Aircraft model
NORTH AMERICAN/AERO CLASSICS P-51D
Everything here is true of every aircraft of the type, not of any one aircraft.
The P-51D Mustang is the most famous single-seat fighter of the Second World War and the most sought-after warbird in civil ownership. A 1,490 hp Packard-built Merlin, a laminar-flow wing, 300 knots in cruise and a 41,900-foot ceiling — it escorted bombers to Berlin and back.
It is at the extreme end of private aircraft ownership in every respect. The Merlin is a liquid-cooled V12 with a service life measured in a few hundred hours between overhauls, each one costing several hundred thousand dollars, and it burns around 70 gallons an hour in cruise and far more at power. The airframe requires continuous specialist attention. It is a single-seat aircraft with no dual instruction possible in the original configuration, so transition training happens in two-seat conversions. Insurance is a specialist market and values have risen to the point where these are investment assets.
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- NORTH AMERICAN/AERO CLASSICS P-51D
What it is
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Landing gear | taildragger |
| Engines | 1 |
| Engine | Packard V-1650-7 (Merlin) |
| Horsepower | 1,490 hp |
| Fuel | 100LL |
| Certification basis | military-surplus |
| Production start | 1944 |
| Production end | 1945 |
| Endorsements required | complex;high-performance;tailwheel |
Performance
| Cruise speed | 300 KTAS |
|---|---|
| Range | 1,000 nm |
| Service ceiling | 41,900 ft |
| Climb rate | 3,200 ft/min |
| Stall speed (Vso) | 85 KCAS |
| Takeoff over 50 ft | — |
| Landing over 50 ft | — |
Load and fuel
| Seats | 1 |
|---|---|
| Useful load | 4,465 lb |
| Full-fuel payload | 2,851 lb |
| Max takeoff weight | 12,100 lb |
| Empty weight | 7,635 lb |
| Usable fuel | 269 gal |
| Fuel burn at cruise | 83.4 gal/h |
Cost of ownership
| Price, low | $1,600,000 |
|---|---|
| Price, high | $2,850,000 |
| Prices as of | 2026 |
| Engine TBO | 500 h |
| Overhaul cost, low | $250,000 |
| Overhaul cost, high | $480,000 |
The fleet and its record
| Registered, all time | 95 |
|---|---|
| Active fleet | 70 |
| Median year built | 1944.0 |
| NTSB events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Fatal events, last 10 years | 2 |
| Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years | 28.57 · thin base (low)1 |
| Personal-flying events per 1,000 active | 28.57 · thin base (low)2 |
| Ownership transfers, last 24 months | 9 |
| Transfers per 100 active | 12.86 · thin base (low)3 |
| Airworthiness directives | 0 |
| Directives, last 5 years | 0 |
| Rate confidence | low |
- Events per 1,000 active, last 10 years: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 70 active.
- Personal-flying events per 1,000 active: per 1,000 active aircraft · base 70 active.
- Transfers per 100 active: per 100 active aircraft · base 70 active.
Peer scores6
| Peer class | Fixed wing single-engine, piston, 1 engine, 1-2 seats |
|---|---|
| Accident record | —1 |
| Severity | —2 |
| Access | 0.9 of 103 |
| Support | 4.9 of 104 |
| Liquidity | 1.7 of 105 |
- Accident record: class median 25 · 181 models in class.
- Severity: class median 5.
- Access: class median 987.
- Support: class median 72.
- Liquidity: class median 20.59.
- Each of the five categories places the model within its peer class, from 0 (the worst of the class) to 10 (the best): a position among comparable models, not a grade. The overall score is the sum of the categories shown that are scored, out of 10 for each (50 when all five are); it is given only when at least 4 of the five are scored, and it can be set against another model's only when both are in the same peer class and scored on the same categories.