P-51K "not flown since WW-II"

[Tulio]

P51-K • FOR SALE • P51-K project stock military 100% complete no damage not flown since WW2 many new parts $675,000 • Contact Meryl Shawver - located Mesa, AZ USA • Telephone: 480-986-7030 • Posted June 9, 2005


Saludos,


Tulio

[Swiss Mustangs]

uhoh !

almost sounds too good to be true....... and then it even is a rare "K"

stored & forgotten in an isolated shed in the Arizona Desert ?

hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm


~goes digging in his archive~

Martin

[Originalboxcar]

must be this one:

http://www.mustangsmustangs.net/p-51/su ... 1807.shtml

http://www.warbirdregistry.org/p51regis ... 11807.html

I wonder if they'd take Best Offer!?

regards,

t~

[Swiss Mustangs]

thanks !

have come to the same conclusion - therefore the term "not flown since Word War 2" is a bit queer.......

from my database:
44-11807; TAC Sarasota/FL; 3rd AAF; 461026 to WAA/PA; to N30991; displayed at Museum, Florence Municipal Airport, McEntire ANGB, SC; now under rebuild.....

Martin

[Originalboxcar]

Your welcome Martin!

I found another website reference that 44-11807 was displayed as 47-3919 while at McEntire ANGB. What did that # originally belong to?

I noticed that MM listed only 8 P-51K's out of the total survivor list of 281.

http://www.mustangsmustangs.net/p-51/su ... istK.shtml


The K was the Dallas version of the D correct? Why so few K's left in existence today? Was Dallas production that much lower than Inglewood?
Do K's typically add to the resale value? Interesting.

Regards,

t~

[mrhenniger]

The K was the Dallas version of the D correct?

I thought the K models included mods from the D model to make the P-51 lighter. I believe outwardly they were the same, but the structure was different in some way.

Mike

[Originalboxcar]

My apologies. I should have looked at more sources before posing my questions.

Apparently the rarity is supported by a relatively low block of P-51k production. Please correct me if this is an incorrect assumption.

Joe Baugher's site provides the following information:

The Dallas plant also built 1500 P-51Ks, which differed from the P-51D in having an 11-foot diameter Aeroproducts propeller in place of the 11 feet 2 inch diameter Hamilton Standard unit. These were all known as NA-111 by the company. The P-51K had a slightly inferior performance to that of the P-51D. Rocket stubs were introduced on the -10-NT and subsequent batches of the K production line at Dallas.

A total of 163 of these P-51Ks were completed as F-6K photo-reconnaissance aircraft. 126 Inglewood-built P-51Ds from blocks 20, 25, and 30 were converted after completion as F-6Ds. A few others were similarly converted near the end of the war. All of these photographic Mustangs carried two cameras in the rear fuselage, usually a K17 and a K22, one looking out almost horizontally off to the left and the other one down below looking out at at an oblique angle. Most F-6Ds and Ks carried a direction- finding receiver, serviced by a rotating loop antenna mounted just ahead of the dorsal fin. Most F-6Ds and Ks retained their armament.

regards,

t~

[O.P.]

I think you're right Mike. I remeber reading something about K's (H?) not being able to be used from unimproved fields because of the "lightening" procedure left them weaker, or the gear was weaker, something like that. It was in regard to something about the planes not being able to operate in Korea. Sounded like the final nail in the USAF P-51 coffin to me at the time.


Lotta fuzzy recolectting there. Good story though. Maybe Martin can set me straight.

[Swiss Mustangs]

I quote from my website:


The P-51D and P-51K


The introduction of a teardrop shaped canopy in place of the so-far used ‘birdcage’ canopy plus provisions for three 0.50 inch Browning guns per wing (the B- and C-versions only had two guns per wing) led to the new designation P-51D for the Inglewood production and P-51K for the Dallas production (the K-type also saw the installation of an Aeroproducts propeller). After 1'500 produced K-models at Dallas, the installation of Aeroproducts propellers was discontinued, reverting to the Hamilton Standard unit. Type designation for the Dallas-built Mustangs resumed as D-models with the NT-suffix, while the Inglewood models had the NA-suffix. Of these types, over 9’602 examples were built, the first examples arriving in England during May 1944. Production continued into the 2nd half of 1945, the last models coming from the line being P-51D-30-NA's. Those aircraft converted to carry camera equipment for the Tactical Reconnaisance rôle were designated F-6D and F-6K.


P-51H

A later variant of the Mustang was the P-51H, light-weight version, which came too late for any action in World War 2. Only 555 examples were built, and used by the USAF and the USANG during the late 40's and early 50's. Although this version looked very similar to the P-51D/K, it was a new design and only few parts were interchangeable between the models. The engine used in this type was the Packard Merlin V-1650-9.



Cheers
Martin / Swiss Mustangs
http://www.swissmustangs.ch

[mrhenniger]

P-51H

A later variant of the Mustang was the P-51H, light-weight version, which came too late for any action in World War 2. Only 555 examples were built, and used by the USAF and the USANG during the late 40's and early 50's. Although this version looked very similar to the P-51D/K, it was a new design and only few parts were interchangeable between the models. The engine used in this type was the Packard Merlin V-1650-9.

Aaaahhhh..... Thanks for the clarification.

Mike