ITALY MIDGET MUSTANG M- 1
I STARTED BUILDING MY AIRPLANE in 1987 from plans I bought from
Bushby Aircraft Inc. (Robert Bushby). I finished in 2007 and made
the first flight in 2008. This is the only Midget Mustang flying in
Italy, and there are eight or nine in Europe. The airplane has a 160-
hp Lycoming IO-320-B1A engine with a constant-speed prop.
MT-Propeller made a special propeller for me with a prop extension
on one piece. The aircraft is modified for long range.
The plane holds a total of 78 gallons of fuel. Each wing has a
16-gallon internal wet wing tank, as well as a 4-gallon tip tank. The
two nacelles on the side of the fuselage each have a 6. 5 gallon con-
formal tank, and there is a 10-gallon rear tank. The fuel in all of these
tanks has to be transferred to a main fuselage tank that holds 15 gal-
lons and feeds the engine. I climb at 2,500 feet per minute at 120
knots. I make a lot of low passes at 245 knots and when I pull up, it is
like a fighter (full climb scale of 6,000 fpm). I am planning on
coming to Oshkosh with my plane, and my
dream is to make it around the world. I have
a JPI 830 to manage my engine, and in the
future I want to put in an electronic flight
instrument system (Aspen Avionics and
Garmin 430). These cost more than the air-
plane, but I am looking for some sponsors to
do the around-the-world flight. I am a metal
workshop teacher for the Italian EAA
because there are a lot of RV builders here
who buy the kit, but they don’t know how to
build a rib.
Daniele Beltrame, EAA 326261; Treviso, Italy;
E-mail: aiyebe@tin.it
TENNESSEE RV-9A
THE FIRST FLIGHT OF N510WM was January 27, 2010. Since then, I’ve put more than 270 hours
on it, traveling to Sun ’n Fun; AirVenture Oshkosh; Atlanta a few times; Charlotte, North
Carolina; Manassas, Virginia, a few times; Teterboro, New Jersey; and back and forth to
Charleston, South Carolina, more than 20 times. Featured under the cowling is a Barrett
IO-320 with Airflow Performance injection spinning a MT three-blade prop. The panel consists of Advanced Flight System’s 4500 and 3400, Dynon D10A backup ADI, with a Trio Pro
Pilot, Garmin 430, and Garmin transponder and comm 2 radio, all powered by Vertical
Power’s VP- 100 electrical system. Panel by Stein, paint done locally by Mark Finley, and yes,
the checkers are painted on, not stickers! Special thanks to my wife who put up with three
and a half years of slow build time, more than 1,700 hours. Also thanks to my dad, Col.
Willard Marlow, whose initials and birthday make up the tail number. He helped with the
rivets but passed away before I could make the first flight. Thanks to my tech counselor,
Jim Summers, and local EAA Chapter President Mike Hathaway for their continued invaluable assistance.
