Honoring the Korean War Mustangs. by Jim Busha PAUL BOWEN

Transcription

1 Was That Too Honoring the Korean War Mustangs by Jim Busha PAUL BOWEN 20 SEPTEMBER 2014

2 Jon Vesely-left, Jon s son middle and Mike Vadeboncoeur right. Fast? PAUL BOWEN Mike Vadeboncoeur, proprietor of Midwest Aero of Danville, Illinois, has been churning out award-winning World War II-themed P-51 Mustang restorations for the last 20 years. Some of the notable ones include Lil Margret, Daddy s Girl, Red Dog, Live Bait, Cripes A Mighty 3 rd and Happy Jacks Go Buggy. But the awards don t end with Mustangs, as Mike and his talented crew of warbird craftsmen have also tackled some T-6s and an L-19 Bird Dog for good measure. So when Mike set out to do yet another Mustang rebuild he naturally set his sights on a World War II paint scheme. That all changed when his longtime friend and multiple Mustang owner Jon Vesely decided it was time someone honored the Korean War veterans. For their efforts the dynamic Mustang duo walked away with the Grand Champion Post World War II honors at EAA AirVenture But that s really the end of the story, because this one actually begins in

3 Korean War Mustangs. PHOTOS USAFM kept two of them this being one of the two and placed this one on display. Placed in a dormant state, this Mustang sat on display until 1985 when it was purchased by Tyrone Elias of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and given the N number of N51TE. I was fresh out of A&P school, said Mike, and ended up working with Butch Schroeder on his Mustang project Lil Margret. The two of us traveled to Tulsa to consult with Tyron about his Mustang restoration. I remember looking at Tyron s P-51 and saw a lot of corrosion on it. There was a large hole in the spar that you could have stuck your fist through. But stepping back and looking at the entire project I have to say as a wide-eyed brand-new mechanic I thought it was a pretty neatlooking Mustang because it was all stock. The tropical conditions it had to endure really ravaged the poor Mustang, and I remember thinking to myself, Boy is that going to need a lot of work, and a few miracles to get it flying again. Butch was blunter with Tyron and said to him, You may want to get this to a professional restoration shop. Remember this was around 1985, and I think Art Teeters was about the only shop around that had the structural capabilities, way before guys like Gerry Beck, Robert Odegaard, and the rest of the Mustang restoration guys. After that initial visit with Tyron I kind of lost track of the airplane and understand it was sold to the Whittington brothers who in turn sold it to John Turgyan in the 1990s with the intent of restoring it. I never thought I would ever see it again. Boy was I wrong! A Stranger in a Strange Land According to Mike this P-51D Mustang S/N was manufactured by North American Aviation (NAA) and was delivered to the USAAF on November 20, This airplane served the U.S. military in various capacities in a state-side role from 1944 until 1949 when it was decommissioned and sent to the country of Uruguay as a frontline fighter for its air force. After a few short years of service, was decommissioned once again and put on display in Museo de Aeronautica in Montevideo, Uruguay. The Uruguay air force actually flew their Mustangs very little during their time period of operation, said Mike. They ended up surplusing most of their Mustang fleet to another country and The Restoration According to Mike, John Turgyan had plans of restoring this Mustang in the colors of the 357th Fighter Group and wanted to paint it as Passion Wagon when it arrived at Midwest Aero. The Mustang was partially through a 1980s restoration when we began working on it in 2011, said Mike. Unfortunately, John ended up putting the Mustang on the market before he could realize his dream and wound up selling the project to Jon Vesely. Some of the 22 SEPTEMBER 2014

