Shot of 1968 Kings Cup Air Race Winner Mustang

“A cracking paint-job”. 😮

Resprayed by McAlpine at Luton in spring 1967.

This scheme with the lightning flash was shortlived. Any shots of the whole aircraft I wonder?

Mark

Image by Ron Cranham

Take a look here for a few shots of N6356T……http://www.abpic.co.uk/results.php?q=N6356T&fields=all&sort=latest&limit=10

Planemike

I first saw N6356T around the same time at a Biggin Hill display and I am sure you are right in saying it was in Congolese Air Force markings.
It also appeared at one or more Biggin Hill Air Fairs in the red and white scheme. One year (probaly 1968 or 69) one of the Falcons parachute team landed off target in front of the Mustang which was doing an engine run before moving off to display. The parachute collapsed into the running prop and it was only thanks to the quick thinking oif the pilot, who turned off the engine, that the parachutist escaped with minor injuries.

I saw this aircraft at the Tollerton races . The engineer was Dick Veall. Last news on Charles Masefield he was testing a Nimrod AEW.3 at RAE Bedford before it closed in 1994 doing overweight trials.

Charles Masefield’s Mustang…

Unfortunately not in colour, is Mustang N6356T. I took this photo at Shoreham Airport in 1968 when it belonged to Charles Masefield . The roundel was green ( inner), white, orange. It was parked to the side of the terminal building for several weeks. It flew occasionally, shaking the drawing office of Beagle aircraft while it warmed up. Apparently, it was being used for the film “The Mercenaries” flying over the jungle of darkest Surrey I imagine. The breakaway province of Katanga used markings, where white was the inner. The roundel described above, represented the Congolese Air Force at that time. Shortly after this pic was taken, Charles Masefield easily won the King’s Cup, though the I think the number 100 was added to the fin, but the aircraft maintained its overall off-white appearance. 40 years have passed since I took this, therefore some of the these details may be in error. Sincere apologies if they are.

Date of Mustang at Hucknall.

Would that have been the 1968 Hucknall Airshow, if so, curses, as it was the first one I missed due to commiting myself to a charity marathon that day.
There was a rumour going around that the Buchons and Spitfires involved with the filming the BoB film at the time were to make a massed airshow appearance at Hucknall, I think that the organisers tried to arrange this but couldn’t agree terms with the film company, or more likely, couldn’t afford it.
What an airshow spectacle that would have been, it would have also caused me to severly wrestle with my conscience, no contest.

Hi Pete,

I fell it was 1968, but I will check with Mr Herbert Watson at Rolls-Royce
Heritage Trust to be sure and I will post the result.

Cheers JJ.

Hi Everyone,

A friend in the US was looking for a shot of the red and white coloured 1968
Kings Cup Air Race Winner of which I’m told was a Mustang operated by Sir
Charles Masefield at the time. I am sure this was the first P-51 I ever saw
when I was a Kid, as it did a flypast of the Airshow at Rolls-Royce Hucknall.
Can anyone supply a shot of it or know where we can get one for him.
I have seen a copy of a Air Pictoral issue with it on the cover a few years ago in a box on a stall at an aero-jumble bash whilst out and about.
Can you help ?

Regards, JJ.

Would that have been the 1968 Hucknall Airshow, if so, curses, as it was the first one I missed due to commiting myself to a charity marathon that day.
There was a rumour going around that the Buchons and Spitfires involved with the filming the BoB film at the time were to make a massed airshow appearance at Hucknall, I think that the organisers tried to arrange this but couldn’t agree terms with the film company, or more likely, couldn’t afford it.
What an airshow spectacle that would have been, it would have also caused me to severly wrestle with my conscience, no contest.

