Need a partner or 12 to buy a vehicle jointly.

[George Smolinski]

Can't quite come up with all the dough, so I'm looking for a few good men.😄

 

1945 NORTH AMERICAN P-51D MUSTANG “LITTLE REBEL” – $2,250,000 USD

Reading time: about 3 minutes.

• AMERICAN
•  
• MILITARY
•  
• PLANES

 

This is an original 1945 North American P-51D Mustang, it’s been comprehensively restored and it now has just 88 hours of air time since completed.

The asking price of $2,250,000 USD will put it out of reach of most of us, however there is a well-heeled faction of the petrolhead world made up of people who buy warbirds like this and fly them regularly for fun, racing, and public exhibition.

THE NORTH AMERICAN P-51D MUSTANG

Although many consider it the greatest American fighter of WWII and possibly the best American piston fighter of all time, the P-51D owes much of its existence to the Brits.

The project to build the Mustang was triggered by a request from the British Purchasing Commission for North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the British and Allied war effort before the United States joined the conflict.

The team at North American Aviation didn’t like the idea of building a plane designed by another manufacturer so instead they proposed a new, more advanced fighter design and the Brits signed off on it. Amazingly the design team headed by James Kindelberger rolled out their first prototype just 102 days later, and it first flew 52 days after that.

The early versions of the P-51 were powered by the Allison V-1710 engine which wasn’t capable of the kind of high altitude performance that was needed. Later versions received the British Rolls-Royce Merlin engine which vastly improved performance. The P-51D version received the Packard V-1650-7, a licensed version of the supercharged Merlin 66 – this is now widely thought to be the best iteration of the Mustang.

Over the course of WWII over 15,000 examples of the P-51 Mustang were built (across all variants), impressively some of them stayed in military service in some parts of the world well into the 1980s.

 

Above Image: The cockpit of the North American P-51D Mustang.

Today the surviving airworthy P-51s are highly sought after, and there’s a bustling global industry to provide them with parts, maintenance, and full restorations when needed. Prices range from under $1,000,000 for project planes in need of restorations to $2,000,000+ for aircraft like the one you see here that want for nothing and are ready to fly.

1945 NORTH AMERICAN P-51D MUSTANG “LITTLE REBEL”

The aircraft you see here is a restored 1945 North American P-51D Mustang that has been given the same livery as “Little Rebel” – a famous Mustang from the war that was piloted by legendary airman Buck Pattillo.

Cuthbert “Bill” Pattillo and his twin brother Charles “Buck” Pattillo flew in the US Army Air Corps during World War 2, piloting the P-40 Warhawk initially followed by the P-51D. Both men would later fly in the “Skyblazers” – USAF European Air Demonstration Team, as well as the 3600th Air Demonstration Team.

The two men would serve out their remarkable careers flying F4 Phantom jets in Vietnam. Buck flew 120 combat missions and Bill flew a staggering 230. The brothers were eventually promoted to the rank of General and they retired in the early 1980s.

This aircraft has a fuselage restored by Tri State Aviation with wings by Odegaard Wings, it’s powered by a Packard -1650-7 that was rebuilt by Jay Johnson with 500 series heads and banks, and Roush pistons.

Power is sent through a Hamilton Standard 24D50 and the interior has been restored to WWII specification. The aircraft has won a slew of awards including Best P-51 in 2009, Silver Wrench – Bob Baker in 2009, and Best of Class in 2010 – all at Airventure EAA Oshkosh.

If you’d like to read more about this plane or enquire about buying it you can click here to visit the listing on Platinum Fighters. It’s currently listed with a price of $2,250,000 USD.

Above Video: A full-length, hour long documentary about the P-51 Mustang.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Images courtesy of Platinum Fighters

[Bhigdog]

You'll just hurt yourself...........Bob

[46 woodie]

We built a lot of great planes in WWII, but a combination of a B-17 to drop the bombs and a P-51 as an escort, hastened the end of the war in Europe. What a great combo!! I can't imagine what the maintenance cost of keeping the P-51 in the air would be.

[edinmass]

The problem isn’t the price. It’s the talent to keep it from balling up into a pile of trash while flying it. You need a LOT of skill to fly that thing. I have a friend who has a bunch of warbirds..........flying the high end fighters is unforgiving. If you have to think with the stick in your hand......your dead. Nice plane.

