Daryl Bond is the owner and operator of this beautifully restored North American TF-51D Mustang "Lady Jo" (S/N 44-84860), which is available for airshows, flybys, film and is also a regular unlimited racer at the Reno National Championship Air Races.

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.

"Lady Jo" was delivered to TNI-AU as F-3 and served with them until it was recovered sometime in the late 1970's. John MacQuire owned her from 1984 until 1988 when it was acquired by Daryl Bond. Daryl had the aircraft completely rebuilt into a TF-51D using the fuselage from the enforce program and other spares.

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