This is the same airplane in which Jackie Cochran won the 1938 Bendix Trophy Race.
¹ FAI Record File Number 12025.
© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes
6 April 1940
Tag Archives: National Aeronautic Association
29 March 1949
On 29 March 1949, the North American Aviation P-51C Mustang, NX5528N, Thunderbird, with Joe Claiborne DeBona in the cockpit, took off from the Lockheed Air Terminal, Burbank, California, at 6:20:50 a.m., Pacific Standard Time (13:20:50 UTC) and flew across the North American continent to land at LaGuardia Airport in New York City at 2:20:50 p.m., Eastern Standard Time (18:20:55 UTC).
This flight was timed by Fred H. Wilkerson of the National Aeronautic Association, at 5 hours, 0 minutes, 5 seconds. The official distance flown was 2,453.085 statute miles (3,947.858 kilometers), with an average speed of 490.625 miles per hour (789.584 kilometers per hour). This established a new U.S. national speed record.
When interviewed after his cross-country flight, DeBona was quoted as saying:
“I had a couple of scares,” DeBona admitted. “Over Akron, Ohio, I began losing oil pressure. The gauge showed a pressure of 20 when it should have read a normal 70. I thought the ball game was over right then but we kept on.
“Then, above Sunbury, Pennsylvania, I ran out of oxygen. Now I was really scared. I dove to 17,000 and stayed there. Just as I was approaching LaGuardia, a porst-side canopy window cracked like a pistol shot but did no damage. I was coming into the field at 600 miles an hour so I couldn’t afford any serious trouble.”
—Daily News, Vol. 30, No. 238, 30 March 1949, Page 2C, Column 4
Joe DeBona had made two prior unsuccessful transcontinental record attempts with Thunderbird. On March 6, he was forced to land at Smoky Hill Air Force Base, Salina, Kansas. (Some contemporary news reports said that the problem was a fuel pump, while others said it was an oil pump.) On 24 March, Thunderbird‘s propeller governor failed near Pueblo, Colorado. DeBona aborted the attempt and returned to Burbank, California.
Joe DeBona had purchased NX5528N from Leland H. Cameron, 7 April 1948. The airplane had been assembled from salvaged parts of other Mustangs. The earliest document in the airplane’s file with the Federal Aviation Administration (successor to the Civil Aeronautics Authority), Form ACA 132, contains the hand-written notation, “no service no.” The document states, “THIS AIRCRAFT WAS ASSEMBLED FROM COMPONENTS OF OTHER AIRCRAFT OF THE SAME TYPE.” The aircraft is designated on the form as a North American P-51C, Serial No. 2925. It was registered to the Joe De Bona Racing Co., which was owned by Academy Award-winning actor and World War II bomber pilot, James Maitland (“Jimmy”) Stewart.
On 31 August 1948, following an airworthiness inspection, C.A.A. Inspector Homer L. Stamets issued an original Airworthiness Certificate to NX5528N. The “Experimental” classification was used as there was no civil Type Certificate for North American’s P-51 fighters, and the C.A.A. had not tested or accepted the aircraft for any civilian use. The Experimental classification placed severe restrictions on De Bona’s use of Thunderbird. In the Operations Authorized section of the certificate it states, “Certificated for the purpose of Racing and Exhibition flights only; flights limited to the Continental limits of the UNITED STATES. Flights prohibited over thickly populated areas or large gatherings of people.” The certificate was valid for one year.
Originally assembled with a Packard V-1650-3 engine, this was changed to a V-1650-7 for the 1949 racing season. DeBona flew Thunderbird in the Bendix Trophy Race, winning first place with an average speed of 470.136 miles per hour (756.611 kilometers per hour).
Jimmy Stewart sold Thunderbird to Jackie Cochran, 19 December 1949. On that same day, she flew the Mustang to set an FAI world speed record. She set another FAI record with NX5528N in 1951. In 1953, she sold Thunderbird back to Stewart.
Stewart changed the Mustang’s paint scheme and renamed it Mr. Alex, in honor of his father, Alexander Maitland Stewart.
