Photo from Disney Fan Club
Walt Disney’s Grumman Gulfstream I was recently celebrated at the Palm Springs Air Museum with a VIP party for the opening of the exhibit for the plane.
Pieces from the interior of “The Mouse” were on display for visitors, including a customized instrument panel that was originally located near Disney’s favorite onboard seat, a telephone headset that he had used to communicate with the pilot and a flight bag with the iconic Mickey Mouse sitting on the tail of the plane. According to Disney, these items will be on long-term loan from the Walt Disney Archives to the museum.
The exhibit opened Monday on what would have been Disney’s 121 birthday.
“We are so happy to have Walt’s plane make a ‘landing’ at the Palm Springs Air Museum, just a few miles from where Walt and his family had vacation homes at Smoke Tree Ranch,” said Walt Disney Archives director Rebecca Cline. “It is the ideal setting for this incredible icon”
Disney got the plane in 1963 with his wife Lillian, and the pair helped to contribute to the design of the interior of the plane. The plane seated up to 15 passengers and was equipped with two couches, a desk, two restrooms and a galley kitchen.
Mickey Mouse was displayed all across the aircraft, from the matchbooks and stationery to the tail number of his plane, N234MM, displaying his initials. In its more than 28 years of service, the plane flew 20,000 hours and transported roughly 83,000 passengers before it was decommissioned.
“The Mouse” timeline
In 1963, Disney and his family along with select company executives took off on a demonstration. This “Project X” mission was meant to scout a new location for development. Disney acquired a personal Gulfstream in 1964. Through flights on the company jet and his personal jet, Disney chose Florida as the location for the new Disney World resort.
For him to oversee operations, Disney said the plane flew about 277,282 miles between Burbank and New York from 1964 to 1965, to oversee the preparations for the New York World’s Fair. This event introduced the iconic “it’s a small world” to a new audience.
According to Disney, he had found inspiration for the popular Pirates of the Caribbean ride while flying over the El Moro fortress in San Juan.
“The Mouse” flew on promotional tours for movies like The Jungle Book (1967). The impressive jet was also a star in its own right, with features in movies from Disney like Now You See Him, Now You Don’t (1972). Celebrities were transported in the jet, including two former U.S. Presidents Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan, as well as Disney stars like Julie Andrews and Annette Funicello, Disney said.
The plane was painted blue and white in 1985, while Disney went on goodwill tours and made frequent character visits to children’s hospitals as a part of the company’s history of giving back, Disney said.
On Oct. 8, 1992, the plane landed at the Disney-MGM Studios and until 2014 was part of the Studio Backlot Tour.
Photo from Walt Disney Archives
“The Mouse” exhibition and exploration
Disney announced plans to display the plane in September and made the restoration announcement at the event Monday. Cline announced that the plane would be restored to how it looked in the 1960s.
“We are so thrilled to partner with the Walt Disney Archives on this amazing restoration project,” Museum Vice Chairman Fred Bell said. “The Palm Springs Air Museum has restored over 60 aircraft in its 26-year history. Phoenix Air Group out of Cartersville, Georgia, has offered to donate any parts we need. Phoenix Air Group is a worldwide provider of aviation services, and at one point, owned and operated 20% of the world fleet of Gulfstream I’s flying at the time.”
RELATED STORY: Walt Disney’s airplane to go on exhibit at the Palm Springs Air Museum
“We know that we have a special responsibility to Walt Disney, to the Archives, and to the millions of Disney fans around the world to do this work as accurately as possible so that the airplane can be enjoyed for decades to come,” Bell said.
Disney said restoration and recreation will take approximately two years.
Contact
Name: Haley Davoren
, Digital Content Manager
Company: Global Air
Website: http://globalair.com
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 502-456-3934
©2022 GlobalAir.com, Haley Davoren. All rights reserved.
prev
next
Recent Comments