Edited August 5, 2021 by edinmass (see edit history)

[Robert G. Smits]

When I was in Medical School at the University of Iowa (1962-1966) a individual from West Branch flew one on week ends when the weather was nice.  At that time the gasoline cost was reportedly $100-125/hour.

[Bhigdog]

12 hours ago, Robert G. Smits said:

When I was in Medical School at the University of Iowa (1962-1966) a individual from West Branch flew one on week ends when the weather was nice.  At that time the gasoline cost was reportedly $100-125/hour.

A P-51 typicly burns about 65 gph at cruise. 100 oct avgas now averages about $5 gal. A P-51 uses 140 oct. I have no idea of the cost or availabilty these days. 

You do the  math.......bob

Edited August 5, 2021 by Bhigdog (see edit history)

[George Smolinski]

56 minutes ago, 46 woodie said:

We built a lot of great planes in WWII, but a combination of a B-17 to drop the bombs and a P-51 as an escort, hastened the end of the war in Europe. What a great combo!! I can't imagine what the maintenance cost of keeping the P-51 in the air would be.

My dad & anyone else who flew the B24 would beg to differ with you on the B17. True it's the plane that got glorified in TV and movies. The 24 was just the workhorse of the bombers. Far greater load capacity & I think greater range as well.

[Gary_Ash]

Through the Collings Foundation, I got a chance to fly in a dual-control P-51 Mustang.  As a licensed pilot, I was given the chance to take the controls.  While I flew some routines, the Collings pilot flew us through loops and rolls that I couldn’t do.    My stomach could only take just so many rolls, then I begged for relief.  But, it was a lot of fun and a very special experience.  

 

Me in the cockpit.  

 

The dual-control P-51. 

 

 

 

 

[Larry Schramm]

1 hour ago, 46 woodie said:

 I can't imagine what the maintenance cost of keeping the P-51 in the air would be.

 

Way out of my area of comprehension of available cash.

[prewarnut]

I sat in one when I was 7 and there was one less 0 in the price tag. My father's friend restored/owned one in central CT. I remember looking through the airplane classifieds in the '80s when spare engines were $20K, etc. A very sexy plane.

[Brass is Best]

If you have to ask how much it costs to operate you don't buy it. But man it looks like a lot of fun!

 

Edited August 5, 2021 by Brass is Best (see edit history)

[Str8-8-Dave]

My 2 stories RE: P51D...

 

My late brother Al was an airplane nut starting with RC model planes before the transistor was perfected which meant a model that weighed as much as a real airplane because the receiver in the airplane was vacuum tube and required a 45volt dry cell battery to run the plates in the tubes.  His frustration with early RC model planes then led to an interest in electronics, then ham radio, then as life went by a degree in electrical engineering from Purdue and a career at Ford Motor.  Later he got his pilot's license, bought a Piper Cherokee Chief, got his instruments rating and was off to the races.  Later he sold the Piper and went partners with a U of M professor in a conventional tail Beechcraft which he got to use weekends and holidays, the good professor wanted it for business during the week.  Al flew his family all over the country in that plane, flying as far as Spokane from Detroit and often to Oshkosh airshows.  A business acquaintance became a friend, Jack Roush who owned a couple of P51D's.  Al bought a Sonnerai kit plane and worked on it nights and weekends for years.  Jack did some of the air frame welding personally.  Al's dream was to own a P51D of his own at some point but alas- life got in the way.    Al equipped the Sonnerai, which was designed for VW power, to a real Continental 4 cylinder aircraft engine.  The Continental weighed more than the VW engine and part of the required modifications to the Sonnerai was addition of some ballast in the tail to offset the additional weight of the Continental and restore the design center of gravity.  On November 24, 1995 Al was doing some high speed taxi testing at Willow Run Airport when the Sonnerai decided to take off unexpectedly.  Al made the mistake of trying to fly it and it turned out to be a tail dragger, too much ballast had been added to the tail.  He struggled to control it but it went into a fatal stall and the resultant crash killed him.

 

That's a sad family story but here's something a little lighter. 

 

My driver's ed teacher in high school was an old guy named Arthur Halloran.  Mr. Halloran and I had a special relationship as he was also my metal shop teacher and he liked me because unlike so many kids that came to his class I actually came to that class to learn something about metalworking.  Many kids wound up there to fill there schedule because they couldn't cut the mainstream academics of high school.  I wound up rebuilding a 10inch Clausing lathe and after making the required ball peen hammer and depth gauge projects built a working single cylinder double acting steam engine.  

