North American Aviation P-51C Mustang (Excalibur III)

21 Mar 2026 · © GE90FAN

Found a trove of pictures I took when my kid and I went to the Udvar-Hazy Air and Space museum. Heres a cool P51, unfortunately I don’t remember much regarding the story behind it. My apologies.

1 / 2

3 likes 0 comments

Comments (0)

No comments yet.

More like this

North American Aviation T-6 Texan (SNJ variant, Navy markings)

North American Aviation T-6 Texan (Harvard in Commonwealth service)

North American Aviation T-6 Texan (SNJ/Harvard/Texan)

North American Aviation T-6 Texan (known as SNJ in US Navy service)

Aircraft

P-51C Mustang (Excalibur III) P51

Custom red racing livery, marked \'Excalibur III\'

N1202

Registration

Manufacturer

North American Aviation

Achievements

Retro Wings, Rare Bird, Vintage Voyager, Livery Legend

4 badges earned

Location

Washington Dulles International Airport

IAD/KIAD

38.9105, -77.4439

Open map

Washington Dulles International Airport IAD

Airport

Insights

Aviation History

North American P-51 Mustang was one of the most significant fighters of World War II. Excalibur III is famous for setting a world speed record from the U.S. to Bermuda and was flown by air-racing legend Paul Mantz.

Fleet Rarity

Extremely rare – preserved air racing variant, only a handful of airworthy P-51Cs remain.

Record Flights

Won six closed course air races and set a speed record in 1951 (New York to London in 7h 48m, New York to Havana, etc.).

Safety & Events

Excalibur III is considered one of the most famous air racers and is now preserved at Smithsonian\'s National Air and Space Museum.

Future Outlook

Preserved in Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, Udvar-Hazy Center.

Specifications

Rolls-Royce Merlin V-1650-7

Engine

11.28 m

Wingspan

9.83 m

Length

2,755 km

Range

560 km/h

Speed

1 (pilot)

Capacity

5,488 kg

MTOW

4.17 m

Height