F-51H 44-64203..... status ?

[Ed Likes]

Taigh I also am in awe of what you kindly posted on WIX regarding this P-51H. I certainly didn't know anything about it at all. I have a couple of quick questions which maybe you can or can't answer Taigh. First is there any reason or reasons why this aircraft was in deep storage for almost 50 years? What ever took place it is really cool to see that now it might be on the track to being restored to flying status.
Also did you see the Bearcat, and what kind of shape is it in? Do you know or does someone else know when the Bearcat last flew? Seems like it is in some type of civy colors, but not sure. Thanks again Taigh for posting the pics.

[Speeddemon651]

Every now and then a post comes along that is really awesome and this is defiantly one of them. It's post like these that I check WIX daily for, thanks a lot for posting !

[iflyinanh]

Taigh I also am in awe of what you kindly posted on WIX regarding this P-51H. I certainly didn't know anything about it at all. I have a couple of quick questions which maybe you can or can't answer Taigh. First is there any reason or reasons why this aircraft was in deep storage for almost 50 years? What ever took place it is really cool to see that now it might be on the track to being restored to flying status.
Also did you see the Bearcat, and what kind of shape is it in? Do you know or does someone else know when the Bearcat last flew? Seems like it is in some type of civy colors, but not sure. Thanks again Taigh for posting the pics.

I can answer those questions for you. This H was in storage because around the time my grandfather acquired it he was getting significant pushback from the air force about the other H model. They felt that the H was to high performance of an airplane or something like that, so he felt it was better just to leave it apart at home rather than draw more attention from the air force. The Bearcat is still assembled, and is painted in a modified gulf hawk type scheme, but in yellow. It is in completely original, never been touched except for being painted once condition. you can see that it still has the original navy blue paint around the access doors and around where the wings fold. It also needs to be completely restored at this point, it hasn't flown since around 1970. Once my grandpa put the first H together he didn't want to fly the bearcat anymore because it had less performance than the H but burned half again as much gas.

[marine air]

This is why I am addicted to checking WIX regularly. I heard Mr. Couches had another Mustang besides his H and Bearcat. Never seen any pictures and assumed it was paperwork and totaled crash remains. Nice to see it is a real aircraft with tons of parts. I wish them well.
Thanks for sharing the pics!

[stryper]

Taigh I also am in awe of what you kindly posted on WIX regarding this P-51H. I certainly didn't know anything about it at all. I have a couple of quick questions which maybe you can or can't answer Taigh. First is there any reason or reasons why this aircraft was in deep storage for almost 50 years? What ever took place it is really cool to see that now it might be on the track to being restored to flying status.
Also did you see the Bearcat, and what kind of shape is it in? Do you know or does someone else know when the Bearcat last flew? Seems like it is in some type of civy colors, but not sure. Thanks again Taigh for posting the pics.

I can answer those questions for you. This H was in storage because around the time my grandfather acquired it he was getting significant pushback from the air force about the other H model. They felt that the H was to high performance of an airplane or something like that, so he felt it was better just to leave it apart at home rather than draw more attention from the air force. The Bearcat is still assembled, and is painted in a modified gulf hawk type scheme, but in yellow. It is in completely original, never been touched except for being painted once condition. you can see that it still has the original navy blue paint around the access doors and around where the wings fold. It also needs to be completely restored at this point, it hasn't flown since around 1970. Once my grandpa put the first H together he didn't want to fly the bearcat anymore because it had less performance than the H but burned half again as much gas.

Thank you so much for sharing that information. I can only imagine how cool it would be to have a grandfather with all those great warbirds!

[steve dickey]

Being that Mr. Couches is 90, did he serve in WWII? Thanks in advance.

[Couger42]

any update on P-51B 43-24760 in Mike Coutches hanger?

[iflyinanh]

He kinda served in WWII, He was a mechanic for pan american working on the flying boats on treasure island. When pan American got a contract to use them for ship transport all of the mechanics were automatically inducted into the navy, Pan american feared that they may have gotten drafted so they had the navy induct them as part of the contract.

The P-51B is nothing more than paper work, there may be a few pieces here and there but no major components.

[eallen]

Thanks for all the info fellas! Good stuff! Has anyone seen this message from Pylon 1? Seems to fit into this topic a bit...

http://www.aafo.com/hangartalk/showthre ... n-Bearcats

[avenger2504]

Am I correct in saying there is only one airworthy H model Mustang flying? They look different from the D Model. Is it a case of not much in common parts wise? Reminds me a bit of the F82. Great news and in amazing condition.

[Speedy]

Bill Whittington has a flyable H-model in New Mexico or Colorado. I did hear that it was up for sale, though.

[avenger2504]

Thanks, I understand there are two flyers(out of 5 survivors) and one mentioned as a restoration (not sure if they mean this one..............? Also there is a XP51-G under long term restoration which was one of three prototypes leading to the H model. (Google is my friend! )
Found info here: http://www.mustangsmustangs.com/p-51/variants/p51h

[marine air]

Well, if you look at the P-51 lineage, the stage is being set for a rising interest and popularity of the late model/ postwar Mustangs. The two F-82's are progressing with one to fly in 2016. Almost everything has been done in the restoration business, A, B, C, TP-51C's and A-36's. It was only a matter of time for the spotlight to turn toward the H's 82's and even the one G. Maybe one of the three H projects or G project will change hands and built up soon.
It would be awesome to see at an airshow a mixed gaggle of two F-82's, a couple H's and maybe throw in an F-86 for good measure.

[Mustanger55]

Great Thread and great info. I'd love to see another H make it into the sky. Early on in our P-51H Static Restoration at Chanute Air Museum, Robert Couches helped us make contact with Kent Rockwell and others as we struggled to find any information and advice on how to approach the Mustang project. Thanks to him and good friends like Butch Schroeder and the guys at Midwest Aero Restorations, we found the encouragement to go on to do a more complete job. We lived and breathed the P-51H almost every weekend for 9-1/2 years working on the "Louisiana Heatwave".
Project info here>>> http://p51h.home.comcast.net/~p51h/index.htm

I'm hoping whoever is doing the restoration will be kind enough to run an ongoing thread on the work right up through first flight so we can all follow along.

[Nathan]

Nothing like having a P-51 in your garage!