SMITHSONIAN EXCALIBUR III NORTH AMERICAN P-51C MUSTANG RACER POLAR EXPLORER

FAMOUS AIRCRAFT OF THE NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM No.1

BY ROBERT C. MIKESH (1978) 78 PAGES

SOFTBOUND BOOK

PAUL MANTZ AND HIS AIR FORCE (BENDIX RACES 1946, 1947 & 1948, WET WING MODIFICATION)

CHARLES F. BLAIR, Jr. - CHALLENGE OF THE POLAR ROUTE

RESTORATION (WING, STRUCTURE, FUSELAGE, DETAILING THE COCKPIT, EMPENNAGE, PRESERVING THE ROLLS-ROYCE MERLIN V-1650-9 ENGINE, FINISH AND ASSEMBLY)

ON MAY 29, 1951, CAPT. CHARLES F. BLAIR FLEW EXCALIBUR III FROM NORWAY ACROSS THE NORTH POLE TO ALASKA IN A RECORD-SETTING 10½ HOURS. USING A SYSTEM OF CAREFULLY PLOTTED "SUN LINES" HE DEVELOPED, BLAIR WAS ABLE TO NAVIGATE WITH PRECISION WHERE CONVENTIONAL MAGNETIC COMPASSES OFTEN FAILED. FOUR MONTHS EARLIER, HE HAD FLOWN EXCALIBUR III FROM NEW YORK TO LONDON IN LESS THAN 8 HOURS, BREAKING THE EXISTING MARK BY OVER AN HOUR.

EXCALIBUR III FIRST BELONGED TO FAMED AVIATOR A. PAUL MANTZ, WHO ADDED EXTRA FUEL TANKS FOR LONG-DISTANCE RACING TO THIS STANDARD P-51C FIGHTER. WITH IT MANTZ WON THE 1946 AND 1947 BENDIX AIR RACE AND SET A TRANSCONTINENTAL SPEED RECORD IN 1947 WHEN THE AIRPLANE WAS NAMED BLAZE OF NOON. BLAIR PURCHASED IT FROM MANTZ IN 1949 AND RENAMED IT EXCALIBUR III, AFTER THE SIKORSKY VS-44 FLYING BOAT HE FLEW FOR AMERICAN EXPORT AIRLINES.

EACH VOLUME IN THE FAMOUS AIRCRAFT OF THE NATIONAL AIR AND SPACE MUSEUM SERIES DEALS WITH A DIFFERENT HISTORIC AIRPLANE IN THE MUSEUM’S IMPRESSIVE COLLECTION.  THE BOOKS ARE DIVIDED INTO TWO MAIN SECTIONS, THE FIRST COVERING THE BACKGROUND AND HISTORY OF THE AIRCRAFT, THE SECOND PROVIDING SOME DETAILS UNIQUE TO THE RESTORATION BY SKILLED CRAFTSMEN OF THE MUSEUM.

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