Thunder Mustang crashes at Reno

[snj-5]

Glad nobody got hurt....

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3145011/Pilot-walks-away-from-plane-crash.html

Various news sources say the last two races had to be cancelled due to high winds.

Bela P. Havasreti

[Cherrybomber13]

That photo is amazing. Can you say One Lucky SOB... How do you walk away from that, I mean seriously thank god.

[marine air]

There's a thunder mustang project for sale at the Lebanon, Tn. airport. It is an unfinished kit.615-444-0031

[262crew]

http://desmoines.komonews.com/content/d ... -air-races

[Rob Mears]

Is the Thunder Mustang still being produced? Last I heard (a few years ago) there was only a limited production of the type. Maybe the rising popularity will help push them back into production.

[Holedigger]

Yikes! Really balled that one up!

[jet1]

here is a close up of the cockpit of the thunder mustang. This happened RIGHT in front of me and it was not his turn to die. Luckily or so I was told, he dumped his race fuel while at altitude otherwise it would have been a fireball for sure. I don't usually post pics of crashed planes but look at the cockpit integrity he was just sitting there out in the open, if you look closely you can see the control stick.

[K5DH]

Wow... not much left of that one, except for the important part: the pilot! Glad to hear that he not only survived the crash, but literally walked away! Truly, it was not his day to die, and glad we are for that.

Dean the amazed!

[rc38pilot]

Nasty indeed but here is the real story,Thunder mustangs are going back into production,the assets were aquired,kits should be availible soon..keep an eye on thundermustang.com

The accident started with the #6 connecting rod coming apart and punching through both sides of the case....further examination will be done to find out why..This was not a stock engine but a twin supercharged modified v12..the engine imm. shut down limiting the altitude he(george)could gain!!!The winds at the time of failure and attempted mayday were 25+ with gust into the high 30s...There was no fuel dump at alt.. but with a stopped prop and limited alt.. he did the best I think he could given the circumstances!!This is from first hand knowledge as I am the first person listed on the crew...I am VERY glad george made it out of this...cutting the airplane up to get it home was heartwrenching for me and the rest of the crew.....the crew and george will race on supporting John Parker and Fred Roscher with there thunder mustangs..race 352 and race 51


Jim Adams Thunder Mustang #75

[bdk]

The pilot is indeed lucky. The design doesn't appear to be very crash-worthy as evidenced by the disintegrating cockpit.

[snj-5]

More here:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1313738/Moment-pilot-crashed-plane-ground-climbed-unscathed.html

Bela P. Havasreti

[Obergrafeter]

On Takeoff? Four days later and the press still gets it wrong!

[warbirdcrew]

On Takeoff? Four days later and the press still gets it wrong!

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Ober... there's your answer

[bdk]

From the EAA e-mail newsletter:

THUNDER MUSTANG KITS AVAILABLE SOON
After reaching an agreement with the Thunder Builders Group, Dean Holt Construction of Mount Vernon, Washington, reports it has purchased the Thunder Mustang molds and intellectual property and will begin production of the P-51 replica kit soon. After gaining experience from the builders of the 17 flying Thunder Mustangs, the company said the time required to restart operations and deliver a quality kit will be reduced significantly. The Thunder Builders Group will continue to work with Holt, who has followed the development of the Thunder Mustang since 1997. For more information, e-mail or call Dean Holt at 360-202-6271.

[Kyleb]

From the EAA e-mail newsletter:

THUNDER MUSTANG KITS AVAILABLE SOON
After reaching an agreement with the Thunder Builders Group, Dean Holt Construction of Mount Vernon, Washington, reports it has purchased the Thunder Mustang molds and intellectual property and will begin production of the P-51 replica kit soon. After gaining experience from the builders of the 17 flying Thunder Mustangs, the company said the time required to restart operations and deliver a quality kit will be reduced significantly. The Thunder Builders Group will continue to work with Holt, who has followed the development of the Thunder Mustang since 1997. For more information, e-mail or call Dean Holt at 360-202-6271.

The history of the Thunder Mustang is rather unfortunate. From a discussion I had with one of the "first 17" builders, everyone paid the entire cost up front and the kits were to be shipped in packages. The packages with the specialty items (props, gear, etc) were only supplied to a few builders before the original company went tango uniform. The rest of the builders (the guys who couldn't finish their planes) bought the company and put a bunch more money in it in hopes of getting all of the unique items manufactured and paid for. When I spoke with this builder (about 10 years ago...), he had put in serious extra bucks, but it appeared that the effort to get the rest of the parts was foundering. Not sure of the resolution.

The takeaway is that you shouldn't front money to a kitplane company unless you can afford to lose that money.