Flight of the Mustang
Flight Characteristics
Buffeting occurs at high angles of sideslip. The airplane will be "nose heavy" when the landing gear is extended. The aircraft will be "tail heavy" when the flaps are extended and/or the landing gear and flaps are extended.
War Emergency Operations
Emergency ratings are available for use in combat for absolute maximum manifold pressure. Safe limits are 7 minutes wet or 5 minutes dry. Ratings should only be utilized during emergency situations. Aircraft must be in precombat or combat area (designated by the AAF). AC LE-44, KLG RC5/3, Lodge RS5/5, or AC LE-45 spark plugs must be installed. A breakthrough seal also needs to be installed on the throttle quadrant to inform the crew chief that the engine was flown under war emergency power procedures.
Normal Operating Procedures
There are several airspeed limitations on the P-51. A pilot should not: extend the landing gear above 170 IAS; lower landing light above 170 IAS; lower flaps above 160 IAS; exceed 525 IAS at 5000 feet or if 75 or 110 gallon tanks are installed, limit speed to 400 IAS because of incipient buffeting.
Flight restrictions are: no "power-on" spins; no snap rolls; inverted flying should not exceed 10 seconds (there will be a loss of oil pressure and failure of the scavenge pumps to function properly in inverted position); "power-off" spins are acceptable as long as spins occur above 12,000 feet.
Once in the cockpit, several items should be completed. They are:
Adjust seat. The lever is on the right side of the seat .
Adjust rudder pedals to obtain maximum brake control while taxiing
Set parking brake. Landing gear control handle should be in neutral. The green position
Indicator should be lighted.
Ignition switch should be "off"
Gun safety switches and bomb switches should be "off".
Unlock control lock at base. Free movement should be noted as controls are checked.
Altimeter should be set to the correct barometric pressure. Remote-indicating compass should read accurate.
Test gun sight illumination by rotating dimmer rheostat.
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