Jimmy Stewarts P-51

B-17 Buff · **Posted:** Tue Sep 22, 2009 1:15 pm

Hi Guys,

I am currently reading Jimmy Stewart - Bomber Pilot, which by the way is a great read, and have just read that he once owned a surplus P-51 that won and set a new record at the Bendix air race... this was in the late 40's apparently and he subsequently sold it on swapping it for a Beechcraft Bonanza! :shock:

I apologies in advance if (and it probably has) been brought up before, I read wix everyday but don't often post unless I have something relevant to add (which is not often with all you experts!

).

Would love to know more about this aircraft, what happened to it, is it still around etc and any pics!

Thanks,
The buff..

Holedigger · **Posted:** Tue Sep 22, 2009 2:13 pm

Hmmmm, trying to chase this one down, info has to be out there somewhere, it was the winner of the all-time record speed at the Bendix Trophy Race in 49. With Joe De Bona flying, made the run in 4 hours, 16 minutes and 17 seconds at a speed of 470.136 mph.

Still looking. Clues NAA P-51B N5528N named Thunderbird
a pic of the AC here
http://www.mooneymite.com/articles-flig ... report.htm

Craig59 · **Posted:** Tue Sep 22, 2009 4:16 pm

Had to find my copy of "Hollywood Pilot, the Biography of Paul Mantz," to locate the below paragraph about the 1947 Bendix Race :

Other P-51's were entered by Tommy Mayson and Bill Eddy, last year's entrants; Edmund Lunken, from Cleveland; and a sleeper named Joe De Bona, whose Mustang was sponsored by actor Jimmy Stewart and producer Robert Riskin. De Bona had been given a blank check to "beat Mantz."

By the way, Mantz won, beating De Bona by one minute, 17.6 seconds.

Speedy · **Posted:** Tue Sep 22, 2009 5:43 pm

It wasn't 'owned' by Jimmy Stewart. Mr. Stewart just sponsored Joe DeBona's 'Thunderbird' for the 1949 Bendix race.

T J Johansen · **Posted:** Tue Sep 22, 2009 6:13 pm

It was later owned by Jim Cook who also owned P-38 N345. He bailed out of the 51 after only one gear retracted on take-off. It had a wet-wing and was full of fuel at the time so Cook went over the side and pulled the rip-cord.

T J

B-17 Buff · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2009 6:52 am

Thanks guys, interesting stuff. The wording in the book says:

'Stewart had acquired a surplus property world war 2 fighter plane - a P-51 Mustang.'

Its goes on to say it was entered in the race (no year specified) and that:

'his mustang won the race, setting a new record of four hours, sixteen minutes. The pilot, Joe DeBona, presented the bendix trophy to the cheering Gloria and Jimmy as a wedding gift.'

Then:
'After the Bendix victory, he sold the Mustang and bought a Beechcraft Bonanza...'

So it lost in 47 but won in 49 (did he sponsor in 47 but own it by 49??) ...or is the book wrong as Speedy says he never owned it?
I assume the aircraft was destroyed if Cook bailed out, any idea when this was TJ?!

The plot thickens...!

Holedigger · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2009 7:14 am

DeBona was flying TWO different P-51's during this time frame, that is muddying the waters. Is it possible that the one was sponsored by Stewart and the other owned by Stewart? I have seen references to Stuart OWNING and also reference to Stewart SPONSORING a P-51. The mystery continues!

kennsmithf2g · **Posted:** Wed Sep 23, 2009 8:02 pm

From the "Official Results"

1947-Pilot: Joe Debona Entrant: Thomas Call

This was a P51D called "Majic Town" Race # 90

(Race #90 was Thomas Call's Corsair race # in the 1946 Bendix ("Joe"))

1948-Pilot: Joe Debona Entrant: Joe Debona

P51C Thunderchief #90 Disqualified for landing after deadline

1949-Pilot: Joe Debona Entrant: Debona Racing Co.

