Classic warbirds and other aviation vids.

Think there just might be some operator skill involved here?
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Started to wonder about the actual air speeds of these piston driven propeller aircraft from World War 2. Interesting read from Wikipedia. I will post this in two parts to cover the same airplanes now used for air racing...

Fastest propeller-driven aircraft

A number of aircraft have been claimed to be the fastest propeller-driven aircraft. This article presents the current record holders for several sub-classes of propeller-driven aircraft that hold recognized, documented speed records in level flight. Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) records are the basis for this article.[1] Other contenders and their claims are discussed, but only those made under controlled conditions and measured by outside observers. Pilots during World War II sometimes claimed to have reached supersonic speeds in propeller-driven fighters during emergency dives, but these speeds are not included as accepted records. Neither are speeds recorded in a dive during high-speed tests with the Supermarine Spitfire, including Squadron Leader J.R. Tobin's 606 mph (975 km/h, Mach 0.89) in a 45° dive in a Mark XI Spitfire (date unknown) and Squadron Leader Anthony F. Martindale's breaking 620 mph (998 km/h, Mach 0.92) in the same aircraft in April 1944.[2] Flight Lieutenant Edward Powles' 690 mph (1110 km/h, Mach 0.96) in Spitfire PR.XIX PS852 during an emergency dive while carrying out spying flights over China on 5 February 1952 is also discounted. This would otherwise be the highest speed ever recorded for a piston-engined aircraft.[3]
 
The Air Racers...


Piston engines

77 F8F-2 Bearcat (N-777L) Rare Bear world speed record holder at the 2014 Reno Air Races
The more "traditional" class of propeller-driven aircraft comprises those powered by piston engines, which include nearly all aircraft from the Wright brothers up through World War II. Today piston engines are used almost exclusively on light, general aviation aircraft. The official speed record for a piston plane was held by a modified Grumman F8F Bearcat, the Rare Bear, with a speed of 528.315 mph (850.241 km/h) on 21 August 1989 at Las Vegas, New Mexico, United States of America.[10][11] This record was retired as a new weight class based system was introduced to allow more pilots to set new records across a wider range of aircraft. On September 2, 2017, Steve Hinton Jr, in the modified P-51 Mustang Voodoo set the new record of 531.53 mph (855.41 km/h) in the C-1e class (the same weight class Rare Bear would fall into). This record is also the fastest for any propeller driven piston aircraft.
The FAI record for the fastest piston-powered aircraft over a long-distance circuit is the 2000-km record of 447.5 mph (720.2 km/h) set on 22 May 1948 by Jacqueline Cochran in a P-51C. (She also holds the 100-km record of 469.55 mph, set in December 1947.) Higher speed records exist; some are unofficial and some were officially-timed one-way trips aided by tailwinds. Examples of the latter: a B-29 averaged 450 mph (724 km/h) from Burbank to Floyd Bennett Field (2460 mi in 5.455 hours) on 11 December 1945, and Joe DeBona averaged 561.57 mph (904 km/h) from Los Angeles LAX to New York Idlewild (2475 mi (3981.5 km) in 4.405 hours) in a P-51 on 30 March 1954. On September 12, 2003, the modified P-51 Dago Red, piloted by Skip Holm, averaged 507.105 mph (816.1 km/h) during the 6 lap (c.50 miles) Reno Air Races Friday Gold Race.
Other claimants[edit]
The 1903 Wright Flyer did 30 mph (48 km/h) during its first flight; the Bleriot XI reached 47 mph (76 km/h) in 1909. Fabric-covered biplanes of the World War I era and shortly after could do up to 200 mph (320 km/h). In 1925 U.S. Army Lt. Cyrus K. Bettis flying a Curtiss R3C won the Pulitzer Trophy Race with a speed of 248.9 mph (400.6 km/h).[12]
Speeds of all-metal monoplanes of the 1930s jumped into the 435 mph (700 km/h) range with the Macchi M.C.72 reaching a top speed of 440.6 mph (709.1 km/h), still the record for piston-powered seaplanes.[13] The Messerschmitt Me 209 V1 set a world speed record of almost 756 km/h (470 mph) on 26 April 1939,[14] and the Republic XP-47J (a variant of the P-47 Thunderbolt) is claimed to have reached 505 mph (813 km/h) in testing.[citation needed] The P-51H Mustang, 555 made, could go 487 mph (784 km/h). The prototype of the twin-engined de Havilland Hornet (RR915) (383 built) reached 485 mph (781 km/h) as did a prototype Hawker Fury (LA610) when fitted with a Napier Sabre VII, and a prototype of the successor to the Supermarine Spitfire, the Supermarine Spiteful F.16 (RB518), reached 494 mph (795 km/h). The fastest German propeller driven aircraft that flew in WWII (did not see combat) was the twin-DB 603-powered Dornier Do 335 "Pfeil/Arrow" which had a claimed top speed of 474 mph (763 km/h).[15]

