View source for Engineering:Voodoo (aircraft)

{{Short description|Racing aircraft}}
{{italic title}}
{|{{Infobox aircraft begin
| name           = ''Voodoo''
| image          = Voodoo P 51 2014 Gold Champion photo D Ramey Logan.jpg
| caption        = Pilot Steven Hinton, Jr. takes ''Voodoo'' to win the 2014 Gold Championship
}}
{{Infobox aircraft career
|type                 = [[Engineering:North American P-51 Mustang|North American P-51D-25-NA Mustang]]
|military serial      = RCAF 9289
}}
|}
'''''Voodoo''''' is a highly modified [[Engineering:North American P-51 Mustang|North American P-51 Mustang]] that was the 2013, 2014 and 2016<ref>{{cite web |url= http://reports.airrace.org/2016/2016.Unlimited.Gold.Results.Report.html |title= 2016 Unlimited Gold Results|publisher=Reno Air Racing Association|access-date=21 September 2016}}</ref> Unlimited-class champion of the Reno Air Races. The pilot for these wins was Steven Hinton, Jr of Chino, California.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://reports.airrace.org/2014/2014.Reg.N551VC.Report.html |title= 2014 Aircraft Report |publisher=Reports.airrace.org|access-date=16 November 2014}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.aopa.org/News-and-Video/All-News/2013/September/16/reno-wrap.aspx |title= Hinton makes Reno magic in 'Voodoo' |date= 16 September 2013 |publisher=Aopa.com|access-date=16 November 2014}}</ref>

==History==
The P-51D-25-NA (original s/n 44-73415) was built in 1944 by [[Company:North American Aviation|North American Aviation]] at Inglewood, California, for the United States Army. The aircraft was then transferred to the {{wipe|Royal Canadian Air Force}} as a Mustang IV with serial number 9289 in February 1951.<ref name="Dossier"/>

In February 1951, it went down at Richmond, Virginia, and was badly damaged. Again, in February 1962, the aircraft crashed. In March 1977, the aircraft suffered yet another crash. According to the summarized National Transportation Safety Board narrative from report number SEA77FYE12:
<blockquote>
There were 2 fatalities. Incident occurred at 13:46 hours. The airframe was destroyed. Incident occurred at Olympia Municipal Airport, Olympia, Washington. The aircraft Ground looped or water swerved during the takeoff run. Stalled or mushed during the initial climb. The factors included; unapproved modification. FAA examiner remarks include: Partially completed dual control modification.<ref name="Dossier">{{cite web|url=http://www.aerialvisuals.ca/AirframeDossier.php?Serial=27398|title=North American Mustang IV, s/n 9289 RCAF, c/n 122-39874, c/r N551VC|publisher=Aerial Visuals|access-date=23 November 2015}}</ref>
</blockquote>

In 1980, the aircraft was sold to William A. Speer, of La Mesa, California, who restored it. In 1988, it made its first restored flight. It first raced as #45, then as #55 using the name ''Pegasus''. The plane was sold at auction in December 1994.<ref name="Dossier"/>

Bob Button of Button Transportation Inc., Wellington, Nevada, owned the plane from 1995 to 1998. He renamed it ''Voodoo Chile'', and raced it as #55.<ref name="Dossier"/> In 1998, the highly modified P-51 raced at the National Championship Air Races in Reno as #5 "Voodoo" piloted by Bob Hannah. The left elevator trim tab came off the airplane at speed, causing Voodoo to abruptly pitch up, subjecting Hannah to over 10 G's of deceleration forces, and causing him to lose consciousness.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Voodoo - 98 NCAR |url=http://www.warbird.com/voodoo.html |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=www.warbird.com}}</ref> In 2007, Bob Button retired from air racing after a malfunction.<ref>{{cite AV media |url-status = live |archive-url = https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211211/yarNbC_ppts |archive-date = 2021-12-11| url = https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yarNbC_ppts |title = Interview with Bob( Reno Air Races 2007) |website=[[Company:YouTube|YouTube]]}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In the 2011 Reno air races, ''Voodoo'' and ''[[Engineering:The Galloping Ghost (aircraft)|The Galloping Ghost]]'' were running in second and third place, respectively, when the latter crashed. In 2013, ''Voodoo'', still owned by Bob Button, was raced at Reno by Steven Hinton, Jr., who won the unlimited gold trophy and the national championship while reaching speeds of over {{convert|500|mph|kph|abbr=on}}.<ref name="A&S">{{cite journal |last1=Jansma |first1=Lyle |title=Inside the Cockpit: P-51 Mustang "Voodoo" |journal=Air & Space/Smithsonian |publisher=National Air and Space Museum |url=http://www.airspacemag.com/panoramas/p-51-mustang-voodoo-180947954/}}</ref> Hinton won again in 2014<ref name="A&S"/><ref>{{cite web |url=http://reports.airrace.org/2014/2014.Winners.Report.html |title=National Championship Air Races: 2014 Race Winners}}</ref> and 2016.

