What-Where-When #223 / 'Sunkist Lady' & Jeepster / Miami, FL / 1949

[Otto Puzzell]

Tell me what this car is (easy), and the circumstances (what are they doing, where, and when) represented in this photo.

Only a complete answer will earn a point!  

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[Otto Puzzell]

Up

[sixtee5cuda]

In 1949, an Aeronca airplane called The Sunkist Lady set a record for non-stop flight of 42 days.  The effort was sponsored by the Fullerton, California Chamber of Commerce.  The flight went from California to Florida and back.  Upon arrival in California, The Sunkist Lady would then stay aloft over the Fullerton airport, until the old record was broken.

They were accompanied on their flight by a similar aircraft containing their ground crew.  At airports along their route, the ground crew would land, and board Willys Jeepsters.  When the Sunkist lady slowly passed over the airport, the ground crew race along the runway in the Jeepsters, and hand up 3-gallon cans of gasoline and food supplies.

They broke a record set in 1939.  Their record only lasted 6 months.

The pilots of the Sunkist Lady were Dick Riedel and Bill Barris.

[Otto Puzzell]

Wow - how did you find that so quickly?

You're most of the way there; you've not hit upon the specific 'where' of this puzzle picture.

[sixtee5cuda]

The picture was taken at the airport runway in Miami.  The pilots from California had been flying continuously for 168 hours.

I searched for "airplane jeepster" for a while when it was a rookie puzzle, without much success.  I decided to try again when it showed up as an Expert puzzle.  The successful search phrase was "Fullerton California Jeepster" (I finally was able to figure out what it said on the side of the plane).

The article from the City of Fullerton didn't include your picture.  I just found a small version of the puzzle image, indicating the location.

[Otto Puzzell]

Well done!

I have more information to post on this, that I hope everyone will enjoy. Stand by...

[Otto Puzzell]

Here is a short movie about this plane, the pilots, and those Jeepsters

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaxixfiHdGM