Iconic WWII Mustang fighter to soar over Oahu

Travelers through Daniel K. Inouye International Airport might experience a bit of a time warp with a rare World War II-vintage P-51D Mustang fighter expected to soon take up residency for flights around the island.

Normally, it’s F-22 Raptor stealth jets that get a lot of attention as they roar off the runway. “Wings Over Pearl” is set to launch March 15 with space in the modified 1944 Mustang for the pilot and a back-seat passenger.

“Guests will fly in a piece of living history, an immaculately-restored warbird, and see the historic battle sites that brought the U.S. into World War II,” the sponsoring company said in a news release.

The flights aren’t going to be cheap. According to the “Wings Over Pearl” website, a 15-minute tour of Pearl Harbor, Wheeler Army Airfield and the Haleiwa Fighter Strip will cost $2,900, while a 30-minute ride that includes Bellows Airfield, Kahuku Army Airfield, Wheeler, Haleiwa, the former Naval Air Station Barbers Point and Pearl Harbor is $3,400. The website is at wingsoverpearl.com.

Regarded as one of the best fighters of the European theater in the latter part of World War II, the graceful North American P-51 was the result of a successful marriage of U.S. design and Britain’s Rolls-Royce V-12 Merlin engine that carried the Mustang to new heights as a bomber escort.

People around Oahu will see — and hear — the famous fighter.

“There’s really nothing like it and it’s such a distinctive sound. To me it’s music,” said P.J. O’Reilley, who’s helping the venture get off the ground. “This Merlin V-12 is just an amazing thing to behold. (People) are going to hear it and run outside to see it.”

Although first designed for the British as a medium-altitude fighter, the Mustang “excelled in hedge-hopping strafing runs and long-range escort duty,” said aircraft company Boeing, the successor to North American. “It made a name for itself blasting trains, ships and enemy installations in Western Europe and by devastating Axis defenses before the Allied invasion of Italy.”

By the end of the World War II, Mustangs had destroyed 4,950 enemy aircraft in the air, more than any other U.S. Army Air Forces fighter in Europe, according to the Air Force.

P-51Ds with a “bubble” canopy for better visibility and distinctive underbelly air scoop arrived in the Pacific and China-Burma-India theater by the end of 1944. The following spring, from Iwo Jima, Mustangs started flying long-range B-29 bomber escort and ground-attack missions into mainland Japan, according to the Air Force.

“As stewards of historic aircraft and personal stories, we are excited to learn that there will be a P-51 Mustang flying over the skies of Oahu,” said Elissa Lines, executive director of the Pearl Harbor Aviation Museum. “The P-51 served our country in all theaters and has a devoted following. What a thrill to see it come to Hawaii.”

The P-51D being brought to Hawaii is owned by the Erickson Aircraft Collection, which participates in air shows around the world and has a 65,000-square-foot hangar at Madras Airport in Oregon. The Erickson website says a 20-minute ride on a vintage plane taking off from the Madras Airport costs between $275 on a PT-17 Stearman and $475 on an AT-6 Texan.