Stallion 51 Flight of a Lifetime, Part II: P-51 Mustang Aerobatics and Landing

This is Part II of my flight in the P-51 Mustang, “Crazy Horse”, from the Stallion 51 headquarters in Kissimmee, FL.

In Part I, I was introduced to the Mustang and was given the opportunity to learn the feel of the controls as well as slow flight characteristics (and what surprised me was a relatively benign stall, when coordinated).

In this part, we start exploring what the plane was made for – aerobatics. The Mustang has virtually no noticeable adverse yaw with aileron movement, which I didn't expect at all. I found myself unintentionally turning right when pulling up, and you can hear "Homer" telling me several times to keep the wings level.

This was the first time I’d actually done aerobatics, or had it explained to me, so I took it easy. It doesn’t look like it, but all pull outs needed between 3 and 4 G’s.

We originally briefed to make a continuous turn from the downwind leg to final in the landing pattern, but my turn was a little tighter than it needed to be and I wasn’t lined up for the runway centerline. This put me to the right of centerline all the way to touch down. Without a crosswind, not a big deal, but I would’ve liked to have done better.

The Mustang owned the sky. I can see why it was such an effective air-superiority fighter, and why pilots fall in love with it.

Thanks to instructor John “Homer” Black and Stallion 51 for the flight of a lifetime!