#unless there was anything specific about planes/aviation in general you wanted me to ramble about- just let me know!

[feralnumberfive]

I wanna read your ramble about planes more

And I couldn't be any happier to share with you, especially on today, National Aviation Day! ☺️

I'll talk about a real cool and gorgeous plane I saw last month, but first let me tell you about its kind.

The P-51 Mustang was the hotrod fighter of WWII, and easily the most famous fighter of WWII. It was designed and built in just 100 days, and was revolutionary as it was the first aircraft to successfully be designed with a laminar flow wing.

There were a handful a Mustang variations, but here are the most common. The most notable differences are their canopies. A-C had what is called a "birdcage" or "razorback" canopy while the D model had a "bubble" canopy that provided a 360° view (note: The P-51C could also have the Malcom Hood and the P-51B could also have a birdcage canopy)

There is an odd looking bump on the belly of the Mustang that is a cooling scoop for the radiator and oil. While aerodynamically it looks like it causes more drag, which it does, it actually takes advantage of a cool effect called the "Meredith effect." Due to the fact that the hot radiator is inside of the scoop, there is actually a backdoor on the scoop that blows out the hot and pressurized waste air.

This pressurized air being blown out is actually producing thrust, like a jet engine and more specifically a ramjet, and for the Mustang it produces about 300 lbs of thrust. So the "Meredith effect" is that despite the scoop itself producing more drag on the airframe, the thrust being produced nearly equalizes the effect of the drag and offsets it.

Okay, now onto one of the most beautiful planes I have had the pleasure of seeing. This is a P-51C named "Thunderbird" that has quite the history.

Hollywood actor and WWII bomber pilot Jimmy Stewart owned this plane after the war ended. "Thunderbird" never saw service in WWII as it was a surplus aircraft and instead was bought and used as a race plane. It won the 1949 Bendix race trophy and had an average speed of 470 mph, which was record setting at the time. Due to the paint on the plane and how polished it was, it actually gained 8 mph in flight.

In late 1949 famous WASP pilot, and leader, and one of the most well known women aviators and record setters named Jackie Cochran bought "Thunderbird" where she set more world records in it. She eventually sold it back to Jimmy Stewart before it was passed onto more owners.

The aircraft was involved with a crash in 1955 and began part recovery for restoration in 1999. In 2007 the restoration of this aircraft began and was finished in mid 2023. In early June it had its first post restoration flight. It is painted in 100% original colors and has the same designs it wore when it won the Bendix trophy. It had been painted less than one week prior to when I saw it, so it was a very clean and neat Mustang!

A neat fact about this aircraft was that after Queen Elizabeth II was coronated it was used to fly the coronation tapes for CBS from Newfoundland into the United States as it was trusted for its speed to complete the job

Alright, (long) ramble over. Thanks for letting me share!