A Ghost of World War II
Two generations ago, the P-51 Mustang fighter plane helped turn the tide of World War II. Its lightweight, aluminum frame enabled it to escort bombers all the way from England to any target in Germany and out-duel any fighter it met. Now an El Segundo company is building and plans to market an even lighter and faster P-51.
The new P-51, made of fiberglass-like materials, will weigh 3,100 pounds and fly up to 500 miles per hour, compared to 5,900 pounds and 450 m.p.h. for its aluminum predecessor, said Stu Luce, who is designing and building the plane for Flight Training Devices.
The firm hopes that when the plane is finished early next year it will be the world’s fastest piston-engine propeller plane and able to fly nonstop from Los Angeles to New York. If you want to build your own P-51, Luce said, kits will go for about $125,000.
Coasting Toward True Love
Is there a screenplay here? He lives here; she lives there; they try to get together on weekends. Then Michael S. Dukakis gets involved.
Disney Vice President Marty Kaplan recounts the bicoastal life in an article in Conde Nast’s Traveler magazine. “We knew about our bicoastal problem before we got married,” he writes. “But we were--and remain--convinced that love conquers all. Love’s best ally is the weekend.”
He writes that when they do get together, one or both commute. Their favorite hideaway, he reveals, is a beach bungalow in Negril, Jamaica. Kaplan, who reviews scripts at Disney studios in Burbank, is married to Harvard law professor Susan Estrich, who is better known as national campaign manager for Dukakis.
And what with the California primary campaign coming to an end Tuesday, is there a weekend trip to Negril in the works? “I’m afraid,” Kaplan said regretfully late last week, “our plans for a trip of that kind are post-November.”
Tinkerbell Must Be Ticked
Cheer up Mickey and Donald. During an interview with KIIS-FM radio station deejay Rick Dees last Friday, Walt Disney Co. Chairman Michael D. Eisner was asked if he could be any Disney character who would he select.
Eisner’s response: “Oh, clearly, Goofy.”
The choice did not surprise a Disney spokesman. “That’s entirely fitting with his (Eisner’s) character,” said the spokesman. “Goofy is one of the free spirits.”
Spicing Up the P.R. Package
Things must be getting rough in the engineering and construction business. How else to explain the latest bit of press agentry from Bechtel, the San Francisco construction giant known for its friends in high places and for its role in building such huge projects as the trans-Alaskan oil pipeline, Hoover Dam and San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge?
Last week, Bechtel sent editors a string of garlic bulbs tethered to an electrical light bulb to promote Bechtel’s construction of a co-generation plant in Gilroy, Calif. The plant produces steam and electricity for Gilroy Foods, whose products include dehydrated garlic, onions and peppers. The facility’s $95-million price tag was pocket change for Bechtel, which once built an entire city in Saudi Arabia for more than $20 billion.
“We’re adapting to the market as it exists today,” says spokesman Al Donner. As for the garlic, he adds with a notes of pride, “the creative juices do flow around here from time to time.”
