Mustang OO-RYL
Scat VII was constructed in 1944 as a P-51D-25-NA by North American at Inglewood in California and taken on strength with the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) with serial number 44-72922.
In 1958 it was transferred to McClellan Air Force Base in California for short term storage and sold to a private owner later that year receiving the civil registration N7718C.
Just a few months later in May 1958 Scat VII was sold again and became N18Y. In November of that same year, the Mustang was sold once again and flew with the new owner until 1961.
On February 3rd 1961 it was sold and received a new civil registration N6803T which it retained until 1963.
In 1963 it was sold to Space Systems Laboratory in Melbourne Florida and received a new civil registration N577WD. which it retained until 1992.
In 1967 the Mustang was sold to Trans Florida Aviation in Sarasota Florida where it was dismantled and put in storage pending planned conversion to Cavalier.
Whilst in storage the Mustang changed a number of owners before being bought by John Dilley/Fort Wayne Air Service at Fort Wayne in Indiana and converted to a P-51R where new construction number, 87-1001 was assigned to the airframe. It was then rebuilt as a racer with a highly modified fuselage and received a new civil registration N91JD.
The first flight as a Racer took place in June 1988 and later that year on the 12th of September participated in the first race at the National Championship Air Races in the Unlimited class as #19, named Vendetta where it qualified in 35th place with an average speed of 302.665 mph.
On the 3rd of June 1989, during a routine flight, the Mustang experienced an engine fault and the pilot performed a forced landing in a field at Hamilton in Indiana. As a result of the forced landing, the aircraft received substantial damage and on the 5th of April 1990 civil registration, N91KD was cancelled.
In 1991 the Mustang was sold to a new private owner who began the restoration at Salinas in California as a stock TF-51D using the original wings and tailplane of 44-72922. The Mustang also received a new civil registration N91JD
In 1992 it was sold to Carol L. Shuttleworth who reassembled the aircraft and in 1993 the Mustang was bought by James Shuttleworth who completed the restoration. The Mustang received a new civil registration N93TF and was painted in the same colours as in 1944 with the “Scat VII” Markings.
On the 20th of February 2003, Scat VII was involved in another accident this time killing the pilot.
In 2005 the airframe was sold to Flight Management Llc in Seattle, Washington and transported to Chino in California where a 4-year restoration project was started.
In 2009 the Mustang was sold to Van Der Flier, Schilde and received a new civil registration PH-VDF.
In 2011 it was sold to FAST Aero, Antwerp-Duerne, Belgium where it once again received it’s original Scat VII markings it wears to this day
On March 27th 2018 Scat VII was sold to To J. Landuyt and received a new civil registration OO-RYL it has to this day.
North American P-51D-25NA Mustang
The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a design team headed by James Kindelberger of North American Aviation (NAA) in response to a requirement of the British Purchasing Commission. The Purchasing Commission approached North American Aviation to build Curtiss P-40 fighters under license for the Royal Air Force (RAF). Rather than build an old design from another company, North American Aviation proposed the design and production of a more modern fighter. The prototype NA-73X airframe was rolled out on 9 September 1940, 102 days after the contract was signed, and first flew on 26 October.
The Mustang was designed to use the Allison V-1710 engine, which had limited high-altitude performance in its earlier variants. The aircraft was first flown operationally by the RAF as a tactical-reconnaissance aircraft and fighter-bomber (Mustang Mk I). Replacing the Allison with a Rolls-Royce Merlin resulted in the P-51B/C (Mustang Mk III) model, and transformed the aircraft's performance at altitudes above 15,000 ft (4,600 m) (without sacrificing range), allowing it to compete with the Luftwaffe's fighters. The definitive version, the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7, a license-built version of the two-speed, two-stage-supercharged Merlin 66, and was armed with six .50 calibre (12.7 mm) AN/M2 Browning machine guns.
From late 1943, P-51Bs and P-51Cs (supplemented by P-51Ds from mid-1944) were used by the USAAF's Eighth Air Force to escort bombers in raids over Germany, while the RAF's Second Tactical Air Force and the USAAF's Ninth Air Force used the Merlin-powered Mustangs as fighter-bombers, roles in which the Mustang helped ensure Allied air superiority in 1944. The P-51 was also used by Allied air forces in the North African, Mediterranean, Italian, and Pacific theatres. During World War II, Mustang pilots claimed to have destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft.
At the start of the Korean War, the Mustang, by then redesignated F-51, was the main fighter of the United States until jet fighters, including North American's F-86, took over this role; the Mustang then became a specialized fighter-bomber. Despite the advent of jet fighters, the Mustang remained in service with some air forces until the early 1980s. After the Korean War, Mustangs became popular civilian warbirds and air racing aircraft.