OT: P-51D down in Camarillo

[Tandem46]

http://www.venturacountystar.com/new...o-plane-crash/

[jtrusso]

There has to be something amiss in that story, a student pilot making his first solo in a P-51 Mustang?

-John
Dreaming of building an RV....someday

[tonyjohnson]

If I read this correctly, this guy took his primary instruction and first solo in a P51. That is wild.

A very tragic event.

[J5Cub]

Originally Posted by tonyjohnson

If I read this correctly, this guy took his primary instruction and first solo in a P51. That is wild.

A very tragic event.

Down the page there are some comments by the locals that the guy was a licensed pilot and that he had taken about 30 hours of transition training in the P-51. It was his first solo in the P-51, not his first solo.

[rocketbob]

The story is he was getting checked out by Matt Jackson, and that was his first solo landing after Matt turned him loose. He was not a student pilot. After trying to go-around after a bounced landing the pilot torque rolled it. Matt is a well-known P-51 checkout instructor. I have a few friends who know him well and got their LOA's (now type ratings) from him. He is highly regarded as a Mustang instructor.

Regards,
Bob Japundza
RV-6 flying F1 under const.
Part-time mustang mechanic

[Bob Axsom]

I wonder if this is the one Barry Schiff flew as written up in the latest AOPA Pilot. This is not an unheard of occurrence. When I was stationd at K-2 AB the ROK AF were flying P-51Ds and they would approach the field in a four plane echelon formation and break left for individual in-trail landings. These were somewhat experienced P-51 (they were called F-51s by this time). One day as I was going to the transmitter shack the same thing happened bounced landing plane rolled over on its back totaling plane and pilot.

From a slightly different perspective - Yesterday I was at Wichita and we were sitting around waiting for the race results to be computed. I was talking to one of the older pilots (I'm 70 so I know older when I see it). He was in the Army Air Corps in 1944. I had seen him at Fargo, ND where there was a race in 2002. They have a fine museum there and they give rides in a Mustang. When asked how it was, he said "It was a lot slower than I remember". Later in his 37 year Air Force career he was an SR-71 pilot.

Bob Axsom

[az_gila]

Originally Posted by Bob Axsom

I wonder if this is the one Barry Schiff flew as written up in the latest AOPA Pilot. .....
Bob Axsom

No ...different camouflage scheme.... gil A

[DaX]

The plane that went down was the "Lou IV"

[Ron Lee]

He applied power too quickly and prop torque rolled the plane enough to cause the crash?

[Mike_ExpressCT]

Originally Posted by ronlee

He applied power too quickly and prop torque rolled the plane enough to cause the crash?

If you get a chance to look into it, the takeoff in the P-51 is normally done at way less than full power. From what I remember, you begin the takeoff roll with a certain manifold pressure setting, and adjust it up slowly as airspeed increases because at slow speeds the torque from the engine is too much for the rudder. So if this student panicked and just shoved the throttle wide open, he probably wouldn't be able to control it.