P51C Thunderchief #90 1st place Bendix "R"

Somewhere I have an article detailing Jimmy Stewart's role but I can't find it right now. I believe it was in a 1949 magazine like "Flying", Aviation Week" or "Life" magazine that showed the Stewarts with Debona and Thunderchief.

Kenn Smith
SARH 1946-1949 Historian

Holedigger · **Posted:** Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:16 am

Thunderbird not Thundercheif????? At least that is what I see in the pics and on the web!? :roll:

There is a lot of contradictory stuff out there, one site said that Stewart bought Thunderbird from DeBona in '53, this is getting cloudier and cloudier!!! I've seen Stewart listed as owner, backer and partner........Hmmmmmmmm, I R Confused!!

Speedy · **Posted:** Thu Sep 24, 2009 9:18 am

Holedigger wrote:

Thunderbird????? At least that is what I see in the pics on the web!? :roll:

Yes, Thunderbird....not Thunderchief. Painted a beautiful metallic blue with yellow and white trim. For the 'post war era', an amazingly beautiful paint scheme.

Not to be confused with Lefty's old Mustang.

sledge39 · **Joined:** Thu Jun 29, 2006 1:01 pm **Posts:** 262

Holedigger wrote:

........Hmmmmmmmm, I R Confused!!

...yeah...me too.....also, Jacqueline Cochran may have been the owner of N5528N for awhile...

http://www.northwardcontrail.com/2008/0 ... ictur.html

...DeBona was a partner in the aircraft's ownership; its co-owner was actor and Air Force Reserve pilot Jimmy Stewart....DeBona and Stewart had been partners in racing "Thunderbird" in 1948 and 1949, enjoying factory support from North American in the process and bringing home the Bendix in 1949.

...sold to Jacqueline Cochran, whose own P-51 had crashed after the 1949 Bendix race....Cochran used "Thunderbird" to set several records.

...Stewart and DeBona bought the aircraft back from her...

"Thunderbird" was later sold again and crashed in 1955....the pilot (Jim Cook) chose to bail out rather than land one-up/one-down.

...pic of Jacqueline Cochran and "Thunderbird"...N5528N...

http://records.fai.org/photo.asp?id=4477-1&from=c

...records by Jacqueline Cochran in P-51 N5528N...(1949 and 1951)

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

Speed over a closed circuit of 500 km without payload : 703.38 km/h
(703.38 Kilometers per Hour = 437.06006919589595 Miles per Hour)
Date of flight: 29/12/1949
Pilot: Jacqueline COCHRAN (USA)
Course/place: Desert Center, CA (USA)
Aircraft: North American P-51 Monoplane
Registered 'N5528'

Speed over a straight 15/25 km course : 747.34 km/h
(747.34 Kilometers per Hour = 464.37554680664914 Miles per Hour)
Date of flight: 09/04/1951
Pilot: Jacqueline COCHRAN (USA)
Course/place: Indio, CA (USA)
Aircraft: North American P-51 Monoplane
Registered 'N5528N'

Holedigger · **Posted:** Thu Sep 24, 2009 4:57 pm

The fog is lifting!
The one pic I saw had Jacqueline Cochran with the AC, but the way the caption read, it was as if Stewart purchased it in 53 which didn't make sense, where it was probably her purchase from him in 53! But was it a B or a C, I have seen BOTH listed!!!???

kennsmithf2g · **Posted:** Thu Sep 24, 2009 5:28 pm

Sorry for my typo. The curse of chubby fingers and too little sleep............
Kenn

Holedigger · **Posted:** Thu Sep 24, 2009 7:19 pm

Just a mild fever of F105!

T J Johansen · **Posted:** Fri Sep 25, 2009 4:33 am

B-17 Buff! wrote:

I assume the aircraft was destroyed if Cook bailed out, any idea when this was TJ?!

The plot thickens...!

According to the article linked to by sledge39 http://www.northwardcontrail.com/2008/0 ... ictur.html the 51 crashed in Kansas in 1955. I have no better info regarding the timeframe as of today.

T J

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