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