Lope’s Hope 3rd
This re-creation is built on a P-51C-10NT airframe once used for training during and after World War II.
April 2019 - Lope’s Hope 3rd was a P-51C flown by Lt. Donald Lopez. Lopez and Lope’s Hope 3rd served in the China-Burma-India theater with the 14th Air Force, 23rd Fighter Group, 75th Squadron. This re-creation by AirCorps Aviation, Bemidji, Minnesota, is built on a P-51C-10NT airframe once used for training during and after World War II. AirCorps Aviation kept every aspect of the plane as authentic as possible. This includes custom fabrication of wing assemblies, the forming of fuselage parts using a drop hammer, machining small hooks for landing gear retraction, and other details like replicating the bulletproof laminated glass and using nuts and bolts true to the period. Lope’s Hope 3rd returned to the air Oct. 17, 2017, for its first test flight.
The plane’s restoration earned the World War II Grand Champion Gold Lindy award at the 2018 EAA AirVenture fly-in convention in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Flying 101 missions, Lopez downed five Japanese planes, four in a P-40 (Lope’s Hope) and one in a P-51 (Lope’s Hope 3rd).
Photo: AirCorps Aviation
