This week I am at one of the biggest horsepower shows in the nation (and perhaps the world) and am surrounded by Mustangs….but it’s not a car show.  It’s the “EAA Oshkosh Airventure” show and is heaven-on-earth for general aviation nuts.

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A WW II era P-51 Mustang. It’s parked at the Ford tent with some of it’s car cousins at the 2009 EAA Airshow.

Oshkosh is a week long airshow and celebration of the latest and greatest in general (personal) aviation – specifically in Experimental (home built) aircraft.  I’ve been coming here with my dad each summer for over 20 years.  It’s a great opportunity for the two of us to bond over something we both love – airplanes.  (I actually once considered going the route of a military-pilot career but in the end didn’t pursue it.  Now I get my thrills from my first love – high horsepower muscle cars!)

Anyway – back to the Mustangs.  As you may or may not know, the Ford Mustang that we all know and love shares it’s namesake with another popular horse…..the P-51 Mustang fighter plane from WW II.  The P-51 is the epitome of piston engine aircraft and is still raced regularly at the Reno Air Races in the Unlimited Class every year.  People of the likes of Chuck Yeager and Bud Anderson flew the P-51 in WW II and wrote their way into the history books with it.  (By the way – don’t ever get me started on the topic of how cool Chuck Yeager and Bud Anderson are….because I’ll never stop.)

EAA and Ford have had a relationship for years, and this year is no exception.  The push of the 2010 Mustang is in full force.  Ford has even created a special Mustang called the AV-X10 that will be auctioned off to support the Young Eagles program – see below for a video of it.  During the airshow today two 2010 Mustang GT500’s were driven by some Formula Drift drivers who drove sideways up and down the runway in between race runs with a couple of aerobatic aircraft.  There really is something head-nodding-awesome about seeing a car turn a 90 degree corner with the rear brakes locked up while doing about 80 mph.  The new Mustangs were incredible in action.  These are definitely future classics muscle cars.

I’ll include some pictures of several 2009 and 2010 Mustangs from the Ford display.  Also….Jack Roush is here is well, and he brought a few Mustangs of his own (both the automotive and aircraft versions).  The cars are terrific – and so are their predecessors (the P-51’s!)!

-Robert Kibbe

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A 2009 Cobra Jet Mustang – a factory-ready drag race car!
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A 2009 Mustang that competes in the Mustang Challenge.
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A 2010 Mustang GT 500. This is one of the cars that did a drift-race demonstration against an aerobatic airplane.
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A 2010 Roush 427R Mustang Convertible.

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