VH-IVI

[pmccarthy]

I took these photos of VH-IVI at Bankstown around 1971. the writing on the tail said Mustang P51-D R.J. Whitbread Motors Pty Ltd Kogarah 587-8011

 

VH-IVI was registered in June 1969 to warbird proponent Langdon Badger. He sold it to Sydney businessman Ray Whitbread in September 1970. In mid-1973 the aircraft struck the ground in a vertical dive near Windsor, NSW; destroying the Mustang and killing Ray Whitbread, who was practising aerobatics. The canopy detached and struck him, rendering him unconscious.

Edited November 19 by pmccarthy

[440032]

Whitbread Motors? Thanks for the tip and number - I need to book the car in for a service.

[Marty_d]

Good luck, there aren't enough digits in the phone number.  I think there's a few more users now compared to 54 years ago.

[pmccarthy]

I looked this story up and the accident may have been a stall, with the pilot detaching the canopy to bail out. The entire aircraft disappeared into a crater in the ground and only the canopy was found intact some distance away.

[Student Pilot]

I have some old pics of this machine I took with a box Brownie, it visited Armidale. An impressive machine up close. In the olden days you could walk up to any machine parked at any airfield and have a close look and have a yarn to the pilot.