Thunderbird takes off!

AirCorps Aviation of Bemidji (MN) did it again. Their latest restoration project, North American P-51C N5528N (c/n 2925) took off for its first post restoration flight on 6 June 2023. It happened within three weeks after the first flight of a restored Republic P-47 Thunderbolt on which event Scramble reported on 15 May.

Named ‘Thunderbird’ the P-51 is an American celebrity. On 3 September 1949 owners Joe De Bona & Jimmy Stewart win the final Bendix Trophy Race. Piloting Thunderbird (race #90) De Bona won the 2,008 mile (3,231.6 kilometers) race to Cleveland, Ohio in an elapsed time of 4:16:17.5, averaging 470.136 miles per hour.

On 29 December 1949 pilot Jackie Cochran flew it to two Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (FAI) World Records and a U.S. National Aeronautic Association record, with an average speed of 703.275 kilometers per hour (436.995 miles per hour).

Mustang Thunderbird is, like the earlier mentioned Thunderbolt, also destined for the Dakota Territory Air Museum in North Hill (MN). Some have all the luck!

Photos: AirCorps Aviation (in flight) and Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (female pilot Jackie Cochran in front of record breaking Thunderbird)