As many of our readers will be well be aware, we have been following the restoration of Texas Flying Legends Museum’s North American P-51C Mustang at AirCorps Aviation in Bemidji, Minnesota for some time now. We received the marvelous news of her completion and first flight last week, and thought you would like to see the photo-essay of that momentous moment put together by AirCorps Aviation’s Chuck Cravens. This will of course be followed up by an in-depth feature on the restoration with superlative air-to-air photographs from Scott Slocum in our sister publication, Warbird Digest. So without further ado…
Texas Flying Legends Museum’s Lope’s Hope 3rd Takes to the Air.
By Chuck Cravens
On Monday October 16, 2017, P-51C Lope’s Hope 3rd flew for the first time since 1946. The flight took place in Bemidji, Minnesota after an intensive three- year restoration by AirCorps Aviation. This is the third, highly authentic Mustang restoration that AirCorps has completed since 2011.
This restoration is based upon P-51C 43-24907, whereas the original Lope’s Hope 3rd was 42-103585. Texas Flying Legends Museum chose to restore this Mustang in First Lieutenant Donald S. Lopez’s color scheme to honor his service in WWII, as a post WWII test pilot in the early jets, and his contributions to the aviation community as Deputy Director of the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.
Many thanks indeed to Chuck Cravens, AirCorps Aviation and the Texas Flying Legends Museum for providing us this fabulous update, as well as to the photographers, John LaTourelle and Randy Ruttger, for providing such beautiful images. We wish Lopes Hope 3rd much success in the skies, and look forwards to seeing her on the air show circuit in the near future!
And of course… stay tuned for a full article about this beautiful aircraft in an upcoming issue of Warbird Digest!
Comgratulations..It looks beautiful and sleek
Nice to see an old warbird back in the air!?
My dear late husband would be so proud! Aviator and pilot of the P51 Mustang during WW11.
Wish he where alive to witness this!
Thanks, guys.
Patricia
Thanks guys!
Good job!!! P51 of ANY model is a gorgeous aircraft, and you guys rock for bringing this one back to the skies…THANKS!!!
These kids today don’t have a clue about what those PILOTS had to go thru to be a fighter pilot in ww2 they all were truly hero’s god bless all of them
absolutely
Another beautiful restoration by these guys…..looks like it grew drop tanks during the test flight.
It’s beautiful. It’s especially nice to see a C model take to the air. I see a lot of new sheet metal there.
BEAUTIFUL JOB
THANKS TO THE BRAVE TEAM
Christian BONNET
Don Lopez was my ideal. He was my professor of thermodynamics at the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1960-61. We could always get him off the subject by asking him to tell the story of his fourth kill, a Japanese fighter, when he was a member of 14th Air Force (Flying Tigers).
“I was shooting and flying straight at him; he was flying straight head-on and shooting at me. I hid behind the inst panel. He chickened out and rolled away”. Collision. Lope lost wingtip; recovered and got credit for kill.
Zero lost whole wing and the fight.
I went on to fly fighters: F-100, F-102, F-104, F-4, Hawker Hunter, English
Electric Lightning F6. Lope was my ideal. Worked w/ him later at Smithsonian Air and Space Museum.
Charlie Neel, Col, USAF, Ret.
Colorado Springs
Thanks for sharing Charlie!
Don Lopez is also the author of my all time favorite book: “Into the Teeth of the Tiger”, about his early days and WW2 experience.
I first met Don in late 1980 at a Smithsonian weekend, subsequent to that I went on several tours with Walter Boyne and Don to England. Don acted as our guide, teacher, historian and good friend. Whenever I visited the Museum he would always make time for a brief chat and a “How are things going ?” A first class gentleman…..
Nice job, a well deserved honor.
I had a student, years ago, introduced him to model aviation in my middle school elective. He eventually became an aeronautical engineer (RPI) and works with Aircorps Aviation and others as a designated FAA inspector — for all those new parts– and he arranged for a quick visit with the folks at Aircorps Aviation on our way back north & east during an RV trip in 2015.
Met Eric Hokum and some of the guys at Aircorps; they had just completed landing gear replacement on Little Horse, a -D Mustang, I believe. I was drooling the entire time Eric showed me around! It must have been Lope’s Hope III I saw on a fuselage jig that day, full of Clecos and a few aluminum sheets, on a very skeletal frame.
A great group of guys who do fantastic work, and now they’ve added another restoration to their list of accomplishments — keep it up! (When are you going to start that P-47?)
Thanks very much for writing in Walt. AirCorps are already well underway with their P-47D as well. We reported on her history already HERE, and will be providing a restoration update very soon.
years ago I aw a pylon racer Supermarine with a radial engine very fast.
Can tell us all what models would be possible. It was in Arizona around 1977-78