P-51 Mustang RB-51 'Red Baron' #5 Steve Hinton Speed Record Aircraft Relic Display by Ron Cole

The Red Baron was a North American P-51D Mustang NX7715C, original serial number 44-84961. In February 1974, it was purchased by Ed Browning of Red Baron Flying Service in Idaho Falls, Idaho and renamed the Red Baron. .On August 14, 1979, pilot legend Steve Hinton set the piston-driven aircraft 3-kilometer world speed record at 499.018 mph at Tonopah, Nevada, making Hinton, age 27, the youngest person ever to capture the speed record. The record held for ten years..On September 16, 1979, Hinton was racing the RB-51 in the Reno Air Races when a capacitor in the magneto failed, causing the engine to run on half its spark plugs. A bearing in the supercharger failed. Hinton finished the race in second place and moved to make an emergency landing. The supercharger failure resulted in a shaft failure, which in turn controlled the propeller pitch. The propellers went flat, acting as a huge air brake. The RB-51 crashed short of the runway. The wings were sheared off as the plane came down be