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Bill "Tiger" Destefani - Extended Biography |
 Airplanes
have excited Bill Destefani all of his life. As a young boy, he hid in
the fields of his family's farm outside Bakersfield, California just
for the thrill of being buzzed by crop dusters. Unfortunately, he was
not able to do anything about flying until he grew up. "Before I got
started fooling with airplanes, I never did a damn thing but work," he
says. "My dad never had time for anything but work. He had the
attitude that if it wasn't work, it wasn't worth doing. He thought
airplanes were bull. He never knew how much I liked them. He never let
me near one."
After Bill returned from Vietnam, he went back to work on the farm. He
had taken flying lessons from a local crop duster when he was 21, and
at 30 he finally had enough money to buy his own plane. It was a 1947
Navion, a 260 horsepower relic that was " barely flying." He restored
it himself despite having no experience at such things. "Anything it
needed, I just did it, just like it was another piece of machinery on
the farm. An airplane is basically just a tractor with wings," he
says. After a bout with spinal meningitis in 1978, Bill's attitude
about life changed. "It's not a big deal, things like that do play a
role in a person's attitude toward how they live. When I got spinal
meningitis and damn near died, it sank in that I hadn't done
everything I wanted to do. Owning a P-51 Mustang was my ultimate goal
and that really forced the issue." Bill bought his first Mustang in
1979 and called it "Mangia Pane", which is Italian for "eats bread"
because, "that's what it did." He restored it and flew it for 900
hours. "I'd go flying every day in the thing. Basically I taught
myself the aerobatics. Never did tell my dad, he'd never approve. One
day he said, "I heard you bought a Mustang" but that was it. by the
time he died in 1982, he was a different man. He'd finally stopped
working so hard, and even attended a few air shows. "Mangia Pane" won
the Silver Race at the 17th National Championship Air Races at Reno in
1980, which my father attended."
After Mangia Pane, Bill found and restored two other Mustangs; Dago
Red and Strega. He had begun racing in Mangia Pane, but it was not
until he got behind the controls of Strega (meaning "witch") that he
began winning and going for the Gold. He located Strega in Australia
in 1983. Strega is too high-strung to play around in, with clipped
wings and a 3,500 horsepower motor, so Bill restored a more docile
Curtiss P-40, Miss Geno D (his daughter's nickname). The Curtiss P-40
was later sold to the Lone Star Flight Museum in Texas. |
Bill has had so much
fun restoring his planes and has done it so well that other owners
have asked him to restore their warbirds. His hangar at Minter Field
has become the site of a business called Warbirds Unlimited. He
completed a restoration of a P- 47D and is a few months away from
completing his Spitfire MK14. Also in progress at this time is a
rebuild of a Navion and the assembly of a Yak-3. Other restorations
include, Robert Converse's P-51D, Huntress III and Eddie Van Fossen's
race winning T-6 .
Bill has worked very hard at promoting unlimited air racing. He and
several other aircraft owners joined forces and formed an organization
known as Air Racing Unlimited. This organization was developed to
further establish unlimited air racing and for three years he served
as the President. He also is an active member of National Air Racing
Group and serves on the Rules Committee.
Since 1980 Bill "Tiger" Destefani has competed in air racing. Team
Strega came home with the Gold in Reno in 1987, 1992, 1993, 1995.
1996, and 1997. He also won the Gold in 1991 and 1992 in Denver and
1993 in Kansas. He brought home the Silver from Reno in 1994 after
having engine trouble, and 3rd place in the Gold Race in 1995 at
Phoenix.
Team Strega Lead Pilot & Team Owner -
Bill "Tiger" Destefani
- Residence: Bakersfield,
California
- Birthdate: 1943 - Bakersfield,
California
- Personal: Single: Two Children,
Gena & Jeffrey
- Occupation: Business Owner -
Flying Tiger Farms and Warbirds Unlimited
- Professional Air Racing Pilot
- Past President of Air Racing
Unlimited Association (ARU)
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Competition History:
2002:
37th National Championship Air Races, Reno Nevada. Piloted
"Strega". Declared a Mayday at the finish of lap one in
Sunday's Gold Race - did not finish (engine).
2001:
38th National Championship Air Races Canceled
2000:
37th National Championship Air Races, Reno Nevada. Piloted
"Strega". Did not start (qualified in 5th position at 429.858
MPH - but plane was withdrawn from competition after metal was
discovered in the oil screens).
1999:
36th National Championship Air Races, Reno Nevada. Piloted
"Strega". Declared a Mayday during the last lap of Sunday's
Gold Race - did not finish (burnt piston).
1997:
34th National Championship Air Races, Reno Nevada. Piloted "Strega".
