ScaleWings Displays SW-51 Kit at AirVenture

One of the most iconic aircraft designs in history is the P-51 Mustang. Ask most pilots what they would most love to fly, and the Mustang will be on the short list of favorites. Producing a replica for the homebuilt crowd of an aviation icon is a huge challenge, but ScaleWings Aircraft has succeeded with its SW-51 Mustang.

Managing partner Christian von Kessel stated being at AirVenture Oshkosh is a “huge honor for the whole team” and culminates a whirlwind process to get the SW-51 ready for demonstration. The all-carbon replica kit includes hand-formed representations of over 100,000 individual details of the original Mustang, including all rivets and seams as they would have appeared on the all-aluminum version. The kit comes highly prefabricated, but still complies with the 51 percent rule required for amateur-built aircraft. A ballistic recovery system is available for the kit from Galaxy GRS.

Builder assistance will be available through Titan aircraft in the U.S., which provides a high level of expertise for a kit Kessel describes as “frustration-free.”

The 70 percent replica truly looks like a P-51, with clean lines that match the original design. The roomy, tandem two-seat cockpit is authentic but allows for modern avionics. The airfoil has been modified from the original design to be much more forgiving, easy to fly, and stable, yet maneuverable, as one would expect from a Mustang.

The display aircraft has a Rotax 915 iS, which provides enough power for 185 knots indicated airspeed (IAS) at 15,000 feet. The empty weight is about 1,200 pounds, with a maximum gross weight of about 1,750 pounds. The aircraft is rated for +6g and -4g, but the wing was tested to +12g and -12g during static tests.

On Monday, July 25, ScaleWings demonstration pilot Anthanas Marciukaitis flew the SW-51 at AirVenture during the afternoon flight demonstrations for the first exhibition flights in America. ScaleWings is located in the Main Aircraft Display area in Booth 347.