Post by Dave Homewood on Jun 30, 2022 23:24:35 GMT 12
Here is an article from The Press dated 18 August 1955:
Last Mustang Fighter Soon To Leave Wigram
Very few days are left before the noise of a Mustang’s engine will be heard over Christchurch for the last time. In a corner of a hangar at the Royal New Zealand Air Force station, Wigram, mechanics are completing an overhaul on the only Mustang fighter now left in Canterbury. Similar sad services are being completed throughout New Zealand as the Territorial Air Force’s Mustangs are groomed for their last flights to Woodbourne, and storage.
Only three of the sleek, 425 mile-an-hour, fighters will remain in service by the end of the month; they will be used for drogue-towing at Ohakea. The rest will be retired at Woodbourne, and are likely to fade gradually away as parts are taken to service the three still at work.
But Territorial Air Force pilots will not be left long without high-speed aircraft. The Mustangs will be replaced by Vampire jet fighters, and until their own aircraft are delivered pilots of No. 3 (Canterbury) Squadron, T.A.F., will have regular training on the Vampires of 75 Squadron at Ohakea.
The Mustang is among the famous fighters of World War II. The first one was designed and built by North American Aviation Inc. to a British specification. The prototype was designed, built and flown within 100 days; its first flight was made in October, 1940. Altogether 15,576 of these versatile machines were built before production stopped. The model which was used in New Zealand, the P-51D, was the most popular and 7966 of these were built.
The Mustang I, the first mark, was fitted with an Allison engine rated at 1000 horse-power, but its performance at height was poor. It was remustered as a low-altitude reconnaissance fighter and posted to Army Co-operation Command. It went on its first operational sortie with this branch of the Royal Air Force on July 27, 1942.
Until engineers in Great Britain modified the machines to take a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine of more than 1500 horse-power little was done with the Mustang. The modification was highly successful and immediately North American modified their production aircraft so that Merlin engines, built in America under licence by the Packard company, could be fitted. The P-51B and P-51C models, with Merlin engines, were put into production in 1943. Other modifications followed and the P-51D was developed.
Mustangs of this mark are still in use in many countries of the world, including Israel, Nationalist China, Italy, Switzerland, Dominica, South Korea, and Australia. Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation at Fishermen's Bend, outside Melbourne, built about 250 P-51D Mustangs, the first 80 from imported parts. Tooling at the factory began in February 1944, and the first complete aircraft was ready to test in May 1945.
Later the C.A. 15, a single-seat, long range fighter bearing many marks of the Mustang, but actually a new and completely Australian design, was built. The prototype first flew in March, 1946, powered by a 2035 horse-power Rolls-Royce Griffon engine. Only one of these aircraft was built.
A great many variants of the Mustang were produced, a tribute to the versatility of the design. The most unusual was the F-82 Twin Mustang made of two P-51 fuselages joined by a common short wing section. Six models of this machine were built (one was to have been entered The London to Christchurch air race). An F-82 B flew from Honolulu to New York non-stop in 14hr 33min, an average speed of 334 miles an hour.
But by the time development of the Mustang was in full swing, jet-powered aircraft had made their appearance and the future of propeller-driven fighters began to shorten. Now the transition has come to New Zealand.
Last Mustang Fighter Soon To Leave Wigram
Very few days are left before the noise of a Mustang’s engine will be heard over Christchurch for the last time. In a corner of a hangar at the Royal New Zealand Air Force station, Wigram, mechanics are completing an overhaul on the only Mustang fighter now left in Canterbury. Similar sad services are being completed throughout New Zealand as the Territorial Air Force’s Mustangs are groomed for their last flights to Woodbourne, and storage.
Only three of the sleek, 425 mile-an-hour, fighters will remain in service by the end of the month; they will be used for drogue-towing at Ohakea. The rest will be retired at Woodbourne, and are likely to fade gradually away as parts are taken to service the three still at work.
But Territorial Air Force pilots will not be left long without high-speed aircraft. The Mustangs will be replaced by Vampire jet fighters, and until their own aircraft are delivered pilots of No. 3 (Canterbury) Squadron, T.A.F., will have regular training on the Vampires of 75 Squadron at Ohakea.
The Mustang is among the famous fighters of World War II. The first one was designed and built by North American Aviation Inc. to a British specification. The prototype was designed, built and flown within 100 days; its first flight was made in October, 1940. Altogether 15,576 of these versatile machines were built before production stopped. The model which was used in New Zealand, the P-51D, was the most popular and 7966 of these were built.
The Mustang I, the first mark, was fitted with an Allison engine rated at 1000 horse-power, but its performance at height was poor. It was remustered as a low-altitude reconnaissance fighter and posted to Army Co-operation Command. It went on its first operational sortie with this branch of the Royal Air Force on July 27, 1942.
Until engineers in Great Britain modified the machines to take a Rolls-Royce Merlin engine of more than 1500 horse-power little was done with the Mustang. The modification was highly successful and immediately North American modified their production aircraft so that Merlin engines, built in America under licence by the Packard company, could be fitted. The P-51B and P-51C models, with Merlin engines, were put into production in 1943. Other modifications followed and the P-51D was developed.
Mustangs of this mark are still in use in many countries of the world, including Israel, Nationalist China, Italy, Switzerland, Dominica, South Korea, and Australia. Commonwealth Aircraft Corporation at Fishermen's Bend, outside Melbourne, built about 250 P-51D Mustangs, the first 80 from imported parts. Tooling at the factory began in February 1944, and the first complete aircraft was ready to test in May 1945.
Later the C.A. 15, a single-seat, long range fighter bearing many marks of the Mustang, but actually a new and completely Australian design, was built. The prototype first flew in March, 1946, powered by a 2035 horse-power Rolls-Royce Griffon engine. Only one of these aircraft was built.
A great many variants of the Mustang were produced, a tribute to the versatility of the design. The most unusual was the F-82 Twin Mustang made of two P-51 fuselages joined by a common short wing section. Six models of this machine were built (one was to have been entered The London to Christchurch air race). An F-82 B flew from Honolulu to New York non-stop in 14hr 33min, an average speed of 334 miles an hour.
But by the time development of the Mustang was in full swing, jet-powered aircraft had made their appearance and the future of propeller-driven fighters began to shorten. Now the transition has come to New Zealand.
