I first met Lee Lauderback a few years ago when I traveled to Kissimmee to fly his airplane, a renowned warbird named Crazy Horse. Lee’s company, Stallion51, is considered the premier training center for P-51 Mustang checkouts. I suspect they do more transition training in the fighter than everyone else on the planet combined.

Lee understands something special about the people who come to train in his airplanes. I discovered it quite by chance when I walked into the wide hangar with Atlanta pilot Jeff Perry. Before us sat two polished TF-51s, the dual controlled training version of the P-51D. These aircraft were so clean, so immaculate, that they looked like static displays in a museum. The floor of the hangar, painted to an almost mirror finish in white epoxy, reflected the airplanes’ undersides. Maintenance equipment was stowed neatly along the walls giving the entire area a showcase appearance. The mechanics that were scurrying around the planes silently disappeared. I can’t be sure if this was by design, but I suspect it was. Lee’s people vanished without a word leaving us with the two aircraft for a few minutes of quiet, undisturbed, reverential inspection. Just Jeff, me, and two magnificent Mustangs, for a few minutes ours and ours alone. Like I said, Lee understands something about the people that come to him.

Lauderback looks like a stereotypical fighter pilot, tall and clean cut in his NASA-blue flight suit. After I found out that he had received a scholarship to play college baseball at LSU, I wasn’t too surprised. He has the look.

Sailplanes at age fourteen and powered solo at sixteen set him on his career in aviation. By the time he was ready for college, he had already attained commercial, instruments, multi engine, and CFI status. Collegiate athletics took him too far from aviation so he transferred to Embry-Riddle where he finished his degree. Only poor vision kept him from his dream of flying fighters in the military. Through a chance meeting with a man named Charlie Johnson, Lee’s career path took on a new heading.

Charlie, a former fighter jock, was the captain for a Lear 24 owned by a man named Arnold Palmer. When invited to fly right seat in the golfing legend’s jet, Lee jumped at the opportunity. Six months later he was hired as co-pilot. When Charlie left to do flight test with Gates Learjet a year later, Lee advanced to the rank of chief pilot.

Notwithstanding the fantastic toys, flying for Arnold Palmer had some significant percs including chances to meet a lot of celebrated people. When Palmer, who incidentally has accumulated over 18,000 hours himself to date, opened a golf resort in Wyoming, Lee got his first introduction to a man who would become a lifelong friend, Bob Hoover.

"They asked me if I’d bring my Sabreliner over and give them a little airshow at the grand opening," Hoover recalled. "Arnold was there, of course, and was going to do the announcing during my flight."

The FAA had a restriction on the aircraft, and even during aerobatics performances, a co-pilot was required. "It didn’t make sense," Hoover complained, "having someone sitting there while I was flying aerobatics, but I was forced to do it. Lee asked if he could come along and I said, ‘sure.’" Hoover chuckled when he remembered their first time together in the air. "We put on a hell of a show. It was a lot of fun. If you can think about it, going straight up, vertical rolls not two hundred feet from this sheer cliff."

In 1975, Lee got his first opportunity to fly a Mustang and spent the next few years trying to convince Arnold Palmer that he needed one. Unsuccessful though he was in that, he continued to fly Lears, Citations, and helicopters for the golfer, collecting nearly 8,000 hours over a sixteen year period.

In 1987, Lauderback met a man named Doug Schultz. Schultz had acquired Crazy Horse for some special testing with the Navy. The two men decided to partner together and, in 1988, Stallion51 Corporation was formed. By 1990, Lee recognized the need to devote more time to the Mustang operation and resigned from his station with Palmer. Their bond, however, remains strong to this day.

"He is a very talented pilot, and a good pilot," Palmer emphasizes. "He’s a fun guy, likes to have a beer, but he’s conservative in nature. I can’t say enough about his flying because he’s just about as good as you want to get. Aside from all that, he is a very good friend of mine."

The Mustang business continued to grow and encompassed introductory flights, checkout training, and aircraft management and maintenance for private owners. Apollo 8 astronaut, Gen. Bill Anders, received his initial P-51 training from Lee and minced no words when describing Lee and his operation.

"Well, it’s quite clear. Lee is the world’s second greatest Mustang pilot." I was a bit slow on the uptake. "Seriously though, Lee does a great job giving the type of training that is needed to keep insurance rates at a relative minimum. There are a lot of Mustang pilots around. A third are okay, a third are marginal, and a third are pretty good. But every one of them could benefit from some time in the cockpit with Lee. He’s got the right personality to make hot-shot pilots into better pilots without offending them." A comment like that from a man like Bill Anders is quite a complement.

"He’s an honest man and no push over. I really enjoy flying with him. He really knows his stuff."

Although a million plus dollars along with high performance and tailwheel endorsements can get you legally into the seat of your own Mustang, the insurance company will require quite a bit more in the way of training. Currently, an FAA Letter of Authorization will do the trick, but this comes at the expense of the equivalent of a type rating. In fact, the FAA is in the process of expanding type rating requirements so that horsepower will become a deciding factor by 2005. This will affect pilots of single-engine piston aircraft whose birds produce at least 800 horsepower and have a Vne of 250 knots or more. Regardless, it is this kind of training that brings eight to ten pilots to Stallion51 each year.

The United States Air Force celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1997. At that time, the Heritage Flight program was established with eighteen pilots. The result has been a long series of airshow appearances featuring exciting formation flights containing mixes of contemporary fighters with vintage warbirds. Lauderback was invited to be a part of the program and has since flown dozens of shows, many with Apollo 8 commander, Frank Borman.

"Lee is a professional, he’s a real gentleman, and he’s extremely knowledgeable and thorough in his approach to aviation," Borman said. "He’s an excellent formation pilot. You can’t teach people to fly P-51s without being pretty damned good," the astronaut continued with a laugh. "With five thousand hours in P-51s, I’ll bet there’s no one in history who even comes close to his experience. He can tell you to the last knot - he knows everything about the Mustang."

Chuck Yeager agreed. "He’s probably responsible for checking out more P-51 pilots than just about anybody. We didn’t have those dual control TFs in the old days. We just hopped in and flew ‘em. But pilots today don’t have our type of background. Lee does a hell of a good job in getting these guys qualified in P-51s. He’s a real straight shooter."

Fantasy of Flight owner, Kermit Weeks, describes Lee as "probably more serious than fun, but he’s very dedicated, very conscientious, pays attention to detail, and that is the type of person you need to run that type of operation. No question that what he is doing is enhanced by his character." Weeks, himself, has been involved with warbirds, for decades and he currently owns several Mustangs. "Lee is the only person other than myself who I’ve let fly one of my Mustangs." That comment alone says a great deal when you consider the rarity of these airplanes and the risks involved in flying them.

When asked what he likes best about his job, Lee doesn’t hesitate to answer. "Sharing the Mustang with other people. I can take someone else out and fly them upside down and rightside up and I get caught up in their moment. Flying a Mustang is special. Sharing it is so much more."

Bob Hoover probably sums up this quiet, introspective man the best. "I think he’s just great gentleman in every respect and one hell of a fine aviator." Succinct, not too flashy, but in the world of high performance aviation, probably one of the best endorsements any pilot could ever hope for.