Cool P51B Cockpit VR Image

[CobraRed01]

Someone posted this link up on CornerCarvers.com.

St. Clair Photo-Imaging 360º Pans

It's my new home page.

Footnote indicates it was shot a the Geneseo, NY Warbird Show. I was there quite a few years ago. One of the top WWII warbird shows around.

We had a B17 Flying Fortress fly over our central Jersey home last week. Three passes...one at about 1,500 right over us. Spectacular. We heard him coming before we saw him... got me right out of my seat. It's a sound you never forget. Thanks "Twelve O'Clock High". (No, I wasn't doing a controlled substance.)

 

[NJ 03Mach1]

Someone posted this link up on CornerCarvers.com.

St. Clair Photo-Imaging 360º Pans

It's my new home page.

Footnote indicates it was shot a the Geneseo, NY Warbird Show. I was there quite a few years ago. One of the top WWII warbird shows around.

We had a B17 Flying Fortress fly over our central Jersey home last week. Three passes...one at about 1,500 right over us. Spectacular. We heard him coming before we saw him... got me right out of my seat. It's a sound you never forget. Thanks "Twelve O'Clock High". (No, I wasn't doing a controlled substance.)

That was from the Allaire Air show. For $250 they were giving rides up and down the coast of NJ. Flew over us as well.. amazing.

 

[B-O-B'03]

The Collings foundation was in Dallas a couple of years ago with a B24, B25 and B17. It cost $475 for the ride I took in the B17 and it was amazing :rockon:.

The plane had flown over our house and like you, I heard it long before it came by... Imagine how the Germans felt when a couple thousand of them dropped bombs on their cities :uh oh:

Collings Foundation B-17

-Brian

 

[Silverstrike]

A neat fact the P-51B and the P-51C was the exact same aircraft through and through.

The only difference was that the B was made in the Inglewood plant and the C was made at the Dallas location.

 

[CobraRed01]

That was from the Allaire Air show. For $250 they were giving rides up and down the coast of NJ. Flew over us as well.. amazing.

I orginally thought it was a B29 named "FiFi" which has a big "A" on it's tail. (She flew over my parents house in om's River on approach to Allaire about 10 years ago...only a couple hundred feet.) This B17 made its first pass about a mile away and couldn't make out the tail shape because it too has a large emblem on the tail. I knew the wing shape wasn't right for a 29 though. It wasn't until it flew right over our house that we had the "B17 Eureka Moment. Spectacular.

 

[CobraRed01]

The Collings foundation was in Dallas a couple of years ago with a B24, B25 and B17. It cost $475 for the ride I took in the B17 and it was amazing :rockon:.

The plane had flown over our house and like you, I heard it long before it came by... Imagine how the Germans felt when a couple thousand of them dropped bombs on their cities :uh oh:

Collings Foundation B-17

-Brian

Thanks for the info. Being a German citizen seeing a few hundred to a thousand Forts and Libs coming over would be purely terrifying.

Interesting side note regarding B25's. When I was a teen, my friends and I found a B25 abandoned on Wright/Caldwell airfield here in Jersey. We snuck onto the plane and did a quite survey and took some pics. Seems it was the multi-colored B25 that filmed the aerial sequences in "The Battle of Britain" movie and was abandoned as a tax rightoff when it blew an engine flying back to the States. I wrote the Confederate Air Force assuming they would be interested in the aircraft for resoration or parts. They said they'd give the info to their procurement officer. Never heard anything more. I read recently it ended up in private hands and was restored to full B25J configuration. So I guess you could say I had something of a ride in a WWII bomber. :beer:

 

[CobraRed01]

A neat fact the P-51B and the P-51C was the exact same aircraft through and through.

The only difference was that the B was made in the Inglewood plant and the C was made at the Dallas location.

Thanks of the info. Funny, you should mention that fact because when I noticed the various tags on the right side wall of the cockpit and made it a point to zoom in and check whether it was a "B" or "C". You can barely read that it's a "B" model. I am pretty surprised how relatively good your rearward vision is in the cockpit despite the lack of the full bubble canopy. Just a kick of the rudder for full rearward view. I wonder what effect the "Malcolm Hood" had on rearward vision on the B/C?