Finished 1st in Gold unlimited race.
1996:
33rd National Championship Air Races, Reno Nevada. Piloted "Strega".
Finished 1st in Gold unlimited race.
1995:
32nd National Championship Air Races, Reno Nevada. Piloted "Strega".
Finished 1st in Gold unlimited Race.
Phoenix 500 Air Races, Phoenix Arizona. Piloted "Strega". Finished 3rd
in Gold Unlimited Race.
1994:
31st National Championship Air Races, Reno Nevada. Piloted "Strega".
Finished 1st in Silver Unlimited Race.
Phoenix 500 Air Races, Phoenix Arizona. Piloted "Strega". Declared a
Mayday in first lap - did not finish.
1993:
Kansas City Air Races, Kansas City, Kansas. Piloted "Strega". Finished
1st in Gold Unlimited Race.
30th National Championship Air Races, Reno Nevada. Piloted "Strega".
Finished 1st in Gold Unlimited Race.
1992:
29th National Championship Air Races, Reno Nevada. Piloted "Strega".
Finished 1st in Gold Unlimited Race.
Airshow Colorado, Front Range Airport, Watkins, Colorado. Piloted
"Strega". Finished 1st in Gold Unlimited Race.
1991:
28th National Championship Air Races, Reno, Nevada. Piloted "Strega".
Finished 2nd in Gold Unlimited Race.
1990:
Air Race Texas, Sherman-Dennison, Dallas, Texas. Piloted "Strega"
Finished 2nd to Tsunami in Gold Unlimited Race.
Airshow Colorado, Front Range Airport, Watkins, Colorado. Piloted
"Strega". Finished 1st in Gold Unlimited Race.
27th National Championship Air Races, Reno, Nevada. Piloted "Strega".
Finished 3rd in Gold Unlimited Race.
Strega was 1st in the 1990 ARU Unlimited Air Racing points standings.
1989:
26th National Championship Air Races, Reno, Nevada. Piloted "Strega".
Completed five laps in the Gold Unlimited Race declared a mayday due
to a coolant leak, did not finish.
1988:
2nd Annual "Wings of Victory", Hamilton Air Races, Hamilton Field San
Francisco, California Unlimited Air Race. Piloted "Strega". Finished
2nd to "Rare Bear" by seconds.
25th National Championship Air Races, Reno, Nevada Defending Champion.
Did not qualify. Two blown engines. First time in 10 years that
Destefani did not qualify for Reno.
1987:
24th National Championship Air Races, Reno, Nevada. Piloted "Strega".
Set New World Closed Course Record of 466.67 mph (almost fifteen mph
over 1986 record). Finished 1st in Gold Unlimited Race. Set new race
record of 452.559 mph.
1986:
23rd National Championship Air Races, Reno, Nevada. Piloted "Strega".
Finished 3rd in Gold Unlimited Race.
1985:
22nd National Championship Air Races, Reno, Nevada. "Strega" did not
start race due to aircraft malfunction. Ron Hevle - Pilot, Bill
Destefani, Team Owner.
Bakersfield Unlimited Race, Minter Field, California. "Strega"
finished 1st in Gold Unlimited Race. Ron Hevle, Pilot - Bill
Destefani, Team Owner.
1984:
21st National Championship Air Races, Reno, Nevada. "Strega" did not
finish Gold Unlimited Race. Ron Hevle, Pilot - Bill Destefani, Team
Owner.
"Mangia Pane" finished 5th in the Gold Unlimited Race piloted by Bill
Destefani, Team Owner.
1983:
20th National Championship Air Races, Reno Nevada. "Strega" did not
finish Gold Unlimited Race. Ron Hevle, Pilot - Bill Destefani, Team
Owner.
"Mangia Pane" finished 4th in the Gold Unlimited Race Piloted by Bill
Destefani, Team Owner.
1982:
19th National Championship Air Races, Reno Nevada. "Dago Red" finished
1st in the Gold Unlimited Race. Ron Hevle, Pilot - Bill Destefani,
Team Owner. At this time, "Dago Red" was sold to Frank Taylor and Bill
Destefani bought "Strega" and proceeded with the initial
modifications.
"Mangia Pane" finished 3rd in the Gold Unlimited Race Piloted by Bill
Destefani, Team Owner.
1981:
18th National Championship Air Races, Reno, Nevada. "Mangia Pane"
finished 3rd in the Gold Unlimited Race. Ron Hevle, Pilot - Bill
Destefani, Team Owner.
1980:
17th National Championship Air Races, Reno, Nevada. "Mangia Pane"
finished 1st in the Silver Unlimited Race. Ron Hevle, Pilot, Bill
Destefani, Team Owner.
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