Pilot Ron Robertson takes flight of a lifetime aboard World War II fighter plane

GREG DERR/The Patriot Ledger

Scituate resident Ron Robertson, a U.S. Navy veteran and retired United Airlines pilot, flew a World War II P-51 Mustang fighter at Plymouth Airport on Tuesday, Sept. 16, 2014.

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PLYMOUTH – Ron Robertson vividly remembers the first time he laid his eyes on a World War II P-51 Mustang fighter that had stopped at Plymouth Municipal Airport. It was Sept. 10, 2001 – the day before the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and the crash near Shanksville, Penn., of a hijacked airliner aimed at Washington. “The next day they were grounded and couldn’t get out for a few days,” said Robertson, of Scituate.

A U.S. Navy veteran and retired United Airlines pilot, Robertson, 67, returned to Plymouth Airport last week when the P-51 Mustang arrived for another visit. But instead of just catching a glimpse of the 72-year-old plane, Robertson got to fly it.

“It was almost like a bucket-list thing. I’ve been a pilot for 40 years, and to fly in a 70-year-old airplane and put it through the paces, I said, ‘You know, I’d sure like to do that,’” he said. “It’s pricey, but my wife and son said, ‘You better do it, otherwise you’ll be kicking yourself in the rear.’”

The 1942 fighter is owned and operated by the Collings Foundation, which operates vintage aircraft that fly throughout the United States, making stops for a few days. The foundation also brought a B-17 Flying Fortress and a B-24 Liberator to Plymouth.

For a price tag of $2,200, Robertson got 30 minutes in the air with another pilot who performs in the air show circuit. While the passenger rides in the back in other P-51s, Robertson flew in one of last dual-seat Mustangs.

“There’s no gentleness about it. The pilot pulled some heavy Gs, and let me do it, too,” Robertson said of the plane and its acceleration. “To get in a high performance airplane and put it through its paces, and to pull back and feel the four-and-a-half Gs, it was everything I expected it to be.”

Roberton, who is used to flying the Boeing 747, said he got to experience a portion of the pilot’s air show routine.

“After awhile of me flying I said, ‘It’s sloppy. You show me what this thing can do,’ so he went through the loops and rolls,” he said.

Robertson said he also appreciated the sound of the plane’s engine – a Packard system with a two-stage supercharger and aftercooler – which he said you can identify forever after hearing it just once.

“It’s not the whine of a jet, which can be annoying. It’s a unique, very distinct sound,” he said. “The way it starts and stutters, it’s just incredible.”

Robertson also noted the reaction from World War II veterans when they see the P-51 Mustang.

“You see the older guys and there’s a sadness and a happiness. They lost good friends in those things, or they may have been shot down,” he said. “Those memories are there, and they probably never talked about them. It’s a phenomenon no one understands.”

-Source:   http://www.patriotledger.com