P-51 Mustang Flight - KXNet - Bismarck/Minot/Williston/Dickinson

P-51 Mustang Flight

Thousands of people are expected to turn out for the "Flying Over the Souris" Air Show Wednesday in Minot.
Shaun Sipma is live at the Dakota Territory Air Museum with more.

The show will highlight performances from Canadian Snow Birds, the Jerry Belly aerobatics flight, and the Texas Flying Legends Warbirds.
This past weekend I was invited out for a first hand experience with an in cockpit view of what people can expect this weekend.

(Warren Pietsch, Pietsch Aircraft) We're looking at a 1945 North America P-51 D Mustang.  
This was a long range escort fighter used in World War II.

It was America's made to order Fighter for England to combat the German's Luftwaffe (--fa) Bf 109 and later the U.S. counter to Japanese Zero in the Pacific.

(Warren Pietsch, Pietsch Aircraft) "Airplane has a top speed of over 425 miles per hour, it's 1600 horse power and it has a Rolls Royce Merlin V-12 of 1,610 cubic Inch.

For motorheads, this is one of the best engines in the world.
The aircraft Armed with six 50 caliber machine guns and more could be stacked with more than 1500 rounds of ammunition.

(Warren Pietsch, Pietsch Aircraft) "You can imagine the firepower out it.  It could also carry bombs or extra fuel tanks and these were the airplanes that were used to escort our bombers all the way to Berlin.

Out of  15,000 Mustangs that were built there are only about 120 left flying.
I could tell you more about what the Mustang can do, but Warren figured it was better to show you.

{mustang fly-by}
Strapped into the Mustang jump seat with Warren at the controls, it was amazing to the amount of force this World War II bird could kick out.
Coming out of a dive at Pietsches air strip near Logan, we skimmed the deck at what looked like just feet of the ground.

{mustang fly-by}

The roar of the V-12 Engines was defining without the headset, but the show from inside the cockpit, I can only describe with one word.........unbelievable.

I could only imagine what a pilot put himself through in a dogfight firing the 50 caliber machine guns, trying to outsmart and outfly the enemy.

(Aerial flying shot)

This is just part of what people will see at Wednesday's Flying Over the Souris Air Show.

(Warren Pietsch, Pietsch Aircraft) "The Texas flying legends fleet of six World War II airplanes will be putting on a demo, including a dog fight between a bad guy and a good guy.  We've got the Japanese Zero here to be the bad guy."

Pair that with the other acrobatic performances and the Canadian Snow Birds it should be a ride for anyone on the ground to see everything in action.

Shaun Sipma KX News.

Soaring over the Souris is free to attend and will be at the Minot International Airport.
Gates open at 3pm and the show runs from 6pm to 11pm with Fireworks to follow.