4 significant issues with the project were the facts that certain items were riveted up that were not done in a fixture. There was also some work on the fuselage that needed to be straightened out to get it back to where it needed to be. Also the wings had been painted gray, which was quite common in the early days of doing P-51s, so we had to fix them as well. Mike admits that every time he does a new Mustang project they get a little easier, but this one still presented its own set of challenges. Mike ended up sending the Rolls-Royce Packard Merlin A to Vintage V-12s in Tehachapi, California. The engine came back looking better than new with new Rolls-Royce pistons and rings, new chrome liners, a Roush pressurized coolant system, oil cooler overhauled by Pacific Oil Cooler; the carburetor was overhauled by Vintage V-12s; the header tank split, inspected, and overhauled. The rest of the restoration included installing four new longerons, adding a second seat with removable period-appropriate armor plate, and rear radio rack covering the back seat. The rudder, elevator, and ailerons were all rebuilt. The flaps are actually new original stock. We sent the wings out to Odegaard for rebuild, which included all new spars. New Aero Tech lightweight fuel cells were installed along with an operational AN-N6 gun camera (E-6). Inside the cockpit we installed an operational K-14 gun sight and finished the project off with modern wiring that is PAUL BOWEN PHOTOS cloth-covered for authenticity. Mike is also very proud of how the Mustang s wheel wells turned out. PAUL BOWEN PHOTOS 23

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7 PAUL BOWEN Just like you would see from a factory-built airplane all the parts painted separately and then riveted back together. The challenge with this Mustang in going with the Korean War scheme was the fact that there were differences. But the cool thing about the Korea-era Mustangs is that the Air Force needed these fighters in a hurry, so some arrived in country with black cockpits and other period markings while others retained their WWII looks inside and out, including how the wheel wells and interiors were finished. So we had a lot of choices to consider. One thing you notice is the big breather out the right side of the airplane. That was very common in that era, and its purpose was to get the oil discharge from the engine out away from the side of the fuselage. It s ugly and we tried making one, but we had troubles getting the proper angle. Thankfully we found one. It s actually fixed to the engine mount and the fairing fit around it. To get the fairing off it has to be just at the right angle. I ended up finding one right next door to the shop in Butch Schroeder s pile of parts. Another unique detail we saw with the Korean-era Mustangs was a deflection shield that was mounted just behind the propeller on the forward pieces of the cowling. The theory was that if there was any fluid leak up front, it would deflect it from hitting and obscuring the windscreen. With all the pieces in their proper places on the Mustang we went bomb and rocket shopping. Ordnance: Made to Order Mike and Jon both knew how important the Mustang s role as a weapons platform was in Korea, and they wanted to showcase that fact with as many pieces of ordnance they could hang from the Mustangs wings. All of the rockets and bombs are replicas, said Mike, and were made for us by a company owned by Mike Hurd called Bombs Away in Ohio. The rockets are all 5-inch high velocity aircraft rockets, or HVARs. I classify Mustangs as either early or late war models. The early Mustangs, like a Dash 20 or earlier, were not equipped for rocket launchers from the factory. NAA just didn t feel the need for them. On later models they did, so all the provisions in the cockpit and in the wings for wiring along with mounting holes for stubs that would bolt right to the wing were built in at the factory. This P-51 as depicted in its Korean markings was used primarily as a ground attack role, and it needed the rocket capabilities to perform those duties. We found photos that showed a set of rocket launchers that looked a little strange, like a large plate that bolted onto the wing with a non-standard stub. I never really paid a lot of attention to them in the past because we were always doing WWII restorations. So when we decided on the Koreanera Mustang I remembered that Jay Wisler had a rocket mount kit so I bought one from him. It was in likenew condition; the thing was never used and in my mind was factory fresh. It included the controller that went in the cockpit along with every bolt, nut, clip, and template to make it work. It was a neat find and very appropriate for this project. 26 SEPTEMBER 2014

