Corsair F2G Down

[stetto]

Dunno how many times I was up close and damm near personal with this bird



Bob Odegaard Killed in Crash of Super Corsair

North Dakota warbird restorer and pilot extraordinaire Bob Odegaard was killed on Friday evening when his Goodyear F2G Super Corsair crashed at Barnes County Airport in Valley City, North Dakota, while Odegaard was practicing for an upcoming airshow. No one on the ground was injured in the crash, and Odegaard died at the scene in the horrific crash. One witness, according to a report on grandforksherald.com, said that Odegaard had been practicing loops right before the crash occurred, and seemed unable to pull out of the final maneuver.

http://www.flyingmag.com/technique/accidents/bob-odegaard-killed-crash-super-corsair

[Onepoint]

That's a bummer.  Attrition keeps working on old birds, and old bird lovers its seems.

[jetmex]

I read that, and am really sorry to hear of it. 

We had a discussion about this very thing when I was in the CAF late last century.  It revolved around the fact that a lot of warbird pilots (ie -the guys who can actually afford to own and operate those airplanes) are getting up in age and are losing the skills and reflexes needed to pilot old high performance aircraft.  The other part of the equation is the fact that, for the most part, they are not training younger pilots in those skills.  The list of aircraft and pilots lost to this factor just keeps getting longer.  And neither the planes nor the pilots are replaceable....

[balsum fractus]

ditto.....I mean really....why do you need to loop a warbird close to the ground ??