Best P51 homebuild??

[Captain Happy]

Hey all, I would absolutely love to someday build a scale P51. Who makes the best one?

Any info is appreciated

Captain Happy

 

[Mike Eggen]

Papa 51

This is it
http://www.thundermustang.com/

 

[svcta]

but they are no longer in production.

 

[moonlight]

I'm pretty sure there are a few partially built kits available though, I think there is a link to them on their website. What an awesome plane!! Last year at Reno, one of them was turning over 370 mph!! Unfortunately,John Parker didn't win on Sunday, he went out due to a mechanical, I believe he was having supercharger problems.

 

[SIG600]

If you don't want to spend your life savings, and just want something for fun.. see if Loehle (I think thats the spelling) still makes the 5151.

 

[jbDC9]

Try Titan Aircraft near Cleveland, OH. They have a sharp looking 3/4 scale P-51D kit... powerplant is a 100 hp Rotax 912. Not as fast as a Stewart or Thunder Mustang but it's a whole lot cheaper. All metal construction with either pulled or driven rivets. Kit cost is listed at $49,900, engine/prop not included.

http://www.titanaircraft.com/aircraft.php?aircraft_id=1

Over on the left side of their main page is a link to a 17 page PDF P-51 brochure, some good detail and pics there.

 

[flylowman]

No this is the best. http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~osmith/s51/ Unfortunatly the company went bust. ( I think)

 

[atlcrashpad]

http://www.loehle.com/MustangKit.htm


Gots sum kool stuff.....

 

[Captain Happy]

Thanks

Thanks to all that had a site for me. I love the Titan. Hell I might even beable to afford that one......

Captain Happy

 

[MarineGrunt]

Thanks to all that had a site for me. I love the Titan. Hell I might even beable to afford that one......

Captain Happy

The Titan looks great, but thats about it. I saw it as Oshkosh a couple years ago and was in love with it until I heard it flying. It sounded like a flying weedeater. I wish theyd design it to have at least an O-200.....

 

[jbDC9]

The Titan looks great, but thats about it. I saw it as Oshkosh a couple years ago and was in love with it until I heard it flying. It sounded like a flying weedeater. I wish they'd design it to have at least an O-200.....

Or perhaps even bigger, maybe a 180 hp O-360... but that probably wouldn't fit in the cowling. I gotta agree with you, it's a great looking little ship, but with only 100 hp dragging around a fairly large airframe, the performance numbers look pretty tame. Performance wise, my 180 hp RV-8 will blow the doors (canopy?) off that thing for roughly the same amount of money to build. The Titan would cost over $70K by the time you add engine/prop/instruments to it, while my quick build RV-8 cost roughly $60-65K.

Cool thing about the RV-4 and RV-8, they have a bit of a P-51 look to them; taildragger, bubble canopy... only thing missing is the belly radiator scoop. Quite a few guys paint their RVs like P-51s... here's a few pics;
[FONT=ARIAL, Helvetica, Geneva][FONT=ARIAL, Helvetica, Geneva][FONT=ARIAL, Helvetica, Geneva]http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0931771/M/
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][FONT=ARIAL, Helvetica, Geneva][FONT=ARIAL, Helvetica, Geneva][FONT=ARIAL, Helvetica, Geneva]http://www.airliners.net/open.file/1112206/M/
[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT][FONT=ARIAL, Helvetica, Geneva][FONT=ARIAL, Helvetica, Geneva][FONT=ARIAL, Helvetica, Geneva]http://www.airliners.net/open.file/0907518/M/[/FONT][/FONT][/FONT]

 

[sstearns2]

The Stewart mustang, S-51, is the closest thing to a real mustang you can get. They basically copied the structure of a real mustang at 3/4 scale. There are some around for sale. The kit is built for an iron big block V-8, which is a project in itself.

If you want a nice, fun airplane that you will finish in the next decade, then get an RV with the quick build option. If you want a lifetime project, get the S-51.

Scott

 

[Low Pass]

The Stewart mustang, S-51, is the closest thing to a real mustang you can get. They basically copied the structure of a real mustang at 3/4 scale. There are some around for sale. The kit is built for an iron big block V-8, which is a project in itself.

If you want a nice, fun airplane that you will finish in the next decade, then get an RV with the quick build option. If you want a lifetime project, get the S-51.

Scott

You got it right on re. the S-51. I believe that's what a couple of guys are building at my field. Beautiful work of art. But not sure I'd want to fly it after the thousands of man-hours of work. They are about 80% complete, with at least 80% to go!

I'm sure the S-51 will be a hit at the airshows. But nothing beats an RV for being able to fire up and go get upside down burning avgas for 30-40 minutes or pack up for the weekend and take a 500 mile trip.

 

[MarineGrunt]

Here's a few others:
http://www.falconaravia.com/
http://legendaryaircraft.com/

Info:
http://www.seas.ucla.edu/~osmith/s51/kits.html

 

[StaySeated]

I had a legendary aircraft guy in our jumpseat two days ago. He owns the mold or something like that and is starting up a company that will build the plane for you. I think he said they would run 250k for a vfr version.