![]() The ailerons were each shortened from about 7 feet (2.1 meters) to 3 feet (0.9 meters). The Mustang’s wings had been shortened from the standard span of 37 feet, 0 inches (11.278 meters) to 28 feet, 10 inches (8.788 meters). A 150 gallon supply was in a tank in the left wing. Rather than radiators which remove heat from the engine coolant by the passage of air, heat exchangers were immersed in a solution of water and methanol. The standard Mustang cooling system was replaced by a “boil off” system in the aft fuselage. The lower fuselage, with its Meredith Effect radiator scoop and cooling ducts, was completely removed and a new fuselage belly constructed. This was smoothly faired into a raised dorsal “razorback” which carried aft from the cockpit to the vertical fin. ![]() The standard windshield and bubble canopy were removed and replaced by a much smaller unit. The most obvious modifications were made to the profile of the P-51D’s fuselage. Some of these were similar to those made to other Unlimited Division racing planes, however, there was no evidence of engineering before, or flight testing, following these mods. Then, beginning in 2007, the airplane underwent a series of radical modifications. After racing it for years, the airplane was placed in storage. Jimmy Leeward purchased the fighter in July 1983. On 18 September 1970, N79111 crash landed near the Reno-Stead Airport following an engine failure during a race. The airplane was later raced as Miss Candace and Jeannie. North American Aviation P-51D-15-NA Mustang NX79111, The Galloping Ghost, photographed in 1948. In 1949, Beville again flew 77 in the SOHIO and Thompson Trophy Races, finishing fourth in both. He finished in fourth place in the SOHIO Trophy Race, first in the Tinnerman Trophy Race, and second in the Thompson. For the 1948 National Air Races, Bruce Raymond was back in the cockpit of number 77. He then finished in fourth place in the Thompson race. In 1947, Steve Beville flew The Galloping Ghost in the Kendall Trophy Race, finishing in first place with an average speed of 384.602 miles per hour (618.957 kilometers per hour). Registered NX79111 and carrying the race number 77, it was flown by Bruce Raymond in the 1946 Thompson Trophy Race, finishing in fourth place. North American Aviation P-51D Mustang NX79111, “The Galloping Ghost,” circa 1947. Following World War II, the very low-time fighter was sold off as surplus equipment. The Galloping Ghost had been built in 1944 as a P-51D-15-NA Mustang, serial number 44-15651, by North American Aviation, Inc., at its Inglewood, California factory. Jimmy Leeward and 11 spectators were killed, with at at least 69 others injured. The Galloping Ghost was totally destroyed. (AP photo/Grass Valley Union/Tim O’Brien via The Press Democrat) The Galloping Ghost in its final dive. (Julia Kirchenbauer, from NTSB Accident Brief AAB-12/01) 177 rolls inverted. The left elevator trim tab falls away from The Galloping Ghost. The airplane essentially flew itself into an inside loop, then crashed into the ground directly in front of a seating area. Investigators found that they could not exclude the possibility.) The air racer, corrected by its pilot’s aileron input, rolled back to the right, but then violently pitched up. (The NTSB referred to this as a “left-roll upset.”) (Wake vortices from the leading air racers may have been a factor in this left-roll upset. The airplane was at approximately 445 knots (512 miles per hour, or 824 kilometers per hour) as it rounded Pylon 8 in a steep left bank.Īt 16:24:28.9 Pacific Daylight Time, The Galloping Ghost‘s angle of bank rapidly increased from 73° to 93° in just 0.83 seconds. On lap number three, Leeward was 4.5 seconds behind the second-place P-51, Voodoo, and 8.8 seconds behind the heat leader, Strega, also a radically-modified Mustang. ![]() The Galloping Ghost, race number 177, was flown by its owner, James Kent Leeward. The Galloping Ghost taking off at Reno-Stead Airport in 2010. The competitors for Heat 2A were three North American Aviation P-51D Mustangs, a Goodyear F2G-1 Corsair, a Grumman F8F-2 Bearcat, and two Hawker Sea Furies. The races were being flown over an 8.4-mile (13.5 kilometers) ovate course, marked by ten pylons. The field elevation is 5,050 feet above Sea Level (1,539 meters). (AP photo/Grass Valley Union/Tim O’Brien via The Press Democrat)ġ6 September 2011: In the late afternoon, six highly-modified World War II-era fighters were competing in a preliminary heat for the Unlimited Division championship of the National Championship Air Races, being held at the Reno-Stead Airport (RST), about 12 miles (19 kilometers) northwest of the central business district of the city of Reno, Nevada. Unlimited Division racer The Galloping Ghost just before impact.
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