Warbirds Worldwide : Page 4 of 4

To date Stallion 51 have worked with approximately 80 people with the intention of them flying their own Mustang in the future, or building their experience to a more proficient level. The full training programme does not have a set number of hours - as you would expect it all depends on pilot proficiency, the individuals background and talents and how each person handles different situations. On the other hand the company want to see a pole n tial Mustang pilot progress through the process at his own speed. "We are not here to try and extend the programme but to do our very best to make the guy a safe Mustang pilot." Stallion have seen some people, like Bill Anders, an astronaut go through the course in in less than ten hours. He was very impressed with the programme and found it extremely valuable. For the average trainee (a commercial multi engined instrument pilot with 25 hours of T-6 time and perhaps a hundred hours of total tail wheel time), approximately 15 hours are needed to go through the whole training syllabus. We consider that a student is the person working through the syllabus and the graduate is the person that has completed the syllabus" says Doug. They make a major distinction, quite rightly between the two. It would be easy, for instance, for someone to do five hours and profess to have completed the programme but, Lee clarifies "...the real heart of the Mustang is the last 20% where we go really deep into the envelope, (such as loss of controlled flight), and deep into the emergency procedures, (where the pilot has time spinning the aeroplane left and right) and has learned the recovery techniques, in the high performance role at least, that could cause some major grief".
Consequently, the insurance companies are also recognising the difference between the student and the graduate to the point where they are saying" if you are a graduate of the Stallion 51 programme we will insure you." This is not, Lee is anxious to point out, a method of featherbedding their business or getting as many hours out of someone as possible, and the feedback we've had at Warbirds Worldwide over the years has reinforced this. Stallion wants to see Mustang pilots who are proficient in every way. Additionally the new facility allows the crew to present information in a much better environment with visual aids, for Lee tells us that a lot of the programme covers the maintenance side which is obviously key to the safe operation of the P-51. For example the majority of pilots come in and will do a pilots pre flight with Lee or Doug and then Richard or Peter Lauderback will do a maintenance pre flight, providing a different focus. An entire day can be taken with the brothers covering do's and don'ts of maintenance, tips on what to watch for and how to accomplish various tasks. Undoubtedly this enhances the safety aspect. At the time of our visit some of the teaching aids were being prepared and this includes a Merlin engine being sectioned for display in the main hangar and for use as a teaching aid.

Doug Schultz and Lee Lauderback are currently examining the opportunities provided by potential syndication of the business and are seeking a number of interested parties. The company has a proven track record and with an appreciating asset in the form of Crazy Horse with an established business and some exciting opportunities in prospect. They are confident they will attract the right investors to participate.

For some time now the company have been doing research, based on NTSB records (since 1962), on Mustang accidents. Their data is in the final stages of compilation and when the final report is output it will give them an accurate indication of trends with regard to Mustang accidents. Stallion 51 have been in the business since 1987 - the previous year had seen 12 accidents relating to P51s though the trend is currently downward, due in no small measure we suspect to their input in the training arena. Recently Lee states that accidents due to high performance maneuvering (such as repositioning turns at airshows, overhead breaks etc.) continue to give cause for concern. The high energy accelerated manoeuvre is something that is given great emphasis in the training programme.

What is the best preparation for entering the Stallion 51 training programme? Doug elaborates "We take each pilot on a one on one basis. We have people come to us that have as little as 300 hours total time and already own a Mustang, to the experienced commercial pilot we talked about earlier with 2000 hours and taildragger experience. There really is no set experience level. We do recommend that people get some concentrated, high quality T-6 time at checkout level for five or ten hours which gives a better foundation to walk into the programme and makes sense on a cost basis".

The company philosophy is that the Mustang is a serious aeroplane, in a serious business and it needs to be treated with a professional approach. Such are the excellent maintenance levels at Stallion 51 administered by Richard and Pete that rarely is Crazy Horse 'down' and unserviceable, apart from the planned inspections and checks. When the second Mustang comes on line it will allow Crazy Horse to be taken offline for more than about two days at a time so the aeroplane can be improved (I found myself asking what could be improved, but the twins know best!), and also for the company to extend the training syllabus and incorporate high quality formation training at a realistic cost level, including the augmentation of a third pilot instructor, Eliot Cross, who flew the Spitfire Tr.9 mentioned earlier. It will also permit more airshow work to be taken on as an attractive live dual pair formation team performing precision aerobatics.

Though I had been for a closely monitored and tightly controlled flight as a non-pilot, Stallion 51 had treated me courteously seriously and very professionally. With guys like this around willing to impart their knowledge at a relatively reasonable cost and with such enthusiasm, the future of the Mustang is in safe hands. And for the record the only thing that is Crazy about all this are the pilots that don't go through the full course!- WW Paul Coggan.