The Precious Metal unlimited racing plane, one of the most popular P-51 racers in the sport due to its unique 3,200-horsepower Rolls Royce Griffon V12 engine, won’t be a factor at this weekend’s prestigious Reno Air Races after catching fire in Jackson County, Florida, on its way to the competition.
Owner Thom Richard announced on the team’s Facebook page earlier this week that the plane sustained heavy damage during a fuel stop, and indicated that the incident could signal the end of the plane’s racing career.
“It’s with a heavy heart I am forced to announce the end of Precious Metal’s air racing career,” Richard posted Monday. “She sustained heavy damage in a ground fire at a fuel stop this afternoon.”
No one was hurt in the fire, which was put out by the local fire department.
While the Precious Metal plane has no “warbird” provenance, its engine certainly has seen some wild competition. The plane was purpose built for racing using spare and salvaged P-51 parts, including a center fuselage that once served as a Hollywood prop. The big 37-liter (that’s over 2,200 cubic inches) Griffon engine was raced in Unlimited Hydroplanes before being recruited to the plane. Most P-51 Mustang race planes use the Merlin engine, of which there were about 150,000 units produced. Only 8,000 Griffons were made. The 60-degree, liquid-cooled, twin-supercharged V12 Griffon has about 40 percent more displacement. It’s connected to a pair of contra-rotating 3-blade propellers. The dual-prop setup was developed during the war because the high torque load of the engine made the plane very unmanageable during takeoff, and contra-rotating props provide a torque-cancelling effect. For a fascinating inside look at the engine removal (see lead photo above), check out this photo essay from photographer Octavian Cantilli’s website.
To build and withstand current power levels, the engine features many custom fabricated parts. Advanced Component Engineering boasts on its webpage a number of parts made for the plane’s engine, including the wet-liner sleeves, main bearings, pistons and piston pins along with refurbishing the unique connecting rods with the forked end.
Hundreds of fans have expressed condolences on social media and there certainly is plenty of hope and optimism that this one-of-a-kind plane can be repaired for return to competition.