If you do a web search on Walt Disney's Airplane you are likely to find a series of stories about the Grumman G-159 Gulfstream, tail number N234MM, which ended up on the backstage tour at Walt Disney World. While that's part of a story of Walt's love of aviation, it's neither the beginning nor the end.
Vin Fiz Model EX
Walt’s interest in aviation started early. Becky Cline, Director of the Walt Disney Archives was interviewed for an article in Aircraft International News and said that Walt was intrigued by aviation as early as age 10. In 1911, he and his brother Roy ran two miles to see Calbraith Perry Rodgers land the Vin Fiz Wright Flyer EX in Swope Park in Kansas City during its first transcontinental flight.
Ed Ovalle, senior archivist at Walt Disney Archives, explained that several years later, “Walt was in Paris at the end of World War I and while touring the town, he spotted a French military airplane sitting in a field. “He wanted to take a flight, but the officers told him it was only for French military personnel.” Walt he related the story later on, he said, “But 50 francs I had saved up made a French aviation mechanic wink at the law, and I had my thirst to fly satisfied for the first time.”
Plane Crazy Mickey
You can't overlook the significance of Plane Crazy, which was the first Mickey Mouse cartoon which first screened on May 15, 1928 and was released with sound on March 17, 1929.
Walt's first house at Smoke Tree Ranch in Palm Springs was a 125 mile drive from Holmby Hills, which in those days could take three hours. Walt loved his time there, taking Lilly on early morning horseback rides which ended with a ranch style breakfast in the desert where their neighbors - who called themselves "colonists" - would sit together at long picnic tables, enjoying pancakes and eggs in the fresh morning air.
There had to be a better way to get to Smoke Tree and Woolie Reitherman, one of Disney's Nine Old Men, literally had just the ticket. He was a founding member of Sky Roamers Air Travel, a flying club located at Lockheed Air Terminal, now known as Bob Hope Airport. Woolie suggested that Walt would save time if he flew to Smoke Tree Ranch and made arrangements for Chuck Malone - another flying club member - to be Walt's pilot. Chuck's flying skills would prove very useful to Walt later in a number of ways, contributing to the development of both Disneyland and Walt Disney World. Chuck eventually became Walt's chief pilot, flying him around the country, over central Florida and the El Morro fortress in San Juan, Puerto Rico, where Walt remarked that it had the perfect look for Pirates of the Caribbean.
Imagineer Bob Gurr recalled how Walt decided to get his own airplane. On one of Walt's trips to Palm Springs, Frank Sinatra's plane - probably his LearJet 50 - was parked on the tarmac. One of Walt's grandchildren asked why he didn't have one too. Walt had Buzz Price look into the financials, which showed that it could be a sound business decision. Roy Disney thought it was a bad idea, so in in typical fashion, Walt countered by saying: "Well, I've got a little money; I'll do it myself." Walt ordered an eight passenger Beechcraft Queen Air Model 80. With a top speed of 247 mph, a list price of $135,000 and the tail number N123MM. It became Walt's first airplane in February of 1963.
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| Beechcraft Queen Air Model 80, tail number N123MM |
Nine months later, on November 22, 1963, the day of John F. Kennedy's assassination, Walt, Buzz Price, Joe Fowler, Donn Tatum, Jack Sayers and Card Walker were on a flying tour which took them to St. Louis, Niagara Falls, the Baltimore-Washington, D.C. area and central Florida, not far from where Walt's family had once lived. Their aircraft was N799G, a loaner Gulfstream from Pacific Airmotive in Burbank.
They toured Ocala by car and saw the Citrus Tower in Clermont. It was while looking out the aircraft's windows at thousands of undeveloped acres near the intersection of the Florida Turnpike and Interstate 4 that Walt looked down and said; "That's it!"- selecting the location for the Florida Project.
The Gulfstream is larger than a DC-3 and has a six foot high main cabin. In the executive configuration it seats 8 in spacious comfort. Walt ordered one, which had received the tail number N732G on September 4, 1963.
Grumman had decided to re-enter the business aviation market a decade earlier, choosing a low wing design with twin turboprop engines supplied by Rolls Royce. The result was a sleek, fast, efficient aircraft on the leading edge of the current aviation technology. Grumman had decades of experience designing and building some of the most rugged and reliable military aircraft in the world and applied that experience to the Gulfstream. Even lacking today's modern flight control systems, it was a pleasure to fly. Forty years later, it is still a head-turner with impressive performance. The ground breaking Dart 529 engines produce over 2000 horsepower each, 66% more than the most powerful engines on a DC-3 and four times that of the Queen Air. The Dart was the first turboprop engine used in commercial air transport, also powering the Vickers Viscount and the even longer lived Fokker F-27.
The Gulfstream was a significant step up from the Queen Air; cruising at 350 mph at up to 30,000 feet, the G-1 was well suited for carrying executives and staff working on the World's Fair project in New York.
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| Pacific Airmotive Postcard ca. 1960's |
Grumman would eventually build 200 of the G-159s. Walt's airplane was serial number 121. She was assigned the tail number N732G on September 4th, 1963. Seven Three Two Golf was ready for final inspection on November 11th and received an airworthiness certification, registration and first bill of sale on December 6, 1963, the day after Walt's birthday. It remains a one-owner aircraft to this day.
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| Walt and Guests on board a "loaner" G-159 |
By March 1964 the special interior furnishings which Disney ordered were complete. In December, Grumman Service Change #175, added 1700 pounds to the fuel capacity. That increased the maximum range with reserves to 2540 miles, allowing direct flights from Burbank to Orlando with a 45 minute safety margin.
