Brendon Deere's P-51D Mustang NZ2423

[JW]

Enjoying the weekly updates on the Mustang. Thanks for sharing Zac!

[planecrazy]

Wow......

[Deleted]

My pleasure JW: my thinking is that just because someone doesn't use Facebook shouldn't mean they miss out, and I'm happy to share the good word!

[teemack]

Yeah, I still really appreciate the updates. It's just a fantastic project.

[Deleted]

It's my pleasure, folks! And seeing as it's Friday, why not do it again? And I thought she was looking good before! (Fb link):

Another week with some nice milestones ticked off. The aircraft now has its fluids on board with engine oil, hydraulic fluid and coolant all added this week. The hydraulic hand pump allows us to conduct basic hydraulic tests and this week the undercarriage has been retracted and extended using the hydraulic system and the flaps have been moved up and down using the internal system.

A number of the smaller stencils and decals have been added this week adding to the look of the aircraft. The elevators are now both fitted and the trim tabs were being setup and the flaps are being rigged.

The wings on NZ2423 came with all the fittings and fixtures to fit out the gun bay magazines and we have been organizing the dummy rounds to fit into the magazine bays. The empty shell casings have come to us courtesy of both the NZ Army and NZ Navy and have been checked for deactivation by the armaments team at Ohakea. Copper dummy projectile heads are being made to fit to the empty cases and we have all the ammunition links as well to make up the necessary belts.

We are lucky also to have several sets of the intricate stainless steel wire feed guides that carry the rounds to the .50 replica machine guns - these guides were originally made by the Hughes Aircraft Company.

The 12 exhaust stubs and associated stainless steel exhaust shrouds have now been fitted to the Packard Merlin engine. Once again courtesy of the foresight of the late John Smith, the aircraft came with a stock of 28 exhaust stubs with quite a few of them brand new spares stock. The rest have been removed from other low time RNZAF aircraft as they were scrapped in 1958.

NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 01 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 02 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 03 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 04 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 05 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 06 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 07 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 08 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 09 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 10 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 11 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 12 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 13 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 14 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 15 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 16 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 17 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 18 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 19 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 20 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 21 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 22 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 23 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 24 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 25 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 26 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230818 Ohakea Brendon Deere 27 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

[Antonio]

Wow Wow Wow

Weekly fix secured 

[Deleted]

I feel like a drug dealer

[Mustang51]

Keep on dealin'

[planecrazy]

It's a pretty addictive thread.

[Deleted]

[Deleted]

I'm afraid I was a bit occupied last night so, better late than never, here's Friday's update on Mustang Two Three from Brendon on Facebook (link):

This week a few more finishing touches have been added to our Mustang. The rudder was installed earlier in the week. The rudder was covered for us by Marty Nicoll at JEM Aviation and painted and stenciled here at Ohakea. It carries a partial serial as a reminder of its production originally for the USAAF before being allocated to the RNZAF at the factory. The serial of NZ2423 was 45-11513 which was a combination of the year of manufacture and the number allocated when accepted by the USAAF at the factory.

This serial was stenciled on the fin and rudder with the first digit of the year of manufacture dropped and the balance of the numbers stenciled. When the RNZAF painted their fin marking on NZ2423, that part of the serial on the fin was lost. Hence all that remains on the rudder is on the right side the first three digits of the original serial – 511, and on the left the last three digits – 513. The partial serial remained on the rudder through its service with 2 TAF Squadron but was gone in service with 42 Squadron.

The stenciling font used for the USAAF serial itself is a little unusual - it was a one inch wide font with all characters spaced one inch apart, regardless of character width and not used anywhere else on the aircraft. With “ones” in the serial, it makes it look quite narrow.

Some more detail stencils have gone on this week. Included are the very literal “Hands Off” stencils on each wingtip. North American Aviation stenciling on the Mustang is an object lesson in providing all possible information on the aircraft itself for those handling the aircraft at the front.

The feed chutes to the replica .50 calibre machine guns have been added this week as well as the eject chutes for the ammunition links. The intricate stainless steel feed chutes were generally made by Hughes Aircraft Company although we do have one example made by a different manufacturer. There are separate eject chutes for each gun for the shell casings and the links which held the ammunition rounds together in belts in the ammunition bays.

The central floorboard has been prepared for installation – this sits under the forward section of the pilot seat and has the control for cold air flow as well as the support bracket for the pilots relief tube – probably pretty useful on the long bomber escort missions.

The clamshell doors have been hooked up to their hydraulic actuators and retracted and extended using the hand hydraulic pump. Adjusting the doors for snug fit to the airframe has been a key task as well.

Fitting of the wing tip assemblies allowed us to test the operation of the navigation lights. Underneath the right wing we have also fitted the three coloured identification lights.

NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 01 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 02 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 04 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 05 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 06 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 07 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 08 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 09 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 10 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 11 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 12 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 13 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 14 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 15 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 16 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 17 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 18 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 19 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 20 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 21 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 22 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 23 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 24 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230825 Ohakea Brendon Deere 25 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

[Deleted]

I still can't figure out how to embed Facebook videos but this post by Brendon has a time-lapse video worth watching:

Retract testing has been on the list of tasks this week . This allows the rigging on the up and down positions and locks and the sequencing of leg retracts with the clamshell doors. The microswitches that provide position indication to the pilot have also been fine tuned. Most of the tests have been done with the wheels removed to give a better view of the operation on retraction but these have been fitted back on today.

All the testing to date has been using the hand hydraulic pump which was part of the Mustang kit and usually stored in one of the gun bays. This gives a nice and slow operation of the system but is a bit of a work out. Next stage will involve testing with an external hydraulic rig which will simulate the performance of the engine driven hydraulic pump and things will happen much more quickly than by hand.

[Deleted]

This week's update: guns a-go-go and hydraulics hijinks! (Fb link)

Another interesting week ending with the first day of our Spring season. We have been trying for size some of the .50 calibre shells and links for fit as well as fitting more fairing sections to the aircraft. The first part of bleeding the coolant systems has been completed – there are separate coolant systems for the engine and also the supercharger intercooler.

Major task today was hydraulic testing using an external hydraulic pumping rig. This simulates the hydraulic pressure from the engine driven hydraulic pump and allows us to test the retraction of the undercarriage as well as the operation of the flaps – video to follow. The hydraulic system is based around an unloader valve and when there is no demand for pressure the hydraulic fluid is pumped around in a loop without pressure. When there is demand e.g. when the gear is being retracted, the unloader valve brings the system pressure up to 1,000 psi as soon as it bleeds away to around 850 psi.

NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 01 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 02 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 03 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 04 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 05 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 06 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 07 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 08 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 09 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 10 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 11 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 12 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 13 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 14 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 15 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 16 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 17 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 18 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 19 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 20 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 20230901 Ohakea Brendon Deere 21 by Zac Yates, on Flickr


And the aforementioned video (which I'm not sure how to embed) shows the landing gear and flaps being cycled. Mesmerising. It's fascinating how quickly the tailwheel snaps up!

[Mustang51]

Now she is really looking the goods..............to me best, most authentic P51 restoration anywhere in years

[aerovet]

Great footage, Zac!
Thanks for sharing ;-)

[Deleted]

Sept 1, 2023 23:02:20 GMT 12 aerovet said:

Great footage, Zac!
Thanks for sharing ;-)

My pleasure, full credit to Brendon for sharing so many photos of his wonderful project for us all to enjoy.

[Deleted]

Here's this week's update! (FB link):

I’m away from the hangars this week so getting a progress update remotely like everyone else. Thanks to Joe for the photos.

The cockpit is now starting to look like the finished item. The three floorboard sections have now been installed as well as the control column. There is no “bottom” to the main fuselage section and this is actually the top of the wing which the control column is bolted to. The floor board sections are aluminum and ply and serve to cover the coolant and ventilation ducting that sits on top of the wing. The manual fuel gauges from the wing tanks are viewed literally through holes in the floorboards. The restored original Warren McArthur pilots seat and the large piece of armour plating behind the pilots seat are still to go on as is the equipment that attaches to the top of the armour plate.

The gun and ammunition bay doors have been fitted now and the forward gun door has all of the original wartime instructions for loading and setting up the guns – typical again of the level of information provided on the aircraft for the field crews. You can see how the two ammunition bays are loaded to feed the three guns on each side.
Fitting of fairings also adds to the completion look of the aircraft but highlights the ease of access to key systems once removed (with a few well known exceptions)

NZ2423 Ohakea 20230908 Joe Deere 01 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 Ohakea 20230908 Joe Deere 02 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 Ohakea 20230908 Joe Deere 03 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 Ohakea 20230908 Joe Deere 04 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 Ohakea 20230908 Joe Deere 05 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 Ohakea 20230908 Joe Deere 06 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 Ohakea 20230908 Joe Deere 07 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 Ohakea 20230908 Joe Deere 08 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 Ohakea 20230908 Joe Deere 09 by Zac Yates, on Flickr
NZ2423 Ohakea 20230908 Joe Deere 10 by Zac Yates, on Flickr

[kiwi285]

With the amazing selection of photographs that have been presented here there is no reason that a fantastic model of this aircraft could not be produced. Every little item and from numerous angles.

[JW]

The amount of work that has gone into NZ2423 is incredible. Really hoping to get to see this at some point in the future.

[planecrazy]

Agreed this is so detailed we have all probably seen things on a Mustang many didn't know even existed?