P-51 Mustang Down

Mid-air with a A-1H Skyraider at Duxford England. Pilot bailed and the Spad was able to land.

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Another terrrible accident but atleast all are OK.

Boy thats a terrible shame !

Sad to see yet another old warbird gone.

Here's the video of the collision. Pretty far away but looks like the Skyraider is the one that clipped the P51 on their rollout.

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qME7VefLxFw&feature=player_embedded[/media]

That sucks. There aren't that many left to begin with.

pilot was luck to get out looked like they did not have much altitude .

Sorry this happened.

Ouch... poor p51... Glad he got out and is ok!

Sad loss of aircraft.
Thankful for no human losses.

wow great job by the pilot to bail out and really shows the toughness of the skyraider.

P-51D my favorite plane followed by the Corsair and the Skyraider. Sucks to have them run together.

We used to call the skyraider the flying tank

Here's a close-up...

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9HAOVgrHCk0[/media]

In the discussion thread linked in the first post, there is a comment that too many of these old planes are being lost performing "stunts" and that this should not be done with irreplaceable aircraft. I agree with that assessment. The thrill of these shows should be the fact that great planes are flying, not that they are doing risky maneuvers.

Jon

sad day

I agree, very sad...

What do you call a P-51 with one wing?

Safer than a helicopter.

" It's a Commonweath Aircraft Co. CA-18 Mk 22, an Australian licenced built P-51D Mustang (c/n CA-CM-192-1517). YOC was 1951 ! Was RAAF:A68-192, then became VH-FCB in april 1958 until sold as PI-C651 in march 1969. After a crash in 1973 as PI-C651 it was rebuilt, using parts of 44-72917 (Phillippine AF). Then sold as VR-HIU in 1981 and in may 1985 sold as G-HAEC. "

This is a quote from someone else- makes you feal better that it wasnt a WW2 US fighter.

July 12th, 2011.

Still we're splitting hairs here, gentlemen! Whether it was a WWII USAAC P51, or a license built copy, we ARE losing too many historic aircraft for a wild hair thrill. There is almost no need to stunt the planes, and pilot error was obvious here....IF you want to play that way, I'm pretty sure the Chinese can cook up a copy for you if there's enough demand for them, or one of the eastern block aircraft builders..... And the chance for a dramatic accident will likely increasde anyway what with the quality of their steel, aluminum and machining work, if the New Star deuce parts are any indicator... IT is not good sense to risk irreplaceable machines for such gratification. Just my worth.

I guess it all comes down to whether ownership means that you own something. They own these birds, and they can do whatever they want with them. If you think that not flying them will save them, put your money where your mouth is and save a few...guess not. Were it not for the ability to fly these relics, they would have all ended up in the scrap bin. Very few people are willing to put the money into mothballing such things.

I seem to recall a whole hanger of historic airplanes getting trashed by the weather a few years back. And another hanger catching fire and clearing out another batch. Face it, no matter what you do, they won't last forever.

If you have to crash something, a P51D is a pretty good choice. Most are completely rebuilt from new manufactured parts. Every part you could want is available new, with the exception of the ID plate.

-Chuck

I agree, sorry to lose the plane, but that is a "material" thing. It is replaceable. Human life isn't. All errors carry a price, some higher than others. P-51 has been a favorite of mine since I can remember. Sad to lose one. Yet, I'd rather lose 'em all, than a single USAF pilot, Soldier, Marine, Seaman, or Coastie!
God bless,
Tony

No matter how much money you have , you can't fix stupid . The maneuver did not look very well rehearsed to me . The P51 did not appear to have major damage and makes you wonder if it was still flyable , although from the looks of the Skyraider it may not have been flyable . I am sure thier are more warbirds built from bits and pieces than there are warbirds that are close to original . Many of the original combat veteran aircraft were probally destroyed rather then brought home .I remember reading in a book and seeing pics of the US pushing the aircraft in a pile with a dozer and burning them rather then bringing them home . Still hurts to see one go in though .