Cosmic Winds

[AiRick]

Some early photos:

[Red]

Re: Cosmic Winds

Really loving these old photos......please keep them coming!!

[AiRick]

Re: Cosmic Winds

please keep them coming!!

Will Do.....

[Idaho_cowpony]

Re: Cosmic Winds

Neat photos!

By chance, and a rare glimpse, that looks like the week-tip of P-51D-10-NA, 44-14377, NX33699. Race #90, "Magic Town", correct? Would love to see a few more photos of that one.

Thomas Call purchased the aircraft, and hired Joe DeBona to fly the racer in the 1947 Bendix cross-country race, between Van Nuys, California, and Cleveland Ohio. Debona finished 2nd, at a staggering 458mph! Pretty dern fast for those days.




Joseph

[AiRick]

Re: Cosmic Winds

My Father and his Brother got the airplane ready for the Benix race. He also flew it home from Cleveland back to Van Nuys, he said he had some sort of speed record coming home.

[Idaho_cowpony]

Re: Cosmic Winds

Thanks for the photos! Such a pretty pony.
A while back, I could not resist, so I put a representation of 'Magic Town', into my Microsoft Flight Sim.



Joseph

[AiRick]

Re: Cosmic Winds

Looks Nice! Talking about Thomas Call he flew this (photo below) FG-1D in the Bendix in '47. I did not know he had owned the plane. Also about Magic Town I had asked my father if he had meet Jimmy Stewart because of the relationship with that airplane. He said no that Stewart had nothing to do with the plane that only got the RKO to advertise for support. Funny but later I heard that Joe DeBona and Stewart were friends and he flew a P51 of Stewards later, maybe the aircraft that DaBona won in '49? but then I had heard that was Jacqueline Cochran's? There are many people that are experts about things like this ...hopefully someone that has that info can correct me.

[Big_Jim]

Re: Cosmic Winds

Looks Nice! Talking about Thomas Call he flew this (photo below) FG-1D in the Bendix in '47. I did not know he had owned the plane. Also about Magic Town I had asked my father if he had meet Jimmy Stewart because of the relationship with that airplane. He said no that Stewart had nothing to do with the plane that only got the RKO to advertise for support. Funny but later I heard that Joe DeBona and Stewart were friends and he flew a P51 of Stewards later, maybe the aircraft that DaBona won in '49? but then I had heard that was Jacqueline Cochran's? There are many people that are experts about things like this ...hopefully someone that has that info can correct me.

DeBona had a P-51C named Thunderbird that he was contending the '48 Bendix with but ran out of gas in sight of the airport in Celveland. He won the following year. That airplane was flown by DeBona but sponsored by Jimmy Stewart.

I don't think Jackie Cochran a plane in the '49 Bendix. She and her husband Floyd Odlum were too wrapped up in the Beguine that year on the Thompson. I believe, however, that Jackie Cochran flew Thunderbird to the 15km speed record.

The photos are not 'mine', but rather part of my collection...so if anyone knows the photographer, please be so kind as to let me know so I can give credit.

[AiRick]

Re: Cosmic Winds

Thanks Big Jim...Question were there 2 planes called thunderbird back then? here is another photo of "Magic"

[Big_Jim]

Re: Cosmic Winds

There have only been two Bendix/Thompson/Unlimited planes to be called Thunderbird--Joe DeBona's '49 Bendix winner and Lefty Gardner's '76 Reno winner.

[stuntflyr]

Re: Cosmic Winds

I read that Jimmy Stewart flew a black wet-winged P-51 between Los Angeles and Ft. Worth when he was doing the movie Strategic Air Command. Number 90?
Chris...

[AiRick]

Re: Cosmic Winds

I read that Jimmy Stewart flew a black wet-winged P-51 between Los Angeles and Ft. Worth when he was doing the movie Strategic Air Command. Number 90?
Chris...

Well both Thunderbird and Magic Town were #90 but I would lean toward Thunderbird with the Cochran and Debona relationship. From Torch mag :In addition to his military flying, Stewart bought a war surplus P-51 and, along with a pilot friend, Joe De Bona, spent hours modifying it for the Bendix Transcontinental Air Race. On their third attempt, with Joe De Bona flying, they won the race and set a Bendix record for propeller-driven aircraft.
After retiring from the Air Force in 1968, Stewart continued to fly small pri- vate airplanes. He stopped flying in 1981.
“I gave up my beloved little Piper Su- per Cub,” he said, “because my hearing was failing. I miss it. I had 45 years
of flying, and I guess that’s long enough. I had a good run.”

[Leo]

Re: Cosmic Winds

On a talk show many years ago, both Stewart and his wife talked about his Cub. They had a place in the desert somewhere, and she drove while he flew. They would pack up and she would take him to the airport, wave him off and head out in the car.
She would arrive at their vacation home, unpack and have lunch fixed before he flew in...