P51 Mustang looses Canopy over City
 

Hi all,
yesterday afternoon, in the city of Münster/Germany, people just escaped tragedy, as a canopy of an aircraft fell down onto a roof and then onto the road.
After first investigations, it was found out, that it came from a P51 Mustang, departed in GB on its way to the ILA in Berlin.
The pilot continued his flight to Berlin (over 200 NM away) while police and rescue services looked for a downed aircraft in the area of the canopydrop or airfields in the area.
Press releases say, the pilot has said, he didn´t noticed the drop, just more wind in the cockpit...
http://www.mdr.de/nachrichten/meldungen/2894673.html
Greetings Flying Bull

Who was it? Can't of been too many p51's about yesterday:eek:

Big Beautiful Doll I believe. Think it belongs to Rob Davies in Kent.

Come on, he didn't notice the canopy flew off?!

Hi folks,
looking through the pictures, it seems quite usual to fly with the canopy open - and wheather was warm and sunny yesterday....
Would only been nice to know, that the aircraft and the pilot wasn´t in danger

Greetings Flying Bull

I would imagine that if the whole canopy of a P-51 really did detach and you were unlucky enough to collect it on your head then you would have a World Cup standard headache (if indeed you survived)!

Hi folks,
on the other hand - except from the broken canopyglass - the owner can collect the canopyframe from the authorities - I guess, it´s hard to get those parts for the oldimer ;-)

Greetings Flying Bull

No he can't.


It's already on E-bay:ok: :ok: :ok:

What are they complaining about? Back in '44 around Munster it might have been 96 P-51 drop tanks ...

JW411, if I recall aright, the late Ormond Haydon-Baillie received rather more than a clout on the head when the canopy departed his P-51D at Mainz back in '77 - he and his passenger were killed in the subsequent crash. There's a thread about him somewhere on this forum.

I reckon Rob was very lucky that things just got a bit breezy. Anyone know his lottery numbers?

I believe there's been a T-33 canopy accident or two where the pilots lost their heads:eek:

Such a tragedy happened to a pilot on a test flight of the first B-47 Stratojet in the 50s. Tex Johnston, who later rolled the B-707 (Dash 80) at Seattle, then tested the plane, among many others.

The P-51 is very fast and was a very effective weapons system, helped greatly by long-range external fuel tanks. Did it not begin with a Merlin engine and then used the Allison?

But the liquid-cooled engines were not as reliable as a radial engine (i.e. P-47/FW-190) aircraft for a ground-attack mission. The highly-modified versions are raced each September at the 'Unlimited' event in Reno, Nevada (RNO). Two of the official nicknames were "Dago Red" and "Vergeltungswaffe" (ironic). Last fall or spring at Tunica, Mississippi, they raced with some Hawker Sea-Furies, a twin-engine Tigercat and a red F4U Corsair.

Other way round IO, it all began with the Allison - Ronnie Harker at Rolls Royce said something like "nice aeroplane, but stick a Merlin in it and then watch it go". They did and its performance went through the ceiling...:ok:

Hi folks,

no, it isn´t at ebay – the german justice now has its hands on it - on the fallen parts, which came down on an area of about 350 meters - and on the plane...
Seems, like they are not to happy about the cooperation of Robert W. Davies, who had an passenger as well.
Witnesses said, there where two aircraft in the sky close together, when suddenly one jerked away from the other...
So rumors are, the Mustang lost the canopy due to a mid air collision.

Further witnesses are looked for.




http://morgenpost.berlin1.de/content...rg/830179.html

Greetings Flying Bull

With the greatest respect Flying Bull, rumours, ground-bound (and probably uninformed and over-excitable) witnesses and the media do not a reliable story make. :=

I've little doubt Rob Davies will co-operate fully with the German authorities (and I presume the AAIB as the aircraft is UK registered?) and he will be as keen as any for the reason for incident to be explained. Mustang canopies have come off in flight before, and if a second aircraft was in formation with the P-51D, it might well have moved clear after seeing BBD shed parts.

Cheers

Treadders

Hi treaders,

that´s why I wrote rumors - isn´t that also the title of this forum ;-)

About cooperation - I´m not involved in the mishap and can only read the information or disinformation in the newspaper and the net.

The question is, why he continued over 200 miles with an proper airfield with in a few miles - and whether he has or hasn´t called an agency to tell about the mishap.
I personally think, he hasn´t - because otherwise the controller would suggested a landing at EDDG or - if the pilot wanted to continue - would have informed the Tower of EDDG about the mishap - in case somebody was asking.

Evenso there was a copilot, who could take a look to the back and evenso, it was an warbird, capable of taking some hits, I personally wouldn´t continue 200 NM, when I coulnd´t be sure, that nothing else on the plane was hit and might be damaged while continue flying.
But there seems to be a wingman, who might have done an outside inspection - and at Berlin there was 200 NM less fuel in the tanks....

Still, in my humble opinion from the information I have at the moment, the case wasn´t handeld to well from the pilot

Greetings Flying Bull

Yep, according to that article he didn't report the incident.

Mind you they also called the Mustang a dive bomber in the text
so let's wait a while...

FC.

The NT News here called a Spitfire a "WWII jet fighter aircraft" :hmm:

The first U.S. unit to fly the Mustang in combat was the Morocco-based 154th Observation Squadron, which used 35 P-51-2NA's for a few weeks in April-May, 1943.
300 A-36A's (a variant of the Mustang known as "Apache" and "Invader") made a larger impact, when the 27th and 86th Bombardment Groups began flying them. In June, 1943, the 27th BG flew missions against Pantelleria, in the build-up for the Sicily invasion. Dive bombing was a challenge, the recommended technique being a dive from 8,000 - 10,000 feet at 90 degrees, with dive brakes extended to keep speed below 400 MPH. At 3,000 feet, the pilot dropped two 500-pound bombs and pulled out at 1,500 feet. With this extended straight-in bomb run, they were vulnerable to anti-aircraft fire.
Probably because the reporter sees all jets these days spit fire out the back Tins.

There was another plane in formation with the Mustang and it definately wasn't a collision. There was a passenger in the rear of the Mustang who I believe was wind swept on arrival :ooh: , and isn't going home in the back!!

I understand the Mustang had a couple of dents in the tail and nothing more.

Let's just say I have close links to the pilot of the 2nd aircraft!!!