 

[Ironhand]

A neat fact the P-51B and the P-51C was the exact same aircraft through and through.

The only difference was that the B was made in the Inglewood plant and the C was made at the Dallas location.

This is incorrect. The C model was designated to because of the Malcolm hood. Which was actually designed by a british gentlemen for the Supermarine Spitfires.

Thanks of the info. Funny, you should mention that fact because when I noticed the various tags on the right side wall of the cockpit and made it a point to zoom in and check whether it was a "B" or "C". You can barely read that it's a "B" model. I am pretty surprised how relatively good your rearward vision is in the cockpit despite the lack of the full bubble canopy. Just a kick of the rudder for full rearward view. I wonder what effect the "Malcolm Hood" had on rearward vision on the B/C?

The B model was later retro fitted with the malcolm hoods shortly after the Cs arrival. It helped with rearward vision because it wasnt flat so the pilot could stick his head against the glass and see more of the rear of the plane.

This still wasnt the best fix as the P-51D later arrived on the seen with a tear drop canopy. But the canopy caused a low pressure area behind the glass canopy and the later models, which I believe is the D-15 and on, had a dorsal fillet to correct this problem and smooth out the air flow for the rudder.

If you look on any WWII airplane it will tell you when and who made it. If the tail and/or serial number starts with 44 thats when it was made or updated to 1944 standards.

A manufacture code was also used. I.E. P-51D-25-NA. This means it was a P-51 Mustang with a tear drop canopy ,-25 indicated it had the K-14 Gyro gunsight(The -20 model did not), -NA means it was made by North American.

Navy aircraft are different as the manufacture code was at the end of a two letter designation. TBM means its General Motors(M). TBF means its Grumman(F). PBY is Consolidated(Y). TB means Torpedo Bomber. PB means Patrol Boat.

Just like how a Cobra is Y coded, a Mach 1 is R coded and so on. This concludes this lesson for the day :beer:

 

[s_x_i]

That was badass - forwarded it to my Dad :beer:

 

[CobraBob]

That is really cool! You know, when you see a P-51 from the outside you don't think all that much about the glass canopy. But from the inside you suddenly realize how unprotected you are. That's a lot of glass there. Makes you all the more admire the courage of our fighter pilots.

 

[CobraRed01]

This is incorrect. The C model was designated to because of the Malcolm hood. Which was actually designed by a british gentlemen for the Supermarine Spitfires.

The B model was later retro fitted with the malcolm hoods shortly after the Cs arrival. It helped with rearward vision because it wasnt flat so the pilot could stick his head against the glass and see more of the rear of the plane.

This still wasnt the best fix as the P-51D later arrived on the seen with a tear drop canopy. But the canopy caused a low pressure area behind the glass canopy and the later models, which I believe is the D-15 and on, had a dorsal fillet to correct this problem and smooth out the air flow for the rudder.

If you look on any WWII airplane it will tell you when and who made it. If the tail and/or serial number starts with 44 thats when it was made or updated to 1944 standards.

A manufacture code was also used. I.E. P-51D-25-NA. This means it was a P-51 Mustang with a tear drop canopy ,-25 indicated it had the K-14 Gyro gunsight(The -20 model did not), -NA means it was made by North American.

Navy aircraft are different as the manufacture code was at the end of a two letter designation. TBM means its General Motors(M). TBF means its Grumman(F). PBY is Consolidated(Y). TB means Torpedo Bomber. PB means Patrol Boat.

Just like how a Cobra is Y coded, a Mach 1 is R coded and so on. This concludes this lesson for the day :beer:

Thanks for the additional info. I'm familiar with the coding info and doral fin issue, but didn't realize the C classfication was strictly related to the Malcolm hood. Would be interesting to see how the rearward vision was improved in both 'Stang and 'Spit. You would think the molded aspect of the plex would cause distortion looking out the back while pressed up against the canopy, but it worked. :beer:

 

[CobraRed01]

That is really cool! You know, when you see a P-51 from the outside you don't think all that much about the glass canopy. But from the inside you suddenly realize how unprotected you are. That's a lot of glass there. Makes you all the more admire the courage of our fighter pilots.

