Gathering of Mustangs & Legends 2007 Man and Machine Live Together in Infamy

By: AJ Staff Writer
In: National
On: December 1, 2007

A beautiful sunset serves as a backdrop for Dan Martin’s Ridge Runner III.

By Mike Ullery

The last weekend in September saw Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base transformed back to its glory days. It took on the aura of Lockborne Air Base, the name originally given the base located just south of Columbus, Ohio, in the 1940s, when it was home to the Tuskegee Airmen. The historic base hosted the Gathering of Mustangs & Legends, the culmination of years of dreaming and planning for event chairman Lee Lauderback and his staff at Stallion 51, located in Kissimmee, Fla.

More than 150,000 spectators participated in GML 2007, held Sept. 27-30, in conjunction with Air Force Heritage Week. Billed as the largest gathering of P-51 Mustangs since World War II, the event also recognized that an airplane is only as great as its designers, builders, crew, and, of course, pilots. The 1999 Gathering of Mustangs & Legends, held at Stallion 51, amassed 65 Mustangs and 12 legends. This year’s event drew 80 Mustangs and 49 of the 51 invited legends.

These legends of America’s “Greatest Generation” arrived at Rickenbacker looking like the grandfathers and retirees they are. Men, some in wheelchairs and walkers, were transformed as they once again saw the machines of their youth. Eyes began to twinkle as they saw themselves again as young fighter pilots, standing beside the world’s greatest fighters. Many talked about their experiences. Rarely did anyone mention how great he was as a pilot, but all unanimously agreed that their exploits were made possible, in large part, due to the extraordinary ability of the P-51 Mustang.

Tom Blair, from Gaithersburg, Md., owns Slender, Tender & Tall, a beautifully restored P-51 D Mustang complete with drop tanks.

The Air Force designated GML 2007 an official 60th anniversary event. The Air Force’s premier jet team, the Thunderbirds, performed before large crowds Friday through Sunday. After demonstrations, the F-15, F-16 and F-22 Raptor joined up with the star of the show, a P-51 Mustang, and performed the moving Heritage Flight. Heritage Flight is celebrating its 10th anniversary, and the opportunity to perform multiple exhibitions during the weekend was a fitting way to pay tribute to everything the Gathering of Mustangs & Legends stands for: paying tribute to the men and machines that protect American freedom.

Nearly half of the remaining Mustangs in the world made the pilgrimage to Rickenbacker to play their part in the historic event. One couldn’t look at the ramp lined with rows of Mustangs without thinking, “This must be what it looked like” during the days in the mid-1940s when airfields all over England were filled with thousands of Mustangs, making daily trips into the skies over France and Germany, where they earned their reputation.

GML 2007 featured many other attractions, including WWII reenactors who bivouacked with tents, accessories and vehicles, including jeeps, half-tracks and a Sherman tank. The National Aviation Hall of Fame hosted poster signings by the legends and other exhibits displayed the history of the base and the Tuskegee Airmen, one group who made the Mustang famous. Surviving Tuskegee Airmen including Lee Archer, Roscoe Brown, Charles McGee and Harry Stewart Jr., were recognized for accomplishments made at a time when many thought African-American flyers were less qualified than their white counterparts.

Joining the P-51s on the ramp were other WWII-era aircraft, such as B-17s and B-25s. Also on hand was a British Lancaster bomber, one of only two still in existence. These aircraft joined P-47s, P-38s, P-40s and the P-51s in the sky over Rickenbacker, in a show of WWII airpower that included pyrotechnics that rattled windows.

Each day, the show’s grand finale was a large formation flight of more than 20 Mustangs, filling the air with the sounds of Rolls-Royce Merlin engines. Air show emcee Rob Reider brought the crowd to silence as they waited for the final group pass, encouraging spectators to look in the distance for small specs, barely noticeable to the naked eye. Once spotted, these tiny dots transformed into a living, breathing formation of Mustang fighters as they approached the show line. Once again, one couldn’t help but think, “This must be what it was like.”

: P-51 Mustangs stretched as far as you could see along the ramp at Rickenbacker Air National Guard Base.

: John Mohr put on an amazing aerobatic display in his restored, stock Boeing-built 1943 220 Stearman biplane.

: Lee Lauderback, flying the TF-51D Crazy Horse from the Stallion 51 stables, showed guests some of the Mustang’s capabilities.

: “The Horsemen,” Jim Beasley and Ed Shipley, displayed formation flying in Princess Elizabeth, a very rare P-51C, and Big Beautiful Doll, a P-51D.

: Kermit Weeks flew INA the Macon Bell, a rare P-51C model Mustang, in a tribute to the Tuskegee Airmen.

: Team AeroShell, flying North American AT-6 Texans equipped with Stardust smoke systems, put on a crowd-pleasing aerobatic display of formation flying.

: Maj. Paul “Max” Moga, the Air Force’s F-22 flight demonstration pilot, amazed air show guests with a breathtaking display of the Raptor’s unique performance.

: The USAF Thunderbirds performed Friday through Sunday.

: This fully loaded Korean War era F-51D has drop tanks and rockets.

: Tom Blair, from Gaithersburg, Md., owns Slender, Tender & Tall, a beautifully restored P-51 D Mustang complete with drop tanks.

: With five to six aircraft landing at a time after a thunderstorm passed, the ramp filled up quickly. Red Dog, Sparky and Lady Jo were part of a large group that flew in from California. Behind them, two more Mustangs are pulling up to the line.

: One of only two flying in the world, this 1940s Avro Lancaster made several bombing runs over the field during the Allied airpower demonstration. The final pass of Sunday’s show went off with a huge bang and a giant wall of fire.

: An estimated 150,000 people were on hand for this unique gathering.

: A group of five P-51D Mustangs, including Double Trouble Two, Wee Willy II, Ain’t Misbehavin’ and the NACA test airplane, start to break for landing.

: Spectators were able to hear presentations from legends in tents flanking the P-51 veterans and NAHF display area. Charles McGee, NAHF nominee and Tuskegee Airman, captivated audiences with accounts of his Mustang combat experiences.

: A young fan waits patiently while Mustang ace Clyde East signs his ball cap.

: WWII Mustang ace Kenneth Dahlberg is a nominee for enshrinement into the NAHF.

: Bob Hoover signs an NAHF commemorative poster featuring Mustang profiles of select enshrinees and nominees. Ol’ Yeller, flown by Hoover at Reno for 30 years, was among the Mustangs that participated in GML 2007.