An Iconic Piece of Disney History Will Be RESTORED

An iconic piece of Disney history is going to be restored to its former glory.

Walt’s Plane

At the 2022 D23 Expo, we got to see Walt Disney’s Grumman Gulfstream I airplane on display. The plane served The Walt Disney Company for nearly 30 years before it was decommissioned. Now, Disney has plans to restore the plane!

On December 5th, in honor of Walt Disney’s birthday, D23 announced plans to restore Disney’s airplane “to its 1960s design.” Walt acquired the plan in 1963, and he and his wife helped to design the interior. The plane has seating for 15 passengers, a galley kitchen, 2 bathrooms, couches, a desk, and lots of Disney-themed decorations. The plane flew over 20,000 hours and transported about 83,000 passengers over its 28 years of use by The Walt Disney Company.

Cabin Chair

The Palm Springs Air Museum opened a new exhibit in honor of the plane. Items on display include “a customized instrument panel originally located near Walt’s favorite onboard seat that allowed him to monitor flight conditions; a telephone handset that gave Walt a direct line of communication to the pilot in the cockpit; a flight bag featuring an image of Mickey Mouse sitting on the tail of the iconic plane; and more.”

Instrument Panels

During the opening of the exhibit, the director of the Walt Disney Archives announced that the Palm Springs Air Museum and Phoenix Air will “restore and recreate the interior of the Gulfstream I to resemble what it looked like when Walt flew it in the 1960s.” The museum has restored many aircraft in the past, and Phoenix Air offered to donate the necessary parts for the restoration.

©D23

Museum Vice Chairman Fred Bell said, “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.” The restoration is expected to take about 2 years to complete.