Beguiling Beguine

Air Classics, Jun 2002 by Meixner, Bill

FORGOTTEN

RACERS

THE STRANGE SAGA Of ONE Of THE

MOST INTERESTING UNLIMITED RACING AIRCRAfT AND THE PILOT WHO FLEW THE PLANE

Of all the post-war Cleveland racers, the Beguine was the most radical in design. This P-51C has, over the years, been the subject of much controversy. The three elements of this story are: "The Plane," "The Pilot," and "The Race." After a description of these three elements, readers may form their own opinions on what happened that day in September 1949.

THE PLANE

This story begins back in 1929 when the Travel Air Company, owned and operated by Walter Beech, built several low-wing monoplanes for the Cleveland National Air Races. One of these planes, the Mystery Ship, not only won the unlimited Thompson Trophy but also greatly outdistanced the military pursuit aircraft entered in the race. Seventeen years and a world war later, J.D. Reed of Houston, Texas - the largest Beechcraft dealer in the country and a good friend of Walter Beech - decided to field several entrees in the post-war National Air Races with the goal of capturing the Thompson Trophy. The two racers were surplus Lockheed P-38 Lightnings. One Lightning was NX25Y Sky Ranger Race 14 flown by Charles Walling (this airplane later achieved airshow fame being flown by Lefty Gardner). The second Lightning was NX4530N Green Hornet Race 66 flown by Ivis Hill. These twin-engine hot-rods should have been real challenders. Unfortunately, mechanical problems prevented the Lightnings -IM from achieving the owner's goal but they did finish second and third in the Sohio Race which, in 1946, was exclusively for P-38s.

At the end of the races, J.D. decided he would go all-out to win the Thompson. Realizing the P-38s were no match for the North American P-51 Mustangs, he purchased a P-51D named Wraith. Painted in an overall dramatic bronze, the aircraft was flown by Paul Penrose. Paul did well in the Thompson until problems with the Merlin forced him out of the race. The Wraith was flown to Texas, and J.D.'s daughter renamed the aircraft Jay Dee.

Jay Dee was entered in the 1947 Thompson with Paul Penrose once again the pilot. The second entry was P-38 Sky Ranger flown by Charles Walling. Walling dropped out in the second lap with engine trouble. Penrose again was doing well and had just passed Demming to take third place when his engine quit. He managed to get the Mustang turned around and landed safely at the airport. It was another disappointing year for the J.D. Reed Team.

Early in 1948, Walter Beech told J.D. Reed that if he wanted to win, he needed a P-51C which, in Walter's opinion, was the fastest Mustang (an opinion shared by Paul Mantz), A P-51 C was found at an estate sale in Wichita Falls, Texas, and the Mustang was obtained in a trade for a Bonanza. The aircraft was P-51C-5-NT USAAF s/n 42-103757 completed on 22 August 1944 at the North American Texas factory. The Mustang was one of 464 surplus warplanes purchased by Paul Mantz and partners on 19 February 1946 from the War Assets Administration for a total price of $70,000. If one divides $70,000 by the 464 aircraft purchased, one will arrive at a price of $150.86 per aircraft.

Walter Beech was still very interested in air racing, but his wife Olive Ann did not want him involved. In order to keep his involvement secret, the aircraft was flown to Los Angeles in late May 1948 by Paul Penrose, whose regular job was a NAA test pilot. The aircraft was placed in the AiResearch hangar of the Garrett Corporation which was next to North American Aviation. J.D. Reed had approached both Garrett and NAA engineers to work on the project. Two members of the team were Virgil Thompson, a field service representative for NAA, and Ed Horkey, chief aerodynamist for NAA.

The idea was to do the work during coffee breaks, lunch hours and after work. Planning and problem solving was done at the local bar called Patmars. There is no known record of either company being involved in the project but NAA was involved with Joe DeBona's P-51C.

Walter Beech reasoned the P-51 would be faster if the belly scoop containing the oil and Prestone radiators was removed. His concept was to install the radiators in wing-tip pods. This theory was supported by the engineers on the project.

Tip tanks on a straight-wing aircraft gave some parasite drag but aerodynamically the wing acted as though it had a larger span. When the aircraft went into a turn and pulled some Gs, induced drag would be lowered. One must remember that the 1948 Cleveland course had tight turns of 900 and better. Also the drag of the pods would be somewhat offset by the loss of drag from the belly scoop. The pods were made from NAA FJ-1 Fury tip tanks which were cut into sections. Interestingly, the nose rings were laminated from mahogany and arranged in different colors of wood. The wing tips were removed and the radiators were attached directly to the ends of the spars and then covered by the pods, which were removable for servicing.

Two new Prestone radiators were placed in the left wing-tip pod and one in the right, along with a P-51 oil cooler, which made the right wing heavier by about 60 pounds. The ailerons were now shorter and the nods acted as dams. not unlike Cook Cleland's wing-tip fences on his Super Corsair. Walter Beech apparently had a theory about making one wing shorter than the other but was not undertaken and the wings were of equal length. With modifications completed, it was time to test-fly the machine.