At one time N234MM was the most highly utilized Gulfstream I in the country, accumulating over 18,500 hours and 8500 landings by August of 1991.
After twenty years of service, it had its final flight on October 8, 1992. This is the plane you used to see on the backstage tour at Walt Disney World. It was moved backstage, to a site near the Walt Disney World waste treatment facility. In 2022 it was put on display at D23 and then moved to the Palm Springs Air Museum for restoration.
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| N234MM @ WDW Facilities |
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| Gulfstream G-159 with Factory livery as N732G |
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| The Boss |
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| "The Mouse" Arrives at WDW, October 8th, 1992 |
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| King Air Model C90 N234MM, Walt and Family at Pacific Airmotive in Burbank |
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| Beechcraft sales photo and King Air Model from Walt's Office |
The King Air could carrying 10 passengers, including a flight crew of two. It was also a step up from the Queen Air, being powered by a pair of Pratt and Whitney PT-6 Turboprop engines and capable of cruising at 270 mph at 23,000 feet. Fully equipped, its list price was $320,000.
The Queen Air was traded in on a new tan and brown turboprop Beechcraft King Air Model 90 using the N234MM tail number from the Queen Air. The King Air was fast and quiet, but we found that the Gulfstream could get in and out of smaller airports just as easy as the King Air. So Disney did not keep the King Air for long. Thus, the Gulfstream eventually ended up with the N234MM tail number.
(Note; FAA records indicate that the King Air was sold and Gulfstream N732G became N234MM on September 20, 1967.)
(Note; FAA records indicate that the King Air was sold and Gulfstream N732G became N234MM on September 20, 1967.)
Bob Gurr said the Disney pilots originally used "two three four Metro Metro" as their radio call sign. Then they started trying 'two three four Mickey Mouse' - which was not a standard ICAO Aircraft call. Soon the FAA enroute controllers were also calling it "Mickey Mouse." Bob thinks other corporate pilots were probably jealous of the special treatment.
Regarding the love of flying, Chuck Malone recalled that Walt wanted to fly very much. Evidence of that comes from a special project Walt gave to Bob Gurr; the design of a folding jump seat that could be placed in the cabin center aisle, just behind the cockpit, so Walt could sit there and watch during take-offs.
Walt had his own personal seat in the back, with an altimeter and air speed indicator on the wall and a telephone direct to the pilot. Walt contributed to the plane's interior design and his wife, Lillian, assisted in selecting the fabrics and colors.
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| Gulfstream N234MM Cabin Interior looking aft |
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| Cabin Altitude, Clock and Airspeed indicators on Walt's office desk. |
Although Walt never got a pilot's license, he frequently sat in the co-pilot's seat. Chuck Malone felt confident that if he had been incapacitated, Walt could have gotten the plane back on the ground. One problem was that Walt always liked to fly as low as possible, to study the landscape. That caused some consternation with Disney's insurance company. When challenged about it, Walt protested; "The copilot's seat is the best seat in the airplane... if they don't like it, I'll get myself another insurance company!"
Walt was finally able to convince Roy that a plane was a useful tool for the company and not just an executive perk. In typical fashion, Walt planned a trip to Northern California, then on to Sun Valley for Roy and his wife Edna, Lilly and himself. Midway thru the flight Walt talked Roy into taking over the role of navigator. Having served as a navigator in the Navy in World War I, Roy responded with enthusiasm and by the end of the flight Roy had been converted.
In the book, Walt Disney: An American Original, Bob Thomas wrote:
"Walt took delight in planning each trip, plotting the itinerary on maps in his office over his evening Scotch. When passengers arrived at the plane's home base at Lockheed Airport, he loaded their luggage aboard. During the flight, he served the drinks and supervised the galley. For years, Walt had yearned to pilot a plane, and on occasion, the company pilot, Chuck Malone, allowed Walt to take over the controls. Walt insisted that Ron Miller and Bob Brown learn how to land the plane in case of emergency when they were flying with their families. After Chuck Malone became ill while piloting the plane alone, Walt established the rule that two pilots would be required during all flights."
Regarding Walt's interest in aviation, Lillian commented;
"We used to go to the airport and stand and watch planes land. Our first plane was a little one. We had one pilot. Walt said he wanted all his sons-in-law and everybody to learn to fly that plane. But after he had been up in it two or three times, he said, 'I don't want you to touch it. That's a business all its own. Keep away from it. We'll get pilots to fly that plane."
Lillian hesitated to take any risks and disapproved strongly of Walt's desire to fly. One time, Walt was in the cockpit and pilot Jim Stevenson let him have the microphone. Walt announced: "This is your captain speaking." Lillian left her seat and was heading towards the cabin when Walt boomed over the mic: "No, not the captain. This is the commander in chief of the whole damned outfit!"
As the Disney Company grew, so did the need for long distance executive travel. It established an in-house fight department named Earth Star Incorporated which has operated Gulfstream G650's, a G550 and a Bombardier CL-600 with tail numbers N100ES, N200ES, N400ES and N900ES.
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| Gulfstream G650 tail number N100ES |
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| Bombardier CL-600 tail number N400ES |
If you have at least 5 years experience as a Jet Captain with an FAR Part 91 or 135 Operator, are current and qualified as a Pilot-in-Command in a multi-engine business jet aircraft, with at least 4000 hours total flying time with 2000 hours in multi-engine turbojets, hold current FAA Airline Transport Pilot and First Class Medical Certificates with at least one type rating in a business jet, you might just have the right stuff.
