By Martin Zeilig
A sleek and shining visitor, a P-51 Mustang owned by Hannu Halminen of Orono, Ontario, paid a visit to the Royal Aviation Museum of Western Canada, August 9-11.
The historic aircraft, which is powered by a Packard Merlin 12 cylinder 1600 horsepower motor, was on display on the newly named Dr. Reimer Aviation Plaza.
A single-seat, single-engine, aluminum fighter aircraft, the P-51 was originally designed and produced by North American Aviation for the British Royal Air Force during the Second World War, and was later adopted by the U.S. Army Air Forces.
The P-51 is widely regarded as the finest all-around piston-engined fighter of World War II produced in significant numbers, notes Britannica online.
Terry Slobodian, President and CEO of RAMWC, noted that Kelly Reimer, son of the Dr. Reimer, is a close friend of Mr. Halminen.
“We thought that having a Second World War aircraft would be an awesome way to celebrate the naming of the Dr. Reimer Aviation Plaza,” he said.
“It took about a year to bring the plane here. It’s special to have the P-51 here because this is the 100th anniversary of the RCAF. We are huge partners of the RCAF.”
He added that having the P-51 here after having had the Avro Lancaster, the “Andrew Mynarski Lancaster,” from the Canadian Warplane Heritage Museum in Hamilton, Ontario, here for a couple of days in July was an opportunity for people to see both historic planes in such a short period of time.
P-51 Mustangs were flown by 402 “City of Winnipeg” Squadron from about 1951 to the 1957 when it was still an auxiliary squadron after the Second World War, noted Gord Crossley, 17 Wing Heritage Officer.
“They were beautifully marked with yellow and blue tail stripes and the City of Winnipeg script on the fuselage,” he said.
“Most of the auxiliary and reserve squadrons used Mustangs after the war. This one is marked with (the colours of) City of Hamilton Squadron. It’s an attractive and iconic plane from the Second World War and after.”
Mr. Halminen, who owns a home building company, said that every pilot aspires to own a P-51 Mustang, if they can afford it.
“It’s the ultimate warbird,” he remarked, as visitors admired his magnificent flying machine.
There is quite a story, too, about how he acquired the plane four years ago.
It was 90 percent completed from a 26-year restoration project, explained Mr. Halminen, who attained his pilot’s licence back in 1971.
“The history of this airplane is quite lengthy,” he said.
“It was in the war with the USAF, from January 4, 1945 until May 8, 1945 in the European theatre. Then, it sat in storage in Germany for two years. Then, it was acquired by the Swedish air force. It was there for seven years.
“It came back to the U.S. and was bought by the State Department along with 25 other Mustangs and given to Nicaraguan Air Force. The pilots down there didn’t know how to fly tail wing airplanes. So, they were leery of flying them. They didn’t get much service over a period of five to six years.”
Then, a fellow by the name of Will Martin from Chicago brokered a deal whereby he traded 25 T-28s (a radial engine military trainer aircraft used by the USAF and United States Navy beginning in the 1950s, now used as an aerobatics and warbird performer) for the 25 Mustangs, Mr. Halminen continued.
“It took him two years to get the Mustangs flown out of Nicaragua back to the U.S.,” he said.
“Then, they were refurbished and half a dozen were sold to the Bolivian Air Force. This is one of the planes that went to Bolivia. It was there for six or seven years. As they started getting jet fighters, they started to dispose of the Mustangs. This one ended up in a museum in Venezuela.”
It was subsequently returned to the U.S. by a broker, notes an earlier article on Mr. Halminen’s aircraft.
“The restoration was started in 2002 and completed in 2020,” it says.
“The fellow that I bought the airplane from bought it from that broker,” Mr. Halminen said.
“He hired a mechanic, Glen Wagman of Fighter Enterprises, to start the restoration process. He started the restoration in 1995.”
Twenty-six years later, it was 90 percent completed.
“A friend of mine said there’s a Mustang for sale down in Florida,” Mr. Halminen, who has logged 10,000 hours as a pilot, said.
“So, I made arrangements to hook up with the owner and we struck a deal. I ended up with the airplane, but it wasn’t flyable yet. But, we had a deal. Glen finished it. I got to see it four years ago. It took another six months to get it painted and put the avionics on it.
“I got checked out on a dual control Mustang. I have about 2000 hours in a Harvard, so, I knew how to fly tailwheel, which made it an easier transition for me to fly the Mustang.”
The plane is very stable, solid and without an autopilot, it holds altitude, he stressed.
“It’s a nice flying airplane,” he observed, noting that he first flew the P-51 on January 27, 2021.
“It’s been featured in different aviation magazines. I’m just the caretaker for a period of time, and hopefully it will pass on to somebody else who will take good care of it.”
Long may the P-51 Mustang continue to, as Second World War RCAF fighter pilot John Gillespie Magee Jr. wrote in his sonnet, High Flight, fly “…through footless halls of air….”
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