Type History :
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Air Racers
The P-51R(acer) is not a true variant or even an official designation, but if you were to ask a typical non-historian type motorhead in September, what the P-51 Mustang was designed for, he would straighten his cap, put down his beer, look at you sideways and say "air racin' of course." 
Take history out of the equation and that answer fits very well. In fact, use some creative thinking and it is very easy to see that North American Aviation wanted to build the fastest racer. The perfect ploy - build the world's fastest air racer and get the government to pay you for it. Stick with me on this one... 

The P-51 was designed to go fast - race. A very sleek airframe, newest in wing designs, simplistic in construction, easy to modify, built in large quantites and supplied with enough horsepower and plenty of spares to last for years. The innovative wing design had racing blood from the start. There is a convienent construction break in the wing for easy wing clipping once the pilot was proficient. The stock ailerons were designed with three hinge points, leaving two for the shorter racing version. The wing was innovative at the time with a less turbulent laminar airflow design. That equals less drag, which equals more speed. 

The low-drag fuselage with a small frontal area is ideal for racing. Even the most obvious drag on the airframe, really is not. The belly scoop houses the oil cooler and engine coolant radiator to keep the temperatures under control. Air enters the scoop and is mixed with water/glycol mix for added cooling. The air is heated as it passes through and pulls heat from the radiator. This hot air escapes out the back of the "doghouse" at a rate that is higher than when it entered the scoop, thereby actually adding a propulsion effect large enough to cancel out the frontal drag. The scoop was designed to be easily extended with a smaller frontal area and yet large enough inside to house the racing spray bar setup. The exit door has been enlarged as needed to keep the hottest Merlins at the top of the green. 

The Mustang has a strong airframe built to withstand the rigors of high-G turns close to the ground. The complete aircraft, fuselage and wings, sans the stress doors under the wings and the rudder, is covered in flush riveted aluminum alloy skins ready for fast race paint or polishing. Many racers would easily countersink the stress door screws for another couple miles per hour. Fairings are used where horizontal and vertical surfaces meet the fuselage to keep the airflow smooth and turbulent free. Finally, all three gear wells close up very nicely with tight fitting doors cutting out more drag. Brilliant racing design. 

Handling qualities are superb, so the pilot is always in control. Visibility is excellent in all directions except right beneath the nose, but nobody is supposed to be there anyhow. The earlier "razorback" racers were a bit faster but it was hard for the pilots to see that racer behind them. The D model racer was designed to solve this with a new bubble canopy. The canopy is easily interchangable with a race friendly low-drag version. 

The P-51 landing gear was designed with gusty afternoon crosswinds and clipped wings in mind. The gear has a wide track which is perfect to control the aircraft once on the ground. One of the best NAA designs was that fuselage ADI tank behind the pilot. That Edgar Schmued guy was a genius. 

The engine is very simple, a supercharged V-12 with mega-mod potential. The stocker would get a rookie familiar with air racing, but more horsepower would be needed very soon. Remember that most air racing is low where the air is thick and heavy. A stock P-51 could get nearly 440 mph at altitude, but would be slowed down near sea level. Plus the fact that you are in a turn for 90% of the race course, adds up to the need for more ponies up front. A competent engine guy familiar with the Rolls-Royce/Packard Merlin could more than double the stock horsepower. Several versions of the Merlin with differing supercharger ratios for high or low altitude racing were built. 

Even the long-range capability of the P-51 Mustang was designed for those long and grueling cross-country Bendix Races many times won by a P-51. 

It has been speculated that even though, this champion air racer was used in a war, it was designed and built with air racing in mind. NAA then added some armor plating around the pilot, added a gun sight, put a few guns in the wings and turned the fuselage ADI tank into a fuel tank. The Brittish bought the idea and then NAA back-doored it the US Army. Ingenius. To show you how far ahead NAA was in their time, they even put a camera in the wing for great race footage and every P-51 came with a unique race number on the tail. 


Fact or fiction? You decide, but no matter what you believe about the conception of this historic racer, the proof is in the record books. Shortly after the war, many P-51s became surplus and in the hands of awaiting air race pilots. In 1946, a clipped-wing Mustang, owned by Earl Ortman, raced in the Thompson Trophy Race taking third. Believe it or not, but NAA was into air racing. In 1946, NAA technicians worked on P-51D NX33685 right outside the NAA plant in Inglewood, Ca just before the Thompson Trophy Race. 

Air racing continued post-war in Cleveland and other venues. Pylon racing and long distance racing as well. The aircraft were set up quite differently. The long range races were best flown at altitude, where the P-51 shined. The pylon races were down low and Merlins with a different type of supercharger were better suited. With each race, new mods were tried to get the most speed out of the P-51. 

In 1950, it was decided for various reasons that no more ex-military aircraft could be used for air racing. Gone were the Thompson, Sohio, Bendix and Tinnerman Races. Reasons cited were a diminishing number of ex-military aircraft available and the tragic crash of Bill Odom's highly modified P-51 racer Beguine. 

Somehow, these civilian warbirds were kept from organized racing until the early 60's! In 1964, the modern air racing era was born. Pylon racing returned, but not in Cleveland. The races were held at Sky Ranch airport just east of Reno, Nevada. In 1965, more venues were added like Lancaster, Ca and Las Vegas, Nv. Later in 1970, races appeared in Mojave, Ca and some in Florida, even Colorado. Long range and pylon racing were enjoyed. Many other venues have been tried (some as recently at 2004), but the one that has stuck is of course, the National Championchip Air Races at Stead Field in Reno, Nevada. 

