My Other Vehicle Was a Spacecraft
Now that the space shuttle has retired, astronauts are rediscovering the joys of flying airplanes.
- By Phil Scott
- Photographs by Robert Seale
- Air & Space magazine, July 2012
Erik Hildebrandt
What does Bill Anders love about his P-51 Mustang? Speed. He also finds the Mustang fun to fly in formation. Takeoffs, though, can be tricky due to the aircraft’s high-torque engine, says Anders, who was part of the three-man Apollo 8 crew that circled the moon on Christmas Eve 1968.
After Anders purchased his P-51, he oversaw a restoration that lasted several months and included rebuilding the engine and installing avionics. A U.S. Air Force pilot before he entered NASA, Anders decided to paint the Mustang in the colors of one of his old fighter squadrons, the 57th Fighter-Interceptor Squadron, which was based in Iceland. Since his wife’s name is Valerie, he named the aircraft Val-Halla.
Anders flew Val-Halla for five years at the National Championship Air Races in Reno, Nevada, before donating it to his family’s Heritage Flight Museum in Bellingham, Washington. At $2,500 an hour, the Mustang is not a cheap ride. Fortunately for Anders, he can still fly Val-Halla at airshows.
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Comments (2)
I am proud to be mentioned in the article as "one other owner."
Posted by Steven Faber on May 24,2012 | 07:28 PM
To fly is to fly, be it in the world's largest, heaviest glider (not counting the Canadian DC-10 'Gimley Glider', eh?). Going up and in orbit the shuttle was just a reaction-thrust powered containment vessel. Coming back into the atmosphere it was reborn as an airplane. Pilots NEED to fly, it is like breath, and indeed we do get 'grumpy' when grounded. Those 'little airplanes' aren't a comedown they are a reconnection to the basics of simple flight, and all of them a lot of fun. Oh, and those Grmmans, damn good simple, fun and effecient airplanes. I owned one in the past, and wish it was here with me now that I've retired myself.
Posted by Smitty on July 6,2012 | 02:35 PM