 

By the time I took my driver's training Mr. Halloran had taught my older sister Diane and brother Al to drive and lived to tell about it so I knew he had a knack for teaching kids to drive.  The driver's ed cars were 1966 Dodge Diplomats equipped with 318 2bbl engines and torqueflite automatics.  The fact he did so with only a seat belt and a second brake pedal on his side of the car was not lost on me.  My most memorable trip with Mr. Halloran was the last day of driving during which I and 2 little 16yr old tiny girls had to drive on the freeway which consisted of merging on from an entrance ramp, driving a few miles in freeway traffic, then merging off.  The girls were scared to death, the first barely getting to 35mph at the bottom of the ramp.  Mr. Halloran was hollering "Faster, faster- you'll get us all killed!"  I had to sit in the back seat while the ladies got their turn.  Finally it was my turn.  I pointed the Dodge down the ramp, put my left turn signal on and floored it.  I hit the bottom of the ramp at around 80mph which was just slightly faster than the traffic was moving on a 70mph limit piece of I-94.  I merged smoothly into traffic, adjusted my speed and turned off the turn signal.  Mr. Halloran had a big smile on his face and looked over the seat back at the girls and said "Now that's how you get onto the freeway." 

 

So some time later I asked Mr. Halloran, "How is it you are able to sit in a driver's ed car with only a brake pedal to get you out of jam if some kid makes a would be fatal mistake- doesn't it make you nervous?"   Mr. Halloran slid open the glass door of the bookcase above his desk and pulled out a copy of Who's Who in America, cracked it open and there he was- standing with some youngster in front of a P51D Mustang at Pensacola Airbase.  He just said "When you teach kids how to fly America's first 400mph fighter for awhile, teaching kids how to drive a car isn't so bad..."

 

My brother Al...

[hidden_hunter]

I do wonder how comparable the CAC kangaroo would have been to the p51 if they had used the Merlin/packard rather than delaying for different engines (and being obsolete to jets by the time it was ready) 

 

About 5 miles from here was where they initially made CKD mustangs before being made primarily of local components

[Str8-8-Dave]

15 hours ago, George Smolinski said:

The 24 was just the workhorse of the bombers. Far greater load capacity & I think greater range as well.

So my dad graduated with a degree in aeronautical engineering from Lawrence Institute in 1932, took a first job with Phillips Petroleum in Bartlesville, Oklahoma blowing up 500 gallon propane tanks in the desert (burst testing), then got picked up by U of M Scientific where he patented the first practical rotary mount for ground based aircraft radar for the US, then got picked up by Ford Motor Experimental Bay 8 at the old Ford Airport in Dearborn, MI.  By that time the Willow Run bomber plant was spitting out B-24s and one got flown into the Ford Airport to install the first Sperry ball turret.  After a month or so cobbling the turret onto the belly of the plane it was time to send it back to Willow run from whence it would be dispatched to the Lake Michigan Gunnery Range to test the new turret and get it certified and signed off for production.  The Ford flight engineer weighed the 24 when it arrived, and again after the ball turret was installed and determined the plane now weighed about 6500 lbs more than it did when it came in.  Based on that and knowing the Ford runway was barely long enough for 24 takeoffs BEFORE the turret was added he ordered the fuel tanks be reduced to about 400 gallons of fuel (fumes for a 24), upped the prop governor settings from standard 2800 rpm to 3000 rpm and had the manifold pressure on the Pratt & Whitney radial engines raised from 45 inches of water to 60 inches of water.  The flight engineer had the airplane backed by hand against the back fence of the runway, turned the rudder all the way to one side to allow another couple of feet and had a bunch of guys hold the tail against the fence until the engines were warmed and run up. Everyone held their breath when the test pilot dumped the propeller pitch in and the plane lumbered off the very end of the runway at Oakwood Blvd just clearing the chimney on the Dearborn Inn on the other side of Oakwood but it safely landed a few minutes later 20 miles away at Willow Run.    

[SC38dls]

After the war they were scrapping these and Corsairs. I’ve been told you could get one for $600 back then. But that was a lot of money back then. 

