Today's picture comes courtesy of a little help from Mark...and my credit card. I just landed from an hour long flight in this P-51!!! The P-51 has been my dream plane for years and I've wanted to fly one for as long as I can remember. Well, today I had the chance!
Betty Jane is a TP-51C with dual controls (as well as Garmin radios...sweeeet!). She was at my home airport this week, along with a B-17 and B-24 (both of which we were able to tour and climb around inside). The owner and instructor has raced her several times in the Reno Air Races, and she's currently the only TP-51C flying...in the world.
The flight was amazing. Since it has dual controls I got to fly everything except the takeoff and landing. We did some steep turns (like, say, 90° banks), some lazy eights, and some aileron rolls. We pulled 4 Gs. We flew out to the mountains and down toward Charlottesville. And when we came back, he let me buzz the runway a few times. Bliss. Pure bliss. :)
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