Mustang II History

In 1959 Robert Bushby purchased the rights to the Midget Mustang along with the tooling, formblocks, etc.. Some of these formblocks are still being used for the M-I bulkheads today. He began to sell prints for the M-I and in 1963 began work on a two place design based on the Midget Mustang. In 1965 the first ever Mustang II (N1117M) was brought to the EAA convention at Rockford (by trailer). In 1966 the prototype was flown to the convention and was well received. Since that time the prototype has been upgraded from an O-290 to an O-320 160hp Lycoming. It has had a tri-gear conversion, various wood props, a constant speed prop, and a folding wing design added to it.

After 30+ years of developing and supporting the Mustang II and Midget, Robert Bushby sold the design rights to Mustang Aeronautics headed by Chris Tieman in 1992. Our goal at Mustang Aeronautics has been to make these two excellent aircraft as easy to build as possible. Both designs were originally plans built only. Today, the kits have been refined to modern advanced assembly kits that greatly simplify construction. This has resulted in a strong resurgence in the popularity of the Mustang II as build times have been dramatically reduced and overall quality for the average Mustang II has gone up.

There have been over 400 Mustang II's built around the world since 1966. The design has logged well over 100,000 hours. Over the years various builders have installed electric and hydraulic retract gear, Thorp T-18 style canopies for more head room, tip tanks, wet wings, and many other refinements.

1999 Oshkosh Grand Champion Plans Built

In 1981 and 1999 at the EAA Oshkosh fly-in the Grand Champions were Mustang II's built by Larry Kinder and Phil Funk. There have also been 4 Midget Mustang Grand Champions. At the Oshkosh fly-ins there are always numerous Mustang II's with 1000+ hours on them. The highest time Mustang's have over 3000 hours on them. Time has indeed treated this design well and we here at Mustang Aeronautics Inc. are looking forward to even greater things in the future.