Warbird Information Exchange

Also back in the late 1960's, my dad flew his Aztec and some buddies to look at a P-51 in a hangar in East Tennessee. It was bare metal and covered in dust and smelled oily. Meanwhile there was a verified rumour that a guy in the Chattanooga area of east Tennessee had a bunch of P-51, and T-33 parts, engines, drop tanks, etc.
SO researching this accident yesterday, I found that Dr. Bertz' P-51 was purchased in 1968 from the Tallmantz collection as was the PT-17 my dad bought in 1968.
The P-51 that crashed yesterday passed through an owner in Signal Mtn, Tennessee and is probably the mystery Mustang we went to look at buying back in the late 1960's. Interesting that both P-51's in Colorado have a Tennessee connection.

It was crashed on it's maiden flight after restoration by a pilot who had not flown a mustang, was planning a night cross country with a passenger, instead he ended up crashing it into a feed lot and killing a couple of cows.

You should read Dr. Gerry Snyder's P-51 accident summary from the 60s. You just won't believe the lack of experience some of the owners had...

T J

Here is a link. Some sad stories!
Robbie
http://www.warbirddepot.com/library/saf ... report.pdf

First of all, condolences to friends and family of the two gentlemen.

Regarding Robbie's link, there is a very strange coincidence for that article posted in this thread - look at the bottom of page #12, #13, & #14 for the photo caption and the name of the photographer.

The owner of the Durango Mustang is the son of the Snyder report's photo credits and acknowledgments on the last page.
VL

NTSB Identification: CEN14FA339
14 CFR Part 91: General Aviation
Accident occurred Friday, July 04, 2014 in Durango, CO
Aircraft: NORTH AMERICAN/AERO CLASSICS P 51D, registration: N1451D
Injuries: 2 Fatal.

This is preliminary information, subject to change, and may contain errors. Any errors in this report will be corrected when the final report has been completed. NTSB investigators either traveled in support of this investigation or conducted a significant amount of investigative work without any travel, and used data obtained from various sources to prepare this aircraft accident report.

On July 4, 2014 about 0930 mountain daylight time, a North American P-51 Mustang, N1451D, was substantially damaged when the airplane impacted terrain near Durango-La Plata County Airport (DRO), Durango, Colorado, shortly after takeoff. The airplane was owned and operated by Bridgewood Holdings, LLC, Durango, Colorado. The certified flight instructor, who occupied the back seat, and the pilot receiving instruction, who occupied the front seat, were fatally injured. Visual meteorological conditions prevailed for the instructional flight, which was being operated in accordance with 14 Code of Federal Regulations Part 91.

In statements provided to the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) investigator in charge (IIC) by local law enforcement, and written statements provided to the IIC, witnesses saw the airplane takeoff and enter a hard left bank to approximately 90 degrees. The nose pitched up slightly and it continued to turn past 90 degrees to an inverted position when the nose pitched down to approximately a 45 degree angle. The witnesses stated they lost sight of the airplane as it went behind a hangar and did not witness the airplane impact the ground.

At 0853, the DRO automated weather reporting facility reported wind from 100 degrees at 3 knots, visibility 10 miles, temperature 19 degrees Celsius (C), dew point 07 degrees C, and an altimeter reading of 30.39 inches of mercury.

The owner of the Durango Mustang is the son of the Snyder report's photo credits and acknowledgments on the last page.

the entire family was sure a tragic case. weird too, think I need to reread that one.