|
''The Galloping Ghost'' was a P-51D Mustang air racer flown by Jimmy Leeward. It was a former military aircraft that had undergone major modifications, including shortening of the wings and horizontal tail, in addition to other modifications to reduce the aircraft's drag. S/n ''44-15651'' was manufactured in 1944, and had been owned by Aero Trans Corp. DBA in Ocala, Florida.〔("P-51D Mustang/44-15651" ) ''FAA Registry'' Retrieved May 26, 2011.〕 It was destroyed on September 16, 2011, when it crashed into spectators at the Reno Air Races, at the Reno Stead Airport north of Reno, Nevada. ==History== ''The Galloping Ghost'' was built by North American Aviation as a P-51D-15-NA, Army Air Force serial number ''44-15651'',〔http://www.joebaugher.com/usaf_serials/1944_1.html〕 at the NAA's Inglewood, California, plant〔http://www.mustangsmustangs.com/p-51/p51production.php〕 for military use during World War II. Once the aircraft was delivered, it was transferred to the then-Walnut Ridge Army Air Field in Walnut Ridge, Arkansas, and would become surplus stock. Due to being classified as surplus, it was then offered to the public for sale at a price tag of around $3,500. Around that time, Steve Beville and Bruce Raymond were looking to compete in the National Air Races in Cleveland, Ohio, that were to be held in September. Beville was able to secure the aircraft from the WAA despite a deadline that had already passed that ended the sales of the P-51 at the Walnut Ridge Army Air Field. Thus, the aircraft was the last to be sold to the public.〔http://books.google.com/books?id=LOdCcxbw_j8C&pg=PA64&sig=3hihPHPyW4O8Wa8eeumU7I4HXBM&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false Military Aircraft Boneyards by Nicholas A. Veronico, Kevin Grantham and Scott Thompson – pp. 63–65.〕〔http://www.mustangsmustangs.com/p-51/p51survivors/pages/44-15651.php〕 After Beville and Raymond bought the aircraft on July 22, 1946, it was given the registry of NX79111 and the name ''The Galloping Ghost'', after the nickname of football star Red Grange. Raymond piloted the aircraft in its first race, the 1946 Thompson Trophy, the first since 1939 due to the start of World War II at the time. Raymond took fourth place on the closed-course track, winning $3,000.〔http://www2.leewardairranch.com/racing/results?op0=%3D&filter0=&op1=OR&op2=OR&op3=OR&filter3%5B%5D=Galloping+Ghost&op4=OR〕 The following year, Beville piloted the aircraft in the Kendall Trophy race. He broke the record for fastest closed-course speed August 31, 1947, with 384.6 miles per hour, over the previous record of (373.9 mph) set by Alvin "Tex" Johnson in the Thompson Trophy race the previous year, winning $2,500.〔http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0E16FD3E5E17738DDDA80894D1405B8788F1D3 The New York Times, August 31, 1947.〕〔http://www.airrace.com/1947%20NAR%20.html〕〔http://www.airrace.com/1946NAR.html〕 Beville also raced for the 1947 Thompson Trophy, taking fourth. For 1948, Raymond raced in the Sohio (taking fourth), Thompson (second) and Tinnerman (first) Trophies. He won the Tinnerman by less than a second,〔http://www.airrace.com/1948%20NAR.htm〕 taking $3,150 and earning a total of $11,850 for all three races. In 1949, Beville raced in the Sohio and Thompson Trophies, taking fourth for both and earning a total of $3,700.〔 In 1963 the aircraft was purchased by Dr. Cliff Cummins as a stripped hulk.〔(Mustang 44-15651 ) Retrieved September 18, 2011.〕 He restored the aircraft and had it modified for racing, included the addition of a lower-profile canopy and reducing the wing span four feet. He first raced it at the Reno Air Races in 1969 as ''Miss Candace'' (named after his daughter) race number 69. Unfortunately, at the 1970 races, he suffered an engine failure and landed short of the runway, damaging the aircraft.〔(History of Jeannie by Denver Kissinger ) Retrieved September 18, 2011.〕〔 * Carter, Dustin W. and Matthews, Birch J., ''Mustang: The Racing Thoroughbred.'' West Chester, Pennsylvania: Schiffer Publishing Company, 1992. ISBN 978-0-88740-391-0.〕 The aircraft was rebuilt again, this time with a very small canopy taken from a Formula One air racer and a smaller belly cooling scoop. In this configuration, Dr. Cummins first raced the aircraft in 1972. In 1973 he qualified the airplane in the third position for the Unlimited Class Gold Race and he took second place behind Lyle Shelton's winning Bearcat. He did win the 1976 National Air Races at Mojave, California, with a winning speed of 422 miles per hour. After racing the aircraft for several years with limited success, he sold the aircraft in 1979 to Wiley Sanders of Sanders Truck Lines.〔 Sanders renamed the aircraft ''Jeannie'', after his wife. The aircraft was rebuilt with an eye to weight reduction. In the end, 600 lbs was removed from the airframe.〔 Roy "Mac" McLain flew the aircraft in 1979 at the Reno Air Races. Shortly before the 1980 air races, the aircraft was damaged in a crash at the Van Nuys Airport. In a frantic effort, the aircraft was rebuilt and again flown by McLain, winning the Gold Race at Reno just days later. At the 1981 Reno Air Races, Skip Holm piloted the aircraft to victory in the Unlimited Class Gold Race. The following year, the aircraft suffered an engine failure and did not participate in the Gold Race.〔 The aircraft was sold to Jimmy Leeward in 1983, shortly after the aircraft's wing span had been reduced another six feet. Leeward initially raced the aircraft as ''Specter'', race number X.〔(Picture of Specter ) Retrieved September 25, 2011.〕 He later raced the aircraft at Reno as race number 9 and later race number 44 "The Leeward Air Ranch Special."〔 After an engine failure at the 1989 Reno Air Races forced Leeward to land the airplane on a dirt road,〔 the aircraft did not appear at the races between 1990 and 2009. In 2010, the ''Galloping Ghost'' returned to the Reno races.〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「The Galloping Ghost (aircraft)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|