After changing hands again, N5528N was destroyed in a crash 15 miles (24 kilometers) north-northeast of Morrill, Nebraska, 22 June 1955.¹
¹ Please see “This Day in Aviation” at: https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/22-june-1955/
© 2025, Bryan R. Swopes
24 March 1939
A National Aeronautic Association official, Larry Therkelson, took the recording barograph from the airplane and sent it to the N.A.A. headquarters in Washington, D.C., for certification. The record had previously been held by Ruth Rowland Nichols.²
“Were I to make the simple statement that I climbed to an altitude of thirty-three thousand feet, that statement in and of itself would mean nothing because I have often gone higher than that. But when I add that I did this in 1937 in a fabric-covered biplane without heating, without pressurization and without an oxygen mask, the elements of an accomplishment are added. I nearly froze; the pipestem between my teeth through which I tried to get an oxygen supply from a tank and connecting tube was inadequate for the purpose, and I became so disoriented through lack of oxygen that it took over an hour to get my bearings and make a landing. The difference between the pressure my body was accustomed to on the ground and the atmospheric pressure at 33,000 feet was such that a blood vessel in my sinus ruptured. All this was a part of the cumulative evidence that led up to cabin pressurization and and mandatory use of the oxygen mask above certain altitudes.”
— The Stars at Noon, by Jacqueline Cochran, Little, Brown and Company, Boston, 1954, Chapter IV at Pages 61–62.
According to the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission, Jackie Cochran “. . . set more speed and altitude records than any other pilot.”
The “Staggerwing” was a single-engine, four-place biplane with an enclosed cabin and retractable landing gear, flown by a single pilot. The basic structure was a welded tubular steel framework, with wood formers and stringers. The wings and tail surfaces were built of wood spars and ribs. The airplane was covered with doped fabric, except the cabin and engine, which were covered in sheet metal.
The D17W was 26 feet, 15/32 inch (8.0677 meters) long with a wingspan of 32 feet, 0 inches (9.754 meters) and overall height of 8 feet, 0 inches (2.438 meters). It had an empty weight of 2,553 pounds (1,158 kilograms) and loaded weight of 4,200 pounds (1,905 kilograms).
While most biplanes had staggered wings, the Staggerwing was unusual in having negative stagger. (The upper wing was “staggered” aft of the lower wing.) This not only increased the pilot’s field of vision, but improved the airplane’s stability in a stall. The leading edge of the Model 17 upper wing was 2 feet, 1–19/32 inches (0.65008 meters) aft of the lower wing. The leading edges had 0° 0′ sweep. Both wings had an angle of incidence of 5° 5′. The upper wing had no dihedral, but the lower wing had +1°. The mean vertical gap between the wings was 5 feet (1.52 meters), and the chord of both wings was 5 feet, 0 inches (1.524 meters). The total wing area was 269.5 square feet (25.04 square meters). The horizontal stabilizer had 0° incidence, while the vertical fin was offset 0° 43′ to the left of the airplane’s centerline.
The Staggerwing was offered with a selection of engines of different displacements and horsepower ratings. The standard Beechcraft D17S was equipped with an air-cooled, supercharged, 986.749-cubic-inch-displacement (16.170 liters) Pratt & Whitney Wasp Jr. A, a direct-drive nine-cylinder radial engine producing 300 horsepower at 2,000 r.p.m at Sea Level.
The D17W had a maximum speed of 235 miles per hour (378 kilometers per hour) at 13,500 feet (4,115 meters). Its fuel capacity was 120 gallons (454 liters). It could climb at a maximum rate of 2,500 feet per minute (12.7 meters per second) and had a service ceiling of 30,000 feet (9,144 meters).
Jackie Cochran flew this same D17W, NR18562, in the 1937 Bendix Trophy Race, held 3 September 1937. She finished in third place with an elapsed time of 10 hours, 29 minutes, 8 seconds, averaging 194.740 miles per hour (313.404 kilometers per hour). She won a $5,500 prize.
Max Arthur Constant flew Miss Cochran’s Staggerwing in the 1938 Bendix Trophy Race. He finished in fourth place with an elapsed time of 10 hours, 14 minutes, 39 seconds, averaging 199.330 miles per hour (320.791 kilometers per hour).
Beechcraft D17W c/n 164, was impressed into military service at Tarrant Field, Texas, 12 March 1943. Assigned to the United States Army Air Corps, it was given the designation UC-43K Traveler and Air Corps serial number 42-107277. It was turned over to the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, 22 November 1944, for sale to the civil market. The airplane was now powered by a 971.930-cubic-inch displacement (15.927 liter) Wright R-975-5 Whirlwind nine-cylinder radial and was redesignated Beechcraft D17R. The Staggerwing was sold to the Carver Pump Company, Muscatine, Iowa, and registered NC50958.
