Newcastle pilot Geoff Kubank has been flying for 52 years.
With the sun shining overhead and heat in the air, the throaty sound of whirring plane engines slices through the bright blue sky.
The scent of aviation fuel, grease and freshly clipped grass wafts on the strong breeze.
It is a bright spring day at the Royal Newcastle Aero Club at Rutherford, and 68-year-old Newcastle pilot Geoff Kubank busily wipes the metallic silver wings of a P-51 Mustang airplane in the shade of a large hangar.
He is putting the finishing touches on the aircraft before he takes off for a war plane air show at Temora in the New South Wales Riverina region.
Mr Kubank has been a pilot for the last 52 years, and over that time, he developed a desire to fly a P-51 Mustang — a symbol of aviation combat during World War II.
Geoff Kubank said flying the Mustang is a dream come true.
Secret desire to fly Mustang fulfilled
The P-51 Mustang Mr. Kubank flies is owned by a syndicate of 11 shareholders and is based in Caboolture, Queensland.
When the opportunity to buy-in to the venture arose, he took it.
"There are not many pilots in the world who don't have a secret desire to fly a Mustang," Mr. Kubank said.
"It finally happened for me after many years.
"After having a long, hard think about [buying-in to the company], I decided I couldn't really afford it, [but that] I would do it anyway.
"We share the flying around as much as we can."
For the trip to Temora, Mr. Kubank flew to Brisbane, and travelled to Caboolture, north of the state capital, to prepare the Mustang.
From there he flew to Coffs Harbour in NSW, then to Rutherford for an overnight stop, and finally on to southern NSW.
The Mustang plane is believed to be able to fly to 30,000 feet.
War plane like having 'two legends in one'
Mr. Kubank said P-51 Mustangs were built in Australia and the United States during WWII.
"Initially they were used in Europe to fly out of England to escort the bombers all the way to Berlin and back, because the other fighters couldn't do it," he said.
Mr. Kubank's Mustang was built in Melbourne in 1946, and is equipped with a V-12 Merlin engine.
The engine's capacity at takeoff is rated at 1,490 horsepower.
The aircraft is believed to be able to fly to 30,000 feet; however it hasn't been flown to that altitude because it is not equipped with oxygen supplies.
It has a fuel capacity of 780 litres, which is split into two tanks located in the wings.
"Once we're up to altitude and cruising along, we get it (fuel consumption) down to about 200 litres per hour," Mr. Kubank said.
"We cruise along at about 200 knots, [which is] a little under 400 km/h, but they can go quite a bit faster, probably [up to] 300 to 350 knots.
"It can be a little bit of a handful on takeoff because of the high horsepower, and it will swing if you don't control it.
"Once it's airborne of course, it's an absolute delight."
Mr. Kubank said being able to fly the war plane was a dream come true.
"To be flying a Mustang is just absolutely fantastic because, in my opinion, it's two legends in one.
"One, it is a Mustang, and secondly, you're sitting behind a Merlin [engine], which is a fairly legendary aircraft engine from WWII."
Story and photo gallery: http://www.abc.net.au
Geoff Kubank is flying the plane to Temora.
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