UPDATE: This Jeepster photo is making the rounds on Facebook; this post provides a little more info.
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Posted December 24, 2020: This article provides more information about this stunt Jeepster and plane. It was published in the March 20, 1949, issue of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram:
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Originally Published Dec 8, 2012:
The Sunkist Lady was an Aeronca 15AC Sedan airplane flown by Dick Riedel and Bill Barris used to set a world-record for endurance flight. They spent a total of 1008 hours and 2 minutes aboard the airplane, ending their flight in April of 1949. Unfortunately for them, their record was broken six months later.
What makes this relevant for jeep fans was that to keep the plan in the air, the crew used Jeepsters borrowed from local dealers to race down the airport runway so the crew could hand fuel and food to the two pilots.
Thanks to Colin for forwarding the story!
Here is a link to a story and a video about the flight (124 MB): http://www.cityoffullerton.com/depts/airport/the_sunkist_lady.asp
Here is a second article: http://vintageairphotos.blogspot.com/2012/03/saga-of-sunkist-lady.html. The picture below is from that article.
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