Thunder Mustang

Let'sgoflying!

Let'sgoflying!

Touchdown! Greaser!
Joined
Feb 23, 2005
Messages
21,872
Location
west Texas
Display Name
Dave Taylor
Home Airfield
KMRF
Wondering about the practicalities of ownership.
How dispatch-reliable would such a complicated-looking engine be?
Would it be any more than 30 minutes of fun + ramp-envy on Saturdays?
Even if your answers are negative, I'm still interested!


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Only about 40 kits ever produced, probably less than a dozen have flown. Company ownership has changed hands several times since Papa-51 went belly up in the '90's. Falconer engine stuff is hard to find.
 
I'd review the accident records for the few that were finished and flown.
 
im no expert on the aircraft but have followed it for a long time. the airframe is solid, parts availability i don't know since it has changed hands a few times. the engine and reduction gearing is solid also. ryan falconer is widely know throughout the race boat circles. that engine is based on his v12 boat engine. he is still in business and parts are available, time frame and pricing unknown since his engines are basically one off racing engines. the problems seem to stem from the accessory area. most failures have been from things driven off the engine. the safety record if the plane is not that great, however, more than a coulpe have been used for sport class racing and they were trying to get as much power out of them as possible. i love the plane and would love to have one, but i would put it in the high maintenance and higher risk catagory of aircraft.
 
Thunder Mustang accidents, from my 1998-2024 EAB accident database:
SEA98FA083
LAX07CA266
WPR14LA312
WPR15LA001
CEN15FA154
WPR18FA131
WPR20FA057


I've attached an experimental product from my database summarizing the results.

Ron Wanttaja
 

Attachments

Like some of the other high end P-51 replicas, it's a complex, fast airplane requiring solid piloting (and mechanical!) skills. When things go wrong they go wrong fast.
 
I've met and talked with the current owner of the Thunder Mustang Company. He has a hangar one row over from mine where there is a partially assembled TM. There's been a lot of history between Thunder Mustang, its previous owners, the Thunder Builder's Group, and the owner/designer of the Falconer V12 engine. Every TM completed is truly a one-off aircraft (as EABs tend to be). The one in the Barnstormer's ad is a well-known aircraft and was pretty popular at fly-ins. I think its one of the older Papa51 produced kits. I have a hunch that its been pretty well taken care of. But I haven't seen it in several years.

If you're considering buying it, I'd treat it like buying a real war bird. It may be a few less zeros in the cost to own and operate. But every bit as complex and labor intensive.
 
Seems like three or four are for sale— I see one registered in my hometown of Bakersfield,Ca but I haven’t met or seen a TM around….
 
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