Chris McMillin

Love it. Super model build, very nice fuselage extension. I liked the airplane as a fighter in stories about how they were operated in Russia. The Russians added strengthening aft fuselage doublers and removed the wing mounted .30's for reduced weight and increased roll rate and rerigged the cannon and nose .50 charging cables making the airplane combat ready. The 25 to 50 kill Russian aces in the type is impressive to me. Too bad the Army was so behind and stiff about such mods, but Buzz Wagner's 2 kills in the P-39D is a very good account. The modified P-39Q Cobra II that won the Thompson Trophy pylon race in 1946 qualified at a two lap (60 mile) average of 408 mph and finished the 300 mile final race at 373 mph, so it was obviously a good airplane aerodynamically and excelled at this 800 foot elevation airport/race course. Chris...

Harvey, been lurking on your thread for years. Awesome. My youngest son built and flew a P-38M in Scale events as a teen, super example you have built here. Chris...

As soon as you buy it you can repaint it any color you want. All of Red Bull's stuff are marketing tools and the quicker you understand that the happier you'll be. Just think of it as an air racer, aerobatic plane, etc. When I was a kid most WWII airplanes were flown by WWII pilots and were painted in civilian schemes that had nothing to do with the war. They'd had enough of that, thank you. Every military fighter doesn't have to be painted up as some WWII replica, very few existing fighters and bombers were ever away from the states anyway. N25Y was always known as a racing plane and aerobatic airshow airplane and had no fame as a fighter plane. JD Reed of Houston, TX, had the airplane flown in the post war Cleveland races by Ken Coolie and Chuck Walling in three distinctive schemes of two oil companies and 1949 when it was painted to match team stablemate P-51 Jay Dee in bronze. Later it was operated by CAF founders Lloyd Nolen and Lefty Gardner after it had been a survey airplane through the 50's, then it became known as White Lightning and was white with red and blue stripes for about 40 years. Brady, you had your chance to buy it after Todd had an inflight fire and crash landed it right before the wing burned off because it was for sale essentially the whole time they were taking donations to rebuild it. I'm sure that after you bought it and restored it you could've painted it any color you wanted. Even weathered it like the movie studios do, or modelers. I think Nelson, the guy that headed the restoration for owner and customer Red Bull, said they had a 4 million dollar bill when they were done. It was a hairs breadth from extinction, every part ofit was remade or remanufactured and the spar was one of those parts remade new. Big Bucks. Brady, when you're talking that kind of dough, mirror polish job with corporate stickers is just fine with me. My most expensive airplane ever was less than 50 grand so I'm impressed. Of course you're entitled to your opinion. The beauty is in the shape, not some gawdawful wartime nose art. Chris...

You said; "There isnt much of anything of the original D airframe left including having the entire empennage, fuse and most all of the stock D panels replaced." This is incorrect and I described the airplane's componentry above. I'm not arguing, it is what it is. I know the Whittingtons, and the Levitz family, I was there when it all went down, I saw PM when it bellied into Lake Lemon in '88. I know what it is. And what it isn't. Yeah, Yeah, my parents competed in the Reno Air Races in the 70's, I was at the races from 1970 until 2009 when I quit going due to lack of enthusiasm, I raced there in my own racer in '98 and '99, I saw Gary killed in the break-up of MAII. Sitting in the stands with my wife with my race pilot passes around my neck... So what? It doesn't have anything to do with the fact that PM is a modified P-51D, and it's empennage IS a D model with an H model vertical, it's fuselage IS a P-51 D and it's wing IS a P-51D. Back in the good old days there was a doctor in Iowa City that raced a Mustang, Burns Byram. Skinny, Van Dyke, big Playboy bunny on the tail. He was a character. Do you go that far back? He was killed in the early eighties ferrying a Mustang back from SA.

The lower photo airplane has been "outside" for a long time, the metal covering on the elevator is static display expedience and not airworthy. Ailerons, elevators and rudder are fabric covered on the F7. Chris...

All racers have canopies that are too small for a decent look outside, it's a requirement! Quit teasing everyone and add those other cylinders, we all know it's an 8 row now anyway! Have fun. Chris...

Precious Metal is a P-51D. Wings (outer panels removed at the production break, shortened ailerons), fuselage, and horizontal are all P-51D. The firewall is moved aft for the Griffon blower, the sheet metal above the upper longeron is modified for the canopy and the fin and rudder is from a P-51H, so it's almost all P-51 firewall back. Until Thom started racing it hard it had a stock D model doghouse and scoop. Just to set the record straight. A lot of people think it's like Miss Ashley II, which it very much is not. It was a much different airplane. Chris...

I'd go for the Cavalier tall tail mod like this on with those tip tanks. A lot of loiter and slow speed maneuvering in store for this mission and the vertical area makes it a lot more stable carrying all of that weight out on the tips! Chris...

