Quicksilver: A P-51 - Like No Other!
P-51D ‘Quicksilver,’ N51HY, serial #54-11439, is one special plane. Bill Yoak, of Aerospace Specialties, Inc. in Lewisburg, West Virginia, made the birth of this aircraft a 16-year project that came together in 18,000 pieces and 60,000 parts. Yoak said, “It is truly a creation of more than 200-300 pieces of aircraft from all over the world. We completely re-skinned the plane, a resurrection.” This one never went to war, but the Rolls Royce 1800 hp Merlin-powered P-51D commemorates those that did and those who flew the fighters, some 15,486 of which were manufactured from 1941-45 by North American Aviation. Fewer than 300 have survived.
Quicksilver, piloted by Scott ‘Scooter’ Yoak, Bill’s son, flew recently in passes with a Corsair at the Salute to Connecticut Veterans at Brainard Airport, Hartford, Connecticut. Both Bill and Scooter have the distinction of having been the youngest pilot to qualify in a P-51 at the time of their respective checkouts, by the way. The elder Yoak, now 63, said “I flew it at my 19th birthday in Van Nuys, youngest guy in world. Steve Hinton, also a close friend, followed me. We were in the Baa Baa Black Sheep flight crew together. Son Scott ‘Scooter’ (a baseball handle he was given at Embry Riddle in his junior year) checked out in the P-51 after about 5.2 hours. He also towed banners in an Agcat for over eight years and has over five thousand hours now in dangerous taildragger time. He’s towed the toughest, including the large ‘billboard’ type, also has T-6 time, and checked out Hinton’s son Stevie. We have 120 or so hours on the P-51 now.”
At Oshkosh, the Yoaks graciously allowed flying enthusiasts from 4 to 80 the thrill of both looking inside, and sitting in the pilot’s seat. No one else has let anyone sit in their fighter, and at OSH as many as 300 stood in line for the privilege. However, that has taken some toll; for example, broken switches and damage from people with hobnail boots. Yoak indicated, about the unusual paints and polished aluminum design, “It’s painted to respect the sacrifices and show appreciation of all vets who gave us the opportunity to enjoy such pleasure. That’s its prime function. We always wanted to celebrate those people and why we are here. That presentation board that sits in front of it at every airshow indicates there’s reactive material in the paint that creates an effect.”
The presentation board he spoke of reads as follows, under the title ‘Quicksilver.’ “This P-51D Mustang is a celebration of our nation’s armed forces. Every part and every aspect of the paint represents those who have served, and those who gave the ultimate sacrifice. “The black cape covering the front of the aircraft represents the veil of protection that our armed forces give us. That veil is one of the reasons why we have what we have today, freedom. “As the cape extends to the back of the canopy, it spreads out and divides into feathers, symbolizing the eagle that has flown with every aviator since the birth of aviation in 1903. “Look into the black paint. You will see sparkling stars. Each sparkle represents an American veteran that served our great country; the unsung stars in our lives. These veterans are the glimmering star in a mother’s eye, a wife or husband’s heart, a son or daughter’s hope for the future.” “The silver ring behind the spinner represents the shining halo of the guardian angel who guides service personnel, having given the ultimate sacrifice, to their final resting place. “The black and white stripes on the wings are there, as they were on all Allied aircraft, on D-Day. “The stars and bars, proudly displayed, represent the armed forces symbol that all United States fighter planes carry. “All of the bare metal of this P-51D Mustang is polished. Look closely into the metal. You can see for whom our veterans fought.”
“Bill Yoak, an individual with a love and passion for this type aircraft, did the metal work. The remanufactured parts are hand made. Unlike the hurried war effort parts, these are made with skill and care of a master craftsman, and obtain the utmost attention to detail necessary to restore this Mustang to a condition better than factory new in 1944. As this silver bird quickly streaks across the sky, let us not forget those who served, sacrificed, and gave their all. God Bless America.”
Quicksilver was awarded the ‘Lindy Trophy’ at OSH in 2007 as Reserve Grand Champion for post-WWII Warbirds (some, such as the narrator in the video mentioned below, say ‘Best in Show’) and is the pride of Yoak and his partner and close friend Paul Hunter, a major contributor who spent more on this aircraft than any other. Yoak noted of Hunter, “His support never waned.” Yoak has probably worked on or contributed to nearly every Mustang flying, inasmuch as his company is a major manufacturer. He said, “I have entire sets of blueprints; over the past 42 years I have worked on warbirds and have even been a participant in litigation over warbirds, and work with insurance companies to offer my services. P-51 parts are always valuable. I got the idea that it would be cool to take an aircraft and reconstruct it, meeting FAA specs that were actually original and measuring up. (However) The FAA frowns on working around a data plate. I had a wreck in Washington state, and parts, built around the plane owned by Norm Smith, who was killed in it. My local FSDO claimed it was a replica. That cost us two months, and I had to have an entire examination/inspection and airworthiness inspection by the FAA to prove otherwise.
“In its first flight in 2007, after having sat in hangar at 70 degrees with new paint, we were flying (to OSH) and two fighters, F-16s, escorted us through weather, and got us out of storms; we didn’t get into rain or hail to lose any of that paint. Later, Gary Sinise had a concert with Quicksilver lit up, which many vets watched. The 2,000th person to sit in it was a woman with 100 in line behind her.” Yoak spoke of Scooter’s participation in airshow activities: “The Heritage Program is where the Air Force brings in a current fighter, an F-22 Raptor, which does an aerobatic routine preceded by a WWII fighter doing one. Scott does that and they form up in a ‘Heritage Formation,’ coming over the crowd, one to the right and one to the left. Very moving. An honor to participate. He’s done it at least 10 times.”
Meantime, what’s the senior Yoak up to? “I’m working on nine different P-51s: Canadian, United Kingdom, all over the world, with Dan Dilley, a great help, who knows more about P-51s than anyone.”
We close with a mention of two videos. First, WWII L-5 pilot Glen Baker, on whom we’ve done articles, told of a video in tribute to WWII pilots, Gray Eagles, at an airshow at Rickenbacker Field (Lockbourne AFB) at Columbus, Ohio, The Final Roundup. About 120 P-51s were there, with the last flyover spelling out 51. You can catch it at http://www.grayeagles.org/video.htm. Last, National Geographic did a feature one-hour documentary, on father and son participation in OSH and how the world’s largest airshow works. Inside Airshow has showed on 1400 PBS stations all over world, in 230 countries. Well worth a look.
By Herb Hill