High-Tech Help For Damaged P-51

There aren’t many places you can have this much leading-edge, high-tech fun and help restore a priceless piece of aviation history too. The Commemorative Air Force is unveiling its P-51 Mustang “Tuskegee Airmen” flight simulator at the Mall of America in St. Paul, Minn., today. The simulator will be set up at ACES Flight Simulation in the mall and part of the proceeds from taking a spin in it will help the Red Tail Project fix a rare P-51C damaged in an emergency landing earlier this year. The Red Tail Mustang is a flying tribute to the Tuskegee Airman, the all-black squadron formed to fly bomber escort in World War II. It’s been undergoing an extensive (read expensive) restoration since it was damaged May 29. Red Tail Project Coordinator Stan Ross said the fully functional simulator will give patrons a taste of what it might have been like high above Europe in the mid-1940s. “When people can experience the realism of flying this remarkable aircraft, I believe they will quickly realize the importance of helping get the actual Red Tail Mustang back in the air,” Ross said.