Once upon a time 20 years ago a friend decided to build a Jurca full sized replica of a MkIX Spitfire and I wanted badly to build one too. He actually did build, finish and fly his with an Allison V-1710 engine. My dreams were of a Speed Spitfire replica and that we would perform a two-ship aerobatic routine with them. Such a beautiful dream. Chris...

Great project, I like the idea because I love lockheed twins. My father flew for a construction company and they had this Lodestar for a few years. It was white, gray and orangey red. I always thought it was cool. Chris...

My Voodoo kit isn't as bad as that, but it does have a huge amount of flash and that's bad enough. I sent a letter to them about my missing clear canopy and they sent two for the price of one straightaway with a letter of apology. At least there is that. I see that Ian has contacted you and hope it's all sorted out. Mine was an early kit but the surfaces and details are OK. Sure like the look of the new casts better! Chris...

I always thought the leading edges weren't silver, they were polished aluminum bare skin. The airplanes were flown through weather when operating between shows and the leading edges would get the paint peeled from rain, so thought they were stripped back and polished. Chris...

Ah, Wife still loves me, work still sends checks, I keep showing up. Still flying R/C with the 15 year old, going to an event with him and Dad this weekend. I haven't touched a plastic model in years, but I still have dreams. When I figure out how to post photos here again, I'll become more visible, so to speak. Take care, Chris...

Hi Geoff! Chris...

Getch would be proud! Nice work. Chris...

I just sold one for 100 dollars on eBay! Chris...

Cool video. I think the engine powering this Focke Wulf is an ASH 82, a 14 cylinder Chinese radial. The airplane I also believe is a Fluge Werks replica, all metal, full sized and very accurate. The airplane the OP is referencing is a Focke Wulf that was recovered and restored and then it's BMW was rebuilt and reinstalled to fly the airplane , which flew in AZ for it's first flights from the Gosshawk shop (the guys that did Paul Allen's Dora 13), and then was flown to Snohomish, WA where the Paul Allen collection is based. It never leaves there, but flies regularly during display days. Chris...

They (flaps) will drop after a time if the hyd relief valve is pulled to off on shut down even if the flap handle is up, and the inner gear doors will too. The gear doors will always but usually quicker, and unevenly. The flaps would take forever to fully drop. There are some pics of racers with their flaps and gear doors up, usually E.D. Weiner's (checkerboard jobs in the 60's). He liked them to look good on the ground for the photographers. If one shuts down with the flap selector up, and hyd bypass closed/in, the flaps and gear doors will stay up for a long time, but eventually they'll droop. The reason to do the flap drop, bypass handle out procedure as a civilian airplane is that it bypasses the hyd fluid back to the reservoir through the return lines on the actuators so if the airplane is cold soaked from flight and the airplane gets hot sitting in the sun on the ramp the trapped fluid won't expand and stress the actuator o rings and promote leaking, and weeping. I don't have my manual at home but I think on the later 50's F-51 issue I have the hyd bypass is part of the shutdown checklist too. Each airplane in the civilian world seems to have it's own checklist, though. Chris...

Andreas at XS Models makes a Cobra I ans Cobra II conversion with the wide bladed Aeroproducts props as the early P-63 blades are too skinny to be accurate. Chris...

Why? How about this once great board offer a hosting scheme that doesn't require these types of machinations? Chris...

You could make Ventura's, and executive Super Ventura's, and Howard 500's. I'm all for it! Chris...

Hi Geof, I'm glad you're not dead. Happy New Year. Chris...

Hi Geoff, For when you come up for air, Merry Christmas; and you too Jerry! Chris...

Check this site, there are pics of the airplanes restored colors. I think they were that yellow/green chromate color originally. Google the #74 airplane and try to find it at Walt Soplata's farm or after bought by the Western Reserve Collection as it was totally original until it arrived at Odegard's shop in @2007. I'm sure they were very similar. http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=42599&start=60 Chris...

Hi guys, I agree that there is no widespread evidence of wing stripping. There also is no reason that the IDF would spend time detailing a three to five year old airplane's sheet metal surface finish. The overhauls would be directed towards operational systems such as an engine condition inspection and overhaul if necessary, airplane's oil and fuel systems, hydraulic, wheels/tires and brakes, electrical, armament control, etc. The airplane's surfaces would also be inspected for damage, no doubt, like dings and dents. Any structural wrinkles in flight controls would probably be addressed be a specific group of sheet metal mech's that did repairs of that nature. Or a spare component would be installed. The mainplane would most likely have been inspected for any damage, and re-mated with it's fuselage and been reassembled to become airworthy as soon as it could be possibly done. No time would be spent removing NAA wing streamlining putty and paint. Rough stuff may have been feather sanded in preparation for a flat and rough camo job. Angelo Regina's P-51D recovered from a kibutz in Isreal had it's putty when it showed up in Van Nuys 40 years after it was built in Inglewood. After it's AAF, SAF and IAF service and then sitting in the playground, it still had the putty. No one on the resto crew indicated it was very easy to strip off either. Chris...