Howard Pardue Dies in Bearcat Crash

[bucky60k]

Heard about the horrible news today that famous Warbird Pilot and Air Racer Howard Pardue died after his F8F crashed on takeoff. I remember his airplane from the time I was 5 years old going to AIrshows. His solo aerobatic routine to Phantom of the Opera was one of my favorite air show acts ever!

[Hacker]

Very, very sad...a huge loss for the warbird community. Howard was one of the giants.

Edited April 5, 2012 by Hacker

[JarheadBoom]

Damn...

[HuggyU2]

Well, he seemed to cheat disaster for his 77 years. Such a shame to lose another great warbird pilot and owner.

I remember being at Oshkosh when Laird Doctor hit him in his Bearcat on takeoff roll. And when he ate up Czech Mate's tail with his prop a Reno a year or two before that.

Reno's going to be a lot different this year.

[bagasticks]

another great stick gone. . RIP Sir...

[BQZip01]

Rest in peace

[Wolf424]

[Whitman]

Howard Pardue Crash Update: Low-Level Acro on Departure

The crash of an F8F Bearcat at Breckinridge, Texas, last week that claimed the life of well known air racer and airshow performer Howard Pardue came during an abortive aerobatic maneuver. According the NTSB’s preliminary report on the crash, Pardue was executing a low-level manuever that somehow went terribly wrong.

A witness, a pilot who was waiting to take off behind Pardue, described the chain of events to investigators. Pardue “reportedly announced over the radio that he was going to perform a Half Cuban Eight aerobatic maneuver after takeoff and then overfly the runway in the opposite direction,” according to the NTSB report.

At first the maneuver seemed to go according to plan. “After liftoff the accident airplane climbed 100 to 200 feet in a shallow climb before it pitched-up into a near vertical climb. The airplane continued the climb in an inside loop before leveling out, inverted, about 500 feet above the runway heading the opposite direction of the takeoff,” the investigator reported.

Then things began to go terribly wrong. Again, according the NTSB, the witness then saw “the airplane's wings roll suddenly before the airplane entered a near vertical descent. The witness described the final portion of the aerobatic maneuver as a split-S maneuver, or a descending half loop, from which the airplane was unable to recover before colliding with terrain on a southeasterly heading. The witness stated that there was an explosion when the airplane collided with terrain and that a post impact fire ensued.”

The NTSB did not reach any conclusions about probable cause in its preliminary report. Such statements usually aren’t issued until months after the mishap when the Board releases its final report.

http://www.flyingmag.com/technique/accidents/howard-pardue-crash-update-low-level-acro-departure

[Hacker]

FWIW, the NTSB's initial report is based on the testimony of that single witness -- a GA pilot who was holding short and watched his departure.

There are a number of other witnesses who disagree with what was described in the statement.

[Stitch]

Stinks to lose a great guy like that. But then going out doing what you love beats the snot out of slowly wasting away an inch at a time in a nursing home ignored by family members lonely and forgotten. Saw it happened to others where my wife’s grandmother spent her final days. Grandma had tons of support and care but many of the others were just “warehoused” until the end. Sad.

To Howard. RIP friend.

[guineapigfury]

Stinks to lose a great guy like that. But then going out doing what you love beats the snot out of slowly wasting away an inch at a time in a nursing home ignored by family members lonely and forgotten. Saw it happened to others where my wife’s grandmother spent her final days. Grandma had tons of support and care but many of the others were just “warehoused” until the end. Sad.

To Howard. RIP friend.

2. I've seen a couple of relatives go slow, that shit sucks. Hope I go quick when I do.

[BADFNZ]

FWIW, the NTSB's initial report is based on the testimony of that single witness -- a GA pilot who was holding short and watched his departure.

There are a number of other witnesses who disagree with what was described in the statement.

Although I'm never one to believe some random eyewitness account of a plane crash, this dude seemed to be knowledgable enough to know what a loop, cuban 8, and split-s look like. It seems strange for him to just make something like this up if that's what you're getting at (maybe you're not). What are the other witnesses saying?

[Hacker]

No, I'm not implying that the story was made up or that there was any intent to deceive. I'm saying that his perception of how the aircraft maneuvered differs from people who saw it from a different perspective (back at the ramp instead of holding short at the approach end).

[HuggyU2]

Concur with Hacker.

I spoke with a warbird pilot this weekend who was at Howard's funeral. He says there are other witnesses,... and their impressions may be significantly different.