There are fly-ins and then there are FLY-INs!

It’s rare to see men and women from the Greatest Generation join events to share their stories.  This video harkens back to a time not THAT long ago where WASPs, Tuskegee Airmen, and WWII vets saw over 20 P-51s take to the skies with the distinctive drone of their powerful engines.

 You’ll see no less than 20 P-51 Mustangs take off, two or three at a time, to fly in formation over the Gathering of Legends and Mustangs at Rickenbacker airport in Columbus, Ohio.  The event took place between September 27^th and September 30^th of 2007.

This made-in-USA video footage was captured from the top of a twelve-foot high photography platform, with a prime seat to catch all the Mustang action. The awesome video clip, uploaded on January 5^th of 2011, was produced by Steve Kauzlarich.

About the P-51 Mustang

The P-51 Mustang is an American long range, single seat, fighter bomber plane. Designed in 1940 by North American Aviation, it took ts maiden voyage on October 26^th of 1940, and was introduced to the Royal Air Force (RAF) in 1942. The P-51 Mustang has been used in World War Two, the Korean War, and other conflicts. Its primary users have been the United States Army Air Force (USAAF), the Royal Air Force (RAF), the Chinese Nationalist Air Force, and others. Since its introduction, more than fifteen thousand P-51 Mustang aircraft have been built. The per unit cost of a P-51 was about $51,000, way back in 1945.

The Mustang was originally designed to use an Allison V-1710 engine, but they were later outfitted with Rolls Royce Merlin engines, which improved performance at altitudes above 15,000 feet. The ultimate version of the aircraft, called the P-51D, was powered by the Packard V-1650-7 engine, and armed with a set of six .50 caliber Browning machine guns.