Heavily modified plane kills 9 in Reno crash.

A World War II era fighter plane crashed in Reno on Friday, killing nine people, including the pilot. The plane, a P-51 Mustang, was heavily modified from its original version.

RENO, NV (Catholic Online) - P-51 Mustangs are popular in air racing. Originally built for long range, high speed, and high altitude performance, many of the surviving the aircraft have been turned into extreme sport vehicles. The Galloping Ghost was one such craft. It's pilot, Jimmy Leeward, said the plane would be faster and more maneuverable following a series of modifications, but that nobody was certain how it would perform. 

In a YouTube video, Leeward said, "I know it'll do the speed...the systems aren't proven yet." 
Investigators are studying the crash, although they haven't reached a conclusion in what caused the deadly crash. Photographs suggest the airplane's trim control was the culprit. A badly damaged elevator trim tab was photographed just before the crash. Trim tabs are designed to help the pilot keep the plane in a "neutral" state during flight and allow for easier maneuvering. The tabs are used on all aircraft of every type. 

The Galloping Ghost had been heavily modified for speed and maneuverability. The modifications included reducing the wingspan by about 10 feet along with making the wings much wider than before. The engine was heavily modified and an entire suite of modern digital equipment was installed including a "black box" type device which could transmit data to the ground in real time. Investigators are examining that data. The plane also had video equipment installed.

Air racing is a very serious sport with aircraft reaching speeds in excess of 500 MPH. Leeward is the 20th pilot to die at Reno throughout the race's 47 year history, but Friday marks the first time spectators have been killed. 

Eyewitnesses said that as the plane dove towards the crowd they believe the pilot attempted to miss hitting people on the ground, but was diving too sharply to avoid them altogether. 

The original P-51 was designed to fly at a top speed of almost 450 MPH. As a state-of-the-art 1940's fighter plane, it was inherently unstable, a necessary feature that made the plane a good fighter and later a good racer. Such features however, also make the aircraft very deadly, even in peacetime. 

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