Each September, racers of all types come to Reno for pylon air racing in the desert. The P-51 Mustangs have performed very well and hold the race speed record - Dago Red 2005. Today, both stock P-51s and full race-cut custom P-51s enjoy this sport. 

There have been, and still are, highly modified designs that try to better or radically improve the design of the P-51 Mustang. Several P-51 based highly modified racers have been built. The results are mixed. These are radical designs that incorporate little P-51 parts. The engines are Rolls Royce Griffon engines, which are much larger and require a completely different engine mount system and components with two contra-rotating props. Some of these racers have used Learjet wings custom tailplanes. There have been very violent and serious crashes of some of these racers, some taking the life of the pilot. One, "Precious Metal" is still flying today. 

Only one of those racers, the Red Baron, has been able to surpass the speed obtained by modifying stock P-51s. Red Baron did reach record breaking speeds. But the fastest race ever flown is held by Dago Red, a modified P-51D. There certainly are modifications to the body, the lines and of course the engine, but it retains the look and structure of a P-51. The race crew has worked on every part of the aircraft that could reduce drag or increase horsepower. The result is a racer that averaged over 500 mph for an entire race! Remember, that's not straight and level, but an 8 mile pylon course - wow! 

Does that mean that only the highest modded aircraft can race? No. Stockers and lightly modified P-51s come from around the country each year for the fun and challenge of air racing. Stock P-51s can run safely in the low to mid 300 mph why a moderate modified P-51 will reach 400 mph with a good engine. Stock P-51D airframes with bolt on modifications, clipped wings and full race Merlin engines have put up speeds in the 460's mph. 

In 1946, as the first civilian P-51 rounded the pylons in Cleveland, can you imagine the look on the face of the pilots if you told them that 60 years later, the P-51 Mustang would still be racing, and still be winning. 
 
 
VOODOO
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"Voodoo Man"

One of the best people in all of air racing on anyone's list just has to be "Voodoo Man" Bob Button! Bob interest in flying stems from his dad who flew and always wanted a Mustang. Tragically, Bob's father was lost in an aircraft accident and never got that Mustang. 

When the opportunity for Bob to own one came along, he took it and from all indications, never looked back. Bob has campaigned his sleek North American steed for many years, first with Bob Hannah at the controls and then Matt Jackson. 

It has never been easy for this team! Suffering engine failures, control system problems, propeller governor failures and seemingly everything in-between, Bob has stayed with the competition throughout. Currently Bob has shown his dedication to the sport in the ultimate way by training in and racing his sleek North American P-51 Mustang airplane himself.

Effects
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-On startup there is automatic engine smoke.
-Then follow the exhaust flames with smoke.
-Wing vortex effect appears by default at 2.5g or quick roll rate.
-Continuous blue flames with smoke if engine is running .
-Manifold pressure controls flaming and finaly blowing of the engine. At 73 INGH the engine starts flaming and at 75, there is a bang and you're in for an emergency landing with a dead engine. You can try to restart the engine by pushing the engine failure key and throttle keys, but don't forget to put on low iddle. If you have the manifold pressure to high, your engine keeps misfiring. Can be very impressive when flying online with other racers.


Installation:
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-Unzip "P51-Voodoo" into a temporary file and move the "P51-Voodoo" folder into the main Aircraft directory.
-Attention...the panel.cfg files are different for FSX and FS2004. 
-For FSX,change the FSXpanel.cfg into panel.cfg and let it replace the first one.
For FS2004,change the FS9panel.cfg into panel.cfg and let it replace the first one.
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-Read instructions carefully when installing the P51d.gau into the gauges folder,  say YES...when asked if the gauges sources should be trusted. If you say no....most of the gauges are not going to work !
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-Leave the Cavalier map in your panel folder.
-Copy the effects into the   Microsoft Games\Flight Simulator X\effects folder.



Flying the model
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This plane is a fast, non critical but very powerful flying machine. Remember...that manifold pressure !
In FS2004 tail view is triggered from the 2Dcockpit by the rear view key. In FSX you get it automaticaly when changing views. This can be very useful while flying a pylon course.
-CTRL+E opens the canopy
-Radiator flaps are opened by the close cowl key.
-Engine restart by pushing the engine failure key after blowout.

TAKE-OFF :if you have manual rudder enabled, be ready to apply right rudder and brake when you hit the throttle !
Better apply throttle proportionaly and slowly at first.
1.Parking brake on, start engine, 1/4 flaps
2.Disengage parking brake
3.Hold enough rudder, brake to keep the aircraft straight
4.Take off at about 110 Knots, let speed build up, as the plane at first sinks back to the ground, wheels and flaps up at 130 Knots.
5.Race at 450+ mph with up to 72 INGH, but take special care of your manifold pressure and throttle settings.
6.Approach at 25% flaps, wheels down at 120 Knots.
7.Touchdown at 80-90 Knots.

CREDITS
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Special thanks to : 
-GMAX for the drawing program and Microsoft for their makmdls.mdk.
-Mike Hambly for his sound file.
-Ivan Hsu for the MDLC model converter.
-Bill Browning Jr. whose original textures were used to make the new ones.

LEGAL:
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The project is released as freeware.  You may modify it and repaint it. You may upload this file to another website as long as it is not for profit.  
You need the written permission of the original authors to use any of these files for commercial purposes, otherwise a simple credit would be nice. Non commercial repaints-remakes are  welcome but I would appreciate very much receiving a copy of your model.
This file should not cause any problems with your computer, but I accept no responsibility if you think it does.


Happy Racing!!  

A.F.Scrub
October 2007
Email:  af_scrubbypc@hotmail.com
