Betty Jean-P51 Flight! | FerrariChat

Betty Jean-P51 Flight!

Discussion in 'Aviation Chat' started by Juan-Manuel Fantango, Oct 20, 2014.

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  1. Juan-Manuel Fantango

    Juan-Manuel Fantango F1 World Champ
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    #1 Juan-Manuel Fantango, Oct 20, 2014
    Thanks to all for the advice on this gift to Julie. She loved it! She had no issues at all, even did dives, steep turns, and some rolls under instruction. The only thing she did not do herself was the loop, although the instructor did some for her. I was surprised that she said the controls where very light, three fingers...noise was beautiful, and as you can imagine, lots of power with very fast response. The only negative is that I could not convince Jim, the instructor to fly over Euro Auto Festival at the BMW plant, although it was only minutes away by air! He did not want to talk to GSP for some reason. Otherwise, stellar-well worth the cost of admission.

    So here is a little slide show.....
     
  2. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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    #2 Juan-Manuel Fantango, Oct 20, 2014
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  3. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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    #3 Juan-Manuel Fantango, Oct 20, 2014
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  4. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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    #4 Juan-Manuel Fantango, Oct 20, 2014
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  5. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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  6. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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  7. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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  8. MarkPDX

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    #8 MarkPDX, Oct 20, 2014
    Awesome pics.... Sounds like it worked out perfectly.
     
  9. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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    #9 Juan-Manuel Fantango, Oct 20, 2014
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    So what to do...they're going to be a while...
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  10. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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    #10 Juan-Manuel Fantango, Oct 20, 2014
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  11. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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    #11 Juan-Manuel Fantango, Oct 20, 2014
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    Wait..what's that beautiful noise..? Pure joy....
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  12. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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    #12 Juan-Manuel Fantango, Oct 20, 2014
    Jim and The Collings Foundation folks were just great. You can see by his smile that it is genuine. I think he said he has about 1200 hours in the Betty Jane..you can tell that this is not a job for him but a true love.
     
  13. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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  14. juliei

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    #14 juliei, Oct 20, 2014
    David, thank you for the best birthday gift a girl could want! You are amazing! It was a fun and epic surprise.
     
  15. juliei

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    #15 juliei, Oct 20, 2014
    The best part was doing the barrel rolls. Could not believe how responsive the controls were and how I had a feeling that the airplane was actually a part of me, it was so lithe and agile. Having a secondary role in the cockpit was liberating as well. I could get used to a low winged aircraft, I think!
     
  16. Nurburgringer

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    #16 Nurburgringer, Oct 21, 2014
    That's awesome!

    For barrel rolls did you use any rudder or elevator or just get her into a gentle climb and use purely ailerons?
    How long were you in the air?

    I can imagine how light the controls felt. When I got the chance to sit in Moonbeam McSwine before she was shipped overseas the lightness of the ailerons amazed me. Like you said just two fingers required to move from stop to stop.

    Congrats, a memory that will last a lifetime....
     
  17. Gatorrari

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    #17 Gatorrari, Oct 21, 2014
    Great job, David! Somewhere, the Coach must be smiling.
     
  18. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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    #18 Juan-Manuel Fantango, Oct 21, 2014
    We watched this to familiarize Julie with the P-51. Great video, when men were real men.

    [ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=caJtGXMdxGM[/ame]
     
  19. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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    #19 Juan-Manuel Fantango, Oct 21, 2014
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  20. GatorFL

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    #20 GatorFL, Oct 21, 2014
    Wow, what a gift. Thread of the month!
     
  21. alexm

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    #21 alexm, Oct 21, 2014
    Very cool!
     
  22. Juan-Manuel Fantango

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    #22 Juan-Manuel Fantango, Oct 21, 2014
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  23. juliei

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    #23 juliei, Oct 24, 2014
    Didn't really have to use rudder, but maybe the instructor was doing it without me knowing it. It just rolled right over after climbing briefly, releasing back pressure, and then full left deflection of the control stick. I did some steep turns and used the elevator then, certainly. When I was flying on my own, I had the rudder pedals, but again I didn't have much input. I was up for about 40 minutes. It certainly was something I won't forget! I told my friend in Clemson Athletics of my experience and he said they are putting me in a military aircraft to fly over the football field before the game on Military Appreciation Day against Georgia State.
     
  24. Gatorrari

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    #24 Gatorrari, Oct 24, 2014
    Julie, that's fantastic!
     
  25. PureEuroM3

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    #25 PureEuroM3, Oct 25, 2014
    So much awesome in this thread that I don't even know where I should start.
     
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