The record-setting Beechcraft Staggerwing crashed at Avenger Field, Sweetwater, Texas, 15 December 1945.
¹ This is not the same D17W that Jackie Cochran used to set A U.S. National Speed records, 26 and 29 July 1937. Please see TDiA at: https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/26-july-1937/
² FAI Record File Number 12228: 8,761 meters (28,743 feet), 6 March 1931. Please see TDiA at: https://www.thisdayinaviation.com/6-march-1931/
© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes
6 March 1990
6 March 1990: On its final flight, Lieutenant Colonel Raymond E. (“Ed”) Yeilding and Lieutenant Colonel Joseph T. (“J.T.”) Vida established four National Aeronautic Association and three Fédération Aéronautique Internationale speed records with a Lockheed SR-71A Blackbird, U.S. Air Force serial number 61-7972.
Departing Air Force Plant 42 (PMD) at Palmdale, California, Yeilding and Vida headed offshore to refuel from a Boeing KC-135Q Stratotanker so that the Blackbird’s fuel tanks would be full before beginning their speed run. 972 entered the “west gate,” a radar reference point over Oxnard on the southern California coast, then headed east to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) at Washington, D.C.
The transcontinental flight, a distance of 2,404.05 statute miles (3,868.94 kilometers), took 1 hour, 7 minutes, 53.69 seconds, for an average of 2,124.51 miles per hour (3,419.07 kilometers per hour).
Intermediate closed-course records were also established: Los Angeles to Washington, D.C., 2,299.67 miles (3,700.96 kilometers), 1:04:19.89, averaging 2,144.83 m.p.h (3,451.77 km/h).; Kansas City to Washington, D.C., 942.08 miles (1,516.13 km), 25:58.53, 2,176.08 m.p.h. (3,502.06 km/h); and St. Louis to Cincinnati, 311.44 miles (501.21 km), 8:31.97, 2,189.94 m.p.h. (3,524.37 km/h).
This was 61-7972’s final flight. The total time on its airframe was 2,801.1 hours.
61-7972 is on display at the Steven V. Udvar-Hazy Center, Smithsonian Institution National Air and Space Museum.
© 2016, Bryan R. Swopes
5 March 1962
5 March 1962: Operation Heat Rise. Two Convair B-58 Hustler supersonic bombers from the 65th Bombardment Squadron, 43rd Bombardment Wing, Carswell Air Force Base, Texas, took off at sunrise and headed west to Los Angeles, California. Off the Pacific coast they refueled from a Boeing KC-135A Stratotanker, then headed east at maximum speed. They were to enter a radar starting gate at Los Angeles, but the radar did not pick them up so they returned to the tanker, topped off the fuel tanks again, then proceeded east once again. This time their entry was visually confirmed.
Both B-58s had been assigned a block altitude of Flight Level 250 to Flight Level 500 (between 25,000 and 50,000 feet, or 7,620 to 15,240 meters) by the Federal Aviation Administration, and all other aircraft were cleared from those altitudes along the course. The flight outbound from Los Angeles was at 50,000 feet (15,240 meters) at speeds above Mach 2.
Under normal conditions, the maximum speed of the B-58 was limited to a skin temperature of 115 °C. (239 °F.) to prevent the aluminum honeycomb skin panels from delaminating. For this speed run, Convair engineers had authorized a temperature of 125 °C. (257 °F.), which would allow the two bombers to exceed 1,400 miles per hour (2,253 kilometers per hour). Sensors were placed in the skin to monitor the temperature rise (which gave the operation its name: “Heat Rise”).
The first B-58, call sign “Tall Man Five-Five,” had a problem with the navigation radar and had some difficulty locating their tanker, but finally were able to. The B-58s descended to 25,000 feet over Kansas for the third refueling and over a 21-minute period, took on 8,500 gallons (321,760 liters) of fuel, climbed back to 45,000 feet (13,716 meters) and then continued on to New York.
The Cowtown Hustler ¹ crossed the radar gate at New York with an elapsed time of 2:00:58.71 for the West-to-East flight, averaging 1,214.65 miles per hour (1,954.79 kilometers per hour). The second B-58, Tall Man Five-Six, was one minute behind.
