DIYbanter - View Single Post - P-51 Crash

bobm46

On 9/18/2011 8:38 PM, wrote:
On Sun, 18 Sep 2011 14:06:25 -0400, Tom Gardnermars@tacks wrote:

On 9/17/2011 5:42 PM, bobm46 wrote:
When I first heard about the crash I thought the plane was a refurbished
WW II standard P-51 and that it was being flown in a War bird
exhibition. I felt bad for the pilot, and for the people who died in the
crowd and for the loss of an historic aircraft.
Today (Sunday 09-18-11) I read an article in the paper about what
happened. It seems that the P-51 had been highly modified for greater
speed in an air race. One of the mod's was to remove 5 feet off of each
wing tip and to modify the edge of the remaining wing. Couple this with
the age of the pilot and the speed and g-forces involved and the chances
of a crash increase greatly.
To me it seems to have been bad judgment to make these mod's to an
aircraft of this vintage and history, and extremely bad judgment on the
part of the pilot to fly in the race.
I Still feel bad for the deaths and injuries to all those involved, but
also feel that it should have been avoided.

Planes in that category are like "King Arthur's Original Battle Axe" -
the handle has been replaced three times and the head twice.

Can you really say that age contributed to the accident? At what age
must people not be allowed to do things?
If what is assumed to have happened actually happened, 80 or 18 would
not make a significant difference - and as for the plane - calling it
a 194X P51 is stretching it - as large parts of the plane will have
been replaced, modified, and rebuilt several times over during it's
racing carreer. It's a bit like a funny car. It might LOOK like a 1982
Camaro - - - - - - - -. Or even a Nascar stocker. It might LOOK like a
Toyota Camry ___ _ _ _ _.

In the case of the plane it's a LITTLE different - because at one
point it actually WAS a P51 Mustang.

While it is true that many parts likely have been replaced from the
original plane the airframe is still that of a production P-51. I
suspect that had the original designers of the plane had been around
they would have been horrified at his modifications.

As to his age, just bear in mind that 74 is not 24. Reflexes do
deteriate with age. If this had anything to do with this tradegy cannot
be known as a certainty but it could have been a factor