Warbird Information Exchange

'Instant history' as a warbird-owning friend of mine calls it!

[quote="Ryan Harris"

BTW Trey, that is an absolutely gorgeous shot. What would one have to do to obtain a high quality print?[/quote]

I'll PM you in a bit and we'll work something out, and thanks for the complement.

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"There are two types of people here; airshow whores and airshow prostitutes. The whores, like you and I, do airshow stuff for free, whereas the prostitutes are paid" - Reg Urschler

Yes it is definately "instant history", however the nice thing is that not only do we get another Mustang flying, but it is also a very unique one as well. I'll take it.

Was painted at Sky Harbour last year








Beautiful Stag, love the razorback models ( not enough flying )

Cheers Dave C

I have to say that your highly-polished mirror-finished, modern cockpit dual-control P-51s are all very nice, but back to the subject of the thread, and this is the only currently-flying razorback P-51 representative of a combat example.











Kermit's is very, very nice indeed, and I had the pleasure of inspecting it close up a couple of years back, but the currectly in-vogue polished mirror-finish does leave it without the all-important 'look' of a combat example.

I'm looking forward to seeing 'Princess Elizabeth' at the Gathering in September - wouldn't it be great if they parked it with 'Moonbeam McSwine' (hint - Vlado )

Mike, how can she representative of a combat example? Her stripes are too neat!

Is there some reason the Planes of Fame P-51A doesn't count?

why do you guys always refer to 'birdcage' P-51's as 'razorbacks' ? - it's a term applicable to early P-47's only, but definitely not P-51's.....



Martin

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Flying is easy: just learn how to throw yourself at the ground and miss

Second seat, for a start. NAA designed fighters, not airliners!

What about Kermits airplane?

JimH

Huh? There is no second seat in the Planes of Fame P-51A.

Birdcage is for Corsairs, "Razorback" is for Mustangs and Thunderbolts on my side of the planet.

Sparrow

I've heard "highbacks" but that doesn't sound nearly as lethal as "razorbacks", which is what I have always heard them called.

Jim

okay... without going into lengthy discussions.... i am aware of the 'birdcage' term related to F4U's....that's why I put it into 'apostrophes'

the term 'razorback' clearly comes from the construction of the fuselage behind the cockpit on earlier P-47 models (those without teardrop canopies)... it somewhen was (wrongly) adopted when discerning earlier P-51's from later (bubble-canopy) versions....

fact is that 'true razorbacks' are P-47's only....

see photo below



Martin

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Flying is easy: just learn how to throw yourself at the ground and miss

I've got to agree with Martin, the term was coined for the P-47. There is really not much that is "razorbackish" about the spine on the early Mustangs. Still, we'll know what you mean when you say "razorback Mustang".