Unofficial Mustang speed record?

[Coyote Chris]

http://www.sportaviationonline.org/sportaviation/201201?folio=40#pg44

Betty Skelton "set an unofficial speed record for piston driven aircraft (unofficial due to engine explosion) in Tampa Florida flying a P-51 Mustang racing plane over a 3 km course at 421.6 mph in 1949."

Dumb question. Does it matter if the engine blows before or after the finish line?

[Big_Jim]

Re: Unofficial Mustang speed record?

Well, considering that from 1939 to 1969 the 3km record was actually held by Fritz Wendel at 469.22 mph, it seems that a run of 421 mph wasn't the record regardless of whether the engine was running or not.

My guess is that it's actually the 15 km record that the article is referencing, although Jacqueline Cochran set that record at 447.47 mph in her P-51B #13...some 26 mph FASTER than what Betty Skelton ran.

So I think it's safe to say it's just a case of bad fact checking and bum info in the article...because it also says that she raced a Gold Cup hydroplane, and that isn't correct either.

[rampking]

Re: Unofficial Mustang speed record?

The Great Fritz Wendel was also the first to fly the Me-262 solely on jet engines on July 18,1942, a mere 8 months after Pearl Harbor.

[deepsky]

Re: Unofficial Mustang speed record?

She was quite an amazing woman. A Lot of firsts for women.

[Coyote Chris]

Re: Unofficial Mustang speed record?

Thanks for the info....we shall see if anyone calls out the EAA on that little messup. Maybe there are separate speed classes depending on your eye color?

[John H]

Re: Unofficial Mustang speed record?

Thanks for the info....we shall see if anyone calls out the EAA on that little messup. Maybe there are separate speed classes depending on your eye color?

Some of these speed records seem to be as useless as that . Was just joking with a co worker about that yesterday.

[T J Johansen]

Re: Unofficial Mustang speed record?

Does anyone have any details as to which 51 she supposedly used?

T J

[Lowell]

Re: Unofficial Mustang speed record?

She used a P-51 Woody Edmundson owned. Woody had a red & white sunburst painted P-51D, race #15-N4E, 44-72413, in 1948 Sohio/Thompson races, after the loss of his A-36, also NX4E that crashed on lap 11 of the 1947 Thompson. I'm guessing that it was the one. One source said this D model had an Allison in it for the '48 races but I don't know anything of that.

Google Betty Skelton and you will read various accounts such as this one:

"Betty Skelton sought other records too. She borrowed Woody Edmondson’s P-51 Mustang to try and break Jacqueline Cochran’s World Air Speed Record, but just as she reached a new record at 421 miles an hour, the Rolls Royce engine exploded. She was over Tampa Bay, and should have bailed out, but then remembered she couldn’t swim. So instead she made a dead-stick landing at MacDill AFB but did not get credit for the record."

One source said this about Woody's P-51D: "Charles W. Bing ...established the famous fastest lap in the 1948 Soho Races of over 395 mph in “Woody” Edmondson’s P-51." Bing finished 5th in that race at 312.942 so a 395 lap seems unlikely on the surface. Will have to dig to verify that.

Other clarifications...

The record in question was a 500-km (311 miles) record.

When Jackie Cochran set the 447.47 mph record in 1950, I believe she was flying Joe DeBona's former P-51C Thunderbird, and not her own race #13 P-51B. The #13 racer had apparently been heavily damaged in a late 1948 incident that has more tangent rumors sorrounding it than the sunbursts on Woody's P-51D!

[Big_Jim]

Re: Unofficial Mustang speed record?

And there you go. Good stats, Lowell!

[T J Johansen]

Re: Unofficial Mustang speed record?

When Jackie Cochran set the 447.47 mph record in 1950, I believe she was flying Joe DeBona's former P-51C Thunderbird, and not her own race #13 P-51B. The #13 racer had apparently been heavily damaged in a late 1948 incident that has more tangent rumors sorrounding it than the sunbursts on Woody's P-51D!

Jackie Cochran's #13 crashed on its way back from the 48 races. The pilot was killed in the accident.

T J

[Lowell]

Re: Unofficial Mustang speed record?

I found this tonight in my P-51B/C file:

Sub-class : C (Aviation with engine)
Without refueling in flight
Speed over a closed circuit of 1 000 km without payload : 693.78 km/h (431.095mph)
Date of flight: 24/05/1948
Pilot: Jacqueline Cochran
Course/place: Santa Rosa Summit, CA (USA)
North American P-51B-15-NA, NX28388, 43-24760

Sub-class : C-1 (Landplanes)
Group 1 : piston engine
Speed over a closed circuit of 2 000 km without payload : 720.13 km/h (447.47mph)
Date of flight: 22/05/1948
Pilot: Jacqueline Cochran
Course/place: Palm Springs, CA (USA)
North American P-51B-15-NA, NX28388, 43-24760


Sub-class : C-1 (Landplanes)
Group 1 : piston engine
Speed over a closed circuit of 500 km without payload : 703.38 km/h (437.06mph)
Date of flight: 29/12/1949
Pilot: Jacqueline Cochran
Course/place: Desert Center, CA (USA)
North American P-51B-5-NA, NX5528N, 43-6859 “THUNDERBIRD”

Sub-class : C-1 (Landplanes)
Group 1 : piston engine
Speed over a straight 15/25 km course : 747.34 km/h (464.38mph)
Date of flight: 09/04/1951
Pilot: Jacqueline Cochran
Course/place: Indio, CA (USA)
North American P-51B-5-NA, NX5528N, 43-6859 “THUNDERBIRD”


Sub-class : C-1 (Landplanes)
Group 1 : piston engine
Speed over a closed circuit of 100 km without payload : 755.67 km/h (469.55mph)
Date of flight: 10/12/1947
Pilot: Jacqueline Cochran
Course/place: Palm Springs, CA (USA)
North American P-51B-15-NA, NX28388, 43-24760