Threat Axis

In the middle of the museum field of planes – there is a non-descript building which houses a special project.  This building is referred to as ‘Area 51′ – and is where the museum’s craftsmen are building their own P-51 Mustang.

Now – they don’t ever expect this plane to fly, so the strength of the wings and the fuselage are one of the areas that they are cutting back on.  But otherwise – they are working from original blueprints and where possible (budget & availability) using original parts.

The whole reason for this project is that the P-51 was an iconic American warbird representing World War 2.  But the museum does not currently have one in its collection.  While thousands were produced – when the war ended lots of them ended up in private hands, and are seen quite frequently at the air races (pre-Red Bull Air Racing).  When a P-51 does come up for sale – the price is in the millions – which puts it out of reach of a non-profit museum like Pima.

There is only one person working on the Mustang full time right now.  There is one other person – the Restoration Manager – who has less than 50% of his time on it right now.  It is already a couple man-years worth of work – but it sounded like it could be on display by the end of the year.