Subject: Number Fifty-One in the Series--North American P-51 Mustang

From: [email-masked]
Date: 23 Feb 93 17:33:42 GMT

>From [email-masked]

This saga of the P-51 Mustang ends with the story of the Enforcer--an 
attempt to bring the Mustang back in to service in the 1980s! 

Even the end of the Korean War and the official withdrawal of the last 
Mustang from ANG service in 1957 was not to be the end of the story 
for the Mustang.  Many Mustangs served with foreign air arms, 
remaining as first-line equipment well into the 1970s.  Hundreds of 
surplus Mustangs ended up on the civilian market, and many of these 
were used on the unlimited racing circuit during post-war years.  Many 
are still being raced at present.  

The last Mustang officially left ANG service in 1957.  It is not 
generally known, but there have been periodic attempts to reintroduce 
the Mustang into USAF service in the years after that.  In fact, such 
efforts continued up until the early 1980s.  

The final withdrawal of the Mustang from USAF and ANG service dumped 
hundreds of P-51s out onto the civilian market.  The rights to the 
Mustang design were purchased from North American by the Cavalier 
Aircraft Corporation, which attempted to market the Mustang aircraft 
both in the US and overseas.  In 1967 and again in 1972, the USAF 
procured additional batches of Mustangs from Cavalier.  These aircraft 
were remanufactured from existing F-51D airframes but were fitted with 
new V-1650-7 engines, a new radio fit, tall F-51H-type vertical tails, 
and a stronger wing which could carry six 0.50-inch machine guns and a 
total of eight underwing hardpoints.  Two 1000-pound bombs and six 
five-inch rockets could be carried.  They all had an original 
F-51D-type canopy, but carried a second seat for an observer behind 
the pilot.  Although these new Mustangs were intended for delivery to 
South American and Asian nations through the Military Assistance 
Program (MAP), they were delivered with full USAF markings and were 
allocated new serial numbers (67-22579/22582 and 72-1526/1541).  One 
additional Mustang was a two-seat dual-control TF-51D (67-14866) with 
an enlarged canopy and only four wing guns.  

The US Army purchased a couple of F-51Ds from Cavalier in 1968 for use 
at Fort Rucher as chase planes in the Lockheed Cheyenne armed 
helicopter program.  These planes had wing-tip fuel tanks and were 
unarmed.  For several years since 1967, the US Army also used a 
"genuine" F-51D (44-72990) as a chase plane.  

Cavalier believed that the Mustang design still had potential for 
further development.  In 1968, the company mounted a 1740 e.s.h.p 
Rolls-Royce Dart 510 turboprop into a F-51D and flight-tested the 
aircraft as the Turbo-Mustang III, At that time, the US was embroiled 
in the Vietnam War, and combat experience indicated that there was a 
need for a low-cost, high-performance close-support aircraft for use 
by foreign air forces obtaining MAP assistance.  This project was 
given the name *Pave Coin*.  In pursuit of production contracts under 
the *Pave Coin* program, the Cavalier company undertook a more 
ambitious Mustang conversion effort.  One single-seat F-51D and one 
two-seat TF-51D airframe were fitted with the 2455 s.h.p.  Lycoming 
T55-L-9 turboprop engine.  The project was given the name *Enforcer* 
by Cavalier.  

The first Enforcer conversion was flown on April 19, 1971.  Later that 
year, the USAF evaluated one of these Enforcers and confirmed the 
original performance claims, but did not show very much enthusiasm for 
the project.  

Later in 1971, Piper Aircraft acquired the rights to the Enforcer from 
Cavalier.  Even though the USAF never saw any use for the Enforcer, 
Congressional pressure led eventually to a contract in September 1981 
for Piper to construct two new prototypes for evaluation.  They were 
known under the company designation of PA-48.  The two PA-48 
prototypes were given civilian registrations rather than military 
serial numbers, and were never given any military designations.  

The PA-48 Enforcer bore only the slightest resemblance to the 
F-51D--only ten percent of the parts were in common.  The fuselage was 
lengthened by 19 inches aft of the wing and larger tail surfaces were 
fitted.  Power was provided by a Lycoming T55-L-9 turboprop.  The 
familiar trademark Mustang ventral scoop was completely removed, and a 
large turboprop exhaust was fitted on the left-hand side of the 
fuselage just ahead of the cockpit.  A Yankee rocket ejector seat was 
fitted in the single seat cockpit.  Provisions for wingtip tanks were 
made, and ten underwing hardpoints were fitted.  The fixed 
wing-mounted guns were removed, and all gun armament was carried 
within underwing pods.  The two PA-48s first flew on April 9 and July 
8, 1983 respectively, and the USAF conducted its evaluations at Elgin 
AFB and Edwards AFB during 1983/84.  Gross weight was 14,000 pounds.  
Maximum speed was 403 mph and cruising speed was 363 mph.  Service 
ceiling was 37,600 feet and combat radius (with two gun pods) was 469 
miles.  

The PA-48 Enforcer was unsuccessful in obtaining any production 
orders, and both prototypes were put in storage by the USAF in late 
1986.  One of them (N481PE) is now on display in the Annex building at 
the WPAFB Museum in Dayton, Ohio.  

Sources:

  United States Military Aircraft since 1909, Gordon Swanborough and 
  Peter M. Bowers, Smithsonian, 1989.  

  Classic Warplanes: North American P-51 Mustang, Bill Gunston, Gallery 
  Books, 1990.  

Joe Baugher       AT&T Bell Laboratories    2000 North Naperville Road 
		  Naperville, Illinois 60566-7033.   (708) 713-4548