After Voodoo underwent further modifications, including removal of the aircraft's racer paint scheme and gaining sponsorship by [[Company:Aviation Partners|Aviation Partners]], Hinton made an attempt to break the 3&nbsp;km World Speed Record of {{convert|528.33|mph|kph|abbr=on}} set by [[Engineering:Rare Bear|Rare Bear]] on August 21, 1989. The record attempt was set to occur on August 27, 2017 at an undisclosed location in Idaho<ref name="World Speed Record Attempt">{{cite web|url=http://www.pursuitaviation.com/world-speed-record|title=World Speed Record Attempt|publisher=Pursuit Aviation|access-date=28 August 2017}}</ref> but was delayed until the next day due to weather conditions.<ref name="UPDATE">{{cite web|url=https://www.facebook.com/PursuitAviationCo/posts/469186226781589|title=UPDATE|publisher=Pursuit Aviation on Facebook|access-date=28 August 2017}}</ref> The attempt was finally flown on 2 September 2017, with the fastest of four runs recorded as {{convert|554.69|mph|kph|abbr=on}} and an average speed of {{convert|531.53|mph|kph|abbr=on}}. While this broke the C-1e record set by Will Whiteside in the [[Engineering:Yakovlev Yak-3|Yak-3U]] Steadfast in 2012, due to changes in record measurement standards the ''Rare Bear'' record was not bettered as it had to be beaten by at least 1% (533.6&nbsp;mph).<ref name="Steve Hinton, Jr breaks Absolute Propeller-Driven Piston Powered 3-KM speed record">{{cite web|url=http://vintageaviationecho.com/steve-o-prop-record/|title=Steve Hinton, Jr breaks Absolute Propeller-Driven Piston Powered 3-KM speed record|date=3 September 2017 |publisher=The Vintage Aviation Echo|access-date=6 September 2017}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Wilson |first=Tom |date=2018-05-18 |title=Twilight of a God |url=https://www.kitplanes.com/twilight-of-a-god/ |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=KITPLANES |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Timeline==
[[File:Voodoo P 51 2014 Reno Air Races Gold Champion Sunday AM photo D Ramey Logan.jpg|thumb|"Voodoo" at the Reno Air Races, September 14, 2014]]
[[File:Voodoo P 51 and Stevo 2014 Reno Air Races Champion in hangar photo D Ramey Logan.jpg|275px|thumb|Pilot Steven Hinton, Jr with ''Voodoo'' at the 2014 Reno Air Races]]
* February 8, 1951: BOC, RCAF 9289
* August 14, 1959: SOC, RCAF 9289
* 1958: N6526D, import, James Defuria / Intercontinental Airways, Canastota, New York
* 1960: N6526D, sold to R. Ferrer, Patchoque, New York
* 1962: N6526D, crashed, Virginia
* 1966: N6526D, sold to Frank Guzman, Massapequa, Pennsylvania
* 1968: N6526D, sold to Don Bateman, Las Vegas, Nevada
* 1969: N6526D, sold to Mike Coutches, Hayward, California; black w/ gold stripe
* 1974: N6526D, sold to H. Matteri, State Line, Nevada
* 1975: N6526D, sold to William Veatch, Olympia, Washington
* 1977: N6526D, March 19, crashed, Olympia, Washington; major damage
* 1980: N6526D, sold to Bill Speer, La Mesa, California; restored as ''Pegasus''; modified for racing
* 1996: N6526D, sold to Delbert Williams, ''Voodoo Chile''
* 1997: N551VC, sold to Bob Button, Dixon, California
* 1997: Raced by Tiger Destefani; bare metal, #55 raced as ''Voodoo Chile''