Talking courage vs. exposure... there's a great story about Bob Johnson, a P-47 ace, who endured repeated rear-end attacks by an Me109 or FW190 (I forget which at this moment) in his wounded '47. He said he could feel the 20mm shells slamming into the armor plate inches behind him...waiting for the coup d'grais. The end never came as the German jock ran out of ammunition...pulled up along side him...saluted and left. Might of been a different story if the German was good at off-angle deflection shooting and could have put a few into the side of the cockpit. I'm really glad he wasn't that good... or maybe he believed in a "sporting chance" for an already wounded foe.

 

[James Snover]

Very cool. Thanks for posting this.

Jim Snover

Someone posted this link up on CornerCarvers.com.

St. Clair Photo-Imaging 360º Pans

It's my new home page.

 

[CobraRed01]

Very cool. Thanks for posting this.

Jim Snover

You're welcome. :beer:

 

[CobraRed01]

Thanks of the info. Funny, you should mention that fact because when I noticed the various tags on the right side wall of the cockpit and made it a point to zoom in and check whether it was a "B" or "C". You can barely read that it's a "B" model. I am pretty surprised how relatively good your rearward vision is in the cockpit despite the lack of the full bubble canopy. Just a kick of the rudder for full rearward view. I wonder what effect the "Malcolm Hood" had on rearward vision on the B/C?

This is incorrect. The C model was designated to because of the Malcolm hood. Which was actually designed by a british gentlemen for the Supermarine Spitfires.



The B model was later retro fitted with the malcolm hoods shortly after the Cs arrival. It helped with rearward vision because it wasnt flat so the pilot could stick his head against the glass and see more of the rear of the plane.

This still wasnt the best fix as the P-51D later arrived on the seen with a tear drop canopy. But the canopy caused a low pressure area behind the glass canopy and the later models, which I believe is the D-15 and on, had a dorsal fillet to correct this problem and smooth out the air flow for the rudder.

If you look on any WWII airplane it will tell you when and who made it. If the tail and/or serial number starts with 44 thats when it was made or updated to 1944 standards.

A manufacture code was also used. I.E. P-51D-25-NA. This means it was a P-51 Mustang with a tear drop canopy ,-25 indicated it had the K-14 Gyro gunsight(The -20 model did not), -NA means it was made by North American.

Navy aircraft are different as the manufacture code was at the end of a two letter designation. TBM means its General Motors(M). TBF means its Grumman(F). PBY is Consolidated(Y). TB means Torpedo Bomber. PB means Patrol Boat.

Just like how a Cobra is Y coded, a Mach 1 is R coded and so on. This concludes this lesson for the day :beer:

A quick update on some P51 info via some more info on this link. See the close-up photo in post #13. My eyes are bad I guess as I read it was a P51B...not a "C". Funny, no malcolm hood though.

View the cockpits of 32 aircraft - Corner-Carvers Forums

In one of the posts in this link the poster suggests the P51B had the lower-powered Allison...which in not true. The Merlin first appeared in the production B model.

Another nice link with a good history of the '51.

North American P-51 Mustang - USA

Note the interesting statement therein...

"There was some experimentation with turbosupercharged P-40s by designer Donaldson R. Berlin and these planes outperformed the Spitfire and Messerschmitt Bf 109."

Interesting. Always loved the P40.

OK...I couldn't resist...here's another cool link with a great directory of most popular military aircraft. Check out the P-40Q...never knew about it. A lot of surprise aircraft in here.

http://www.aviastar.org/index2.html

 

[Fast Freddy]

The Collings foundation was in Dallas a couple of years ago with a B24, B25 and B17. It cost $475 for the ride I took in the B17 and it was amazing :rockon:.

The plane had flown over our house and like you, I heard it long before it came by... Imagine how the Germans felt when a couple thousand of them dropped bombs on their cities :uh oh:

Collings Foundation B-17

-Brian

i took my family on a flight in this plane a couple of months ago. that $425 is tax deductible :beer:

 

[Root1022]

Thats pretty bad ass