WIX Archives
thanks Randy, very informative!
Posted by Pat Carry on Sun Dec 28, 2003 12:20:17 AM
In reply top Re: Cavalier Mustangs posted by Randy Haskin on Sat Dec 27, 2003 04:33:29 PM
: The short answer is that Trans-Florida Aviation/Cavalier A
: ircraft Corporation did a little bit of everything with P-
: 51s.
:
: First, they produced a civilianized version of the P-51 ca
: lled the Executive Mustang and later on the Cavalier. The
: re were between 22 and 26 of these built (I'm still pinnin
: g the number down). They had all-new suit-and-tie-friendl
: y 2-place cockpits with soundproofing and leather seats, p
: lus a nice avionics package (for the 60s that is!). They
: also made a number of other nifty changes including a very
: popular cockpit ram-air system and baggage compartments i
: n the wing gun bays. Most had the taller "Cavalier" tail
: (not a P-51H tail unlike popular belief) and some had tip
: tanks.
:
: Side by side with this, they produced kits for civilian P-
: 51 owners to do all sorts of things: tall tails, tip tanks
: , baggage compartments, TF-51 conversion, etc. There are
: many P-51s that, at some point in their life, have had min
: or Cavalier mods that did not go through the complete "Exe
: cutive Mustang" treatment.
:
: PLUS, TFA/Cavalier was the leading P-51/RR Merlin parts so
: urce and maintenance supplier at the time...lots of busine
: ss there.
:
: Then Cavalier decided to get into the military airplane bu
: siness. They built military airframes in three flavors: F
: -51D, TF-51D, and Mustang II.
:
: F-51Ds had many of the updates and improvements designed f
: or the Executive Mustang, but ditched all the leather seat
: s and brought back the military hardware: new gunsight, ne
: w underwing hardpoints, etc. These all went to Latin Amer
: ica or Indonesia.
:
: TF-51Ds were simply a copy of the TEMCO TF-51D conversion
: to dual control with some of the F-51D improvements thrown
: in.
:
: Mustang IIs were a F-51D built especially for Close Air Su
: pport and Counterinsurgency missions. These had new cockp
: its, strenghtened spars and longerons, tip tanks, and more
: hardpoints. It's debatable how many of these were built.
: Purists say there were only six built (with 5 going to E
: l Salvador), but there is an argument to be made that 14 o
: thers were built that went to Indonesia, Bolivia, and the
: US Army. I am of the opinion that these were "technically
: " named F-51Ds, even though they shared nearly _all_ of th
: e Mustang II upgrades. Semantics, I guess.
:
: The end of the Cavalier story is the Enforcer...and that i
: s a story unto itself! Essentially it is three developmen
: ts of turboprop-powered P-51s for counterinsurgency. By t
: he time the last version was built (the PA-48 Enforcer in
: '83 and '84) it shared very little with a P-51 anymore and
: they were all-new build airframes.