Imagine...

("john smith" wrote)
USN Blue Angles with F-35 Lightnings


http://www.warbirdalley.com/bearcat.htm
USN Blue "Angels" with Bearcats would be fun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F8F_Bearcat
F8F Grumman Bearcat


Paul-Mont

Montblack wrote:
("john smith" wrote)
USN Blue Angles with F-35 Lightnings


http://www.warbirdalley.com/bearcat.htm
USN Blue "Angels" with Bearcats would be fun

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F8F_Bearcat
F8F Grumman Bearcat


Paul-Mont


Blues had them way back when.

Also, my old buddy Corkey Fornof and his dad Bill had the only civilian
Bearcat acro team ever to perform. You can find a photo of them on Jay's
site in the IFPF photographs. Bill was killed doing a show with Cork at
Quonset Point on June 5th 1971; the same day we lost 5 pilots in the T6
race at Cape May New Jersey.
Dudley Henriques

Bill was killed doing a show with Cork at
Quonset Point on June 5th 1971; the same day we lost 5 pilots in the T6
race at Cape May New Jersey.

FIVE planes down in one accident? Holy crap.

I can't believe I've never heard of it? What happened, Dudley?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Jay Honeck wrote:
Bill was killed doing a show with Cork at
Quonset Point on June 5th 1971; the same day we lost 5 pilots in the T6
race at Cape May New Jersey.

FIVE planes down in one accident? Holy crap.

I can't believe I've never heard of it? What happened, Dudley?
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

The Cape May race was the worst day I ever spent in aviation. We lost 5
planes and pilots in one race. I was a pylon judge at the scatter pylon.
It involved two separate mid-airs. The first was when Dick Minges and
Don Barrett collided right over my head. Dick went in like a ton of
stone and was killed instantly not 50 yards away. Don managed to bring
his airplane around and landed it; probably one of the best acts of
flying I will ever see. His aircraft was severly damaged.
The rest of it was a true disaster.
Coming around the course, the rest of the T6's were bunched up fairly
tightly as even in race configuration, T6's are fairly close in power
and hard to keep apart. This in my opinion was what caused the next mid
airs.
The normal procedure in the race pattern after an accident was to break
up and out of the course. Because of the altitude difference between the
remaining aircraft coming out of the second turn, as the lower T6's
broke up and out, they hit the ones above. Ed Snyder, a personal
friend,Joe Quinn, and Vic Baker collided. All went in immediately. Ed's
airplane went into the woods right next to me.
Jere Snyder and Toni Minges, two of the widows from Cape May have
remained friends of ours for all these years. Jere died a few years ago
at her home in Neptune Beach Florida and Toni has remarried.
Jere Snyder had one of the most beautiful singing voices I have ever
heard in my life. Bea and I loved her.
Bill Fornof, another friend and member of the IFPF was killed at Quonset
Point the same day.
Anyway, that's what happened. The next year, Howie Keefe, Jere and Toni
all met at Dulles as Howie set the World cross country speed record West
to East for prop planes in Miss America to open the Transpo show. I
managed Miss A the week were were there at Dulles.
As if Cape May wasn't enough, I lost another friend that week when Joe
Howard of the Thunderbirds was killed at Transpo.

It's truly not been all fun and games for me through my career in aviation.
Dudley Henriques

It's truly not been all fun and games for me through my career in aviation.

Boy, that's an understatement. What an awful day that must have been.

I've lost three friends this year to aviation (which is three more
than has ever happened before) -- but to lose so many in one day? I
can't imagine.
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

Dudley, if I recall correctly, Bill Fornof's accident was a truely rare
and odd event. I think I recall reading an after accident report that
the crash was the result of Bill flying through an intense micro-burst
which broke the main spar. The amazing thing was that Corky, flying a
very short distance away was totally unaffected.
Is my recallection correct?

john smith wrote:
Dudley, if I recall correctly, Bill Fornof's accident was a truely rare
and odd event. I think I recall reading an after accident report that
the crash was the result of Bill flying through an intense micro-burst
which broke the main spar. The amazing thing was that Corky, flying a
very short distance away was totally unaffected.
Is my recallection correct?

This is basically what I believe happened. Cork said they came out of a
loop together and suddenly Bill was just gone. He said it was over in an
instant.
Post accident engineers came up with a huge g load on Bill's wing as I
recall.

There has been some "talk" through the years about a proposed wing
switch that was allegedly in the works between Bill's airplane (7700C)
and another Cat that hadn't been done yet at the time of the accident,
but I've never asked Cork about it.
The Micro burst theory does carry validity with me, as I think I hit one
myself once during a low altitude exit from a vertical maneuver. It was
quite a "hit".
Dudley Henriques

That was a very sad day - Vic Baker was a family friend of ours. He was living in California at the time And was planning to surprise us with a visit the day after the race. We lived in New Jersey then. We were neighbors in California. About three months ago I had dinner with Vic's only daughter Victoria. I hadnt seen her in about 30 years. I remember Mr Baker as a very funny, happy, outgoing and confident person. As I said it was a very sad day God bless the families of all of those who lost loved ones