amckenna03 wrote:
will keep it bone stock "out of the factory" look for quite a while. jeff harris put his heart and soul into making this airplane very special and i can think of no better honor than to carry out his hard work and dedication to the war bird community by leaving N7722C as is. i also hope rich is only taking this one apart in his dreams. we of course will have issues, but the reason we waited so long was for one that could operate at a high level for quite some time without major repair or overhaul. i am excited about sharing this aircraft on display both in the air and on the ground.
Totally respect that decision Andrew. I hope you are at least tempted to put your name on the canopy rail and maybe a nicely placed piece of nose art as time goes on to honor how these planes became what they are. Many P-51s looked much like yours out of the factories that built them. It was after they were assigned to their squadron that they became the mounts of legends and gained their names and distinctive colors. I think a great to that history is to follow the same in time with yours.
I don't have nearly as much time flying airplanes as I'd like, but I've been around them a long time and firmly believe the adage that there are no two airplanes exactly alike. I hope one day your P-51 speaks to you and give you her name (yeah, I know, all mystical and crap, but hey, some things I don't buck).