A Mustang at Boleslav
A long brief from Historical Airshow Mladá Boleslav
Originally, I wasn’t even supposed to be in Boleslav. Steve assigned me to Hradec, and took the rest of the shows. But when
Hradec was postponed to next year, it looked like I wouldn’t be getting in any airshow flight time with the P-51 this year. To
be perfectly honest, I found that I had no real level of regret from the development. I had a couple of performances under
my belt with Trener Box and the Pilatus, and that was probably enough to fulfill the year’s requirement to exhibit. However,
about two weeks before the show, Steve tells me that he has some personal items to take care of and that he will either
cancel the performance, or pass it on to me. Well, I just happened to be on vacation and had the time, so why not?
A long brief from
Historical Airshow Mladá Boleslav
Radim Vojta
(foto Petra Nováková)
EVENT
So what followed was a phone call to Tomáš
Ratimec in an effort to find out just what it was
that was expected from me: ‘Well, you and Míra
Sázavský will do a two ship flyby, he will then
separate for some solo aerobatics, and finish up
with a four ship display with the Thunderbolt and
Spitfire’. That made a lot of sense to me, as I’ve
been flying the P-51 for a relatively short time
and I haven’t had many opportunities to practice
a solo display yet. I only tried something over
the airport a couple of times, which was enough
for me to realize that the Mustang was neither
a Spitfire nor a Yak-3, and that aerobatics in
a fairly confined space would not be so easy with
it. I could, however, fly in a group, since I have
been doing that quite a bit recently.
As we packed up in the morning, I immediately
understood what a new challenge the Mustang
presented. It has a second seat instead of
a fuselage tank, so although I tried my best to
convince Jana that it would be more comfortable
if she went to Boleslav by train, I failed. Fine,
I’ll take you with me, I told her - but we need
to minimize the amount of stuff we carry!
No evening gown, five o’clock tea dress, three
handbags and two hats. And certainly, no kitchen
sink. Maybe two pairs of shorts and a change
of underwear. But when I looked in the luggage
compartment after arriving at the airport and
saw how much space there was, I realized that
I was in for it. Especially when I took the spare
tailwheel out, saying that we don’t need to take it
with us, I got a look that said it all. In addition to
everything needed for the weekend, ten pairs of
boots and winter ski gear could easily have been
accommodated as well.
After talking with Steve, I planned the trip
there with a stop at Sazena. I haven’t had
a chance to land the Mustang on a grass runway
yet, so I wanted to try it out at a field with
a longer strip. Most of all, I appreciated that RWY
15L/33R has a runway edge lights and a length
of 840 meters, while the adjacent 15R/33L is
a full 1,315 meters long and has a long clearway
with the same surface and pavement strength.
So I came up with a plan to put down in a three
point landing on the longer runway, but in line
with the beginning of the lights - and if I manage
to stop at the opposite end of the line of lights
without any problems, I will know that the 1000
meters of runway at Boleslav will suffice. And
if it doesn’t work, nothing happens, I still have
another six hundred meters ahead of me – and
just case, I can set down in Mnichovo Hradiště to
be safe and fly from there. The Mustang was in
Boleslav several times, as was the Corsair and
the Yak-3, but the pilots were more experienced
on those respective types. I was only there with
a Spitfire and Hurricane, but that doesn’t really
count, since they are grass hoppers, any meadow
being to their liking. I only have a few hours in
the P-51D so far. The Chief (now generally known
as Head of Air Operations) from Sazená, Honza
Šimon, approved my plan, so there was nothing
standing in the way of the test, except for my own
fear deep down that I might bounce too much and
embarrass myself.
So I loaded Jana into the airplane, and with
the help of Sucháč and Krechonaut, set off
into the wild blue over Plasy and Rakovník to
Sazka. Jana was said to have shed a tear after
take-off, it was her first flight in a Mustang and
actually it was a premiere for me too, as I have
never flown anyone in a warbird. All my flights
so far have been single seaters, so there was
no such opportunity, unless we were going to
recreate a bit of Dark Blue World film and carry
a passenger in my lap. We rumbled our way over
the countryside under a gloomy sky, the Merlin
growling over Plasy, and for a while over the
landscape of my youth west of Kladno, where
I know every field intimately, because I underwent
countless practice dead-stick landings on them
in training in a Zlin 126, then growled through
Slaný and up to the shooting range of Mr. Mareš
at Velvary. Fuel cock, 26 inches, flaps ten, then
twenty and enter the traffic pattern at Sazená
after three ultralights and a Seneca doing single
engine approaches. Damn, that was more traffic
than I expected. Fortunately, by then we were at
about 250 km/h, so we could shoehorn into the
queue pretty easily. So now I was curious how
it would unfold. Wheels, flaps, propeller, final,
aim abeam the beginning of runway lights, idle,
touch down on three points, and….well! Whatta
‘ya know? It worked, so all that was left was to
maintain direction, brake lightly - and suddenly
I was aware that we had come to a stop after 750
meters. Damn, I didn’t expect that! And since the
result was better than expected and the traffic
at Sazená was greater, I told myself that I would
The girls by the wing. Between Jana and Petra, the top of the head of lit-tle Andulka Cermak can be seen,
who is still just a bit shy.
INFO Eduard12
July 2024