‘Thunderbird’ Is the Most Famous P-51 You’ve Never Seen
It’s a vintage Mustang, and it was flown by famous pilots, too.
The P-51C, ‘Thunderbird.’ [Credit: Stephen Yeates]
It is often said you do not actually own an airplane, you are merely its caretaker for a given amount of time. This is especially true of older aircraft, the so-called vintage machines that come into your life as a pile of parts and are slowly and painstakingly restored to their former glory.
The P-51C known as Thunderbird is one of these airplanes. Thunderbird made its EAA AirVenture debut this year, following a 24-year restoration.
Warren Pietsch took ownership of it in 1999 when it was, in his words, “a pile of parts.” Pietsch thought he had purchased a damaged P-51A, but examination of the parts and some research revealed he was in possession of a P-51C that belonged to and had been flown by actor-turned-World-War-II-bomber-pilot Jimmy Stewart. In 1949, Thunderbird came in first at the Bendix Trophy transcontinental race and set several speed records.
At one point, it was owned by Jacqueline “Jackie” Cochran, the founder of the Women's Airforce Service Pilots and the first woman to break the sound barrier. Cochran flew it on several record-setting flights then sold the airplane back to Stewart.
Pietsch, who comes from a family of aviators and mechanics, spent more than a decade gathering parts for the restoration. But he didn’t have the time to finish the project, so he turned it over to AirCorps Aviation in Bemidji, Minnesota. AirCorps Aviation is known in the warbird community for award-winning restorations. Thunderbird was returned to airworthy status, making its first flight in more than 50 years just weeks before AirVenture at the end of July in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
The airplane now belongs to the Dakota Territory Air Museum in Minot, North Dakota.
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