P-51 tragedy at Oshkosh

[Keith Webb]

When performing a formation landing, a P51A clipped the rear of a P51D and was sadly destroyed with the loss of the pilot, Gerard Beck.

There is more information on Aero-News.Net

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

I pinched this from Tanknet, don't have the original source:

A more than 51% 51

By Randy Dufault
EAA Air Venture


From the outside it is difficult to tell that Gerry Beck’s P-51A is just a few months old.

Gerry Beck faced a dilemma with his most recent airplane project. It could technically be a restoration, but a quick scan of the rules made it pretty clear that it qualified as an amateur-built airplane and could be certificated that way.

The key difference between Beck’s project and many others is that his homebuilt is a P-51 Mustang. More specifically it is a P-51A, the first version of the venerable warbird. An Allison V-12 engine, instead of the more-commonly found Rolls-Royce V-12 Merlin Mustang powerplant, powers it.

"A number of years ago we were doing a restoration of a C model [Mustang] for the Commemorative Air Force, said Beck. "At the same time we owned a P-40, the two projects came together at the same time and I just fell in love with that razorback look on the Mustang. And operationally this Allison engine is just a sweetheart.

"I thought, ‘why not build an Allison-powered Mustang?’"

"The original idea was to slap an Allison engine on a C-model fuselage and attach it to a D-model wing. We’d build a cheap Mustang."

Several years ago Beck brought a C-model fuselage here to AirVenture and told people what he was planning to do. The fuselage was back the next year with the engine mount and tail completed.

Next on the construction list was the scoop and the radiator, parts that differed significantly between the A model and later variants.

"I would have ended up building all bogus parts to adapt that C-model fuselage to the A-model look, and the more I looked at it, and the more I thought about it, it just isn’t right to do that."

So Beck took a step back and made the decision to build the Mustang from scratch. Working from original North American drawings, he built a complete set of tooling to make new P-51A parts.

A well-known rebuilder of P-51s and other warbirds in his Whapeton, North Dakota, shop, Beck already had jigs and other fixtures he could adapt to assemble the new parts.

The result of that effort is on display at AeroShell Square. A homebuilt airplane built from plans and certificated as Experimental Amateur-built.

To make sure all the regulatory details were in order, Beck simply ordered an Amateur-built Certification kit from EAA and followed the checklist.

There are a few production parts on the plane. All versions of the Mustang use the same landing gear and the same rudder, so Beck did take advantage of that fact, but there was absolutely no question he had completed more than 51 percent of the construction.

Amateur-built airplanes are assigned a serial number by their builder. In deference to the 310 P-51As originally constructed, Beck assigned serial number 311 to his plane.

As with any other homebuilt, the plane was required to fly for 40 hours under a number of restrictions, including the restrictions that apply whenever the particular engine and propeller combination have not been part of a certificated airframe.

Beck stayed true to the plans, even when doing so was a significant challenge. "The canopy was a real nemesis," he said. "There’s 1,200 individual pieces [in it] and it’s unbelievable how complex it is." The P-51A canopy was equipped with a conglomeration of separate windows and hatches instead of the more familiar clear bubble used on the P-51D.

One departure from the original is the propeller. "The true A models had a Curtiss electric propeller. Those are rarer than hen’s teeth and more expensive than whatever," Beck said. "So we went to a Ham Standard, basically off of a DC-3. Operationally the Ham Standard is bulletproof and they are readily available."

Beck’s construction timeline was always based on bringing the airplane to Oshkosh this year, but he had a little extra incentive when the producers of the movie, Thunder Over Reno, asked to use his aircraft in their film, which is set for release next summer. Filming for the movie completed about a month ago.

The plane is on display here in the paint scheme it sported in the movie. Its final appearance has not been determined, but it will be military in nature.

When questioned what he might do with the now-complete set of tooling, Beck indicated that would depend on how much interest he sees here in the plane. "A complete kit is pretty unlikely, it’s just too complex," he said. "And I don’t want to write the assembly manual.

"We may consider some sort of kit with a few of the major assemblies already done. It would take some special skills to put it together, but there’s a lot of talent out there.

"The hard part is done. It seems like it would be foolish to just build one plane."

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Again, from Tanknet, one of the members there:

I was in the crowd, sitting in front of the announcing stand and behind and to the right of another, smaller stand. Don't know what their function was, but I saw the guys up there perk up and then two seconds later, the firetrucks were rolling. Weird thing was that from my location there was no noise, fire or smoke. First word filtering through the crowd was that there was a Mustang on it's nose, and then that the two Mustangs in the mock race had collided on the ground. Sounding like a relatively minor taxiing accident at the time, I didn't know there was a fatality until I got home and checked the net. A real bummer, condolences to the family.

[Col Tigwell]

The crying shame of it all, is that both the pilot and the plane are just not able to be replaced. A very sorry situation.

Makes you want and stop and think, will fate tap me on the shoulder today.

Col Tigwell

[Geoff Winnington-Ball (RIP)]

Originally posted by herkman
Makes you want and stop and think, will fate tap me on the shoulder today.

Col Tigwell

I know what you mean, mate... I've felt the same certain times I was pushing the edge of the envelope on a bike, or strapping on a 'chute. You just have to push through it, don't you, knowing that if you back down now you're done, and believing that if it's your time, there's damn-all you can do about it except trying not to do something stupid...

[Jon Skagfeld]

Originally posted by Keith Webb
When performing a formation landing, a P51A clipped the rear of a P51D and was sadly destroyed with the loss of the pilot, Gerard Beck.

There is more information on Aero-News.Net

Keith:

In your arena of knowledge, did you ever hear of a pilot by the name of Jeff Ethel?

Mostly known to North Americans, he very frequently flew a P-51D at air shows. I had the pleasure of yakking with him at the Brampton, Ontario air show about 12 years ago.

He unfortunately thundered in shortly after.

He was qualified on type for an amazing number of aircraft, rivalling even Bob Hoover.

[Keith Webb]

Originally posted by Jon Skagfeld
Keith:

In your arena of knowledge, did you ever hear of a pilot by the name of Jeff Ethel?

Mostly known to North Americans, he very frequently flew a P-51D at air shows. I had the pleasure of yakking with him at the Brampton, Ontario air show about 12 years ago.

He unfortunately thundered in shortly after.

He was qualified on type for an amazing number of aircraft, rivalling even Bob Hoover.

Certainly I have read of Jeff Ethel. He's regarded as one of the legendary pilots, as is Bob Hoover whom I had the pleasure to see doing his Shrike routine many years ago.