[Paul Dobbin]

The first picture in Georges post the P51 looked to be sufferign from Dwarfism.   Wrong lens used and the angle made me think it was a homebuilt.  Thanks for the additional pictures.

[JamesR]

16 hours ago, Gary_Ash said:

Through the Collings Foundation, I got a chance to fly in a dual-control P-51 Mustang.  As a licensed pilot, I was given the chance to take the controls....

 

It seems like there are many AACA forum and club members who are pilots. I've heard several references over the last few days/weeks.

 

I'm kind of surprised that the Mustang isn't even more money than it is. Very nice plane.

[46 woodie]

Gary, I'm so jealous of you. My dream is to go up in a P-51. I have been up in the B-25, "Miss Barbie III" and the ill fated B-17, the "9-0-9". It made me sick when I heard that the "9-0-9" crashed in Boston, killing several people. I also belong to the Collings Foundation and might try to visit their museum this summer on my way up to Maine. If I do get the chance to go up in a P-51, I'll be sure to bring a barf bag.

[Bhigdog]

2 hours ago, JamesR said:

 

It seems like there are many AACA forum and club members who are pilots.

 

Old cars, airplanes, and boats. Money pits every one. See the connection? I'd add "fancy" ladies but just like with the P-51 the geezers here would just hurt ourselves..............Bob

 

Edited August 5, 2021 by Bhigdog (see edit history)

[1935Packard]

Classic car events with classic airplanes are the best:  The cars and planes look great together, and we car collectors look so eminently reasonable for the inexpensive and practical hobby, at least by comparison.

[SC38dls]

I’ve owned 3 wooden boats, a 25 foot, a 32 foot, and a 42foot. All a lot of work for a short amount of useage time on Lake Michigan in Chicago. I am a pilot but was in a flying club, don’t fly any more. I have the old car. Flying was a ball especially low and slow. The old car is just as much fun but I just want to go fast in it!

dave s 

[trimacar]

6 hours ago, JamesR said:

 

It seems like there are many AACA forum and club members who are pilots. I've heard several references over the last few days/weeks.

 

I'm kind of surprised that the Mustang isn't even more money than it is. Very nice plane.

I was a pilot, low and slow, loved it.  Had a Champ for a while, the ultimate for watching the scenery go by.  Loved the air and freedom, nothing like it. For personal reasons gave it up, but miss it a lot.  Flying a small plane in beautiful country has no boring moments.

[Michael J. Barnes]

A really gripping read is chapter 2 of Sebastian Faulks’ “The Fatal Englishman.” Deals with a decorated WWII English pilot, Richard Hillary. Gripping and a hard read because it describes injuries (burnings) as well as death. During the Battle of Britain it was Messerschmidts vs. Spitfires. During the bombing of London Churchill asked his Air Vice Marshal how many planes they still had in the air and Park answered, “None, Sir.”  The Brits ran out of pilots before they ran out of planes. Life expectancy: near zero.

[Steve_Mack_CT]

Prewar nut, interesting coincidence.  Since we are both from same hometown, HS pal's dad was a partner but it was a trainer, not a fighter from WWII.  Still... Never got a ride but one day they had the crankshaft from the engine undergoing rebuild at his house for some reason, I remember it was about five feet long!  His dad had a TR-6 as well. An interesting combo.  

[bryankazmer]

7 minutes ago, Michael J. Barnes said:

A really gripping read is chapter 2 of Sebastian Faulks’ “The Fatal Englishman.” Deals with a decorated WWII English pilot, Richard Hillary. Gripping and a hard read because it describes injuries (burnings) as well as death. During the Battle of Britain it was Messerschmidts vs. Spitfires. During the bombing of London Churchill asked his Air Vice Marshal how many planes they still had in the air and Park answered, “None, Sir.”  The Brits ran out of pilots before they ran out of planes. Life expectancy: near zero.

Try also "For your Freedom and Ours," the story of the Polish 303rd Squadron.  The RAF trained pilots to angle across an enemy's path and rake them.  The Polish pilots flew head on, opened up at short range, then pulled up hard to avoid exploding pieces of Bf 109.

[Flivverking]

Find a Curtiss JN "Jenny " biplane and board it in Connecticut and pay for my pilot training /license and I'll kick in 6,ooo or 7,ooo grand.

Oh yeah! You pay for all the maintenance .😀