The XP-47J reached 813 km/h (505 mph) in testing

Convair XFY-1 "Pogo"

Lockheed XFV-1 "Salmon"
During the 1950s two unorthodox United States Navy fighter prototypes married turboprop engines with a "tailsittingdesign", the Convair XFY "Pogo" and the Lockheed XFV. Maximum design speeds of 610 mph (980 km/h) at 15,000 ft (4,600 m) and 578 mph (930 km/h) respectively have been quoted. The Lockheed XFV was fitted with a less powerful engine than it was designed for and had makeshift non-retractable landing gear for horizontal takeoff and landing;[16] the Convair's landing gear supported it in a vertical position. It was usually flown with the cockpit open, since the ejection seat was thought unreliable.[17] These aircraft had "compromised in-flight speed" because of the conflicting demands of vertical and horizontal flight.[18]
 
Looks like it did win Eric...some of the history of Dago Red

Awards
  • Six time winner of the National Championship Air Races (1982, 1998, 1999, 2000, 2002 and 2003)
  • Mojave, California 1983 - World Speed Record 15 km (517.323 mph)
  • Unlimited Reno Air Races 1982 - Gold Winner
  • Reno Air Races 2003 - Thompson Trophy, Fastest Lap (512.164 mph), Fastest Race (507.105 mph)
  • Reno Air Races 2001 - Fastest Qualifying Speed (497.797 mph)
Specifications
General characteristics

  • Crew: 1
  • Length: 32 ft 3 in (9.83 m)
  • Wingspan: 32 ft 3 in (9.84 m)
  • Height: 13 ft 0 in (3.96 m)
  • Wing area: 150 sq ft (14 m2)
  • Empty weight: 7,200 lb (3,266 kg)
  • Gross weight: 7,800 lb (3,538 kg)
  • Max takeoff weight: 8,500 lb (3,856 kg)
  • Powerplant: 1 × Rolls Royce Merlin V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine race tuned, estimated 3,500 to 3,800 hp (2,600 to 2,800 kW)
  • Propellers: 4-bladed Hamilton Standard paddle bladed propeller
Performance

  • Maximum speed: 450 kn (520 mph, 840 km/h)
  • Range: 100 nmi (120 mi, 190 km)
  • Service ceiling: 45,000 ft (14,000 m)
  • Rate of climb: 8,000 ft/min (41 m/s)
 
The story...

The Galloping Ghost (aircraft)
TypeNorth American P-51D-15-NA Mustang
ManufacturerNorth American Aviation
RegistrationN79111
Serial44-15651
FateCrashed September 2011
The Galloping Ghost was a P-51D Mustang air racer flown by Jimmy Leeward. It was a former military aircraft that had undergone major modifications, including shortening of the wings and horizontal tail, in addition to other modifications to reduce the aircraft's drag. S/n 44-15651 was manufactured in 1944, and had been owned by Aero Trans Corp. DBA in Ocala, Florida.[1] It was destroyed on September 16, 2011, when it crashed into spectators at the Reno Air Races, at the Reno Stead Airport north of Reno, Nevada.


Contents

  • 1 History
  • 2 2011 Reno Air Races crash
  • 3 Awards
  • 4 Specifications (The Galloping Ghost)
  • 5 See also
  • 6 References
History
The Galloping Ghost was built by North American Aviation as a P-51D-15-NA, Army Air Force serial number 44-15651,[2] at the NAA's Inglewood, California, plant[3] for military use during World War II. Once the aircraft was delivered, it was transferred to the then-Walnut Ridge Army Air Field in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas. It was later classified as surplus stock and offered to the public for around $3,500 ($46,000 today). Around that time, Steve Beville and Bruce Raymond were looking to compete in the National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio, that were to be held in September. Beville was able to secure the aircraft from the WAA on July 22, 1946, even though P-51 sales at Walnut Ridge Army Air Field had formally ended. Thus, the aircraft was the last to be sold to the public.[4][5]