:confused:

This is what I found when searching the FAA!

http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNumSQL.asp?NNumbertxt=72FT

T J

Agreed!:o But when I checked it was an AA5A, I see that the web site was updated 10th December, that’s my excuse!

http://www.landings.com/evird.acgi?pass=99031092&ref=-&mtd=41&cgi=%2Fcgi-bin%2Fnph-search_nnr&var=0&buf=66&src=_landings%2Fpages%2Fsearch_nnr.html&nnumber=72FT

Yup, I will agree with that update and suggest that the name of the plane id now ‘Mustang Sally’.

It is interesting that the FAA regard N72FT as an AA5AB!:confused:

:confused:

This is what I found when searching the FAA!

http://registry.faa.gov/aircraftinquiry/NNumSQL.asp?NNumbertxt=72FT

T J

Not anymore. It has moved on down to Long Beach with a guy named Tom Dean.

T J

Yup, I will agree with that update and suggest that the name of the plane id now ‘Mustang Sally’.

It is interesting that the FAA regard N72FT as an AA5AB!:confused:

Thanks alot Guys.

Hi Everyone,

Just to say a big thank you to everyone who helped my friend in the US
with info and I must say a mint shot of the Kings Cup Winner Mustang
thanks alot, and he asked me to say thank you very much.

Thanks Guys, JJ.

It is now owned by Hugh Bickle and is based at Hollister, California and flies as ‘Iron Ass’.

Not anymore. It has moved on down to Long Beach with a guy named Tom Dean.

T J

It was also flown in the Patton film with patial D Day stripes over camof.

I remember the Mustang which was a Luton airport for some time in the late 1960’s. It was the first P51 i saw! The B25 must have been at Luton around the same time.

Hi Jesse

You’re very welcome. Roger is right and Charles Masefield had not yet been knighted at that stage. I remember it well as it was based at Shoreham at the time, as Newforest says, originally being a maroon colour when it first arrived.

I do have shots of it in the three different colours (maroon, then white, then red) buried somewhere in a large box of photos, including a picture of Charles and his engineer (Dick?) standing in front of it with the Kings Cup trophy after they returned in triumph following his victory, when it was definitely in the white scheme.

Wicked Willip :diablo:

Shot of the Masefield Flyer.

Try this one, although I thought it was in a white colour scheme when it won the Kings Cup?

Anyone know what happened to it?

Wicked Willip :diablo:

Hi Willip26,

Wow, thank you very much for that knock- out shot of the said article.
If that does not keep him happy I don’t know what will.

Big thank you mate, JJ.

Jesse,

I watched the 1968 King’s Cup at Tollerton (Nottingham) – as I had a number of previous years when held at Baginton – the Mustang that won was not red and white at that time but a funny kind of off-white and a race number “100”(?).

Pretty sure it was the first American warbird I (and, I expect, lots of other people) had seen and what a fantastic introduction.

Charles Masefield (I don’t think he had been knighted yet) took off when some of the slower entrants were already on their last lap but the handicappers had done a good job. As a growing gaggle of aircraft came to the finishing line the Mustang roared past the lot of them to take the chequered flag. Wonderful stuff 🙂

Roger Smith.

Hi Roger,

Many thanks for your help on this one, maybe I saw it after it had been re-
finished in red like the shot in the post above. I’m sure I saw a red painted
one at Hucknall that day but I could be wrong, as since then I have more
hours on me airframe.

Regards, JJ, Gary.

Mustang info.

The plane, c/n 44-74494 was based at Shoreham and is now registered as N72T. It was raced by Bill Destefani at Reno. It is now owned by Hugh Bickle and is based at Hollister, California and flies as ‘Iron Ass’.

Hi NewForest,

Many thanks for that info, and to think its in my firiend back yard, he will be pleased.

Again many, many thanks, JJ.

The plane, c/n 44-74494 was based at Shoreham and is now registered as N72T. It was raced by Bill Destefani at Reno. It is now owned by Hugh Bickle and is based at Hollister, California and flies as ‘Iron Ass’.

Red Mustang

See here:
http://forum.keypublishing.co.uk/showthread.php?t=50101&page=2
Oops! too late!