P-51 Mustang known for records and famous owners | News, Sports, Jobs

Thunderbird, a P-51C now owned by pilot Warren Pietsch, one of the founders and board members of the Minot Air Museum, has set flight records and still holds five speed records. It has been owned by celebrities including actor and World War II bomber pilot Jimmy Stewart and aviation pioneer Jackie Cochran, who set flight records.

Pietsch bought the plane in 1999 in Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Only later did he learn that the plane he had purchased was a Thunderbird.

He said the plane crashed in 1955.

“There wasn’t much left – just a few pieces,” he said.

Thunderbird features aircrew members from the Bendix Air Race painted on it. The previous owner, the late actor and World War II pilot Jimmy Stewart, had the names painted on the side to honor them for their work.

He spent the past few years collecting parts and organizing a restoration project, then commissioned AirCorps Aviation in Bemidji, Minnesota, to undertake the restoration work.

Owning a P-51 Mustang had long been a dream of Pietsch.

“When I was ten, I painted a picture of a P-51 on my bedroom wall and even then I started dreaming about one,” he said.

He said that about two years after the project began, during his research he discovered that the aircraft was a Thunderbird and learned the significant history of the project.

Pietsch told some of the history of the aircraft and said that Joe De Bona was a ferry pilot during World War II, transporting fighter planes and bombers across both oceans.

The propeller blades of the P-51C Thunderbird glitter in the sunlight.

“After the war, he became a real estate agent in California, but he always dreamed of winning the Bendix Air Race. The Bendix Air Race was started in the early 1930s and was basically a race sponsored by the Bendix Corporation to prove the reliability and ability of aviation to continue to improve it. The race ran from the bed of Rosamond Dry Lake (near present-day Edwards Air Force Base in California) to Cleveland, Ohio.” he said.

He said De Bona entered the race in 1947 in another Mustang and then he and Stewart got together, with Stewart owning De Bona's racing team and sponsoring the plane.

“Thunderbird entered the race in 1948, but (De Bona) arrived 60 miles from the finish line. He was in the lead, but he ran out of gas.” said Pietsch. “In 1949 he took part in the race again and won it. This fulfilled his dream of winning the race.”

He said Stewart flew the Thunderbird but never raced it.

“Jimmy Stewart then sold the plane to Jackie Cochran, who was also a World War II veteran. She was commander of the WASPS – Women's Airforce Service Pilots. She was a record holder. She had won the Bendix before the war and bought this Mustang because it was the fastest Mustang on the market. She paid Jimmy Stewart a dollar for it and set three records that still stand today.” said Pietsch.

He said the Bendix race, which De Bona won, set a new speed record for piston-engined aircraft. The record still stands because the Thunderbird was the last piston-engined aircraft to win a Bendix race.

Pietsch said Cochran then sold the plane back to Jimmy Stewart for a dollar. Then Jimmy Stewart sold it back to the Joe De Bona Racing Team. Joe DeBona then used it to set a transcontinental speed record from Los Angeles to New York,” Pietsch said.

The aircraft has greater historical significance due to its participation in the coronation ceremony for Queen Elizabeth II on June 2, 1953.

Arrangements were made to fly footage of the coronation ceremonies across the Atlantic to Newfoundland. From there, Stewart's Thunderbird plane flew the film to Boston on the day of the coronation.

“This was the first time in history that an event that took place in Europe was televised in the United States on the same day. Thunderbird was an important part of that history because these films were transmitted so that they could be broadcast,” said Pietsch.

“The aircraft still holds five speed records – two of which were set by Joe De Bona, three by Jackie Cochran. It was also the coronation record for Queen Elizabeth II.” he added.

He said the plane was then sold to James Cook of Texas, who owned a weather modification company. During Cook's ownership, the plane crashed north of Scottsbluff, Nebraska. Pietch found the plane in that area and began researching its history.

“When I found out it was Jimmy Stewart's plane and it held all those records, I decided I'd better paint it back the way it crossed the finish line in 1949. It looks like the day it won the race,” he said of the aircraft's cobalt blue paintwork.

The aircraft took part in the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh air show in Wisconsin last year.

“We were in a great hurry to finish the plane, and when we arrived in Oshkosh, the paint was still drying. You could still smell the fumes rising from the paint,” said Pietsch. “It was a big hit in Oshkosh and it was a big hit in Reno (Air Races) last year. We had it in Reno for a week and it flew in the show there.”

Pietsch was in contact with the Jimmy Stewart Museum in Indiana, Pennsylvania, where Stewart was born and grew up and where his grandfather opened a hardware store.

“On May 20th next year, Jimmy Stewart's birthday, the museum will celebrate its 30th anniversary. I think I'll take the plane there and put it on display for a few days. They asked me to bring it.” said Pietsch.

“It has a tremendous racing history. It is a very famous aircraft in the racing world,” said Pietsch about his P-51C Mustang.