Warbird Information Exchange

Hey! Happy new year everyone!

I was reading the Empire of the Sun thread..
http://warbirdinformationexchange.org/p ... php?t=2322

and I thought, thats one cool looking ride. Right after that, I was looking at a reprint of Aero Album, volume 19, Fall 1972, and lo and behold, the very first article, 23rd Fighter group. Then I googleized the 23rd, and found good info on web-birds.com. So I got thinking... When I get my Mustang (positive thinking baby), What do I want it to be?

Step 1: Call Mark C, get a Mustang, P-51D.
Step 2: Send it to Ezell. Those cats made the best Mustang in existance, Miss Marylin II.

Hmmm....What to tell Mr. Nelson E....

O.K.,how to break this up....outside first...

I want it in 118 TRS colors. I know they flew C's and K's. I haven't found any evidence that they flew D's. Butttt, hopefully they did, or a question would be, does a D look enough like a K? Should I care? I think there might have been a D in there. I have to do more research (help anyone?). It's a toss up in my small mind. Paint a D as a K? That might or might not work out. Another consideration is (I know this is trivial), nose art/name. I want a real nose art or name. Is "Missy Wong from Hong Kong" real? If it is, I want that. If not, I'll keep looking. One thing about painting planes that I've noticed is, everyone want's to paint their plane in an ace's colors. Thats cool, I get it, but, there are so many very cool nose arts and names and schemes to choose from. I think that recognizing a 2 kill Lieutenant is as valid as a 21 kill Colonel. And any guy who would put something on his plane that I like, has gotta be cool. Again, it's trivial, but it's my plane.

Inside....
I love MMII. I would want it like that. I like how everything works and everything is there. A goofy idea of mine is to take part in a History channel Wings channel show where I actually shoot the guns on the plane on some Airforce firing range at an old T-34 (tank). I figure if the Navy can can let all of those cats take off from an aircraft carrier to commemorate Doolittle, Midway, ect, the Airforce, can let me do a .50 cal live fire somewhere in the southwest. I think the MMII could do that. Just replace the guns. I want my plane to have the same ability. I also like that fact that, with the internal tank, and the drop tanks, that bird can go a long ways. I want to be able to go from California to Portland and from California to Texas, non-stop. It would be cool to go visit bud's and family in a couple three hours. Portland is straight through, Austin is a tad farther. I saw a post by Mark Clark awhile back saying that he averaged 270+kts delivering the MMII. I guess my question would be, if the guns and other stuff wasn't in the plane, could it average 300kts, maybe faster?. It's a toss up. I'd ditch the guns and all of that stuff for a significant increase in speed and range. AT 300kts it's a four + hour ride to Texas, maybe straight through. I would also like the cuffed blade prop, cooling thing on the ground.

Sorry, no rides, the plane has the fuse tank, I'll make up for it with the T-28B, SBD, JU-87, and the A-6, (more very positive thinking).

Inside, Avionics: I want an HSI and a Garmin or King stack with the big display, flip flopping radios, some EGT/engine stuff too (been watching all of my King family nav-airspace videos this weekend). Still thinking about the rest, and how it will lay out on the panel.

Once it's done, get Vlado to load test it. Spend some time in Kissimee getting flight trained. Go back to Vlado or someone for complete airframe and system training and some P-51 formation work (I saw him doing that on tv). I'm good to go. Brew fest in Portland, BBQ at Rudy's and Salt Lick in Austin. All that and the high speed break in Livermoore driving the most bitchin Mustang in the world. Cool.

Ahhh..A little long winded, I know. I know that all this sounds like devil worshipping sacrelige, coming from an attack aircraft/luftwaffe guy like me, but if I do it, this is the exact right way to do it. If you disagree, you're probably crazy, or drunk.

First post of the new year. I got a good feeling about this year. A lot of cool stuff is going to come up this year. If any of you guys have a dream Mustang, post it! If any of you guys have pictures of the 118 TRS, or the 23rd in general, please post them.

Happy new year!
Orvis

_________________
DEEP THOUGHTS BY KIDS:
"If we could just get everyone to close their eyes and visualize world peace for an hour, imagine how serene and quiet it would be until the looting started. Age 15 "


Deep Thoughts,
Jack Handy

Ahhhh, lots of dead roasted cows and beer. So much, I actually smell bad. Got that whole beefy drunk think goin on. The only thing pointy about me is probably my head. I'm not losing the faith baby, I'm just saying....If you're gonna do it, do it right...

_________________
DEEP THOUGHTS BY KIDS:
"If we could just get everyone to close their eyes and visualize world peace for an hour, imagine how serene and quiet it would be until the looting started. Age 15 "


Deep Thoughts,
Jack Handy

Wooooooah that's very California, and a little Maine too...ha ha ha

Well O.P., Just as long as you don't talk this way to the control tower. My friend at the airport said to the tower after hearing" You are clear to land", "Hold on, where is my gear handle I can't find it". Or another classic "N123TP, you're cleared for take off" Response: "Toilet Paper's rolling"..

OP




The 118th TRS did operate Dallas built P-51D-5-NT's.

Got loads of photos..... please PM me.

Best regards
Martin / Swiss Mustangs

Naaaa, It seems my more frequent conversations go like this, "Palo Alto tower 5 sierra papa, going around", or the ever popular, Tower: "5 sierra papa you're 5th for landing following a cherokee" Me: 3 miles away, over the hangars at moffett,," Palo Alto tower 5 sierra papa, call my base". I shouldn't complain, as a student I have a lot of dense traffic and airspace experience. I didn't realize that, until my instructor told me that a lot of students in the rest of the country, have to fly to a different airport to get any controlled airspace experience, and even then, it's nothing like the bay area.



I'm on it! Thanks Martin!

_________________
DEEP THOUGHTS BY KIDS:
"If we could just get everyone to close their eyes and visualize world peace for an hour, imagine how serene and quiet it would be until the looting started. Age 15 "


Deep Thoughts,
Jack Handy

Well, since we're "shootin' the moon" with the Bux..ya might as well have
a wet-wing. Maybe, you can sacrifice some of the fuse tank, in order to
carry a passenger. I couldn't image having the ultimate Harley on the
planet with out the ability to carry a "babe". There is only so much that a
"story", or a photo, can describe!!!

As for the gun tubs..if you can't spare the volume in tankage without the
guns..then have plug-in "poney" tanks to fill the bays...$$, no prob, right?

_________________
He bowls overhand...He is the most interesting man in the world.
"In Peace Japan Breeds War", Eckstein, Harper and Bros., 3rd ed. 1943(1927, 1928,1942)
"Leave it to ol' Slim. I got ideas...and they're all vile, baby." South Dakota Slim
"Ahh..."The Deuce", 28,000 pounds of motherly love." quote from some Mojave Grunt
DBF

Good point!
I thought very seriously about that. I want the guns, for the wings channel special. The only reason I would sacrifice the guns would be for a significant increase in cruise speed. And if that was the case, I would go the way you've said. It would be cool to give rides, butttttt, I guess all babe rides would have to be given in my super bitchin TF-51.

Plus, with the fuse tank, I'd be able to go a long way without the using the drop tanks. Therefore, I'd be able to show up looking very cool, without the drop tanks ruining the beautosity of the best Mustang flying.

_________________
DEEP THOUGHTS BY KIDS:
"If we could just get everyone to close their eyes and visualize world peace for an hour, imagine how serene and quiet it would be until the looting started. Age 15 "


Deep Thoughts,
Jack Handy