A Jet Jockey Flies the P-51 Mustang

City of Winnipeg P-51D Paul Bowen

Key Takeaways:

The author's experience as a modern fighter pilot significantly altered his preconceived notions of the P-51 Mustang, demonstrating how descriptions of aircraft characteristics are heavily influenced by a pilot's frame of reference.
Contrary to popular accounts of "light controls," the author found the Mustang required considerable physical effort for maneuvering and aerobatics, describing it as a demanding "two-handed airplane" due to heavy stick forces.
The P-51 proved more stable in normal flight than anticipated, yet its roll rate was slower than expected and its stall characteristics were confirmed to be aggressive and "vicious," leading to a profound increase in the author's respect for World War II fighter pilots.

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Having read about and studied the North American P-51 Mustang for as long as I can remember, how on earth could I have been surprised by anything when I had the opportunity to fly it? I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that most of those other writers were so used to flying high-performance warbirds that they didn’t write from the same perspective I had. Think about it. A guy who has a bazillion hours flying World War II airplanes has a completely different frame of reference than the guy who flies a 172 twice a month for a $100 hamburger.

For example, the flight manual description of the Mustang’s stall behavior (“The airplane has a comparatively mild stall. The airplane doesn’t whip at the stall, but rolls rather slowly. …”) correctly represents the experience of someone trained during World War II or familiar with other airplanes of the era. To me, it was the understatement of the century! Now, whenever I read a statement like “This airplane is incredibly light on the controls and is a delight to fly,” I immediately have to ask myself, “Compared to what?”