Your Own P-51? (Only Modern?) — Remarkable SW-51 Increases Production

Every pilot loves a P-51 Mustang, right? The World War II fighter with gutsy lines and a thundering engine turning a giant prop consistently ranks as one of the most desirable airplanes of all time.

Don’t even think about affording a real P-51 unless you win the lottery. Warbirds may be the biggest attraction at AirVenture Oshkosh year after year but only a few pilots have sufficiently deep pockets to own and fly one of these historic machines.

SW-51 is breathtakingly priced as well, many readers may think. Nonetheless, SW-51 is an awesome-looking flying machine that some will figure out how to afford.

Even more rare than a Ferrari, SW-51 is a very-limited-production design. The company forecasts a dozen aircraft per year. At that rate and given SW-51’s exquisite detail, I’ll bet they can sell out year after year.

Mount Your Mustang

You can watch a video below from Sun ‘n Fun 2022 that provides additional and fairly recent detail.

Nearby images supplied by CEO Christian von Kessel of Scalewings Aircraft reflect the first deliveries of this oh-so handsome ’51 replica. He reported…

“As of today, we have completed up to serial number 15, of which 5 are in flying condition. Some are kits in progress. At this time, owners can travel to ScaleWings’ factory in the Aviation Valley of Poland to participate in our Build Your Legend builder-assist program,” encouraged Christian.

It appears that after signing the contract, new owners personalize or memorialize their SW-51. Distinctive paint jobs may explain their intent better than words. Enjoy these professionally-shot images.

Christian von Kessel, or CvK, has lead ScaleWings for several years and has poured himself into the project. It’s taken years but he has persistently financed and built the company to create these amazing aircraft.

“Our team has grown from 25 people in early 2022 to 72 full-time employees today,” Christian said. “As a consequence of the increased staff, production ramped up to one ready-to-fly SW-51 every four to six weeks.”

“Our fleet, including prototypes and customer aircraft, have experienced nearly 1,000 hours with zero problems, a testament to the integrity of design and systems,” Christian noted. “We only had to perform routine maintenance at official Rotax intervals.” He explained that even while aircraft were tested in both cold plus humid, hot, and high conditions, “cooling and engine parameters ran smoothly.”

SW-51 Detail
Making a True-Blue ’51

“Push-pull rods built of carbon fiber make the aircraft very responsive but not twitchy,” Christian said. “Aileron roll from 45-to-45 happens in less than two seconds.” This is very quick. —DJ  Even former military fighter pilots report how impressed they are with the authority of the controls over a broad range of speeds. “The reason is that we have 70% true-to-scale control surfaces, but only 16% of the weight of the original P-51,” Christian detailed. Pilots evaluating SW-51 also noted well-balanced control feedback and predictable flight characteristics.

“While SW-51 is extremely true to the original look, ScaleWings’ trailing edge is modified from the Original P-51 shape to allow for safe stall behavior, even in accelerated stalls,” Christian stated. A special “polished aluminum“ paint finish has been developed for an even more realistic original look.

Heavy duty landing gear with generous suspension absorbs hard landings, said ScaleWings. “It helps makes the pilot look like a pro,” smiled Christian.

Dual controls are offered in both front and rear to include power quadrant and prop setting. The SW-51 canopy allows an aft slide of 5-10 inches for ventilation; it then hinges to provide easier entry for the rear pilot or passenger.

A Garmin avionics suite features the big 10-inch G3X Touch EFIS with G5 in the front panel. The aft panel has a 7-inch G3X Touch.

Being a taildragger, ScaleWings incorporated a underside-mounted, forward-viewing taxi camera for a live view of gear extension or retraction plus more comfortable and safe taildragger taxiing.

Deluxe Beringer-brand brakes and wheels are fitted with Michelin aviation tires.

If desired, Scalewings can install additional outer wing tanks almost doubling the capacity to 42 gallons. Even with the potent but thirstier Rotax 916iS, this would provide up to six hours of endurance. The first two SW-51s powered by 916iS have been completed, Christian identified.

Next up in design improvements include Mustang “clamshell” inner gear doors and one SW-51 in progress is being fitted with a full Garmin IFR suite.

A bigger 4-blade prop in the works via a collaboration with MT-Propeller. Planned for the 916iS, it can use a larger diameter that will more closely resemble the large prop on a North American Mustang.

Christian finished with this thought: “Pilots who flew both types (P-51 and SW-51) told us the SW-51 in many ways is more fun to fly due to its intuitive controls, comfortable stick forces, ease of operation and forgiving speeds. The only thing missing is the sound and power of a mighty Merlin engine.”

While I hope you enjoyed this update on the ScaleWings SW-51, I urge you to go see one in person. I believe you will find that no matter how closely you inspect this aircraft, you will agree it is an extremely true-to-life reproduction of a P-51 in 70% scale. Even if all you do is look, you’ll enjoy telling other pilots what you saw.

TECHNICAL SPECIFICATIONS:
ScaleWings SW-51 Mustang
data supplied by the manufacturer

• Cruise Speed — up to 180 knots TAS
• Stall Speed, best flaps — 48 knots
• Stall Speed, clean configuration — 57 knots
• Service Ceiling — 23,000 feet
• Climb Rate — up to 2,200 feet per minute
• G-Load Limits — up to +6g / –4g
• Payload — up to 650 pounds
• Engine Power Output — up to 200 horsepower (power-to-weight ratio similar to original P-51)

FEATURES:

• All-carbon design, incl. wing spars and push-pull rods
• More than 100,000 exact P-51 Mustang surface details replicated on SW-51
• 70% true-to-scale
• Garmin avionics: G3X Touch, G5
• Taxi camera
• Ballistic rescue system ́by Galaxy Rocket Systems
• All-electric landing gear; fully retractable main and tailwheel
• Beringer brakes and wheels
• FADEC, turbocharged, fuel-injected, intercooled Rotax 916iS (Optional: Edge 918Ti)

Okay, let’s grapple with the cost of a SW-51. At better than $400,000, it’s expensive, yes. Look very closely at this aircraft and you might appreciate why it requires such a price. “A ready-to-fly version of our SW-51 is available at about 10% of the acquisition cost and only 2% of the operational cost of an Original P-51,” said Christian.

If $400 grand is outside your budget, one alternative exists: a kit version (see nearby image).

If you have skills and time, you could buy a SW-51 piece-by-piece. This PDF Purchase Agreement provides lots of detail for those intrigued by SW-51 in component kits.

At Sun ‘n Fun 2022, we recorded this video interview on the SW-51. This was a live recording during the event so please excuse related airshow noises at the time.

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Coping with High Prices?

If you’re mind-boggled over SW-51’s nearly-half-million-dollar price, consider this from another end of the aviation spectrum.

Multicopter for sale — but with an interesting twist: Lift Aircraft, builder of the Hexa eVTOL, is offering a limited number of Founder’s Series Hexa aircraft that customers can purchase and own outright. Eight of 10 models have been sold for $495,000. Whoa! …but…

Here’s the part I found fascinating: “Customers can sell the aircraft back to the company for full price at the end of a five-year term. The program intends for owners to launch Hexa in their respective cities, helping to commercialize Lift’s pay-per-flight offering. Now. that’s an offer I’ve never heard in many decades of airplane reporting.

—Thanks to my colleague Jack Daleo of Flying Media (now Firecrown) who reported on Lift’s operations in Lakeland, Florida. Read his full article about Lift opening the door to anyone who wants to fly Hexa; no pilot’s license required.
—Image shows Hexa at dawn near the Paradise City runway at Sun ‘n Fun.