Beville and Raymond registered the plane as NX79111 and named it The Galloping Ghost after football star Red Grange. Raymond piloted the aircraft in its first race, the 1946 Thompson Trophy, the first since World War II suspended the annual event after the 1939 running. Raymond took fourth place on the closed-course track, winning $3,000.[6] The following year, Beville piloted the aircraft in the Kendall Trophy race. He broke the record for fastest closed-course speed August 31, 1947, with 384.6 miles per hour (619 km/h), over the previous record of 601.7 km/h (374 mph) set by Alvin "Tex" Johnson in the Thompson Trophy race the previous year, winning $2,500.[7][8][9] Beville also raced for the 1947 Thompson Trophy, taking fourth. For 1948, Raymond raced in the Sohio (taking fourth), Thompson (second) and Tinnerman (first) Trophies. He won the Tinnerman by less than a second,[10] taking $3,150 and earning a total of $11,850 for all three races. In 1949, Beville raced in the Sohio and Thompson Trophies, taking fourth for both and earning a total of $3,700.[6]

In 1963, the aircraft was purchased by Dr. Cliff Cummins as a stripped hulk.[11]He restored the aircraft and had it modified for racing, included the addition of a lower-profile canopy and reducing the wingspan four feet (120 cm). He first raced it at the Reno Air Races in 1969 as Miss Candace (named after his daughter) race number 69. At the 1970 races, he suffered an engine failure and landed short of the runway, damaging the aircraft.[12][13]

The aircraft was rebuilt again, this time with a very small canopy taken from a Formula One air racer and a smaller belly cooling scoop. In this configuration, Cummins first raced the aircraft in 1972. In 1973 he qualified the airplane in the third position for the Unlimited Class Gold Race and he took second place behind Lyle Shelton's winning Bearcat. He did win the 1976 National Air Races at Mojave, California, with a winning speed of 422 miles per hour (679 km/h). After racing the aircraft for several years with limited success, he sold the aircraft in 1979 to Wiley Sanders of Sanders Truck Lines.[12]

Sanders renamed the aircraft Jeannie, after his wife. The aircraft was rebuilt with an eye to weight reduction. In the end, 600 pounds (270 kg) were removed from the airframe.[13] Roy "Mac" McLain flew the aircraft in 1979 at the Reno Air Races. Shortly before the 1980 air races, the aircraft was damaged in a crash at the Van Nuys Airport. In a frantic effort, the aircraft was rebuilt and again flown by McLain, winning the Gold Race at Reno just days later. At the 1981 Reno Air Races, Skip Holm piloted the aircraft to victory in the Unlimited Class Gold Race. The following year, the aircraft suffered an engine failure and did not participate in the Gold Race.[12]

The aircraft was sold to Jimmy Leeward in 1983, shortly after the aircraft's wing span had been reduced another six feet (180 cm).[14] Leeward initially raced the aircraft as Specter, race number X.[15] He later raced the aircraft at Reno as race number 9 and later race number 44 "The Leeward Air Ranch Special."[13] After an engine failure at the 1989 Reno Air Races forced Leeward to land the airplane on a dirt road,[13] the aircraft did not appear at the races between 1990 and 2009.

In 2010, the Galloping Ghost returned to the Reno races.[11]

2011 Reno Air Races crash
Main article: 2011 Reno Air Races crash
In 2011, Leeward flew the aircraft again in the Reno Air Races. On September 16, 2011, The Galloping Ghost crashed into spectators at the races, killing Leeward and 10 spectators and injuring 69 others.[16]

The aircraft had just rounded the last pylon when it pitched upward and then went inverted. While inverted, the plane rocked its wings and suddenly pitched downward towards the ground and grandstands, crashing into the box seating area in front of the grandstands.

The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) examined whether the loss of a component of the tail played a role in the crash of The Galloping Ghost.[17]News reports included a photograph taken right before the crash while the airplane was inverted show a missing left elevator trim tab.[17][18] A similar event had taken place in 1998: the left trim tab was lost by a modified P-51 Mustang named Voodoo Chile, piloted by "Hurricane" Bob Hannah, during the Reno Air Races. The 1998 incident did not lead to a crash, but Hannah reported that when the elevator trim tab came off, the airplane pitched up and subjected him to over 10 g and a loss of consciousness. When he regained consciousness, the plane had climbed to over 9,000 feet (2,750 m). In that incident, Hannah had been able to bring the damaged plane in for a safe landing.[19][20]

In the NTSB investigation report, the cause was attributed to extreme pitch-up to 17 g+ caused by the loss of the port elevator trim tab due to wear in the trim tab mounts, exacerbated by lock-nuts on the mounting bolts losing their self-locking ability due to use past their normal life.[21]

Awards
  • 1946, First Place, Kendall Trophy
  • 1948, First Place, Tinnerman Trophy
  • 1976, First Place, Mojave
  • 1981, First Place, Reno
Specifications (The Galloping Ghost)
General characteristics

 

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