US ANG F-51D's - instalment #1

[jenshb]

Thanks for your help Martin - a higher resolution pic would be most appreciated. It does look rather uniform in appearance, and well cared for otherwise, so overall silver paint looks appropriate. Now, the second question is, these raised rivets behind the main gear well and just outside, are they appropriate for the period? I seem to recall they should be removed (and it is not the first time that Tamiya have carried over features from restored aircraft to their kits).



Jens

[mlenoch]

Jens:

Those 'raised rivets' underneath the wing are not rivets at all. They are structural screws that hold the large stress panels in place. These panels are a major structural part of the wing. The only Mustangs that do not have raised screws are racing Mustang that have countersunk the stress panel holes and installed flush structural screws in placed of the round head screws. These round head screws have been part of Mustangs since "Day-One". To remove them in a model, would be to make the model inaccurate representation of an actual aircraft. All current Mustangs (except some racing aircraft) still have these round head screws as shown in your image.

Hope this helps.
VL

[jenshb]

Thanks for your help Vlado - they're there to stay then...

Jens

[planeoldsteve]

Is it safe to assume that if the F-51 had no tail wheel doors then the tail wheel was locked down?
Is that a boot around the tail wheel or is the fact that the doors are gone that you can see this?

I know some freight Beech-18 and Harvard's would remove the doors for snow and ice op's, was the Mustang the same?

Steve

[Phantom1200]

and here is a PA ANG F-51D for mustangdriver with a MASS ANG F-51H for Phantom1200 in the background....

..more to follow



Martin

[Swiss Mustangs]

Is it safe to assume that if the F-51 had no tail wheel doors then the tail wheel was locked down?
Is that a boot around the tail wheel or is the fact that the doors are gone that you can see this?

I know some freight Beech-18 and Harvard's would remove the doors for snow and ice op's, was the Mustang the same?

Steve

Steve...

in some ANG units, the tail wheel was locked down due to hydraulic hiccups that developed during use.... it is correct that the doors were removed and the wheel was locked down in the fully extended position... what you see is a leather/canvas protection around the strut - it covered also the bigger parts of the opening... this was standard on all P-51D's, but much more visible in this configuration; and, during service, many a/c also saw the removal of this leather/canvas protection for easier access during maintenance....



Martin

[Fuzzy41]

Any Iowa ANG? Thanks.

[Bill Greenwood]

Seeing those photos is like a hungry man looking in the window of a bakery. I guess I came into the service about 20 years too late. When were the last ones phased out? Can you believe you could actually get paid to fly these? Which prop is prefered?

Well Bill, if you are talking about aesthetics, I much prefer the cuffed blade. The racers like it better too, as I think it gives them a little bit more bite. For operational purposes, I'm not really sure what the difference was.

[planeoldsteve]

In some ANG units, the tail wheel was locked down due to hydraulic hiccups that developed during use.... it is correct that the doors were removed and the wheel was locked down in the fully extended position... what you see is a leather/canvas protection around the strut - it covered also the bigger parts of the opening... this was standard on all P-51D's, but much more visible in this configuration; and, during service, many a/c also saw the removal of this leather/canvas protection for easier access during maintenance....
Martin

Martin

Thanks for the information and Great photos!

Steve

[t6flier]

Vlado is correct on the "rectangular" panel with the raised screws, however if your talking about the raised screws directly behind the area that the landing gear pivot shaft is located or the in the picture the area just below the gun ports those are the gear casting/splice plate bolts and all screws in that area were flush along with rivets.
Hope that helps!
Mike

[mustangdriver]

Thnaks for the pic of the PA ANG Mustang. I love it.

[CWBuff]

Martin, any NY ANG ships?

I've seen the 139th FS shot on your site but am specifically interested in birds of the 136th FS based at Niagara Falls. You've got alotta requests here already, so whenever you have the time...


Fade to Black...

[jenshb]

Vlado is correct on the "rectangular" panel with the raised screws, however if your talking about the raised screws directly behind the area that the landing gear pivot shaft is located or the in the picture the area just below the gun ports those are the gear casting/splice plate bolts and all screws in that area were flush along with rivets.
Hope that helps!
Mike

Thanks Mike. That makes sense to preserve the laminar flow on the wings. I'll swipe them off when I fill the panel lines on the wings. You may have noticed my build thread in the Modelling Forum - feel free to make comments and suggestions. Oh, I know the wheelwell in the kit is wront, but as the wings are together, it will have to be this way for this one...

Jens

[Waltz41]

Martin, thanks for sharing all of these. I really enjoyed them. Great to see some shots of the 'Stangs in some paint jobs normally not seen.

Brian