Tom Cruise and his P-51

[B-29 Super Fort]

BURBANK, Calif. — Tom Cruise's toys are all over the place.
There are the 16 motorcycles sprinkled about his private hangar at the Burbank airport: an antique Norton, a vintage Harley, an Indian built by Steve McQueen. There are a couple of roadsters, including a 1958 two-seater Corvette (a gift from his wife, Katie Holmes).

And there are his favorites: five airplanes, from an aerobatic biplane to a 1933 crop duster to his prize, a P-51 World War II fighter that once belonged to the Tuskegee Airmen.

The vehicles are all sizes, ages, value. But they share this: handled carelessly, these fast machines would spell the end of the star.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/new ... yrie_N.htm

[mustangdriver]

Good for him. If it means another warbird saved then I view it as a good thing. I had the chance to meet him for like 5 seconds, and he was very cool. I explained to him hos as a kid Top Gun got me into flying, and he gave me an e-mail address to send my information to. I did, and recieved an personalized autographed picture from him.

[Saville]

Does anyone know if he's actually solo'd in the P-51 yet?

[mustangdriver]

Yeah he flew some reporter for a news interview like a year ago or so.

[Chicoartist]

MD is right -

TC flew his Mustang with Diane Sawyer of ABC's PrimeTime Live in the back a year or two ago. Pretty good story/coverage, and TC hopped out after the flight (IIRC) wearing a T-shirt like he did this sort of thing everyday, which, if his schedule permits, he probably does! But yes, he definitely was PIC in his Mustang. They even had some film of him flying solo, IIRC.

Wade

[Dudley Henriques]

BURBANK, Calif. — Tom Cruise's toys are all over the place.
There are the 16 motorcycles sprinkled about his private hangar at the Burbank airport: an antique Norton, a vintage Harley, an Indian built by Steve McQueen. There are a couple of roadsters, including a 1958 two-seater Corvette (a gift from his wife, Katie Holmes).

And there are his favorites: five airplanes, from an aerobatic biplane to a 1933 crop duster to his prize, a P-51 World War II fighter that once belonged to the Tuskegee Airmen.

The vehicles are all sizes, ages, value. But they share this: handled carelessly, these fast machines would spell the end of the star.

http://www.usatoday.com/life/movies/new ... yrie_N.htm

Don't know Cruise; never met the guy, but I've been fooling around with P51's and big money for most of my life in aviation.
There are guys with deep pockets who have done very well "playing around" with toys like a P51, and there are guys with deep pockets who haven't done well at all.
Aircraft like the 51 are not toys. You remember that and you can live a very long time exposed to them. Forget it for a nano-second and you can become a hole in the ground that money can't fill.
I wish Cruise the very best with all his aviation endeavors.
I had a sign hanging over my desk in the flight office for many years that read,
"Money and horsepower don't necessarily equate"
I sincerely hope Cruise and everyone else with deep pockets and a yen to try their hand at flying these machines might read these words and remember them well.
Dudley Henriques

[mustangdriver]

Well, he is Maverick after all. I don't know too many people without deep pockets that are going to own a P-51.

[BigGrey]

Well said Dudley.

To quote from the article: "Tom Cruise's toys are all over the place."

I would imagine it was the reporter who wrote the article who called them toys and not the owner.

Les

[Django]

Agreed on the "toys" being reporter spin...

I can't wait to see the movie.

[retroaviation]

Is his Mustang really a former Tuskeegee airplane? I thought that Steve Cowell's T-6 was the only true Tuskeegee airplane left (although I've heard rumor of a Stearman that's still around that was once theirs).

Gary

[bdk]

Can't predeict the future, but he has had some very good instructors who speak highly of his skills.

[Jack Cook]

Gary,
I'm sure this sharpwitted reporter saw the red nose and knowing it wasn't Rudolph just knew it was a Tuskeegee ship

[Mudge]

The history of any particular P-51 (Or any warbird for that matter) is WAAYY
out of my area of expertise. That said, IMHO, the "Tuskeegee" reference was the reporter's spin on the story about that particular paint scheme.
Now...could it be one of the Tuskeegee airmen's actual a/c. I guess it's possible but highly unlikely.

Mudge the cynic

[Saville]

From:

http://www.mustangsmustangs.com/p-51/su ... 2840.shtml

last updated March, 2008,

we have:

Type: F-6K-15NT
rest.P51D
Serial #: 44-12840
Registry: N51EW
Owner: Valhalla Aviation Inc.
Base: Van Nuys Ca
Status: Flying

History / Previous Identities:


1946: Donated to Civil Air Patrol unit
196?: Earl Reinert
1968: Victory Air Museum, IL
1982: Bill Conner, CA
1987: Joe Kasparoff, CA restoration
199?: Eddie Wachs, 1997 registered N51EW, restoration completed by Cal Pacific.
1998: Won Best P-51 at Oshkosh
2001: Vallhalla Aviation (rumor has it that Tom Cruise flies this mustang)
2006: paint changed to "Kiss Me Kate"

Info doesn't go back any earlier but at least we have the serial # available

[Django]

Was it ever painted as a Tuskeegee ship?