RIP

From my Facebook;
http://warbird-central.com/2012/04/90446...150791561005281

Howard Pardue has died following a plane crash in southern Stephens County. Pardue's Grumman F8F Bearcat fighter plane took off from Stephens County Airport just after 2 p.m. Wednesday. The Texas Department of Public Safety reports the plane barely made it off the runway before hitting the ground and bursting into flames. The pilot, 77-year-old Pardue, was pronounced dead soon afterward. The plane went down in the southern portion of Stephens County, near CR 151, at the end of the Stephens County Airport runway.

Stephens County Sheriff's deputies, Breckenridge Police Department officers, Department of Public Safety officers, Breckenridge EMS and Breckenridge Fire Department personnel were on the scene. The case remains under investigation. FAA and NTSB authorities were coming in to Breckenridge to complete the investigation of the accident.

Because I have so many airshow personalities in my FB I get some of these stories before they break nationally, Howard had actually survived a couple of mishaps in recent years, one involving an F4F wildcat which was flipped over on the runway and one involving a formation takeoff in which the pilot of a Corsair clipped the wing of his Bearcat, both planes were heavily damaged but Howard was uninjured in both incidents (the Corsair pilot was severely injured and is now paralyzed). The Aircraft he was lost in was only one of a dozen in the world that are still Flying, Blue Skies Howard. RIP

Laird Doctor was the pilot of the F4U that day.
Laird was the Chief Pilot and Director of the Cavennaugh Flight Museum here in Dallas (Addison Airport)
He was in a coma after the crash for several days. When he woke up, the first thing he said was "Is the Corsair still flyable?" (total loss) He now flys R/C planes from his wheelchair. It is amazing that he even lived through the crash...

It's inevitable that there will be people talking about the age of the pilot, just as they did when Jimmy Leeward crashed at Reno. In the case of the Reno crash age wouldn't have made any real difference to the outcome. In this one we may not know until there is a thorough investigation and an autopsy if possible, because of the fact that this accident happened during take-off and he was very familiar with the plane I'm wondering if the pilot had a medical emergency, but this will all be conjecture till we know more. But still I can see the issue of age coming up again in regards to people who fly vintage and rare aircraft, it is still a tragic loss.

Was he flying the CAF Bearcat that is in this month's calendar?

http://warbird-central.com/2012/04/90446...f16bacd7df7cd7e
This one

I saw him fly his airshow routine at Chino last year. I didn't realize that he was 76 at the time.

RIP.


Wheels