Continued from Part I
In 1960, Dr. Cliff Cummins of Ontario, California, became the owner of a Mustang identified as USAAF 44-15651/N79111- the same identification as the original Galloping Ghost of the post-war Thompson Trophy races. Whether this was actually the same aircraft is open to debate as the paperwork may have been attached to a different Mustang at some point in the previous eight years, but this Mustang certainly continued the legend of the Ghost even if it was a different airframe. Cummins raced N79111 as Race 69 Miss Candace to a fourth-place finish in the 1969 Reno race, perpetuating the myth of The Galloping Ghost (as the aircraft had never finished lower than fourth while in Raymond and Beville's ownership).

Miss Candace was heavily damaged in a dead-stick landing during the 1970 Reno. It reappeared in 1972 with substantial modifications, including a fairly drastic wing clip and a low-profile streamlined canopy. The racer seemed to suffer bad luck in the following seven years, with a few high-placing finishes offset by two separate crash-landings and multiple withdrawals due to engine problems.

N79111 was sold in 1979 to Wiley Sanders, and renamed Jeannie. Sanders went to considerable lengths in refining the Mustang's performance, removing some 600 pounds of additional weight, but Jeannie was again extensively damaged following an engine failure just four days before the 1980 Reno race. Amazingly, by literally working around the clock, Dave Zeuschel and crew were able to repair Jeannie in time for the race, with the rather patched-together-looking aircraft arriving just a half hour before the deadline.

1980 proved to be Jeannie's comeback year, as the racer that had suffered a major crash earlier in the week came out with a first-place finish. However, pilot Mac McLain was terminally ill and would never race again. For the 1981 race, Sanders enlisted the help of Lockheed test pilot Skip Holm, and the pair went on to smash the Reno qualifying record and bring home a second straight Gold win.

After the 1981 races, Holm and Jeannie took part in a very unique photo mission, in which the Mustang was flown in tight formation with Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird 51-7955 (yes, really!) to prove that Jeannie was truly the fastest piston-powered aircraft. The two aircraft flew in formation together for several minutes while being photographed from a T-38 chase plane. Incredibly, this mission was not sanctioned by the USAF (though the pilots of the SR-71 and the T-38 chase planes, as well as Skunk Works Director Bill Park were of course in on the plan), so Jeannie had to keep up with the Blackbird while it flew a 450-kt climb to remain within its normal mission parameters! Holm later recalled that he was varying the RPM up to 3600 and holding over 120 inches of manifold pressure just to stay in formation with the SR-71.
(A great article about this mission - written by Holm - can be found in the September 2014 issue of Air Classics magazine.)

After this incredible flight, Jeannie suffered a propeller governor failure during the 1982 Reno qualifying session, knocking it out of competition. Further modifications were made to the Mustang, but as they neared completion, owner Wiley Sanders made the decision to sell N79111 to Jimmy Leeward, with whom it would ultimately meet its final fate...
Continued in Part III

This build represents Jeannie at the time of its 1981 photo mission with SR-71 51-7955 (though I have omitted some of the smaller details for the sake of simplicity).

Also check out:
1946-1952 as Race 77 The Galloping Ghost, pilots Steve Beville and Bruce Raymond
2005-2011 as Race 177The Galloping Ghost, pilot Jimmy Leeward

Controls

AG 1: Canopy
AG 3: Wing lights
VTOL: Flaps

All other controls are standard.

Credits

Jundroo (base P-51-D)
DDVC (SR-71 in the first picture)

Substantial modifications were made to the Mustang, including a fairly radical wing clip and redesign of the cockpit canopy and turtledeck, as well as reshaping of the ventral air scoop. The wingtip probe is also included, though it is missing in the screenshots.