A Tribute To The Passengers Of Flight 92

When Mike Stoneman of Payette, Idaho set out to do a ground-up restoration of his 1951 GMC 970, his goal was to restore and upgrade his truck to first-class condition. With that in mind, he installed a silver 8V92 Detroit Diesel engine with 500 hp, a 13-speed transmission with overdrive, a Jake brake, and a Peterbilt low air-leaf suspension with 3:70 ratio rear ends. To increase driver comfort, Mike added power steering and installed a 60-inch Kenworth flattop sleeper. As he started working on this project, the 9-11 terrorist attacks happened, and Mike began thinking of a way he could pay tribute to the brave Americans that were on United Airlines’ Flight 92. Rather than allow the terrorists a chance to complete their mission by flying the airplane into their intended target in Washington, D.C., those patriotic passengers stormed the flight deck and forced the plane to crash into the Pennsylvania countryside. Mike painted a mural on both sides of his Jimmy to depict how he thought the passengers felt as they sacrificed their own lives to save others, at the moment when passenger Todd Beamer said, “Let’s roll.” Mike is proud to display his GMC at truck shows, and always sets out a sign next to it explaining the mural’s meaning.