the midget mustang was intended for air racing. david long designed an aircraft for a friend to be used in the cleveland air race in 1948. that aircraft was built by long and was named "pea shooter". the midget mustang was only moderately successful as a race plane. however, its appearance and desirable flight characteristics made it an ideal sport plane. at the cleveland race, racers competed in aircraft with names like, "mammy","miss fort worth", and "slo poke". over time, air racers modified the aircraft to reach 181 mph (291 km/h) speeds in competition. nowadays, the midget mustang can cruise at 240 mph.