8 Paint Job Mike points out that the interior of this Mustang is a lot different than the WWII models in that as time went on in the military, they stenciled more items than relying on the factory ink stamps. Actually they went stencil-crazy as you can see them all over the airplane, said Mike. The other problem was it was very non-standardized. You could look at different period photos of two or three different Mustangs and each one was different. Some would have red bands on the No Step on the right side flaps like they were in WWII, while others had them on both flaps. Some even had them painted on in opposite direction of what they were when they left the factory. There was no rhyme or reason for it; it was probably up to the crew chief at times on what he wanted on his airplane. We just tried to balance what we saw in several photographs and yet still keep it somewhat attractive. Jon and I narrowed our final scheme down to two different Mustangs and finally settled on the shark-mouth example flown with the 12th FBS, The Foxy Few, as it would have in And of course the nose art of Was That Too Fast was an appropriate name for a Mustang and refers to what every fighter pilot loves to do. I have already had one Korean War vet, a pilot who flew these in Korea, point out that the ones he flew never looked that clean when he was in combat, but congratulated all of us on a job well done and thanked us for recognizing the sacrifices made by the vets who fought in Korea. It s hard to believe that I was here in Oshkosh back in 1993 with my first Mustang restoration (Butch Schroeder s Lil Margret), and now I am here 20 years later with this one. Time sure flies when you re having fun! Too Many Mustangs in the House? Jon Vesely of Arizona, who is still on the shy side of 50, got involved in flying through his father, Jack. I have been coming to EAA Oshkosh ever since I was 11, said Jon, and always gravitated toward the warbirds. I scratched my flying itch by flying with my father in his Cessna 140, and then like everyone else growing up, life got in the way with no time because of school and no money. But in 1996 Jon found he had a little money in his pockets and more free time, so he took flying lessons. Jon quickly added rating after rating, but he knew he wanted to fly something else other than the modern trainers he had become accustomed to. Not long after I got my license in 1998 I started flying an AT-6 and fell back in love with the warbirds, said Jon. But I also knew that I like to build things and like starting out with part A and figuring out how to get to Z. PAUL BOWEN So the idea of restoring airplanes intrigued me. I partnered up with Paul Redlich and we did a T-6 project together, and that led me to the Mustang projects when Paul introduced me to Mike. It was very easy for me to hang out with the likes of Mr. Vadeboncoeur because he is a real down-to-earth guy who has a heart of gold and a real deep passion for these old historic treasures. Mike and I teamed up on my first Mustang that I no longer have, called Daddy s Girl. At that time in my life I kind of reverted back to my younger days and found that with small children at home and a job full of responsibilities, I didn t have the amount of free time that I knew I would need to properly and more importantly operate a P-51 Mustang safely. 27

9 A few years later Jon was able to allocate the time needed for another Mustang as he and Mike joined forces once again to produce Live Bait, a plane he still owns today. So why would any sane man take on a second Mustang project? It was a surprise to me as well! he said. Actually the opportunity presented itself to work with Mike again, so I knew it would be a win-win for me. A lot of people ask me what it s like to be the caretaker of these treasures. My answer is a simple one it s surreal. When I am at the controls and actually piloting a machine that probably flew in WWII, with my feet resting on rudder pedals that some 19- or 20-yearold kid did almost 70 years ago, it is a very humbling experience. I am also very considerate of the fact that many of them gave their own lives to preserve our freedoms today. Yeah, flying PAUL BOWEN a P-51 Mustang is very special to me. I am still appreciating what it s like to be the caretaker of a treasure such as this. Everywhere I go, even taxiing to my own hangar in Arizona, I always have more than a handful of people around wanting to learn more about this airplane. So I get to tell the story about what they were used for, and I quickly realized that you not only become the caretaker of the Mustang, but you are also the caretaker of the story as well. I want to make sure that no one ever forgets how important these old warbirds are and the history that goes along with them. Every now and then I get the honor of speaking to a veteran about their experience. Just recently I was on static display and I noticed an older gentleman staring at the P-51 for a long time, and I could tell he was in deep thought. I walked up to him, and he told me the last time he saw one of these was when he was in a B-29 being escorted by Mustangs toward Japan. They are all very special stories, and these airplanes mean so much to so many. That s why it s so important for all of us to Keep em Flying! by Jean Barbaud 28 SEPTEMBER 2014