Planes of Fame airshow 'Warbirds' part 1

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Member for

16 years 9 months

Posts: 85

The first part of the ‘Warbird’ flight for the 2019 Planes of Fame airshow is now up.


Jason
Original post

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24 years 2 months

Posts: 2,435

Wow, Jason...another top notch video standing head and shoulders over the usual YouTube airshow videos. No prop freeze, excellent sound quality, superb long lens work, I could go on. We’’’re very lucky to have you on here.

Member for

16 years 9 months

Posts: 85

Wow, Jason...another top notch video standing head and shoulders over the usual YouTube airshow videos. No prop freeze, excellent sound quality, superb long lens work, I could go on. We’’’re very lucky to have you on here.

Thank you very much!!
There is more to come!
Jason

Member for

20 years 7 months

Posts: 7,025

Another superb video ,no commentators ,no music ,props not frozen ,Thank you :)

Member for

9 years 5 months

Posts: 33

Nice video Jason, thanks!
One point I noticed was that a couple of P-51s took off in an almost 3-point attitude while others did the more conventional tail-up then roll on the mains before becoming airborne. Any Mustang drivers (or anybody!) care to comment on this?

I noticed that one Mustang taxiied & took off with the rad-flap closed. All the others had the rad-flap wide open.
Any comments?

Member for

13 years 11 months

Posts: 409

With regard to the takeoff attitudes, it's a matter of personal preference. The 3-point attitude takeoff is what they originally taught Mustang pilots in the service - "Do not attempt to lift tail too soon, because this increases torque action. Pushing the stick forward unlocks the tail wheel, thereby making steering difficult. The best procedure is to hold the tail down until sufficient speed for the rudder control is attained and then to raise the tail slowly." - T.O.1F-51D-1, 30 JULY 1957. The tail-high takeoff is generally described as being advantageous in staggered/formation takeoffs, so that the pilot has a clearer line of sight ahead of him, as well as to be able to control, more exactly, when to allow the aircraft to become airborne. Cross-wind action likely has an influencing factor as well. Generally, 120 mph is the safe, normal airspeed to attain in the Mustang before becoming airborne, but I've seen it where guys purposely keep the aircraft on the ground longer, tail in the air, to attain higher airspeeds than that before allowing the aircraft to fly (even as high as 150 mph). From a safety standpoint, these pilots tend to follow routine, whatever routine that may be - you train to a certain method and you perform it that way all of the time.

With regard to the radiator doors, that too is generally a matter of preference. The doors can be left in automatic, or the pilot can manually open/close them. When in automatic, the radiator doors are controlled via a thermostat, and if working properly, will open/close based on the coolant and oil radiator temperatures. If left in automatic, the pilot expects that the radiator doors will automatically open when the temps begin rising. In the original military days, it was instructed to just leave the coolant and oil radiator doors in automatic all of the time, but of course that puts a lot of faith in the thermostat system working. Today, there are a lot of operators who have it in their operational guidelines that the coolant radiator door (and sometimes the oil radiator door too) should be fully opened during all ground operation, and left fully open until after takeoff, then fully opened again after landing.

John,
Thank you for that info. I am now educated :D

Member for

16 years 9 months

Posts: 85

Thank you everyone, and thank you John for the information!!
Jason