* 1998: Raced by Bob Hannah; painted white, #5 raced as "Voodoo"; left elevator trim tab failure
* 1999: Raced by Bob Hannah; painted purple 
* 2006: Raced each year at Reno; Bob Button assumes piloting in 2005
* 2008: Will Whiteside became the race pilot for Team ''Voodoo''
* 2009: Turtle deck and race canopy reinstalled
* 2010: Team Voodoo performed well, but the final race was cancelled due to high winds
* 2011: The final was again cancelled
* 2011: Offered for sale in November; not sold
* 2013: Steven Hinton, Jr. and ''Voodoo'' Unlimited Gold Champion at Reno, Nevada
* 2014: Steven Hinton, Jr. and ''Voodoo'' Unlimited Gold Champion at Reno, Nevada.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mustangsmustangs.com/p-51/?survivors/serial/44-73415|title=P-51 Mustang Survivors - MustangsMustangs.com|publisher=Mustangsmustangs.com|access-date=16 November 2014}}</ref>
* 2015: Steven Hinton, Jr. and ''Voodoo'' did not finish the Unlimited Gold final due to engine issues<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LKQUdTrg7Aw|title=Reno Unlimited Gold Race 2015 with Voodoo mayday landing.|publisher=Voodoo1650|access-date=21 September 2016}}</ref>
* 2016: Steven Hinton, Jr. and ''Voodoo'' Unlimited Gold Champion at Reno, Nevada with race average speed of 460.306&nbsp;mph and winning time of 08:21.980<ref>{{Cite web |url= http://reports.airrace.org/2016/2016.Unlimited.Gold.Results.Report.html |title= 2016 Unlimited Gold Results |publisher= Reno Air Racing Association |access-date= 21 September 2016}}</ref>
* 2 September 2017: Steven Hinton, Jr. and ''Voodoo'' break C-1e speed record at Challis, Idaho
* 17 September 2017: ''Voodoo'', painted white, came in second to ''Strega'' flown by James Consalvi in the Unlimited Gold race at the Reno National Championship Air Races.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.aopa.org/news-and-media/all-news/2017/september/18/strega-dethrones-voodoo-at-reno-air-races |title= Strega dethrones Voodoo |date= 18 September 2017 |publisher= AOPA |access-date= 18 September 2017}}</ref><ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=North American P-51D 'Mustang' Air Racer {{!}} Planes of Fame Air Museum |url=https://planesoffame.org/aircraft/plane-P-51D-Voodoo |access-date=2023-04-25 |website=planesoffame.org}}</ref>
* 28 December 2017 ''Voodoo'' donated to Planes of Fame Air Museum in Chino, California. Registration transfer change completed on 5 April, 2018.<ref name=":0" /><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mustangsmustangs.net/p-51/survivors/serial/44-73415 |title= Voodoo airframe identity history |publisher= Mustangs Mustangs |access-date= 17 September 2018}}</ref>

==See also==
*''[[Engineering:Dago Red|Dago Red]]''
*''[[Engineering:Miss Ashley II|Miss Ashley II]]''
*''[[Engineering:Precious Metal (aircraft)|Precious Metal]]''
*''[[Engineering:Rare Bear|Rare Bear]]''
*''[[Engineering:Red Baron (aircraft)|Red Baron]]''
*''[[Engineering:September Fury|September Fury]]''
*''[[Engineering:The Galloping Ghost (aircraft)|The Galloping Ghost]]''
*''[[Engineering:Tsunami (aircraft)|Tsunami]]''

==References==
{{Reflist}}


[[Category:Racing aircraft]]
[[Category:Individual aircraft]]

{{Sourceattribution|Voodoo (aircraft)}}