The ''Red Baron'' was a

North American North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Ca ...

P-51D Mustang Over twenty variants of the North American P-51 Mustang fighter were produced from 1940, when it first flew, to after World War II, some of which were employed also in the Korean War and in several other conflicts. Allison-engined Mustangs NA ...

NX7715C, original serial number 44-84961. It raced from 1966 to 1973 under the names ''Miss R.J.'' and ''Roto-Finish Special'', winning Unlimited Gold in 1972. In February 1974, it was purchased by Ed Browning of Red Baron Flying Service in

Idaho Falls, Idaho Idaho Falls (Shoshoni language, Shoshoni: Dembimbosaage) is a city in and the county seat of Bonneville County, Idaho, Bonneville County, Idaho, United States. It is the state's largest city outside the Boise metropolitan area. As of the 2020 Un ...

and renamed the ''Red Baron''.

Design and development

Browning hired two Lockheed engineers, Pete Law and Bruce Boland, and a team of other specialists to make major modifications to the plane, including installation of a

Rolls-Royce Griffon The Rolls-Royce Griffon is a British 37-litre (2,240 cu in) capacity, 60-degree V-12, liquid-cooled aero engine designed and built by Rolls-Royce Limited. In keeping with company convention, the Griffon was named after a bird of prey, ...

57 engine and

contra-rotating propellers Aircraft equipped with contra-rotating propellers, also referred to as CRP, coaxial contra-rotating propellers, or high-speed propellers, apply the maximum power of usually a single piston or turboprop engine to drive a pair of coaxial propell ...

from an

Avro Shackleton The Avro Shackleton is a British long-range maritime patrol aircraft (MPA) which was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and the South African Air Force (SAAF). It was developed by Avro from the Avro Lincoln bomber, which itself had been a devel ...

. The larger engine required significant changes to the airframe, particularly the engine compartment. The contra-rotating propellers also created instability that required an increase in fin area, all of which cost Browning more than $300,000. With these changes, the aircraft became the dominant racer on the Unlimited circuit. It was initially flown by Mac McClain and Daryl Greenamyer; in 1976, Greenamyer recommended

Steve Hinton Steve Hinton is an American aviator who held a world speed record from 1979 to 1989 and won six Unlimited-class air races, including two national championships. He won four consecutive Unlimited races in one year, and remains the only pilot ever t ...

pilot the plane. Hinton won four consecutive Unlimited races in one year, and remains the only pilot ever to do so.

History

On August 14, 1979, Hinton set the piston-driven aircraft 3-kilometer world speed record at 499.018 mph at

Tonopah, Nevada Tonopah ( , Shoshoni language: Tonampaa) is an unincorporated town in, and the county seat of, Nye County, Nevada, United States. It is located at the junction of U.S. Routes 6 and 95, approximately midway between Las Vegas and Reno. In the 2 ...

, making Hinton, age 27, the youngest person ever to capture the speed record. The team was hoping for 100+ degree temperatures in the Nevada desert, conditions under which they believed they could achieve 530 mph. The weather did not cooperate, however, and the cool 68-degree air held their speed just under 500 mph. Even so, the record held for a decade. On September 16, 1979, Hinton was racing the RB-51 in the

Reno Air Races The Reno Air Races, officially known as the STIHL National Championship Air Races from 2016, is a multi-day event tailored to the aviation community that takes place each September at the Reno Stead Airport a few miles north of Reno, Nevada. A ...

when a capacitor in the magneto failed, causing the engine to run on half its spark plugs. Not knowing what was wrong, Hinton pushed the plane to full throttle. This resulted in the supercharger carrying the extra pressure. Eventually, a bearing in the supercharger failed. Hinton finished the race in second place and moved to make an emergency landing. The supercharger failure resulted in a shaft failure, however; that shaft drove the oil pump, which in turn controlled the propeller pitch. The propellers went flat, acting as a huge air brake. The RB-51 crashed short of the runway. The wings were sheared off as the plane came down between two piles of rock and the fuel erupted in a fireball. The cockpit was thrown end-over-end away from the fire, yet Hinton survived with a broken back, leg, and ankle. His survival is attributed by one of the lead engineers, Pete Law, to additional braces and a roll bar installed on the cockpit. The ''Red Baron'' was destroyed in the crash. Steve Hinton's company, Fighter Rebuilders, moved the dataplate, tailnumber 413334, and registration number NX7715C to P-51D serial number 44-73053, ''Wee Willy II''.
air-and-space.com Retrieved 12 July 2011.

Awards

* 1974, First Place, Mojave * 1976, First Place, Mojave * 1977, First Place, Reno * 1977, National Champion * 1978, First Place, Mojave * 1978, First Place, Reno * 1978, National Champion * 1979, First Place, Mojave * 1979, First Place, Miami Homestead * 1979, World Record, 3 km piston-driven aircraft

Specifications (RB51 Red Baron)

External links

Red Baron, Part 1
(

Internet Archive The Internet Archive is an American digital library with the stated mission of "universal access to all knowledge". It provides free public access to collections of digitized materials, including websites, software applications/games, music, ...

)

Notes