Warbird Information Exchange

On 24 Sept 07 N-151LP with weird c/n 2925

Anybody with more info?

Is this a scale replica

FAA lists the manufacturer as North American, owned by Warren Pietsch.

Warren is the owner of the paperwork. As for the airplane, think Jimmy Stewart and Jackie Cochrane. Years under different ownership later it made a hole in the terra firma someplace in Iowa.

John

Cryptic Cross Word Clue

OK think Jimmy Stewart and Jackie Cochrane

Jimmy Stewart is P-51B Thunderbird (raced 1949)
Jackie Cochrane is P-51C Beguine (Crashed 1949)

But I think it refers to this one

http://www.eisenhower.utexas.edu/listof ... Series.pdf

"P-51 Sold to James Stewart for Joe de Bona May 1953"

So which one is that ?

OK

I think I am getting nearer to this one... Please correct/refute any of the following if you can...

Feb 1953 "Actor Jimmy Stewart recently repurchased the F-51 Mustang he sold to Jacqueline Cochran. It's the same ship in which Joe De Bona once set a ... " - Would be trans-continental record in

This makes it (I think) N5528N aka "Thunderbird"

I am a bit confused as N5528N is always listed as P-51B, but some say P-51C - Anyway it is quite a record breaker in its own right

N5528N won last bendix Race in 1949

It is ALSO the one that was involved in this race....

http://www.americanheritage.com/article ... 8_74.shtml

What a great movie story that story would make!

And it is an FAI Record Holder

http://records.fai.org/pilot.asp?from=ga&id=2353

Does anyone have a full history of N5528N, I think it was originally sold to Jimmy Stewart by Leland Hall, then sold to Jackie Cochrane and used in the records above. Then re-purchased by Jimmy Stewart. Joe de Bona bought the P-51 from Jimmy Stewart and I assume this is the one referred to here:

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_q ... i_n9008290

"As for the P-51, not long after I met him he was flying the Mustang when he had a "one up, one down" situation with the landing gear. He bailed out of the P-51 and it was destroyed in the crash." - Of course it could be another Mustang entirely.. John Beyl says 'year under different ownership"

Now is this the crash in Iowa? If so what is the date. And also can anyone track N5528N to a USAAF Serial ?

Regards

Paul

By God man...Jolly well done...I think you've got it!

The crash did happen in Iowa but I am not sure of the date (50's I would guess). Now trying to track the N number to the AF serial number might prove difficult if you don't have the paperwork in hand. Have another cup of tea and keep digging...you'll find out why!

If a B model is to fly as a limited catagory airplane, it must be registered as a C model since no paperwork has ever been filed for B model (even though they are identical in every respect). The paperwork that's on file only recognizes the C model and nobody has bothered to jump through the hoops to get the B model done...do you blame them? By pure magic B models become C models in the FAA registry...

John

The guy who hit the silk in N5528N was Jim Cook who also owned P-38 N345.

T J

_________________
Make my day, punk!

TJ

Thanks have you a date and location for that?

Many Thanks

Paul

No, sorry. But e-mail P-Screamer (Kevin Grantham) who posts here. He interviewed Cook a number of years ago as mentioned in his P-38 book.

T J

_________________
Make my day, punk!

Someone at Air Britain has tracked down a card for N5528N (I have seen a copy) it says c/n 2925 - So 100% same aircraft.. Now all I need is history of N5528N

TJ - Thanks for info - Will contact Kevin

Paul

Paul et al--

WOW.

I'd compiled a listing of surviving Thompson/Bendix warbird racers (there's an article manuscript on this "parked" at one of the mags), and "Thunderbird" wasn't even a glint in my eye when I was working on that. "Thunderbird" was registered back in the day as an F-6C recon version BTW, and like the two Mantz P-51Cs was fitted with a plumbed "wet" wing. No doubt the current "P-51C" is something of a paper airplane, but if another highback Mustang appears in due course, who cares. Mr Pietsch I'm slightly familiar with, as he restored and operated ex-RCN Avenger N337GA (now with Steve Searle in Oz iirc). Dare one hope the Mustang might appear in cobalt blue Bendix-champ finish??

(And why stop there? How about reincarnating the '46 and '49 Thompson champs too...then we'd have all the postwar Cleveland champs extant!)

What with the news from Gatineau about the FG, and that from Dayton and Washington about the B-17D/G swap, and seeing the Lysander taxiing round at Mt.Hope yesterday...I'm a happy camper right now...



S.

To revive an old thread, any information on this plane? I have been searching for a serial tie up after this came up, and it seems that no P-51B/C registered in the 40's had a valid serial tie up...well not really, but close.

And from above, there was a comment that Jackie Cochran had a different P-51C. Well thats true but she wreched it in Indio trying for a record. She bought/did borrow Jimmy Stewarts Mustang and set a few more records in the desert before it went back to him. Here's the proof.




I have N5528N as the following disagreement in my files...

43-6822 104-24450 (363rd FG, 381st FS) crashlanded at Staplehurst, England Apr 28, 1944


43-6822 104-24450 N5528N "Thunderbird" Race 90 James Stewart crashed Jim Cook b/o Iowa.
registered Warren Pietsch 24Sept07 unknown serial 2195

Although this is an old thread, I wanted to point out that John's post, ironically, was superseded by the L-11-4 type cert for the Mustang that was issued about two weeks before his post last year.

The new type cert now includes the P-51B! Well, at least one B serial number (the Roush airplane) currently, but it certainly blows the doors open wide for B models in the future.