Mustang Aeronautics celebrates more than 60 years of fast aluminum.

By LeRoy Cook

Larry Kinder of Elko, Minnesota, can be justifiably proud of his award-winning Mustang II, which he and his wife have flown as far as Sedona, Arizona.

It isn’t every day that I get to fly a single airplane that’s both an historic icon and as desirable as the newest of the current crop of super-homebuilts. Long known as two of homebuilt aviation’s evergreen designs, Mustang Aeronautics’ Midget Mustang and Mustang II have roots that go back more than 60 years, to Dave Long’s first prototype of a Formula One (then Goodyear Class) racer.

Back in 1948, Long was chief design engineer at Piper Aircraft in Lock Haven, Pennsylvania, but in his spare time he worked out the details of a slick single-seat miniature fighter plane. Naturally, he hoped to capitalize on the popularity of the P-51 Mustangs running in the Unlimited Class, calling his design the Midget Mustang, after initially christening it “P-Shooter.” …

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