Bob Pond
In October of 1981, Stan first met Bob and Josie Pond. Stan’s artwork was in a Gallery in Palm Desert, California. The Pond’s had stopped by and ask if it would be possible to arrange to meet Mr. Stokes. The meeting was set for the following day. Bob commissioned a couple of paintings and asked Stan if he would join them the next day to fly with them to see a TBM Avenger that Bob had just purchased.
Arriving at the airport a bit before the Ponds, Stan was anticipating which of the airplanes was theirs. That question was quickly answered with the arrival of Bob and Josie. Their airplane was a Rockwell Sabreliner – a jet!
On that day, Stan had no idea how much his life had just changed! For the next 20+ years, Stan would be a part of all of Bob’s warbird collecting and everything that goes along with it. Bob had already started his collecting with a P-40N Warhawk and a P-51D Mustang and was now adding to it with the Avenger. In the 1980’s, Bob had the collecting bug and his collection quickly grew. FG-1 D Corsair, B-25 Mitchell, FM-1 Wildcat. AD-5 Skyraider, F6F Hellcat, A-26 Invader, B-17 Flying Fortress, DC-3 Skytrain, AT-6 Texan, Yak-11, P-63 King Cobra, and so on.
Steve Hinton was a great resource for Bob and Stan had known Steve for years. Steve and his father-in-law, Ed Maloney, had a derelict P-38 Lightning sitting out back at Plane’s of Fame Air Museum. They worked out a deal that if the Ponds were to pay for the restoration, they could have the use of it for 10 years. That P-38 became “Joltin Josie” and is still flying as “23 Skidoo”. By the way, Josie was the one who actually paid for the restoration! So, by meeting Bob and Josie in 1981, Stan was to spend the next two decades and more, immersed in the warbird world. The Ponds were to sponsor Stan’s “History of the Flying White House” mural the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. For doing so, their names, along with other prominent supporters, were inscribed in granite on the East wall of the Reagan Library’s “Air Force One Pavilion”.
For Stan, knowing them was one of his life’s top highlights!