Passing New York, the two B-58 Hustlers proceeded over the Atlantic Ocean and rendezvoused with tankers for a fourth aerial refueling, then headed back west to Los Angeles. Shortly after passing New York, Tall Man Five-Six developed mechanical troubles and had to withdraw from the round-trip record attempt.
Once again over Kansas, Cowtown Hustler refueled for a fifth time then continued back to Los Angeles. The East-to-West leg from New York to Los Angeles was completed in an elapsed time of 2:15:50.08, averaging 1,081.81 miles per hour (1,741.00 kilometers per hour).
The total elapsed time, Los Angeles–New York–Los Angeles, was 4 hours, 41 minutes, 14.98 seconds (4:41:14.98), for an average speed of 1,044.97 miles per hour (1,681.71 kilometers per hour). The crew and the airplane established three National Aeronautic Association (NAA) U.S. national records for Speed Over A Recognized Course.
At Los Angeles, the flight crew, Captain Robert G. Sowers, Pilot, Captain Robert MacDonald, Navigator, and Captain John T. Walton, were congratulated by General Thomas S. Power, Chief of Staff, Strategic Air Command, and each airman was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
For the eastbound transcontinental flight, the crew won the Bendix Trophy, and for “the most meritorious flight of the year,” they were also awarded the Mackay Trophy. Their records still stand.
Today, the record-setting, trophy-winning airplane, Convair B-58A-10-CF 59-2458, the Cowtown Hustler, is on display at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.
Later on the same day, Cowtown Hustler‘s sister ship, B-58A-10-CF 59-2459, crashed on takeoff from Carswell AFB. According to an article published in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, “The speedy bomber veered to the right on the takeoff run, slammed through a 10-foot chain link fence and disintegrated atop an ammunition bunker, about 75 yards short of Lake Worth.” Its crew, Captain Robert Eugene Harter, pilot, Captain Jack De Voll Jones, navigator, and First Lieutenant James Thomas McKenzie, defensive systems operator, were killed.² 59-2459 was the eleventh B-58 loss.
The Hustler is 96 feet, 10 inches (29.515 meters) long, with a wing span of 56 feet, 10 inches (17.323 meters) and an overall height of 31 feet 5 inches (9.576 meters). The fuselage incorporates the “area rule” which resulted in a “wasp waist” or “Coke bottle” shape for a significant reduction in aerodynamic drag. The airplane’s only control surfaces are two “elevons” and a rudder, and there are no flaps.
The B-58’s delta wing has a total area of 1,542.5 square feet (143.3 square meters) and the leading edges are swept back at a 60° angle. The wing has an angle of incidence of 3° and 2° 14′ dihedral (outboard of Sta. 56.5).
The B-58A had an empty weight of 51,061 pounds (23161 kilograms), or 53,581 pounds (24,304 kilograms) with the MB-1 pod. The maximum takeoff weight was 158,000 pounds (71,668 kilograms).
The bomber had a cruise speed of 544 knots (626 miles per hour/1,007 kilometers per hour) and a maximum speed of 1,147 knots (1,320 miles per hour/2,124 kilometers per hour/Mach 2.00) at 67,000 feet (20,422 meters). The B-58A had a combat radius of 4,225 nautical miles (4,862 statute miles/7,825 kilometers). Its maximum ferry range was 8,416 nautical miles (9,685 statute miles/15,586 kilometers).
The B-58 weapons load was a combination of Mark 39, B43 or B61 thermonuclear bombs. The weapons could be carried in a jettisonable centerline pod, which also carried fuel. The four of the smaller bombs could be carried on underwing hardpoints. There was a General Electric M61 20 mm rotary cannon mounted in the tail, with 1,200 rounds of ammunition, and controlled by the Defensive Systems Officer.
116 were built and they served the Strategic Air Command until January 1970 when they were sent to Davis-Monthan AFB, Tucson, Arizona for long-term storage.
The 19 minute, 38 second video below is a General Dynamics informational film about Operation Heat Rise. This video clip is longer than the time it took Cowtown Hustler to fly from Los Angeles, California, to the Grand Canyon in Arizona.
¹ “Cowtown” is a nickname for Fort Worth, Texas, where the B-58s were based, as well as several other American cities.
² Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Tuesday, 6 March 1962, Page 1 Column 8, and Page 4, Column 3
© 2019, Bryan R. Swopes