Navy Fighter Pilot Flies The SW-51 MUSTANG

TOPGUN adversary pilot Kris Caldwell got to pilot the SW-51 MUSTANG “Double-O-Seven” and was immediately captivated.

Beautiful Piece of Artwork

Calwell relates the first time that he got up close with the SW-51 was in Oshkosh.

The plane was a replica fighter, “It’s a beautiful piece of artwork. Not just the aesthetic beauty of it, but how it flies,” he says. “While it’s a 70% scale Mustang from the real P-51D, it’s 16% of the weight, boosting its performance.”

Extremely Sleek

Caldwell says that the plane is relatively easy to pre-flight; it has a bubble canopy giving the pilot optimal visibility, and a highly intuitive layout.

When it comes to the roll rate, he says that there’s very little play in the stick. It also flies like a fighter.  You can easily roll it 90 degrees, pull on a stick, and it turns around like a dime.

Cool Feature

One of the cool features of the fighter is the intake scoop underneath which has a camera linked to the cockpit display.

The pilot can split the display and see the field of view right in front of the plane when taxiing. You can see the gear swinging down on the display, allowing you to verify whether or not the gears are in motion.

When Caldwell flew the plane for the first time, there was a sustained 15-knot crosswind, and the plane handled the crosswind beautifully. “You can stick the airplane, plant in on deck, and in flies exactly like it should.”