I got to log a bit over an hour of flight instruction time in the TF-51D “Toulouse Nuts” the other day, and thought I'd share a few of my impressions as compared to “flying” the AH3 P-51D.
For some background. This my first experience actually flying a real plane since almost 50 years ago when I logged 35 minutes in a Cessna 150, and even less informal time in a Cessna Skymaster.
The pilot took off, did a flyby, then climbed out and trimmed the aircraft for 250 ias at 9500 feet. I was not allowed to adjust manifold pressure or rpm. He set those to max cruise settings....I recognized those settings as at least darn close to the same ones I use in game when I'm trying to milk my fuel to make it back to base, about 2500 rpm and about 35 “ manifold pressure. I got to hands-on fly the plane for about 2/3 of our flight or so; it was quite a thrill for this old WW2 aviation buff!
1. Sound details, raising and lowering flaps was silent, no stall warning buzzer.
2. When we stalled the plane buffetting seemed more apparent but otherwise similar to what I expected from AH3. Of course I could actually feel it in the real airplane, so that may entirely explain the difference. Stall recovery was trivially easy. The pilot, who claimed about 1,000 hours in the 51, reffered to the pony as a very docile plane to fly.
3. Control response was crisp; the plane felt very responsive. The pilot made more aggressive maneuvers than I was comfortable making. He would pull 2 g's or so. I was mostly pulling less. I got to do some wingovers and rolls.
4. Being in the real deal of course felt different in a lot of ways compared to being in the cartoon version, but also I felt at lot of familiarity. For what it is worth given my limited experience with real flying, and short and limited time flying the pony, my impression is that AH3 models the aircraft well.
5. Since we were using moderate power settings for most of the flight I asked the pilot about max climb rates; he said about 3500 to 4,000 fps, again seemed consistent with the AH3 pony, especially if you consider this plane was not packing guns and ammo.
I also got to take a shorter ride in a B-24. We pretty much had full access to the plane. It was fascinating to experience and was very noisy and drafty! You would have to be nimble and preferably small to quickly get in and out of some of those gunner positions!
These planes are owned by the Collings Foundation. Apparently they are about to roll out a dual control P-40E (I recall E anyways, not entirely sure about this detail), and are working on converting a Spit XVI to dual control.
Thanks to sullie363 for your post on your ride. Seeing your post helped lead me to find this opportunity in my nearby town! And special thanks to my son Orion, who paid for my pony ride!
