Mark Peterson's N.A. TF-51D Mustang "DiamondBack"

Mark Peterson is the owner and operator of this beautifully restored North American TF-51D Mustang "DiamondBack" (S/N 45-11471), which is available for airshows, flybys and film.

The P-51 Mustang is almost universally regarded as the best fighter to emerge from World War II. Talk to Bob Hoover, Chuck Yeager, Bud Anderson or any of a hundred other military test pilots, and they’ll tell you the airplane was nothing less than a stroke of genius when it was introduced in 1942. Today, Mustangs are the most common type of warbird operating on the civil scene in the USA and may be viewed at virtually every airshow in the country.

The TF-51D and P-51D may look similar, but, in fact, the TF version incorporates a number of upgrades and improvements to adapt the original, single-seat Mustang to two seats and dual controls. One of the primary mods involves removing the standard 85-gallon auxiliary tank aft of the pilot’s seat and installing a second seat, seat belts and shoulder harnesses in the rear position. This left the airplane with 180 gallons in the wings, plenty for flights of two hours or less.

While the missing fuselage tank allows provisions for carrying a passenger, aft occupants had best be short, especially if they’re wearing a helmet. The standard, sharply tapered canopy presents a problem with headroom in the rear. Tall passengers have to scrunch down in the seat or bend forward slightly to fit into the rear pit. Owners of stock P-51s are sometimes reluctant to replace the canopy with a more squared-off, oblong version for fear of ruining the
airplane’s lines. Another factor that sometimes influences the decision to stay with the stock canopy is cost. The TF-51D canopy costs about $50,000.

The minimum aft control installation demands stick, rudder pedals, throttle, prop and mixture, not to mention a full set of flight instruments and enough engine instruments to monitor manifold pressure, rpm, oil pressure, oil temperature and cylinder head temperature. Plumb all of that to the engine and appropriate controls, and you essentially have a total rebuild of the main fuselage.

"DiamondBack" is a dual cockpit / dual control TF-51 Mustang built in 1945 as a P-51D-30NT. After serving in the United States military from 1945 to 1958, the aircraft was sold as surplus in 1958 in Sacramento, California. Private owners flew the aircraft for pleasure and raced it in transcontinental and closed course races from 1964 until it was crashed and destroyed in 1979.

In 1984 an engineering team of race enthusiasts and engine builders rebuilt and modified the aircraft into the Reno racer named "Stiletto" and it raced at Reno until 1993. Skip Holm piloted Stiletto to 1st place in the Unlimited Gold race in 1984 at 437.6 mph.

In 1993 a joint restoration was undertaken to return the racer to a "stock" TF-51 Mustang. Upon completion the aircraft was sold to David Jeansonne of Louisiana and named “Rajun Cajun". In 1998 the Mustang was sold to Bob Jepson and the Lady Alice Corporation. The team at Stallion 51 Maintenance in Kissimmee, Florida put the finishing touches on the aircraft before having it painted in authentic colors of the 356th Fighter Group, 360th Fighter Squadron and named it "DiamondBack".

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