The legacy of the North American Aviation P-51B is given to us in the form of a nicely done model from Sig Mfg. The model is one of the most famous P-51B aircraft flown during WW II, the Shangri-La. This plane was flown by Ace Don Gentile in the 4th Fighter Group, who made 30 kills in 1944. The last flight of the Shangri-La was April 13, 1944, when Gentile was returning from his last mission. Just before going home stateside, he made a very low pass for the press and cameras and struck the prop on the ground crashing the Shangri-La.
The Sig P-51B model is built using balsa and plywood construction with a covering of Sig Aerokote. The scale model comes equipped with retracts, flaps, a big red spinner and a very complete hardware package. The scale look of the finished model is outstanding and has the sleek and graceful lines of a fighter. Adding to the scale detail is the location of the tail wheel on the fuselage. This model is not recommended for the beginner, but a modeler with one or two trainer aircrafts under his belt should be fine with this plane. I spent about 20 hours completing this aircraft, and every minute was worth it when I got to look at the finished plane.
In the Air
STABILITY The Mustang exhibited good stability at all speeds.
TRACKING Ground and in-flight tracking are predictable with minimum input. Ground handling was helped by having wheels toed in a little. I do not fly off grass but if I did, the only thing I would keep my eye on is the landing legs because they bend easily.
AEROBATICS This is a P-51 so I did not fly it like an Extra 300. The rolls, loops and spilt-S’s looked and flew great, but my favorite is the low pass with one wing tilted up; it looked fantastic.
GLIDE & STALL PERFORMANCEThe glide and slow speed performance are very predictable and at slow speed the stalling wing will do a slow drop to let you know it needs more speed. Adding power or getting off the elevator will straighten the stall right out.
Specifications
MODEL P-51B Mustang ARF
DISTRIBUTOR Sig Manufacturing (sigmfg.com)
TYPE WW II
LENGTH 55.9 in.
WINGSPAN 66.9 in.
WING AREA 770 sq. in.
WEIGHT 8.5 lb.
WING LOADING 25 oz./sq. ft.
MOTOR REQ’D .90 to 1.00 2-stroke or 4-stroke
RADIO REQ’D 6-channel w/eight servos
By Frank Luisi
