Joe De Bona -- pilot, 1954

Joe De Bona -- pilot, March 16 1954. James Stewart -- actor & owner of plane;Handout.;Supplementary material reads: 'Press Release. Bernie Williams-Kay Mulvey, 1508 Crossroads of the World, Hollywood 28, California, HOllywood 2-7401. Speed pilot Joe DeBona and screen star James Stewart's F-51 Mustang plane, are poised for another try at the world's cross country non-stop record for propeller driven planes. The right prevailing winds will be the signal for DeBona's second onslaught against the present record of four hours, fifty-three minutes held by Paul Mantz. Stewart and DeBona are confident they will better this mark now that 'Mr Alex' (named after Jim's father) has a large Merlin Rolls Royce engine with 2240 horsepower. DeBona, flying Stewart's Mustang, set a cross country record of five hours, five seconds in 1949. This was broken in 1950 and DeBona and Stewart are ready to bring the record back. Joe Katona is the chief engineer'.. (Photo by Los Angeles Examiner/USC Libraries/Corbis via Getty Images)