Hamilton Standard square-tip props.

Mustang_N5423V-2.jpg
 
Roadburner440 said:
Interesting about that compartment. Didn't know in civilian versions they removed the 85 gallon tank. Does make sense though.
Click to expand...

Through Warbirdsim's P-51D Restored products, you can crawl around and see all of the modifications done to remove the military equipment and install a rear seat - a lot more than just the fuselage tank was removed. It involved removing the radio units, the battery, and the trays that held them, the fuselage fuel tank and the balsa wood wedges that held it rigid, the phenolic liners at the forward and rear of the fuselage tank, the armor plate and the armor plate bracket assemblies, and the cross-beams that were directly behind the armor plate. The canopy framing structural brace also had to be removed. The seat mounting assembly was modified as well, so that it could fold forward, allowing easier access to the back. All of this is recreated as shown by these two screenshots:

Image10-4.jpg


Image7-6.jpg
 
Very cool, Naki, thank you for sharing that image! I had never seen a photo of that particular airframe before it came under the hands of Weeks. It is interesting to see it still sporting armor plate and spine-antenna, with likely more original military equipment still installed internally.
 
they are a bit old, but here's a few pics old civilian paints I did for the A2A model:

the Mobil Mustang:
5692.jpg


N5471V:
5666.jpg


and N5412V:
8210.jpg


this last one was done for Dudley Henriques, as the aircraft once 'touched his life'.
He tells the story very well here.
I think these paints are still in the archive here on the outhouse.
 
jankees said:
they are a bit old, but here's a few pics old civilian paints I did for the A2A model:

the Mobil Mustang:
5692.jpg


N5471V:
5666.jpg


and N5412V:
8210.jpg


this last one was done for Dudley Henriques, as the aircraft once 'touched his life'.
He tells the story very well here.
I think these paints are still in the archive here on the outhouse.
Click to expand...

nice
 
Roadburner440 said:
...and maybe even a radio to listen to tunes while flying (yes I know illegal in RL, but still cool none the less!).
Click to expand...

Illegal in real life? Nope, it's not illegal at all. In my RV-8 I have XM Weather/Radio coming through my Garmin 496 plus an MP3 player backup... listening to XM radio while flying is a beautiful thing, especially while out on a long cross-country. And I quite like doing a bit of yanking and banking while listening to the Foo Fighters "Learn to Fly"!
 
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