Cavalier Mustang
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Cavalier Mustang was a civilian-modified version of the North American P-51 Mustang aircraft.
In 1957, newspaper publisher David Lindsay formed the company Trans Florida Aviation. His intent was to transform surplus military P-51s into business executive aircraft. These aircraft were initially called the Trans-Florida Executive Mustang, and soon renamed the Trans Florida Aviation Cavalier. The first of the Executive Mustangs was built in 1958, and for the next couple years only a handful of airframes were built and sold.
To construct the Executive Mustang, Trans Florida purchased military surplus P-51s. The airframes were disassembled, the military equipment stripped out, and then rebuilt with a second seat, new avionics, plush leather interiors, luggage bays, and civilian paint schemes. By 1961, the aircraft were re-named Cavalier 2000, referring to the airplane's 2000 nautical mile range. Five different Cavalier models were eventually offered (the Cavalier 750, 1200, 1500, 2000, and 2500), differing in fuel capacity, with the name indicating the range of the airplane. Over the course of the next decade nearly 20 of these aircraft would be constructed. Several innovations and modifications to the Cavalier design would be made during that time, including 110-gallon (416 litres) wingtip fuel tanks and a 14-inch (0.36 m) taller vertical stabilizer.
In 1967 the company was renamed Cavalier Aircraft Corporation.
[edit] Military Cavaliers
Cavalier F-51D: In 1967, a decade after creating their first civilian P-51 conversion, Trans Florida was contracted by the United States Department of Defense to create military-specification F-51Ds for export. These military aircraft incorporated most of the improved features of the civilian Cavaliers, but were optimized as ground attack fighters. These aircraft were called Cavalier F-51D Mustangs; nine single control (F-51D) and two dual-control (TF-51D) aircraft were built. The airplanes were given new 67-XXXXX and 68-XXXXX serial numbers -- nine (including the two TF-51s) were given to Bolivia, under a program called Peace Condor, and two were sold to the United States Army for use as chase aircraft.
[edit] Cavalier Mustang II
In 1968, Cavalier developed an outgrowth of the F-51D designed for close air support and counterinsurgency operations, calling this aircraft the Mustang II. The Mustang II had improved avionics, structural improvements to the wing to allow more external weapons carriage, and an improved Merlin engine called a V-1650-724A.
Two batches of Mustang IIs were constructed: the first group was built for El Salvador in 1968 and the second group was constructed for export to Indonesia in 1972 and 1973. The five Mustang IIs built for El Salvador featured wingtip fuel tanks to increase combat range. Six Mustang IIs were built for Indonesia in 1972, but they did not have tip tanks due to a US State Department restriction.
[edit] Cavalier Turbo Mustang III
In 1968 Cavalier mated a Rolls Royce Dart 510 turboprop to a Mustang II airframe. This privately-funded prototype was also intended for the same CAS/COIN mission that the Mustang II was built for. The Turbo Mustang III had radically increased performance, along with an associated increase in payload and decrease in cost of maintenance. Despite numerous sales pitches to the US Air Force, nether the US military nor any foreign operators purchased the Turbo Mustang III.
The Turbo Mustang was eventually sold to Piper and further modified in 1971 into an aircraft called the Piper Enforcer.
Cavalier closed up shop in 1971 so the founder/owner, David Lindsay, could help develop the Piper Enforcer. Many of the civilian conversions, as well as many of the exported military aircraft, have been restored into P-51s and are flying on the US air show circuit today.
