How Advanced Aerodynamics From API Modified a P-51D For a New Speed Record
Mustangs International, Winter 2017
For aviation speed seekers, the Holy Grail of flight is the 3-km “Absolute Speed Record” as officially recognized by the Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI), the governing body for sport aviation airplane records. The 3-km straightway record rules were initially established for the single category of piston engine propeller-driven airplanes. Later, with the advent of the jet engine, the rules were expanded to include new powerplant groups governing turboprop, pure jet, and rocket. FAI Class C-1, Group I, covers land-based piston-engine, propeller-driven airplanes and is the most coveted prize in sport aviation.
The most recent challenge to the title for C-1 class airplanes was successfully flown from a remote airfield near May, Idaho, on 2 September 2017 by Steven Hinton, in the Reno Championship modified P-51D Mustang racer Voodoo.
