A Jet Jockey Flies the P-51 Mustang

City of Winnipeg P-51D Paul Bowen

Key Takeaways:

The author, a modern fighter pilot, found his preconceived notions about the P-51 Mustang drastically challenged, demonstrating how personal flight experience alters common descriptions of the aircraft.
He discovered the P-51 was surprisingly stable for short periods but required significant physical effort ("two-handed") for aggressive maneuvers and aerobatics, contradicting expectations of light controls and high agility.
The flight, including intense engine noise and "vicious" stall characteristics, profoundly increased his respect for the physical demands and skill required of WWII 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?”